rear VS front loaded

[MYLILSS]

just picked up a 4x12 that can be loaded in either front or rear. right now the speakers are rear loaded and the cab sounds pretty good. been contemplating front loading them to see how it sounds that way. what are the typical sonic characteristics of a front loaded cab versus a rear loaded cab ? the cab has 2 texas heats, and 2 v30's in an x pattern right now.

 

[glassjaw7]

Front loaded fill the room more in my experience. Less directional. You hear more of the speaker and less of the cab/wood.
That is based on my FL cab vs my rear loaded ones. There may be other variables/results with other cabs.

 

[Ventura]

If it ain't broke, don't fix it

 

[steve_k]

just picked up a 4x12 that can be loaded in either front or rear. right now the speakers are rear loaded and the cab sounds pretty good. been contemplating front loading them to see how it sounds that way. what are the typical sonic characteristics of a front loaded cab versus a rear loaded cab ? the cab has 2 texas heats, and 2 v30's in an x pattern right now.

when i was first buying Mills cabs, i talked to Dave about building a FL/RL cab. thought it would be super cool to do and give the option. where did you get the cab and what kind?

steve

 

[cujo]

Had both front load n rear load diezels. Kept the rear load warmer more thump. However is not like night n day.

 

[MYLILSS]

just picked up a 4x12 that can be loaded in either front or rear. right now the speakers are rear loaded and the cab sounds pretty good. been contemplating front loading them to see how it sounds that way. what are the typical sonic characteristics of a front loaded cab versus a rear loaded cab ? the cab has 2 texas heats, and 2 v30's in an x pattern right now.

when i was first buying Mills cabs, i talked to Dave about building a FL/RL cab. thought it would be super cool to do and give the option. where did you get the cab and what kind?

steve

its a krank krankenstein cab. they dont get a lot of love, and i was hesitant about it until i heard it, but i was actually quite impressed by how full and clear it sounded. after reading they were originally front loaded and realizing this one was rear loaded i did some checking and found out they can be done either way.

 

[steve_k]

just picked up a 4x12 that can be loaded in either front or rear. right now the speakers are rear loaded and the cab sounds pretty good. been contemplating front loading them to see how it sounds that way. what are the typical sonic characteristics of a front loaded cab versus a rear loaded cab ? the cab has 2 texas heats, and 2 v30's in an x pattern right now.

when i was first buying Mills cabs, i talked to Dave about building a FL/RL cab. thought it would be super cool to do and give the option. where did you get the cab and what kind?

steve

its a krank krankenstein cab. they dont get a lot of love, and i was hesitant about it until i heard it, but i was actually quite impressed by how full and clear it sounded. after reading they were originally front loaded and realizing this one was rear loaded i did some checking and found out they can be done either way.

well, i'll be damned. i am surprised that this didn't catch on and some of the custom box builders haven't offered this option yet. very cool......

steve

 

[RJF]

Depends on the style of music you are playing. For metal, FL is usually better. Tighter, less boomy on the bottom end, presence and mids really shine.

 

[MYLILSS]

just picked up a 4x12 that can be loaded in either front or rear. right now the speakers are rear loaded and the cab sounds pretty good. been contemplating front loading them to see how it sounds that way. what are the typical sonic characteristics of a front loaded cab versus a rear loaded cab ? the cab has 2 texas heats, and 2 v30's in an x pattern right now.

when i was first buying Mills cabs, i talked to Dave about building a FL/RL cab. thought it would be super cool to do and give the option. where did you get the cab and what kind?

steve

its a krank krankenstein cab. they dont get a lot of love, and i was hesitant about it until i heard it, but i was actually quite impressed by how full and clear it sounded. after reading they were originally front loaded and realizing this one was rear loaded i did some checking and found out they can be done either way.

well, i'll be damned. i am surprised that this didn't catch on and some of the custom box builders haven't offered this option yet. very cool......

steve

i was quite shocked myself that its not more common. looking at the construction of the cab, if you could build a rear loaded cab, it would be extremely simple to add a front loaded option. i would think the extra cost would be negligible, considering there isnt much in the way of extra materials to do this.

 

[BeZo]

Only thing to think about is the pressure seal. Speakers have a gasket around the basket on the face, but not the back. If you are going to mount the speakers through the front, it helps to put a speaker gasket around the hole. The tighter your cab is sealed up, the tighter it will sound.

 

[MYLILSS]

Only thing to think about is the pressure seal. Speakers have a gasket around the basket on the face, but not the back. If you are going to mount the speakers through the front, it helps to put a speaker gasket around the hole. The tighter your cab is sealed up, the tighter it will sound.

i thought about that too. the eminence speakers in it have a gasket on the front and back of the speaker. i think i may try the front loaded route. the cab has a ton of low end as is, so the front loaded method may work out better for my situation

 

[JakeAC5253]

Front loaded fill the room more in my experience. Less directional. You hear more of the speaker and less of the cab/wood.
That is based on my FL cab vs my rear loaded ones. There may be other variables/results with other cabs.

