Cast Your VOTES!!!

 

I remember reading it depends on your type of music. Ported will yield more oomph and is good for rap/hip hop music. Sealed for tighter bass and is good for rock and others. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. I have a sealed box as I listen to a big variety of music.

 

Ported You Need a Much larger box, More "Boom" sounding. Sealed smaller box much more tight bass

 

When it comes down to it, it really depends on the sub... especially with a ported enclosure. Pick the wrong sub for a vented enclosure and you will end up with a boomy mess. Sealed enclosures are much more forgiving for subs with the trade-off being efficiency.

 

Hit it right on the nose. Majority of the subs I've owned worked well with either enclosure except for the Focal 27A's, which required a ported enclosure. Personally I prefer sealed. I listen to all types of music, from metal to jazz to rap to some 80's and others. I am a fan of low end and a smooth response curve so sealed works best for me, although originally I swore I'd never go back to sealed once I had a ported setup.

I've used 10's, 12's, 15's, and 18's and although I would love to do an 18 in the G, I'd rather not take up so much space so a 15 will do. I also like IB (infinite baffle) setups, even though I haven't had one myself, but heard several of them.

 

If you are willing to sacrifice a little space ported boxes sound best. Those tones that rattle your lungs <40hz will sounds best.

If I listened to rock I would do sealed. but I don't.

 

like everybody said, it all depends on the sub and what u listen to. but i personally perfer ported

 

I disagree with ported sounding best. Large sealed and proper amount of power will outperform a ported enclosure if the sub can handle both types of enclosures. You have greater power handling with sealed enclosures and you don't have to worry about setting the SSF on an amp, and you can get MUCH lower. Only way I would go ported is if it were tuned between 15 and 25 Hz.

 

and the winner is...
it depends.


vented box :
1. generally will require more airspace
2. will have +3db of gain at ported frequency (i.e. twice as much output)
3. will not control excursion below ported frequency (sub will unload/bottom out)
4. will limit excursion at ported frequency

sealed box :
1. generally will produce more accurate bass
2. generally will not require as much airspace
3. generally will have flatter frequency response
4. generally will have longer excursion at most frequencies

A sealed box will give you better *extension* into the low frequencies, while a ported box will jam hard and then die off below its tuned freq... which is where some people get confused as to which is better for "low bass".

Box design is not independent of speaker selection or amp selection or install vehicle or musical taste.

With that said... I'm a fan of low-tuned ported boxes or sealed boxes with plenty of powa.

For awhile, I had a JL 12w3, JL 500/1 ported box tuned to 28 hz. That was a sweet setup
Then again I also had 600w to my front stage, so that helped.

 

^that explains it all

 

I had 2 12' Bosten Acoustic's ported to 32hz in the back of an rx7 turbo 2. I had to replace all the weatherstripping and latch because it created too much window travel and I was at risk of shattering the window! Now that made your lungs rattle! Loved it!