Why not acoustic suspension?

I’m a big fan of sealed boxes which I think have better imaging than those with ports, the bass a bit less extended, but after chasing low bass in my youth, I much prefer sealed front dispersion only.

I remember visiting the AR Booth on a mezzanine level at Grand Central Terminal in the 60’s when I was in college in Brooklyn, NY 1966-1970.

My 1st decent speakers, bought in 1968 with wedding money, from Sam Goody’s were AR-2ax, compact 3 way with 10" woofer, designed to fit in/on a bookcase. I loved them until I was ransacked and they were stolen.

A discussion here about ’what past component do you miss?’ inspired me to acquire and refurb a pair of AR-2ax for my garage/shop system. They sounded so good that I moved them into my office, and restored a second pair for down there.

https://www.audiogon.com/systems/10092

Meanwhile, my main system speakers are a new enclosure with drivers from 1956, with an optional rear vent which I used open in a prior location with no wall behind the speakers, but it is closed here.

So, these are sealed Vintage 4 way Acoustic Suspension with a 15" woofer

They are over 100 lbs, on 3 wheels, I alter the toe-in if a friend listens with me

https://www.audiogon.com/systems/11516

I just realized, my small home theater, DBX100 main L and R are sealed acoustic suspension also

I do have an ’un-sealed back’, I cut huge access/cooling openings in the AV cabinet’s back, then I made a hanging/sliding/removable back in matching wood, so the wires would not be seen against the white painted wall behind when viewing thru the cutouts from the front

And, a former favorite, JSE Infinite Slope Model II’s are also sealed

https://www.audiogon.com/systems/11418

Smaller spaces, smaller enclosures, easier stocking/shipping, customers can fit them in their vehicles, larger sounding, greater range in specs, separate stands, separate self-powered subs, I think a combo of advantages is why so many makers are using ports, and I suspect many younger people have never even heard fully sealed designs.

I gave my JSE Model IIs to my son, they were too big for his wife, so he gave them to a mutual friend, who enjoys living in an old firehouse he bought and converted. They sound awesome there. He got a 2nd pair. Another friend took my advice and got a pair in his large room.

So, after I'm gone, and after Donna's gone, or if she moves after I'm gone and is willing/needing to part with them, my son is not going to want my awesome sounding speakers, and while my son has a TT, and some LP's, I doubt that he is going to want all the CDs and LP's either. 

Maybe my son's friend will want them, he brings his equipment and music here frequently, loves their sound, he has room to swap them in/out, and he's 27 years younger than Donna and me.

Your 15" closed boxes are just that but they are NOT acoustic suspension. Acoustic suspension is closed box.. The reverse may not be true and your boxes are not acoustic suspension.

All closed boxes can have superior bass damping if properly designed. Acoustic suspension adds a smaller box for similar bass response at the cost of lower efficiency.

As I implied previously, though, a good closed box has superior fidelity to a goo ported box. Ported boxes(including passive radiators) are boom boxes compared to closed boxes assuming proper design.

But closed boxes can boom. A well known example is the BBC LS3/5A which is way under damped albeit for a logical reason.

@mitch2 Looks like a 2270. Had one of those back in the day. Drove a pair of Rectilinear 3’s. But those were ported. 

@dynamiclinearity 

Are you saying this was never an acoustic suspension design?

I think of any sealed air tight enclosure as Acoustic Suspension. What am I missing?

It is not always about a smaller enclosure: bass extension can be improved by getting more sealed cubic inches than the original smaller compartments in the original Fisher Console, and then an optional Vent was added. I used the vent open when the speakers were located with a fully open room behind them (no longer Acoustic Suspension). They sounded muddy when I moved here with a wall several feet behind them, so I sealed the vents closed, in my mind back to Acoustic Suspension.

The drivers started out in ’smaller’ sealed compartments (no vents or ports) within my Uncle Johnny’s Fisher President II. It was up on 8" high bronze legs, the woofers fired downwards. The 15W Woofer did what it could in those many cubic inches.

https://www.audiogon.com/systems/11420

1st move: I had identical sized separate cabinets made, in white oak, with chrome tubes for an 8" high open base (anybody remember ’abstracta’?), the woofers still firing down. I simply moved the original front panel with two horns mounted, new fabric wrap. 

2nd Move, to change to front firing woofers, I had a taller pair of English Brown Oak cabinets made, woofers now front firing, no vent or port, a small increase in sealed volume, thus theoretically a bit more bass extension, and better imaging from the front firing bass and bass overtones.

I just found the drawings I made for the current Rosewood enclosures. Those enclosures are air tight sealed enclosures, OA 36" h; 20" w; 19" d.

Width to fit the 15" woofer became 20; depth of woofer in front of the optional port in the back panel behind it, avoid square, became 19", and ’not too high’ but more cubic inches, we chose 36" with a net volume (deducting the port’s volume) of 6.01 cu ft.

The optional 3D rectangular port (not visible, it’s built into the removable back panel) (10" w x 5-7/8" h x 4-7/8" deep) was designed with the help of Electro-Voice Engineers who were still in NYC. Use it closed, or open. It is sealed air tight now.