SQ Guys Who Went From Sealed to Ported?

[chillin 10+ year member]

can you tell by the specs on the sub whether it will be better in a specific box?

 

[lebomb 10+ year member]

Went from sealed to ported at 40hz, back to sealed and finally to ported at 34hz..........Im real happy now.

 

[T3mpest 10+ year member]

hmmmm, I have an IDQ10 that I wish I had tried ported at some point. Not using it now. ID really encourages sealed -- but I have seen several people say the ported is the was to go with them.
The only thing I read that I did not like is where you say your current setup is not very flat. I prefer flat.

stick with sealed. The entire advantage to ported is you get a boost over a given set of freqeuencies, just before you drop like a rock past tuning. Group delay can tend to bite you in the *** too. Your not listening to bass heavy music anyway, so the extra ouput it useless.

 

[2wheeler 10+ year member]

hmmmm, I have an IDQ10 that I wish I had tried ported at some point. Not using it now. ID really encourages sealed -- but I have seen several people say the ported is the was to go with them.
The only thing I read that I did not like is where you say your current setup is not very flat. I prefer flat.

I'm running a single IDQ10, I had it in a sealed box that was a little too big, (.68 vs .60 recommended IIRC) but the output on 400w wasn't quite what I wanted. I talked to Eric at ID and rebuilt my box at .74 ported at 32hz. Much better output, just a tiny bit more boomy at times. Still very good sq to my untrained ears and the output sounds like I added a second sub/amp.

Very good guys at ID, BTW. I called looking to get info on buying different subs and they helped me get what I wanted with the sub I already had. I'm looking at new comps and IDs are at the top of the list.

 

[req 5,000+ posts]

the only problem with IB imo is that you sacrifice volume. so in order to make up for that, i doubled my cone area.

the asskicking heartstopping bass is NOT there if thats what you mean. its still ****in loud. i did a 139 on the TL with my IDQ's IB with 600w.

so its not quiet. but there are setups that can get a lot louder, but not many can sound better imo.

 

[iceteebone 5,000+ posts]

can you tell by the specs on the sub whether it will be better in a specific box?

if you have a program like bass box pro it'll tell you from entering ts parameters

 

[Immacomputer 10+ year member]

stick with sealed. The entire advantage to ported is you get a boost over a given set of freqeuencies, just before you drop like a rock past tuning. Group delay can tend to bite you in the *** too. Your not listening to bass heavy music anyway, so the extra ouput it useless.

Even in a large enclosure tuned around 30hz, an IDQ will have a completely inaudible group delay.

I also wouldn't say the extra output is useless. It can be nice having some low end fill for songs you might not notice it on. For example, My Chemical Romance's song "The Ghost of You" has some 28hz material in it that I never noticed in my setup before I went ported. It gives the song a new depth that it didn't have. It doesn't make it crazy loud and overwhelming but it lets you know the material is there.

 

[helotaxi 5,000+ posts]

Unless you have a sub with a really low Fs in a really big sealed box, you will totally hamstring its output going sealed especially in the sub bass region which is what you ant is to play in the first place. In most cases you will be low passing it less than 1 octave above the F3 and the peak output will be reduced by 3-6dB. In an SQ oriented system where the LPF is typically set even lower you will need a ton of power or cone area to get the subs to blend with the front stage. Enter the ported box with a boost in efficiency in the region below the F3 of the sealed and peak output is not affected by a low LPF. If the box is right for the sub, group delay isn't an issue either.

'03 model XXX 2 cf @ 28hz. Accurate as hell and blended quite well with my front stage running 100 watts per side. This was with only 400 watts on the sub. Response was nice and flat, too.

 

[dvrmstrng 5,000+ posts]

so say a sub like a 18"Q....low fs...maybe the reason people have been unhappy with it in a sealed enclosure is because there not making it a large enough one?

 

[Justintoxicated 10+ year member]

Having both a ported box and Sealed box I ended up going back to sealed and doubling up on subs and power. To me it sounds much better all around, for many types of music. I found myself constantly adjusting sub output level while driving with my ported box. My ported box was tuned to high for SQ but I still feel that I would get better over all sound from 2 sealed subs over one ported.

I listen to Rock, Rap, Blues (like slightly stoopid, jack johnson etc) metal, and even talk radio.

I'm also finding that a single 10" ported will take up slightly less space than 2 10" sealed and can have more ouput in general. Both my boxes made the area under the rear seats in my truck useless so I figured I may was well go with 2 subs sealed.

Now some subs will not lose as much SQ as others going ported, and some subs lose more output than others when you change them to sealed as well.

Still I'm happier with my downfire subs sealed even though I don't have the perfect enclosure for them. Peoples opinions may differ and i have heard a nice TC 15 in a low tuned ported box that sounded excelent, but it did not have the higher frequency punch, If you tune your ported box for higher frequencies they will lack lowend etc...The Sealed is more balanced but ALOT less efficient. Ported can sound good as well so it is not always a straight forward easy decision.

 

[dvrmstrng 5,000+ posts]

huh yeah time to throw the 18" Q in 4 cubes sealed and see how it sounds

 

[Immacomputer 10+ year member]

Peoples opinions may differ and i have heard a nice TC 15 in a low tuned ported box that sounded excelent, but it did not have the higher frequency punch, If you tune your ported box for higher frequencies they will lack lowend etc...The Sealed is more balanced but ALOT less efficient. Ported can sound good as well so it is not always a straight forward easy decision.

A majority of the time, a loss of upper frequency extension is caused by the enclosure being too big, high inductance, or high mms of the driver (usually due to a long coil). You will usually see this with subs that have a ton of throw or really high xmax.

 

[Justintoxicated 10+ year member]

A majority of the time, a loss of upper frequency extension is caused by the enclosure being too big, high inductance, or high mms of the driver (usually due to a long coil). You will usually see this with subs that have a ton of throw or really high xmax.

Yea I even notice going sealed to sealed my TC's have a bit less upper bass than the Assassin I love so much. But the lowend is vast in comparison. They are both in the same small enclosure .65cuft before displacement but I added polyfil when I put the TC's in to see if it helps. I might try removing it some day but for now I'm enjoying it., THey are definately not in too large of a box though.

My lack of really low bass in the ported box is because of the way it is tuned I believe.

 

[WhoSayWho? 5,000+ posts]

anyone else?

 

[truckstoy 10+ year member]

i just went to ported from sealed, it sounds great (thanks BJ Fisher) box is built to spec and it sounds just as clear as sealed but with way more output. it is exactly what i was looking for!

truck