Help me decide where to mount my woofer enclosures

[Boz]

I'm not really sure where to mount the speaker enclosure for my woofers. The tweeter and mid will be mounted in the marquee overhang. I want to use the existing enclosures because they are already constructed and the speakers are already "tuned" for the volume of space in them. Here's a pic of the speaker before I disassembled the contents.

(The 4 two-by-fours in my cabinet are no longer structurally needed. They can, and probably will, be removed.)

Option #1
Mounting them toward the back of the cabinet facing the sides.
I'll certainly need to have not only cut-outs for the speakers themselves, but also for the air ports (2). I'm thinking this might be ok since I'll have plenty of sound surrounding the cabinet and the thick side section of the cabinet should provide ample structural rigidity even after I cut holes. The downside to this is that I'll need covers for the speakers that will protrude from the cabinet by at least an inch if not more. My cabinet is already VERY wide at 32.5". I'd have to take the speaker covers off just to get it through my doors.

Option #2
Mounting them facing forward just behind the coin door.
I'm not necessarily a big fan of this option merely because it's going to require a lot more fabrication. However, it makes more sense for them to be pointed toward the front where people will be standing and playing. The BOOM, BOOM bass sound will be kind of interesting as it rattles people's shins. I think this option will require me to fabricate air ports that extend to the front of the cabinet (the coin mech is in the way) Also to consider is that my control panel weighs a ton. There's probably not much concern for being unstable given the material I used (3/4 birch vern. plywood), but it's a thought. Though this would require more work, aesthetically, I think this might be the best solution.

Option #3
Facing down toward the rear of the cabinet
I would opt for this merely because the frequency of the sound is in the low range and it's unidirectional. There wouldn't be any need to worry about what the holes looked like from an aesthetics perspective since no one would see them. Also, I wouldn't have to construct additional air ports or extensions to them. The con for this option is ease of repair or replacement should I need to get in there for some reason, and the amount of dust/debris that can get kicked up into the speaker itself. Dust is a HUGE problem in my city.

Option #4
Facing outward, but toward the front of the cabinet
This is like option 1, but directly underneath the control panel and directly behind the coin door.

[NiteWalker]

I say go for option 2- mounting them facing forward. As stated it'll be more work, but the finished result will be that much nicer. Maybe consider putting the facing forward but in tha back? Is there a way to test how they sound in the various placements without mounting them permanently?

[Zakk]

Forward, definitely.  The highs are directional, so you want them coming right at you.  The other options (I think) would result in a very muffled or confusing sound (sound bouncing off walls before it hits your ears. 

Now if you go with more than 2 speakers, then you could try front and rear or side mounting...

[Boz]

Forward, definitely.  The highs are directional, so you want them coming right at you.  The other options (I think) would result in a very muffled or confusing sound (sound bouncing off walls before it hits your ears. 

Now if you go with more than 2 speakers, then you could try front and rear or side mounting...

Well, the tweeters and midrange have a common external casing. I'll be mounting those above the monitor in the marquee housing. Would you still have them face forward if there are no mid or tweet? The sound that emminates is so low I'm seriously considering mounting them facing down. Less work for a range that's so low it might not matter if they are visible.

Although. I am still on the fence.

[Boz]

I say go for option 2- mounting them facing forward. As stated it'll be more work, but the finished result will be that much nicer. Maybe consider putting the facing forward but in tha back? Is there a way to test how they sound in the various placements without mounting them permanently?

Well, there's probably not a chance of hearing them before I mount them simply because any one of these solutions require big giant holes. 

[Zakk]

Oh, then I change my answer to:  Wherever it is easiest to mount them!

Seriously, bass just travels everywhere

[4Aaron GE]

Given the size of those drivers, options 4 then 1 would be ideal.  I'm not sure what kind of amp you're going to use to power those, but you might be able to get away with option 3 if it's sufficiently powerful and the cabinet is raised off of the ground a little.  I would be VERY hesitant to go with option 2.  Not only are you limiting the space for the sound waves to come out of the cab, by lengthening the ports by that extent, you'll be massively changing the tuning of the enclosures as well.  And like you said, the enclosures are already tuned to the speakers.

As far as putting covers on the speakers, you don't have to get ones that will protrude out the side of the cabinet.  Just have the grille countersunk into the cabinet itself.  I would probably just make the grille out of a ring of material and cover it with grille cloth like this, and then affix it to the main body of the the cabinet with glue or pegs.

[DeLong20]

If they fit, put them in your basement!

[Boz]

After hearing the advice here and some from a friend who installs audio equipment for a living, I decided to mount the base drivers facing down toward the floor. I JUST completed Oscar's volume pot instructions (on the first try without testing and soldering my connections) and it worked right out of the box (so to speak). WOW! I'm grateful for my decision to use the Studio series JBL speakers and split out the mid/tweet from the base drivers. This thing sound INCREDIBLE at full volume with absolutely ZERO distortion (75w/channel Niles amp into 125w/8 ohlm speakers). The bass is rich and VERY full and the mids and highs sound good (though they will sound better after I enclose them in the marquee enclosure).

Oh... I also did this while having glass after glass of SoCo and Dr Pepper. I'm pretty wasted right now, but damned my speakers sound good!    I seem to be able to concentrate better on the detail work after a few adult beverages. Woo Hoo!