Subwoofers: Ported or sealed?


I read that sealed subwoofers are better for music- tighter and more accurate.  And that the ported ones tend to offer more output.  Yet it seems to me most speakers, including cost no object models, are ported.  Can someone shed some light on the matter?    

joekras25

Showing 2 responses by tvrgeek

For music, I much prefer low Q sealed. The roll-off much better matches the room gain so flatter to start with, and you don't need additional subsonic high pass filtering. Less group delay but I don't think that is really very important. 

If you are using DSP eq ( I suggest you do), the cabinet alignment may not be as critical. I like to start close and just hit the modes, so not giving up on sealed.  I run the DSpeaker box in line with the sub only on my stereo.  HT is of course done by the AVR. 

A passive radiator is a PORTED enclosure with the advantage of no port chuffing. The PR needs to be at least twice the area of the woofer to work correctly. Many are not. Very handy when the port calculations wind up with 8 foot ports. Down side is cost. 

For movie special effects where I want that crazy 20 Hz rumble, OK, I can see ported. That said, my HT is a pair of 10 inch sealed, Q .65 in push-pull and they can shake the house. F3 is around 30 Hz, so with room gain, they are almost flat @ 20.   My stereo is a single  12 inch critical Q (.5).  It does way more than I could ever use in my large open space living room for music. I don't do heavy organ or computer synthesized stuff. If I can feel tympany in my chest, that is enough.   Both systems are powered by a simple O-Audio BASH plate. No mega power needed. I know 1000W or so is popular, but you don't actually use it. Do the math.  I can do 95 dB with less than 1% THD with either system.  The HT does 102 dB before XMax @ 20 Hz. 

Not mentioned are infinite baffle.  They have quite a following. A DIY only. Finding a driver to work is not easy. I played with them briefly but found no real advantage. 

"Tight" "Accurate" "Dynamic"    Marketing BS.   It is the execution, driver, and crossover.   Or people repeating you-tube reviewers who have never designed speakers making up crap to fill a video. Any cabinet and speaker can be much, or sharp as a tack. 

The one absolute truth is:  Listen for yourself in your room.