Sealed or Ported for Spl

I think that's wrong.  Within the operating range of a ported system the woofer should be louder with less power.  Said another way, you will need more power to drive the same woofer in a sealed box to the same loudness.  see http://www.diysubwoofers.org/

your probly right kfr. I come from old school of logic where the only ported boxes were the old Kicker boxes made for pick ups. They were only ported due to the lack of air space to allow the speaker to have some excursion. I forget about the advances today with Bandpass and Triband box's using standing waves to naturaly amplify the sound. I thing it just depends on what range he's trying to get the SPLs from.

Your right but also remember that if your competing a 3 db gap is the difference between 1st and 2nd place. Also, it's not your ears that will be deciding what's audible or not, the SPL will be measured by the RTA and the 3 db will benefit you most in the upper parts of your SPL not in the lower parts. For every 3 db gain in SPL you have to double your power output, so if you can cheat and get an extra 3 db with just an enclosure design change as opposed to doubling your power output, then do the enclosure.