Really digging the sealed enclosure

[gstokes]

no regrets with choosing a sealed enclosure, 2 - 12's and 500W is plenty loud and Bass is super tight, almost went ported and soooooooooooooooo glad i didn't, before you go with a ported enclosure take a listen to a sealed box with enough power to run the subs and probably won't want a ported box but i know the majority of people here are all about SPL and how many miles away they can hear the music and there's nothing wrong with that but if you're a little older like me (54) and you prefer SQ along with your SPL then sealed is the way to go and it gets plenty low.

I chose a pre-loaded enclosure from MTX with 400W Terminator Subs and it sounds fantastic, at my listening level which louder than h... i can't see any reason to upgrade the subs, maybe if i compared it with better quality subs i could tell difference but it sounds great to me just the way it is and doesn't have that unrealistic boomy sound which i can't stand, just my $.02

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[Beatin' 10+ year member]

i have two 15's sealed on 1,000 watts and it's still not loud enough for my tastes. The chambers are 2cubes each and are a bit too small. Can't play under 35hz worth crap. They still flex the windshield though........

my opinion based on experiences, others may disagree:

That "boomy" sound that you hate is what bass is supposed to sound like. That so called "natural" sound that people claim they enjoy so much is simply nothing more than a hard roll off past Fc. Indicative that you don't like loud and low.

 

[bradl79 10+ year member]

yeah i went from ported to sealed and i love it, it sounds cleaner, does not sound all muddy, though i felt more with port, i like sealed better for the music i do listen to which is not heavy bass music.

 

[gstokes]

I don't have a meter so i have no idea how low it goes and like bradl79 i listen to real music like classic rock, pop, hip hop, reggae but you definately won't find any dedicated bass tracks designed to squeeze out the last octave in my music collection..

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

You must have not heard a properly built ported box built for music and not for lows. Majority of these ported guys on here tune low and oversize enclosures for efficiency and powerful low end therefore sacrificing top end bass and some accuracy. Seeing as how you have mtx terminators, means you haven't had much experience with great systems in very well made enclosures yet. Just saying a well made ported enclosure built for rock, edm, classics, metal, dubstep, pop, mainstream, country etc, basically a big library of songs instead of just decaf, rap and hip-hop, can sound just as accurate and pleasant sounding as sealed but will hit much harder.

however, that being said, as long as your happy with your current system, thats all that matters.

 

[bbeljefe]

It's great that you're happy with what you have but I'll have to echo Jeffdachef's comment. A proper vented enclosure or, better still a t-line, will produce bass that's every bit as "tight" and clean as a sealed box and it will do it from 100Hz down to 20.

Most people here would say that a good sub in the right ported box will out perform a sealed box. I will say that any sub in the right ported box will outperform a sealed box.

 

[Beatin' 10+ year member]

In my opinion, if you go sealed it should be a 4th order. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[gstokes]

Impressive, i had no idea a ported enclosure could sound as tight as a sealed enclosure, guess it greatly depends on the subwoofer and the enclosure itself, right ?

Most systems i have listened too are bass heavy and the lows dominate the music, i prefer a balanced mixture of all the tonal frequencies and not just the lows.

I think you're right and i just haven't heard a balanced system with a ported enclosure, on that note i probably shouldn't because then i would have something to compare my system against and chances are i would find myself unhappy with my current configuration and then find myself changing components and spending more money on something that once upon a time i was happy with, the 'if it ain't broke don't it' fix logic it rules my world for sure, cheers..

 

[gstokes]

I already knew that a ported enclosure required less power to reproduce the same bass as an sealed enclosure but now i am realizing that the sealed box with the highly increased pressures is hard on the subwoofer itself and a high quality subwoofer designed for a sealed box would shine on like a crazy diamond, what "economical" subwoofers would be an improvement to my current setup, for now i want to stay with a sealed enclosure but i do have interest in upgrading the subs, perhaps a sub with a much stiffer cast aluminum basket would be better choice for a subwoofer that is used in a sealed box, yes ?

 

[Beatin' 10+ year member]

I already knew that a ported enclosure required less power to reproduce the same bass as an sealed enclosure but now i am realizing that the sealed box with the highly increased pressures is hard on the subwoofer itself and a high quality subwoofer designed for a sealed box would shine on like a crazy diamond, what "economical" subwoofers would be an improvement to my current setup, for now i want to stay with a sealed enclosure but i do have interest in upgrading the subs, perhaps a sub with a much stiffer cast aluminum basket would be better choice for a subwoofer that is used in a sealed box, yes ?

lol

If you acquired a sub particularly designed to play best in a sealed box, you would hate it because it would be "boomy". These subs have very low Fs among other factors and play strong in the 25-50hz range.

 

[dbjunior 10+ year member]

The biggest problem with ported is group delay. Most people designing ported boxes don't design based on group delay which can lead to a very muddy sound.