sealed or ported for this sub

[caraudio93 10+ year member]

I know that car audio fanatics always talk about there being such a difference between sealed and ported, but is there really? I have never had a setup before, but I have heard my friends high end systems, and some of my friends low end systems. There is a difference, but I am not really an audiophile. I finally got around to ordering the stuff for my first setup, and I got an audiopipe amp and an audiopipe 15" TS-VR15. I'm wondering if I should buy a ported or sealed box? I have an extended cab ford ranger. I hear everyone talking about phase and tuning and bouncing the waves off certain spots, but will all of that stuff really make that much of a difference to me personally? Is it better to build a box or just buy one for 40$? and, sealed or ported? Thanks Oh, and I don't just want to be loud and booming. I do care a little bit about the quality, I would like it to be as loud as possible without sounding terrible. I would rather have SQ over SP if it came down to a choice. Thanks again

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[winkychevelle 10+ year member]

Ported can get louder at any frequency than a sealed box depending on the tuning of the box. But that doesn't mean that it doesn't sound as good. Personally for a 15 I'd go 3-3.25 cubes tuned to 32-36 hz just because that's common and generally easy to find box designs.

The difference in building your own box or getting one built and that 40buck box is generally the craftsmanship the cheap box isn't made out of the best materials or glued and properly sealed. Not to mention prefab ported boxes are tuned real high with very little internal volume.

 

[GAMEOVERCCA 10+ year member]

in my years i have always gotten more PUNCH out of sealed box's and LOUDER bass out of ported, but it really depends what your looking to achieve, the set up, the sub, there is alot of factors when choosing box design, 1 thing i can say is dont settle for a prefab your will MUCH happier with a custom, and there fun to build if you take the time to do it right

if your looking for high output go ported

if your looking for a cleaner punch go sealed

hope that helps a little

 

[pocker]

if your looking for high output go ported

if your looking for a cleaner punch go sealed

it is right answer

 

[Kangaroux 5,000+ posts]

however, if you're running a 15, do the right thing and run it ported lol

 

[winkychevelle 10+ year member]

I don't know how you say sealed is cleaner. The difference is only output on a givin frequency range. The control over the cone is still the same wether it be controlled by compressed air in a sealed box or the air mass in a port. If want punchy bass tune higher around 40-42 hz but it won't be Much different the only reason sealed sounds tighter is because it takes power less efficiently causing users to apply more power.

Now response curves are different as the sealed box has a smooth response curve and the ported has a peak but u can adjust port area port tuning and box size to more or less flatten the response

 

[Kangaroux 5,000+ posts]

I don't know how you say sealed is cleaner. The difference is only output on a givin frequency range. The control over the cone is still the same wether it be controlled by compressed air in a sealed box or the air mass in a port. If want punchy bass tune higher around 40-42 hz but it won't be Much different the only reason sealed sounds tighter is because it takes power less efficiently causing users to apply more power.
Now response curves are different as the sealed box has a smooth response curve and the ported has a peak but u can adjust port area port tuning and box size to more or less flatten the response

sealed's have a definite potential of being much "faster" when it comes to stuff like double bass kicks. they are more accurate than most ported boxes..

 

[Buck 5,000+ posts]

Ported.

 

[winkychevelle 10+ year member]

Have u ever listen to a ported setup that was designed for metal rock music all these double kicks are just high frequncy bass. Get a ten inch sub and put it in roughly 1.25 ported at about 38hz it'll do just fine with your double kicks cause the box is small enough to have compression similar to a sealed box yet since it's ported it will be louder in the frequency range that the double kicks are present. Now be it for some subs that are excellent performers in sealed boxes there are way more drivers that will do just as good in a properly built ported enclosure. I'd like u to stick a dd 2500 in a sealed box then ported and tell me which sounds better. Ported will since that's what the sub was designed for just as my ultimo is designed for sealed.

 

[smd4life 5,000+ posts]

go ported if you have the room....you'lll want it ported with audiopipe subs...they aren't that loud at all but they last FOREVER

 

[FtheNutHuggers]

How about you have an acoustic engineer design what it takes to give you what you're asking for?

 

[winkychevelle 10+ year member]

I don't have any degree I've just built roughly a hundred boxes for my old eclipse with several different subs it's all about having the right combination. Trial and error and a little luck. I rather ported for the output. saying sealed is cleaner is just noob talk unless it's for a sealed box woofer.

 

[Wingman0121 10+ year member]

I think that Audippipe sub likes ported better. Haven't seen any Audiopipe subs that isn't in a ported box.

Now if you're buying a classic Solo-Baric then it'd be sealed and sealed only.

 

[FtheNutHuggers]

Trial and error is what people do when they dont understand the math involved. Its pure math. Engineering is available to everyone (almost) for a very small fee actually. When a manufacturer states that the sub is "best in this or that type of box", they really are broadcasting that they dont know. There is nothing wrong with that either, but they need to just say it, admit it, whatever they want to call it. Dont you admit that you dont have a structural engineering degree, therefor you cannot construct a hybrid suspension bridge to replace the golden gate bridge? Of course, and it doesnt hurt your feelings in the least. The math involved in that profession is definite, there is no guesswork....only math. The construction/assembly techniques are already there.....they are not guessing. There is a service available with all the defined math already there. BTW, the information (to learn) is all out there also, but of all the enthusiasts i know out there, none love it enough to do what it takes to learn everything required to truly engineer enclosures for exact response curves at a specific target listening position in a defined, contained environment.

For a quick analogy as back-up info: if u sit in your living room, center of your couch....have your buddy move your subwoofer around the room to different locations and you easily notice the response is different at every location. The manufacturer of that piece had to choose a single enclosure, but knew it would sound different in EVERY application.....yet they bother to give you response specs at 1w/1m as if they apply to your room, your sitting position and your sub position. The same thing applies to the vehicle, just that small interior shape changes affect the response more drastically. Trunk or SUV, that is like adding or taking away another whole chamber of a bandpass enclosure. Ported or sealed is not the real question. The question is, can i get the desired results with my available sub, power, vehicle, listening position, max box dimensions and box location? Whatever type of box alignment it takes to get that response is what it takes....a manufacturer recommended ported box could utterly fail when it could actually be a single reflex bandpass that does the job perfectly.....but the manufacturer says the EBP or QTS numbers mean that it wont work in a sealed box of any sort.

 

[Bassin Brandon]

fthe, please check your PM box //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif