I was told Ported is better SQ than sealed today!!??

[snb778 5,000+ posts]

Ok guys, now im really confused...my whole life I have heard and been tought that a sealed box is better SQ than a ported box, BUT today at work I was told different by one of our new master installers....

We were looking at a sealed box with an alpine type R in it when one our new master installers says "i hate sealed boxes" I asked him why and he replied with "the SQ on the is horrible" I looked at him confused because my whole life all I have heard is that for SQ, you want sealed, SPL you want ported. His argument was that all the air inside a sealed box is uncontrolled, bouncing all over the place throwing the subwoofer out of control when it hits low notes.

He explained that on a ported box, the air is more controlled, hence being able to tune a ported box to a certine frequency, so you can control the sub more within that certine frequency range. He also went to Mobile Dyanmics, but it was the one in AZ. He said this is what the acoustics teacher there tought them. Is this true, because I am very confused right now??

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[Black_Jesus 10+ year member]

i second that laugh..

 

[swaptrex 10+ year member]

do you by chance work at best buy?? //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

 

[BeanII 10+ year member]

Okay, point of debate for Jmac and a few others. Through literal definitions of SQ and SPL out. By literal, I mean competition rules and standards. Let's just say you want an audio system for you to listen to. Not to compete with (which is how I design an audio system). If that's the case, I have to agree with the dude that said ported sounds better. Obviously not for the reason he stated. What is controlled air anyway? hahaha

My experience has been that the bump in volume you get from a ported box tends to compensate for deficiencies (sp) in environment. Also, a properly tuned box, as you well know, is going to provied a certain amount of gain to the area of bass that the user wants. Right? Knowing this, isn't it safe to say that without an eq, you'll loose performance from a sealed enclosure when it's put into the car?

Now, I know I've opened a huge can of worms and I often don't communicate very well in posts so don't take any of this to literally. But, I just want your thoughts. Because I for one beleive that a ported enclosure can easily sound as good as sealed.

I don't want to turn this into a flame war, I really just want a discussion about it.

 

[BeanII 10+ year member]

yeah it is funny. but what about this misconception that

sealed = SQ

Ported = SPL

that's just crap as far as I'm concerned.

Anybody else?

 

[creater 10+ year member]

now thats funny^^^

 

[jujumantb 10+ year member]

Don't you know that most high-end home theater speakers sound like shit because they're ported ?

Well wouldnt you say that they are ported to attain a flat frequency response? You cant really argue ported has worse transient response, it simply does. Obviously, a flat repsonse is more important for SQ than transient response, hence home audio woofers are ported. In car, a sealed box coupled with cabin gain can make a **** flat response WITH good transient response. I dont see how their can be a true SQ comparison IN-CAR between sealed and ported... sealed has every advantage.

 

[60ndown 10+ year member]

i have built 8 different sub enclosures in the last year, the slot ported tuned to 32hz driver specific enclosure i tried today was the worst with regard to sq, it did a couple of things well, but i am very familiar with some tracks ive had for years, and even tuned to 32 hz it was missing alot of low end in my opinion (32-20?), was slow, and innaccurate. after less than an hour listening and tweaking i realized it was not what i wanted and decided to give it away or burn it!

 

[Insomniac119 10+ year member]

It all depends on your own definition of SQ. For some people sound quality is how flat the frequency responce is, to others it's how tight and accurate the notes are being reproduced. My own definition follows more closely along the later. And using that definition, yes, ported enclosures can sound just as good as sealed and possibly even better. If having the first definition in mind, than, no, a ported box cannot sound as good as a sealed box.

 

[jujumantb 10+ year member]

It all depends on your own definition of SQ. For some people sound quality is how flat the frequency responce is, to others it's how tight and accurate the notes are being reproduced. My own definition follows more closely along the later. And using that definition, yes, ported enclosures can sound just as good as sealed and possibly even better. If having the first definition in mind, than, no, a ported box cannot sound as good as a sealed box.

ehh, still not as accurate as sealed, again, transient reponse suffers in ported. if well designed, it may often be inaudible to most people. I'm not saying ported cant sound good, as Jmac pointed out, home audio uses ported extensively and they dont sound bad.

Real SQ *should* always be defined as the most accurate reproduction of the music as it was recorded IMO.

 

[jujumantb 10+ year member]

Read the whole thread ...

ok, but lets keep this to a CAR audio discussion. I still dont see how you could say ported is more listenable in terms of true SQ (accurate reproduction).

 

[jujumantb 10+ year member]

That is the only definition of sound quality; how accurate the reproduction of the source material is.
However, this debate isn't about what has better SQ, it's about what sounds better ...

This will, of course, depend on the equipment, the setup, and the listener ...

touche'

disregard my previous post btw

 

[UndercoverPunk 5,000+ posts]

Well, I'm starting to understand some other people's opinion of this forum....

 

[jujumantb 10+ year member]

I still don't see how people can say and teach that sealed is for SQ and ported is for SPL ... It's one of the most asinine statements one can make when referring to enclosure design ...
Again, we're not using the definition of SQ, we're debating what sounds better ... When people say, "ported for SPL," it implies ported sounds worse than sealed by nature, which is completely untrue ...

I would never make such a generalized statement as sealed is for SQ, ported is for SPL. If you feel we are debating simply what sounds better, than this debate is about as helpful as debating about which color is the prettiest.

 

[UndercoverPunk 5,000+ posts]

Green is the best ever

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