Fi q 12in ported or 15in sealed

[ExplicitUrSelf 10+ year member]

Here's the deal... The car is a 2001 chevrolet s10 blazer 4 door and i currently have a 12in l7 kicker (4ohm dvc) with an enclosure of 3.75^3.ocft @ 35hz... powering with an Sundown audio saz1000.1d the sub is currently gettinh 600rms on a 2ohm load... i'm looking for something with quality and want it to get low and loud. i've came to a conlusion to go with an Fi q, the only problem is i don't know whether to go with a 12in fi q 2.5cft@ 32hz or a 15in fi q with an 2.6cft... not sure of options since havn't made up my mid on what size nor know what options to go with with either setup... i will be running the amp on a 1ohm load to feed 1k rms to this fi q. i'm leaning more to the 15in sealed since i can get more quality and loudness since it's bigger oppose to the 12in sealed...... but not sure... i listen to diff genras of music but mainly hip hop, trance 'n r & b I'm sort of limited on cargo space which is why i think of going 2.6sealed on the 15in... any ecpirenced user that can give some feedback would be great!!! thanks

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[matrxx dude 5,000+ posts]

the 12'' ported will be louder than the 15 sealed,especially on a single sub setup.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

Not louder overall but louder at the low freqs.

 

[ExplicitUrSelf 10+ year member]

i just want something that will sound good with most music types... this is a daily, not compitition at all... will the 12in fi q 2.5 @ 32hz give me what i am looking for?

 

[Cruzer 10+ year member]

They are both sq subs so both will sound good. The 12 will get louder at lower frequencies but the 15 sealed will have a slight edge in sq if ur a beginner box builder.

 

[Boomsday 10+ year member]

ported

 

[Buck 5,000+ posts]

12" ported, if you need a design, hit me up //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[Matthewop]

Awesome! 12 ported...

 

[t-money 10+ year member]

i had the same decision to make and i went with the 15 sealed(12 ported si mag or 15 sealed si mag). I asked this question years ago and was told by many the 15 will be louder. Sealed boxes play lower than ported so i'm not sure why some of the guys think the 12 ported will play lower. The 12's might be slightly louder in the higher frequencies but the 15 sealed should stomp it in the lower frequencies. I would take the 15.

 

[Cruzer 10+ year member]

i had the same decision to make and i went with the 15 sealed(12 ported si mag or 15 sealed si mag). I asked this question years ago and was told by many the 15 will be louder. Sealed boxes play lower than ported so i'm not sure why some of the guys think the 12 ported will play lower. The 12's might be slightly louder in the higher frequencies but the 15 sealed should stomp it in the lower frequencies. I would take the 15.

if u tune for music aka low, 30hz through 40-45hz the ported will be louder.

 

[ExplicitUrSelf 10+ year member]

I won't be building the enclosurem moost likely i'm going to have it custom made... If i decide to go with either setup which options on the sub should i go with?

 

[UMWDawg92 10+ year member]

12 ported if you want it to play low

 

[t-money 10+ year member]

if u tune for music aka low, 30hz through 40-45hz the ported will be louder.

louder where? the higher frequencies? cause sealed boxes play lower. I run two 15 si mags in a ported box tuned to 30hz and i used to have the same 15's sealed and the sealed box played lower than my ported box. So i really doubt the 12 ported can talk to the 15 sealed in lower frequencies

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

Technically, yes, a sealed box can play lower, however, if you look at the point at which each type begins to roll off, the properly tuned ported box begins to roll off much lower than the sealed box. From the point that the sealed box begins to roll off until the lower end of the ported box's output, the ported box is going to be louder. You can tune a ported box with the right sub that can play as low as most any music goes. Usable output in the mid 20s is entirely doable and at a higher output level than the sealed box can provide at the same freq. It isn't until you get to the extremely low frequencies that the sealed box can hold its own.

 

[rollingthunder 10+ year member]

Just to throw this in here, My 18" Q was ported in my suv, now sealed in my truck, and I miss the the old ported box //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

 

[UMWDawg92 10+ year member]

If you're looking to hit down into the 20's with authority go ported

 

[ejschultz 10+ year member]

A ported box will not have as smooth of a frequency response as a sealed box. You might be able to get a little louder off the ported 12", but the sealed 15" should sound better. By better, I mean cleaner, not louder. Realistically, because the cone is larger, I really doubt you'd be able to tell the difference between a sealed 15" vs. a ported 12", except the 12" will be "boomy" at certain frequencies, depending on how the box is tuned. I went to a sealed box in my Caprice, lost very little output, gained a ton of lows, and gained a bunch of quality. The little bit of output that was lost was definitely worth it for everything I gained (including getting my trunk space back). Next spring/summer, I plan on going sealed in the Jeep with the 15" I have in there as well, all for quality.

 

[d77543020 10+ year member]

port the 15 ftw

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

A ported box will not have as smooth of a frequency response as a sealed box. You might be able to get a little louder off the ported 12", but the sealed 15" should sound better. By better, I mean cleaner, not louder. Realistically, because the cone is larger, I really doubt you'd be able to tell the difference between a sealed 15" vs. a ported 12", except the 12" will be "boomy" at certain frequencies, depending on how the box is tuned. I went to a sealed box in my Caprice, lost very little output, gained a ton of lows, and gained a bunch of quality. The little bit of output that was lost was definitely worth it for everything I gained (including getting my trunk space back). Next spring/summer, I plan on going sealed in the Jeep with the 15" I have in there as well, all for quality.

The sub, the enclosure volume and the tuning are going to dictate how the sub sounds in each enclosure type. Taking the right sub and putting it in the right box, it shouldn't be boomy at all. My XXX12 was tight as hell ported. My Assassins were as well. The reason that most systems with ported boxes osund bad is that they are tuned for output, not smooth response. That's an install problem not a problem inherent to ported setups.

 

[UMWDawg92 10+ year member]

if a ported box is built and tuned properly it can have a flatter response than a sealed enclosure. Why do you think most highend home speakers are ported?