sealed or ported box

Well I bet there are lots of threads about this but I dont know how to search forums on here very well still, so anyways...    I have decided between two brands of subs for my system, and now in order to have the sound that I most desire, box design is gonna be the most important aspect of my system. So this is kinda a two part question. 1. I wish to be able to hit the lows as best as possible. The subs are either capable of 16, or 20 hz, and I would like to have a box in which the design would allow for such frequency's to be played. I have heard sealed boxes are better for SQ, and ported/bandpass etc, are better for DB SPL. BUT! Is there really such a huge differance in the deep bass part, I know the dB SPL can vary around 10 to 15 dB spl, depending on box design, and im not planning on competing, just daily driver fun. And im not worried about box size either, so that being said, someone with mmuch better knowledge here, can you give me some advice on this topic? 2. Also, I have seen people mention some sort of program they use to deisign ports size, box size so that they can 'tune' the speaker to the desired frequency. Is this true, and where can I use such a program/formula.    Thanks, and if I didnt make sense tell me, I just had 4 wisdom teeth removed 6 hrs ago, and im on lots of drugs, haha!

LOL... MSS you MiSSed a part of his topic topper that I think needs some scrutiny or at least a double check.

He is looking for subs that will hit down to 16-20 hz... your average person can't hear anything below 20 hz. Gotta take human abilities into consideration.

And you didn't answer the first question either dear. If you don't mind, I'll answer it.

3000dclass: If you are looking for a daily listener system you'll have to consider what kind of music you listen to most often and how you like your bass. Generally speaking, yes sealed boxes give the smoother bass response and cleaner sound, but it is at the sacrifice of loudness and will need more power to make up for it. Ported boxes are louder and tend ot give a bigger thump to the bass especially at the tuned frequencies, but at the sound of clarity. Ported boxes tend to sound airy and the individual vibrations of the bass note will sound blended together and imprecise.

So if you listening to clarity bass songs such as Jazz, Classical, Techno, etc. You'll want to go sealed. If you listen more to heavy metal, grunge, metal rock, etc. consider the ported option as the music doesn't rely as heavily on bass clarity for the song. For genres not listed, I find that they are mixed in how the tones in music combine together and how they rely on each other. So for these other genres, it will be best to bring your favorite CD to like Circuit City and listen to sealed vs ported boxes in their sub rooms. Then make your decision from there.

3000dclass If you are looking for low heavy hitting subs, Consider raising the frequency to say power house at around 30-35 hz. Still deep enough where music can still be heard and power noted. To be honest I do not know of any songs that play notes below 20 hz for the very reason that most people can't hear it.

But if it must hit 16 Hz I compiled a list for you: (Price I am sure is a big thing too so it is in order of MSRP pricing followed by frequency response)

Almost Any Elemental Designs subwoofer (average 10-150 Hz response) From $85 (7inch) to $315 (16inch)

Many Image Dynamics Subs are capable of 14-16 Hz to 250 Hz and range from $150 - $350Any Oz Audio sub that comes from the "P" or the "Me" series of subwoofers $400 - $1000 (10-225)JVC CS-DX30                          $190 (16-1.5k)Cadence TXW122, TXW124 $315 (15-300)Pioneer TSW12PRS              $400 (15-2k)Cadence TXSW122               $420 (15-500)Digital Audio DASPL15         $480 (15-450)Audiobahn AWES15P           $500 (15-500)JBL w10GTi MKII                   $500 (16-1k)MA Audio HK15x2                  $550 (16-500)Audiobahn AW1805Q           $600 (16-500)JBL w12GTi MKII                   $600 (16-1k)JBL w15GTi MKII                   $700 (16-1k)Pioneer TS-w8102SPL        $1100 (15-1.5k) [2005 SPL world record maker]

I know I did not list a lot of subs that are capable of hitting down to these notes but my criteria for these subs were those that can EFFECTIVELY hit down to 17 hz or lower with minimal spider and surround distortion CONSISTANTLY. I think I covered most of the industry pretty well... but I know somebody has their own opinion. I'm not saying models I didn't list aren't good. They just did not meet hte requirements that 3000dclass asked for.

So hopefully this can give you a bit of a springboard for your choice in equipment.

If you have any more questions, please do not hesitate to ask

Ganbatte ne!

Never send your ducks to eagle school.

