closing the opening

[thornicated]

i have an open back Orange 2x12...i want to close it...see if that will make it a little 'tighter' but before i waste a piece of plywood i wanted to ask if any of you have done this...and what the outcome was?

Thanks for your thoughts!

[Thinline_slim]

I have and it did have a significant change in the speaker response. I would say yes, it made it tighter. I doubt it's as big sounding as the PPC212C but having nothing to compare it to, the closed OB works great for me.

EDIT: I wanted to make mention that I closed the back with a single piece of plywood. I would recommend doing that vs just using a piece on the opening. Less leaks that way but in the end it may not make a difference.

[tarfungo]

I have and it did have a significant change in the speaker response. I would say yes, it made it tighter. I doubt it's as big sounding as the PPC212C but having nothing to compare it to, the closed OB works great for me.

EDIT: I wanted to make mention that I closed the back with a single piece of plywood. I would recommend doing that vs just using a piece on the opening. Less leaks that way but in the end it may not make a difference.

A closed cab will be tighter, but also more focused. You won't get that 'filling the room' sensation or 'big sound' as you do from a open cab. This because the open back is letting sound out from the rear that then reflects back and intermingles with the forward projecting sound giving the listener a sense of depth. A closed back largely disperses sound in a 'beam' like fashion towards the front.

I installed 'de-beamers' in one of my PPC-212's to help dissipate the 'beam' affect. Comparing the two closed back cabs, (One as factory delivered; the other modified with de-beamers) the over all sound of the 'de-beamed' cab is much tighter than a combo and a little less focused (more open back sounding) than the non modified closed cab, while not giving up too much on the dispersion qualities of an open cab.

[OrangePaul]

Based on the thread title I'm looking forward to Randy's thoughts on this one

I'd agree closed cabs are tighter sounding and it should get you closer to where you want to be. But I do like open cabs in smaller rooms or for practice studio space where the sound bouncing off the walls probably has a greater affect on things...

[thornicated]

i have a MESA recto 2x12 that is closed back and the thing sounds awesome...i got a great deal on this cab...
my next gig is on the third floor, no elevator...the orange weighs close to 30lbs lighter than the mesa...but with my originals band i find the chunk is there a little more with the closed back...
thats why i was looking to see who had done this to their cab and what the outcome was...i'm gonna try to cut some wood tomorrow to cover the opening...this way its easy to remove that little piece when i go to my covers gig and want the open sound...
anyone else have thoughts?

[Randy Bass]

The tighter the better, I say. However, I refuse to play with a Recto.

[OrangePaul]

My Recto(verb) is open backed so looser than most


Kind of related, but I remember a friend modifying some old speakers once. They were nothing expensive... but he fine tuned the bass response by drilling a number of small holes in the baffle. Basically he just kept going porting it with more holes until he felt it sounded balanced. One of his less stupid ideads, but it seemed to work quite well as I remember.

Edit: I should probably add these were 'HiFi' speakers and not guitar speakers.

[bclaire]

I'd experiment with a thick piece of plywood cut to fit and some industrial velcro to hold it together - just to see how you like it or not...

[msmith4432]

The tighter the better, I say. However, I refuse to play with a Recto.

How do you do it, time after time

[Randy Bass]

The tighter the better, I say. However, I refuse to play with a Recto.

How do you do it, time after time

From the front, of course.

[thornicated]

so...here's what i did...

i had a piece of plywood kicking around...so i measured and cut.
found two pieces of wood, screwed them into the backs of the existing panels, and then screwed the new panel on it

verdict...

while the bass did seem a little tighter, a little volume was lost and definitely more directional than when it was open...i did find that sitting normally on the floor i can hear it better than my other horizontal...i'm thinking it's because of the speaker offset in this...

in conclusion (thus far...one practice in...and i'll report again after my gig this weekend)
less encompassing volume
slightly tighter bass
a little more directional

[alanbama]

That's a very nice job you did there. Looks very good.

[thornicated]

That's a very nice job you did there. Looks very good.

thanks!

i gigged with it last friday...it sounded great!

the audio isn't the greatest...and the song is three weeks old...and our bassist had only played it twice...but here's a vid

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5NcG_5RmO-c" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;