Ported versus sealed speakers: is one type better?

Transmission line speakers can be really effective. I owned TDL Monitors (twice), and while not obviously "bassy", if there was very low bass on a song like for instance one song on Enya's first disc, it felt like a physical rumble beneath the floor. I think that speaker was rated to have usable response down to 17hz.

I have to agree with you George on your point about stuffing ports. How many reviews have all of us read about a ported speaker that was causing room modes or some other issue, and the answer was to plug the ports with bungs? I do know enough to know that a speaker is either designed from the get go to be sealed or ported, and there is a big difference; so how could it be proper to do that?

This is a really interesting thread, and because of my technical ignorance I don't have anything factual to add; but my own experience after having owned almost 20 pairs is that while I have enjoyed the sound of a good sealed box speaker, I think that in comparison to a good ported speaker, like the Spendor SP100, or my present Klipsch Epic CF- 4, the bass of the sealed enclosure doesn't  "breathe" in the same way. It sounds a little too tight, or maybe a little constipated. The way that the ported enclosure releases the bass notes into decay just seems more realistic to me.  
Having said that, I know that there are a lot of poor ported designs; and I've owned a couple that sounded hollow and boomy when they hit certain notes. I would also add that I have not heard the best of the current sealed designs like Magico and YG Acoustcs, so I can't speak for what they sound like.