Exactly this. The neat thing about rear loaded cabs is that they are more of a tuned resonant system, also easier to dial in a bad sound.

viewtopic.php?p=1241882#p1241882

 

[MYLILSS]

Front loaded fill the room more in my experience. Less directional. You hear more of the speaker and less of the cab/wood.
That is based on my FL cab vs my rear loaded ones. There may be other variables/results with other cabs.

Exactly this. The neat thing about rear loaded cabs is that they are more of a tuned resonant system, also easier to dial in a bad sound.

viewtopic.php?p=1241882#p1241882

hmmm... i may have to do the front loaded thing for a bit.

 

[alxdgr8]

Front loaded fill the room more in my experience. Less directional. You hear more of the speaker and less of the cab/wood.
That is based on my FL cab vs my rear loaded ones. There may be other variables/results with other cabs.

Exactly this. The neat thing about rear loaded cabs is that they are more of a tuned resonant system, also easier to dial in a bad sound.

viewtopic.php?p=1241882#p1241882

Not the correct way to explain it...
Too late so I'll post up a better explanation tomorrow.

 

[hellaboogie]

Front loaded fill the room more in my experience. Less directional. You hear more of the speaker and less of the cab/wood.
That is based on my FL cab vs my rear loaded ones. There may be other variables/results with other cabs.

Exactly this. The neat thing about rear loaded cabs is that they are more of a tuned resonant system, also easier to dial in a bad sound.

viewtopic.php?p=1241882#p1241882

Not the correct way to explain it...
Too late so I'll post up a better explanation tomorrow.

Please do.

 

[maddnotez]

Front loaded fill the room more in my experience. Less directional. You hear more of the speaker and less of the cab/wood.
That is based on my FL cab vs my rear loaded ones. There may be other variables/results with other cabs.

Exactly this. The neat thing about rear loaded cabs is that they are more of a tuned resonant system, also easier to dial in a bad sound.

viewtopic.php?p=1241882#p1241882

hmmm... i may have to do the front loaded thing for a bit.

Do it up, post clips of both and make a poll?

 

[alxdgr8]

Front loaded fill the room more in my experience. Less directional. You hear more of the speaker and less of the cab/wood.
That is based on my FL cab vs my rear loaded ones. There may be other variables/results with other cabs.

Exactly this. The neat thing about rear loaded cabs is that they are more of a tuned resonant system, also easier to dial in a bad sound.

viewtopic.php?p=1241882#p1241882

Not the correct way to explain it...
Too late so I'll post up a better explanation tomorrow.

The difference between front and rear loaded is pretty much entirely radiation pattern based (assuming 12" drivers with 3/4" baffle). The small amount of air mass that you add with the "neck" of a rear-loaded speaker has nearly no effect on the frequency response of the loudspeaker enclosure system. Neither does the small "horn" you create help smooth the impedance change or load/compress the driver. Therefore any differences you here are solely radiation difference due to baffle refractions.

So saying one is more of a "tuned resonant system" than the other is incorrect. They are pretty much the same just with radiation differences.

Maybe I'll get bored one day and do some experiments or model it...

 

[JakeAC5253]

Front loaded fill the room more in my experience. Less directional. You hear more of the speaker and less of the cab/wood.
That is based on my FL cab vs my rear loaded ones. There may be other variables/results with other cabs.

Exactly this. The neat thing about rear loaded cabs is that they are more of a tuned resonant system, also easier to dial in a bad sound.

viewtopic.php?p=1241882#p1241882

Not the correct way to explain it...
Too late so I'll post up a better explanation tomorrow.

The difference between front and rear loaded is pretty much entirely radiation pattern based (assuming 12" drivers with 3/4" baffle). The small amount of air mass that you add with the "neck" of a rear-loaded speaker has nearly no effect on the frequency response of the loudspeaker enclosure system. Neither does the small "horn" you create help smooth the impedance change or load/compress the driver. Therefore any differences you here are solely radiation difference due to baffle refractions.

So saying one is more of a "tuned resonant system" than the other is incorrect. They are pretty much the same just with radiation differences.

Maybe I'll get bored one day and do some experiments or model it...

I can appreciate that viewpoint, but allow me to explain my own as well.

The difference in sound is exactly having to do with the difference in radiation... When you have the entire speaker cone behind the baffle and deeper within the cabinet itself, the baffle and cab sides act as a sort of funnel to focus the sound waves and dampen side reflections. What you end up getting is more of a focus on the front and back excursions of the speaker.

Because of this, as well as the speakers' proximity to the rear wood of the cabinet is exactly why it is more of a tuned system, because the waves bouncing off the rear of the cab create more powerful standing waves which cancel more of the forward excursed waves, which leaves you with more of a "produced" EQ curve, variable based on the dimensions and wood characteristics. Whereas the front loaded cab would have less of its forward waves canceled leaving the EQ curve closer to the speaker's own response characteristics, which is why many people claim that there is less variation in the sounds of front-loaded cabs.

 

[petejt]

Do WGS ET-65 speakers sound better when they are front-loaded or rear-loaded, in a 4x12 cab?