Anyone try stuffing their ports?

"Changing a ported design to a sealed without understanding design or knowing specs on driver etc shows a miss understanding of loudspeaker design. "

It's redundant to say not understanding design shows a misunderstanding of design. Not much insight there....

My very limited understanding of speaker design will only get me so far. Plus, good design alone is not guaranteed to float my boat, so I have to trust my ears.

Sorry about the delayed response to the follow up question. By having a bundle of straws with the bundle sized to fit the port, they when pushed in, the outside diameter of the port holds them securely in place. The bundle is round, with tape only around the outer perimeter. This is really a two person job, one holds the bundle in the round position and the other tapes around them.

Once the tape is applied, you can push the straws that aren't taped, ie. those toward the center versus the outer layer either in or out (so to speak). Since the bundle of straws are only held in due to the tight fit, you can easily pull the whole bunch out from the port at any time and may find it easier then adjusting how many straws are pulled out or pushed in.

Imagine holding a bunch of straws clamped in your hand. Your hand only comes into contact with the outer layer. The inner layers can be slid in/out while still holding onto the outer layer.

I hope this is clear. You may find that standard straws are longer than you want, but you can always cut them down to different lengths. There is actually a speaker manufacturer that provides such a device for tuning their port - I don't remember the brand and I am sure they use something that at least looks nicer than drinking straws.

This approach does not "close" the port making a sealed design. It does reduce the total opening and the way the air interacts to some degree. There are lots of speaker mfgs. that offer partial port inserts for tuning (my Gemme's and Wilson speakers are two examples of companies that do this). The straws have a similar affect, but actually provide for more variability than just a simple insert that reduces the diameter of the outlet.

One of the funniest things I ever saw... This was about 25 years ago. Started off being silly, rigged up a "recycled", cast iron, claw foot tub, a 2' thick pine table top, C-clamps, and a 18" "subwoofer" for this theater. Hey, that was the budget we had to work with. Anyways, my partner and myself were listening and snickering, trying to get this monstrosity to work. We talked about plugging the tub drain when my partner had an idea. This tub sat under the screen and I went to work behind the screen. When I came back and we cranked it up, he had put the drain pipe back on and duct-taped a condom onto it. Took a while to stop laughing but it actually did sound better. Covered it back up and left it there.

Went back years later to watch this action flick, (Rambo, Terminator, I forget) but I was the only one laughing as the bombs blew up.

Just don't let me catch anybody who is against mucking with an expert out of the box design rolling their tubes........

HI,
I have a total of 5 B&W 805S speakers in my bedroom 5.1 system. I use the supplied foam port plugs on all five. I did this to better integrate the 805S's with my dual B&W ASW800 subwoofers.

I have tried this system both with and without the plugs. Here is my take. If you are using the speakers without the B&W subs then they are best without the plugs. This set up gives deeper bass (such as it is). However, with subs, the plugs allow a smoother integration with the subs.

BTW, this is an incredible little system. The 805S's are excellent within the limitations imposed by their small size.

Sparky