Re: Closed back vs open back
Open back has more apparent bass, but it's flabby and less detailed. Closed back is tighter, cleaner, punchier and more detailed but lacks a bit of bass. This is often made up for by larger cabinet size and particular woods used in the cabinet construction.
The layman explanation for why open back has more apparent bass but is flabbier is due to the lack of back pressure on the speaker that would cause it to settle back to the 0 point quicker. In closed back, there is a fixed amount of air behind the speaker and that puts back pressure against the cone causing it to settle quicker, which gives better detail but doesn't allow such full bass sound, which would require more free/full travel of the cone to reproduce. That's my layman understanding from reading books by studio designers. Someone who designs speakers and cabinets could give a better and more accurate physics explanation. But for me, just knowing 'open = more flabby bass', 'closed = tight but lean bass' is enough information.
