Ported vs Sealed Box Enclosure

[jimmayor007]

70% of your sound of your sub woofer is due to the design and build quality of your sub enclosure. When picking a sub woofer box, deciding to either go sealed or ported will determine how your system will sound.

Sealed sub woofer boxes tend to be much smaller than ported enclosures, since they use the air inside the box as a spring for the enclosure. If you don't have much space, it would be a good idea to go with a sealed box. Not only is there a size difference, but there's also a difference in sound compared to a ported box. Generally the larger the box gets the lower the tone of bass is achieved. However if the box gets too large the "spring" effect that the air creates may be lost losing on loudness and crispness. Sealed enclosures produce tight, accurate bass and have a flat frequency response curve. They are the enclosure of choice when quality is the ultimate goal of the system set up.

Ported subwoofer boxes can get very large and have many varying factors that will determine their size and bass output. For example the port has to be relative in size to the boxes volume depending on how much loudness vs quality is desired. Ported enclosures create louder bass than sealed enclosures, and allow you to tune the box to a specific frequency to determine how the bass will sound. Higher tuning on a ported box will get louder, but you will ose on sound quality. Lower tuning will still get louder than a sealed box, and at the same time deliver good sound quality. Generally this is a box for a set up where "boom" is the ultimate goal. Port area plays a major role in these types of enclosures. Too little a port area can result in port noise, which can severely detract from the sound quality. However, if your goal is to get loud bass and you don't care too much about the sound quality, a ported box, tuned high, with a large amount of port area is the way to go.

[SRCRX]

nice I Guess??

[BanginJimmy]

you have a few of the basics correct, but you also have a few wrong.

Ported is just as well suited to an SQ set-up as sealed, if not more. The ability to tune the enclosure is extremely well suited to SQ. A sealed enclosure only has 2 things up on ported. Size and the ease of design and build. After that everything sways towards a ported enclosure.

[Dracc]

you have a few of the basics correct, but you also have a few wrong.

Ported is just as well suited to an SQ set-up as sealed, if not more. The ability to tune the enclosure is extremely well suited to SQ. A sealed enclosure only has 2 things up on ported. Size and the ease of design and build. After that everything sways towards a ported enclosure.

I prefer ported over sealed when my build goes around it... if i'm doin a setup and none of my amps have subsonic.. sealed for the time being lol i know right.. but most of my amps are subsonic other then the jl 1000/1

[BanginJimmy]

unless you are tuned above 40hz you can even get away without a subsonic filter, unless you listen to bass music. VERY little rap and metal use anyting lower than about 35-40hz.

For thoe of you that dont know what a subsonic filter is, its basicly a hi pass x-over, but it is set to a low freq.

[redgst97]

I have seen VERY few sound quality competition vehicles with ported enclosures that are used for actualy sound quality... I am sure they exist, but just have not seen too many.

Sealed is by far the most common, with infinite baffle making a comeback recently.

[BanginJimmy]

grante it been a few years, but I have been to a couple SQ comps. Gary Biggs and Alma gates were both running ported 15's in SQ. I'm not really big into SQ, but there were several others using ported. the winning of 1 clas was running a complete focal system where even the midbass was ported.

[Jaimecbr900]

This looks a lot like spam, although it's good information.

Please remove the ebay link.

[redgst97]

Gary Biggs uses a sealed 12" in the dash for SQ...and 15s in the back for SPL. His setup has been that way since at LEAST 1999.

Alma, in her SQ configuration, used 8s or 10s for midbass, and 12s or 15s for sub bass. Again, sealed. The rear of the vehicle had a seperate sub system for SPL.

I do the same thing in the Eclipse....single 10" sealed for SQ, and multiple 10s for SPL. Granted, my SPL enclosure is also sealed. 4 10s sealed plus 600 watts in an Eclipse yields over 150db....when done properly.

[killerdx]

so in a 97 hatchback which would be better, I have two 12" eclipse subs and a memphis 1000 watt class d amp?I have a ported box now but i also have a sealed box from my old set up. the sealed box is actually seperated inside, i really dont know why that is :thinking:

[LSkid96]

a ported box lets more basss out thats were u hear the bass from a distance a sealed box keeps alot of the bass inside the car

[b@d @pple]

a ported box lets more basss out thats were u hear the bass from a distance a sealed box keeps alot of the bass inside the car

stop posting useless ass opinions,you dont what the **** your talking about

[Allstar3.8T]

stop posting useless ass opinions,you dont what the **** your talking about
haha, wow, what do you REALLY think?!
I'd argue my civic w/ its sealed enclosure could be heard outside the car...maybe it was just me though.
Why not all you people w/ questions, just ask them, redgst97 or b@d@pple can answer them, but spouting shear rubbish only slows the learning curve.

[R_Rated]

you have a few of the basics correct, but you also have a few wrong.

Ported is just as well suited to an SQ set-up as sealed, if not more. The ability to tune the enclosure is extremely well suited to SQ. A sealed enclosure only has 2 things up on ported. Size and the ease of design and build. After that everything sways towards a ported enclosure.

The attack of the sub will never be the same when comparing sealed vs ported. Never. This maks a HUGE difference for listening to music.

That being said, just as SPL systems sound terrible, a true SQ system will not sound as good as you would think for the simple act of loading a CD and pressing play. Just as SPL, SQ is something that is purpose built.

I have a very kick ass system in my car. I have not seen ANY system on here or anywhwere that I would like better for me. However, I doubt I would do very well in a SQ comp. I even have stuff like Focal Utopia Be's, Auddisson amps etc... in other worlds very good ****. I also have a Kenwood double din DVD player. I Love it and when I got it I liked it's feature set the best. This unit is fantastis for listening to music... terrible for any competition.

The reason I am bringing up my system is to make the point that there are 2 categories. The big differentiators are competition and "daily driving." When people say they want an SQ system they really do not know what they are talking about if they are not competing. Saying you might compete one day... well how many 240 ownes do you know that talk about drifting but have stock rear ends?

[KPFphotography]

depends on what sound you want and how powerful your subs are