The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.

The 3Ls of life: Learn from the Past, Live for the Present, Look to the Future.

Here is the thing about designing sub boxes that play with efficiency down to 20hz or high SPL. All of the design software out there with the exception of LEAP and some other programs (that cost several thousands and require proprietary hardware) rely on T/S parameters that do not take into account the dynamic effects of the subwoofer under high power. As the any sub is driven past a few watts, the strength of the motor structure and compliance of the suspension changes drastically. This is like tuning the suspension of a car for the street and then taking it off road. Now don’t get me wrong the information generated by software like Bass Box is completely valid and useful, but it can be and often is misleading. Two major factors come into play once the design has left the software world and entered the physical realm. These factors are the experience and savvy of the actual speaker engineer, and the experience and savvy of the enclosure designer. Don’t be fooled, many (not all) speaker engineers have little too no respect for car audio and it shows in their products, and even more car audio enclosure designers lack the experience to detect and compensate for design and environment short comings. Because of this ported enclosures (and the subs in them) have traditionally been poorly designed, leading to a bad reputation. If you study (or take my word for it) the technical papers from all of the most knowledgeable loudspeaker engineers in the world you will notice that they all favor ported designs, due to simple mechanical advantage. It should be noted that choosing a sub that has been designed for vented enclosures is critical. If you decide to go that rout. Here is the problem with sealed designs in car audio. Most sealed designs rely on the cars transfer function to lift the frequency response below the enclosures free space F3. The problem with this is that cone displacement, cone distortions, power requirements, group delay below F3 all go to hell at an exponential rate as power is applied. If your sealed enclosure has an F3 of 20hz (not 48hz) this is not a problem, but I know of no car audio sub that can do this. Here is where a ported enclosure can excel in the car audio environment. Remember when I said that the T/S parameters fail to represent actual performance as more power is given to the sub. With a ported enclosure it is not unusual to get a gain of 18db. That means that the sub will be consuming 1/8th the power that the sealed counterpart will. And that means that the ill effects of extreme excursion, cone distortions, high voice coil temps, and group delay will all be minimized and even predictable by simple software. The usefulness of frequencies below 35hz is generally under estimated (or some times over estimated) in the car audio world. Below 35hz your brain processes information differently than at higher frequencies. Group delay is not nearly as important and large gains (enclosure design permitting) will not interfere with sound quality. The idea that there is not a whole lot of program information below 35hz though is true. The bulk of bass media is between 35 and 70hz. The frequencies below this point require huge quantities of power to reproduce and definitely add something to the experience (I cant live without it) butt might not bee what you think. Most people are more impressed with a bump in the frequency response at 35hz. A bump of 6 db here will fool your brain into thinking that you are hearing lower frequencies that do not exist, and it’s kinder on your amp and sub. It all depends on how far you want to push the performance. The answer to your question is that you are by far more likely to get decent results with a sealed enclosure and by far more likely to get outstanding results with a ported enclosure, BUT you are going to need the help of an experienced speaker builder to get there. You have had at least one offer from Installer_mss. I grew up around pro audio speaker builders so my perspective will be slightly different than others that you might find. I hope this info helps. Good luck!   

I agree. don’t go to circuit city! Or any sound room. The acoustical ramifications are completely different than your car. No valid comparison can be made.

I know that, but not very many places (that are open to the public all the time) have a specialized room for sound systems, but CC at least makes an attempt to show the difference in sound by isolating the subs from the rest of the store. Granted it's no where near perfect, it's at least somethingNever send your ducks to eagle school.

The difference between ordinary and extraordinary is that little extra.

The 3Ls of life: Learn from the Past, Live for the Present, Look to the Future.

if you're looking for your subs to hit that low you will need a ported enclosure.  sealed boxes would have a hard time reproducing those freqs. without help (i.e. EQ).  and for the record, i have been building enclosures for a long while and i grew up around high end 110volt systems as well (no discrediting).  the reason i say steer clear of CC is that fact they use prefab "q-logic" boxes and most of them have no idea about theil/small parameters, speaker behaviour, or anything of the such.  they stick any woofer in any box that has a hole big enough to fit it in."If a man made it, another can modify it...it just takes some thinking."

"If you ask questions, you're a fool for 5 minutes; if you don't, you're a fool for a lifetime."