Front loaded vs rear loaded???

What's the difference between front and rear loaded speakers in terms of sound? Are there other reasons for choosing one over the other besides sound concerns?

I can't say that, in all cases, rear-mounted speakers sound better than front-mounted speakers, but I at least have an experience to that effect. I bought a semi-open-backed Avatar G212H cab a few years back with Celestion G12H speakers. They came front-mounted. I was running my Marshall 1987X head through the cab, and it just sounded weird. There was a real "cardboardy" midrange thing going on that I didn't like at all. I went to Home Depot and bought the T-nuts and screws I needed and converted it to have the speakers rear-mounted. The difference in sound was immediate and very noticable. The cardboardy midrange was totally gone and the sound was much fuller and sweeter. The only conclusion I can come to is that the compression of the frame against the back of the baffle suppressed some resonance that I want suppressed. Avatar changed their cabinet construction to rear-mounted speakers within a year of that, quite possibly due to feedback from customers who had similar experiences to mine.

As far as another reason to mount the speakers from the rear, it's a lot easier to swap speakers out and periodically check the screws for tightness if it's done that way.

I have both, and I do prefer the rear-loaded cabs.

Steve

i think there is also a "lensing effect" with the thickness of the baffel board out in front of the speaker. Dunlavy and other high end audio speaker makers sometimes constructed such things out of foam. that said my Z is back loaded and i'm happy