Sealed vs Ported

[l0ckjaw 10+ year member]

Earlier today, I was told by a man working for a car audio store (Big Apple Audio) that porting an enclosure only adds a few dB. Now, I was under the impression that a sealed enclosure was for higher volumes (SQ?) and ported ones brought forth more bass (SPL?). Anyone clarify?

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[maniackilla 10+ year member]

porting can add volume for SPL but the quality does go down b/c the bass is being artificially amplified. however the SQ is so nominal compared to the amount of sound you can gain i wouldnt worry.

i go sealed myself b/c id eff up my tuning if i tried porting. sealed is much cheaper and easier too //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[LBX2G 10+ year member]

with sealed u can use it for spl but it will have to be a big ass box. and with ported u really do not have to go that big to get the same amount of spl out of it.

 

[adam71 5,000+ posts]

It all comes down to what you want. What is more important to you? Sound quality or SPL. If you port a box that was sealed you WILL lose some sound quality. Like I said, your subs = your choice. Just remember sealed is always tighter and a little more accurate.

Adam //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/cool.gif.3bcaf8f141236c00f8044d07150e34f7.gif

 

[adam71 5,000+ posts]

with sealed u can use it for spl but it will have to be a big ass box. and with ported u really do not have to go that big to get the same amount of spl out of it.

Not to disagree, but most subs call for a smaller box on "sealed" applications. And call for a bigger box in "ported" applications. Sealed boxes require more power to achieve desired levels. Ported boxes are more amplifier efficient, in other words, you don't need as much power for them to pound. Atleast thats always been the rule of thumb that I've lived by. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/banghead.gif.8606515f668c74f6de0281deb475b6fd.gif //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/crazy.gif.c13912c32de98515d3142759a824dae7.gif

 

[LBX2G 10+ year member]

just try it it works i know from experince

 

[-DZ- 10+ year member]

Earlier today, I was told by a man working for a car audio store (Big Apple Audio) that porting an enclosure only adds a few dB. Now, I was under the impression that a sealed enclosure was for higher volumes (SQ?) and ported ones brought forth more bass (SPL?). Anyone clarify?

A properly tuned ported enclosure can theoretically add 3dB of output over it's sealed counterpart. 3dB may not sound like a lot, but I think for every 9dB of output the sound is twice as loud to the ear.

 

[LuNaTiC 10+ year member]

what i have heard from other ppl is that for every 3 db added it gets twice as loud. this was from a very relible source.

 

[Matador 10+ year member]

what i have heard from other ppl is that for every 3 db added it gets twice as loud. this was from a very relible source.

that's what i read too. but 3db to be twice as loud seems a little bite exaggerated.

ported encosures can still sound good sq wise if tuned low. but ported will give u the loudest. but it also takes more space so both of them have their pros n cons. if spacei s not problem, port should be th way tto go. (if you want loudness)

 

[thinkbig 10+ year member]

Yes, ported boxes, in general, need to be larger than their sealed counterparts. A low-tuned, ported box can sound VERY musical and will have a little more output than the sealed box in most cases. A high-tuned, ported box is idea for SPL applications where you will only be playing test tones for competitions. At high frequencies which match or are close to your cars resonant frequency you can get spikes in output as high as 12 decibals. You won't usually see this in the real world as there are many other factors in a car, but plotting out higher tuned boxes will yield large spikes just above tuning.

 

[swimfreak26 10+ year member]

A 3 dB increase in pressure is equal to double the pressure....but it is not detected by your ear as doubling volume until you reach somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 dB