Does sealed or ported work better in a bookcase?

[Jonathan Gillis]

Basically that is my question. In a family room I want to hook up a 3.1 system with a wall mounted TV. The TV is mounted above the fireplace in the center of one wall. On either side of the fireplace are built-in bookshelves, open with no doors. My desire is to place a center channel on the mantle beneath the TV and two bookshelf speakers on either side. The system will be used for either TV watching or music. I'm not concerned with creating a full home theater, surround sound set-up. But I am hoping to fill the room with sound when listening to music.

But the bookshelf speakers will be sitting in the bookshelf. Of course they are open to the front, but the shelves are only about 9 or 10 inches deep.

Would rear-ported speakers be a bad choice because I may not be able to provide the necessary spacing from the wall? Would sealed be better for this application?

Thanks for the help!

 

[j_garcia]

Yes, rear ported would be a bad choice for that sort of cabinet. Sealed or front ported should work better.

 

[Jonathan Gillis]

That's what I figured. For a budget of around $500 to get all three speakers (L/R and center), I was looking at the following:

Front Ported:
HTD Level 2
KEF C3

Sealed:
NHT SuperOne 2.1

Any thoughts on these or other ideas?

 

[zieglj01]

I would look at the NHT SuperOne 2.1

Or, Wave Crest HVL-1
http://www.wavecrestaudio.com/

 

[agarwalro]

Don't lay a speaker flat if the bookshelf doesn't have the required height.