Morning all. Only got a quick listen last night but definitely a more bass focused presentation with the ports in place. Of course this seems at the expense of some midrange magic but that's probably expected as the mids aren't as well pronounced now things are more balanced. I think the soundstage is even deeper and more specific in placement which is good but overall the sound is not as engaging as before with the crossovers pushed into the box, but it's early doors. Possibly a slight lack of snap on leading edges and transients. The box isn't singing with the extra bass at all, they're very solid and inert.
There are two options if I decide to go for new cabs, bigger standmounts around the 130L mark or full on floorstanders 170L or so. It's a small upstairs room though with a suspended floor and I am concerned about boom. My stands are slightly oversized in footprint so could take a bigger box comfortably and the height could be reduced by cutting the legs a bit.
Not rushing into anything yet. Any ideas on cost to get half decent cabinets made?
Oh, Ken, from the "measured" data for the 385 on the hilberink site effective driver diameter is 32cm.
Edit - I'd like to try these with a good SS amp before making any further decisions. I'll have to see if I can annoy someone