That is a very useful qualification. I suppose a ruler-flat response does not necessarily have to be the only goal, particularly with a vintage Altec system, and a modest 2–3 dB rise might provide exactly the additional bass weight that suits the particular driver and application.Although a flat passband response is the desired goal, a lot of times, a few dB of ripple (2~3dB) is not a bad thing depending on the application and particular woofer. A few dB of ripple can emulate a "bass boost" if needed for a particular need or again an application.
For me, the main lesson is therefore not that the original port arrangement is necessarily wrong, but that it should not automatically be assumed to be optimal either. Since I have not yet built my cabinets, making the ports adjustable would allow me to compare a relatively flat alignment with one that deliberately adds a little more bass weight.