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Tone
,→Cabinet Back
=== Cabinet Back ===
Another huge impact on tone is the construction of the back of the cabinet. The back of the cabinet is important because as the front of the speaker pushes air outward, the back of it the speaker is pulling air in the opposite direction. Sound travels in all directions, and without a cabinet at all, a speaker will absorb most of the sound pushed from the front by pulling from it from the back. Directionality is frequency dependent (sort of - dependent on the size of the speaker), with low frequencies spreading more than highs. Thus, speakers will sound bright and thin without a cabinet.
Typically, there's either open back, half-back, 3/4 back, or closed back. Any kind of opening in the back will cancel out some lows, with the smaller the opening, the less lows canceled out. Furthermore, a fully closed design will have a stronger impact on resonance, covered below. On the other hand, a fully closed back requires compressing the air inside the cabinet, which means more of the speakers' energy is spent on compressing air vs. outputting sound. So open back designs are louder than closed back.