Wayne Parham Messages: 18835 Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)
The rear panel of the cabinet should be covered with insulation, as should the side nearest the port and the top panel. The bottom and the side furthest from the port should be left bare, as should the front baffle. Mount the crossover board on the bottom panel, using a cardboard or plastic sheet as a gasket.
The insulation on the side should be cut so that it reaches the port, but don't bother with the little section of the side panel that's right beside the port. When you've done that, the port is surrounded but there is no insulation in the port, having about 2" between the rear edge of the port and the insulation that covers the rear cabinet panel. It will look like this:
four π loudspeaker port
What's more important is the insulation that spans the cross-section. The brace is between the woofer and the tweeter, which means it is also in between the woofer and the port. That location is important, because it is a pressure node inside the cabinet and it also separates the woofer and the port. Bass goes right through it but lower midrange is attenuated. That's the goal of the cross-section sheet.