Is flush-mounting loudspeakers a good idea?

ALL loudspeakers that are traditional 'square box type' designs benefit from flush mounting for the following reasons:

• Edge diffraction is eliminated so the midrange is smoother.
• Eliminates the cancellation reflection from the wall behind the loudspeaker.
• Acoustical loading is increased so the loudspeaker does not have to work so hard at low frequencies.

The following should be considered when flush-mounting any loudspeaker:

• For the benefits listed above the wall construction should be solid and consisting of heavy mass material. However this can lead to reverberation time problems at low frequencies
• Amplifier cooling should be sufficient
• The loudspeaker's acoustical tone controls must support the change in acoustical loading presented by the wall surrounding the loudspeaker enclosure, which implements as 'infinite baffle' load. If these adjustments are not done, then a flat frequency response may not be achieved.
• The flush mounting details around the enclosure should be as smooth as possible; otherwise the cabinet edge diffraction benefits will be wasted