Can a ported design sound sealed ?

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Steven Kephart

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Posted: March 06, 2006 at 12:40 AM / IP Logged

srtblue wrote:

Thanks much for the help ....

I'm trying to get a ported enclosure to have the same accuracy and speed of a sealed box , with no blurring of the notes. But still retaining the sheer output of a ported design ..... kind of a best of both worlds thing.

What you describe above is most likely caused from the peaked frequency response of the ported enclosure. When a fundamental frequency is boosted so much higher than it's transients, it will sound boomy and bloated. Try listening to a system using a sealed sub, and then turn off all the higher frequency speakers so just the sub is playing. You will most likely find that it sounds similar to your above description.

Steven Kephart

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Posted: March 06, 2006 at 12:50 AM / IP Logged

stevdart wrote:

IMO, you can't use the manufacturer's data exclusively to build a ported box. Some of them give some very detailed choices to choose from, and give you tested responses with each of them...which is great. But most are very vague in the details and so you're left with some simple measurements to follow. You have to ask yourself, "Who are they appealing to with this design? Is it designed for high Q, more SPL, a noticeable peak in the response, to appeal to the majority of buyers who want more bass?

I TOTALLY agree with the above. The problem is that a lot of manufacturers recommended enclosures are coming from the marketing department. I actually ran into this at work recently when I needed to design a ported enclosure for a pair of MTX 8512's. The guys were telling me to just use the manufacturers recommended enclosure. When I modeled it up, I got a huge 7 dB+ peak at 52 Hz with a steep rolloff below that. To get a decent response with the subs, the enclosure was going to have to be 6.5 cubic feet which was too big. Good info Steve!

Steven Kephart

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Posted: March 06, 2006 at 1:01 AM / IP Logged

srtblue wrote:

Steven Kephart wrote:

Sure it can with a proper enclosure design. It's just that most ported enclosures are designed to be a bit peaky in the response, especially to keep the enclosure size down to a manageable size. But a well designed ported enclosure can sound incredible.

Ok Steven ..... Will you be kind enough to supply me with some details ? Maybe a cut sheet and enclosure specs for a certain subwoofer you have heard that sounds as good as a great sealed design .... The subwoofer enclosure in the photo is one I built to EXACT specs for a Diamond Audio D6 subwoofer. It was probably the single best slot loaded design I've ever heard in my 23 yrs of car audio , but still fell short of the accuracy and speed of my Boston Acoustics Pro LF 12.5s in a sealed enclosure. I'd LOVE to have the best of both worlds ....

Thanks

Here's one that comes to mind: http://www.guidetohometheater.com/subwoofers/704way/index1.html

haemphyst

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Posted: March 06, 2006 at 8:58 AM / IP Logged

Steven Kephart wrote:

srtblue wrote:

Steven Kephart wrote:

Thanks

Here's one that comes to mind: http://www.guidetohometheater.com/subwoofers/704way/index1.html

Can a ported design sound sealed ? - Page 2 - Last Post -- posted image.

...and speaking of manufacturers "blowing their own horns" LOL

Seriously, though, the Adire stuff is EXCELLENT gear. It DOES sound very good. I have always been impressed with the sound quality of all the Adire subwoofers. Finally a manufacturer that understands the "sub-" portion of subwoofer! "Detached woofers" is a more accurate description of nearly every other system on the market. A few exceptions to this rule: (some of the) Hsu Research, JBL (The GMAS - a few years old), and a few others I can't quite think of the names of right now. Adire is a very good product - truly audiophile! Also a company that CARES about the overall quality of their products is a rare find today, but again, Adire excels here as well.

::::EDIT::::

Where I was going with this is: Get me ALL of the (published) specs (and I need EVERYTHING - the more info I have, the more accurate the results will be) for the woofer you want to use, and I'll plug them into JBL Speakershop, and see if there is SOME way to do what you want. I have always had really good luck with the results from this software... And there are other members here that have used it with very good results as well.

It all reminds me of something that Molière once said to Guy de Maupassant at a café in Vienna: "That's nice. You should write it down."

DYohn

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Posted: March 06, 2006 at 10:04 AM / IP Logged

Just as an FYI, if you want flat response from a ported design, it generally requires a decent size enclosure. Here's a model of the system I am currently building, using one of the new Adire drivers. It's 5 cuft, ported at 19Hz. This SPL level is with a 100 watt amplifier. I expect this will come fairly close to your "sounds sealed" ideal. There are many ways to do this with many different drivers.

Can a ported design sound sealed ? - Page 2 - Last Post -- posted image.

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Can a ported design sound sealed ?

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