How are rear-ported centers incorporated into the design? It seems like the port would have to be in the front to avoid chamber resonances.
My problem is with a center speaker in a cabinet? 
You both raise a legitimate point. That is a detail that will have to be addressed.
When Bruce first came up with the idea, he needed some measurements. So I provided him with the measurements of the Veracity HTC center channel which is a sealed design. When he actually built the cabinets, we were working on a SongTower setup in rosewood. He liked the veneer, so I gave him some to play with. When he finished the prototype, we photographed it with the speakers we had been working on (just to show the concept).
Naturally, the ideal situation is to have all speakers free-standing. But sometimes, the physical setup or significant other will simply not allow it. I cannot tell you how many people contact us about building speakers to install in cabinets so that they are not visible in the room. This always presents compromises and we always take time to explain the trade-offs and explore solutions to at least make the best of the situation.
In a number of cases, customers have wanted HT3's and had alcoves designed into the wall structure of their homes to accommodate them. In one case, we actually convinced the customer to demolish the alcoves. Unfortunately, not all customers have that option. So we do the best we can with the given situation. That may involve front ports, sealed woofers, or some other approach to make the best of the situation.
As we continue to develop this particular concept, obviously this is a situation we will need to address with the SongCenter. The opening for the speaker can be customized for the exact width and height of the SongCenter (this was worked into the design concept, but not this particular prototype). As for porting, an open back cabinet is one possibility although it would likely be backed up against the wall. Another possibility is to down port the speaker through the platform. And of course we would have to look at the baffle step compensation situation as well.
All of these details would need to be addressed to take the concept forward. But in the situation where speakers need to be mounted in a cabinet to keep domestic peace, at least we have a greater deal of control over the outcome than is presented by many customers with existing furniture. So, while perhaps not optimum, we could at least optimize the situation.
We try to do the best we can for each customer. But in the end, once we lay out all the pros and cons of a given setup, the final decision rests with the customer. After all, we are building their systems, not ours.
- Jim
