2 woofers, sealed and ported chambers

I have read other places that a Sealed Box is better for SQ and a Ported Box is better for SPL. If one had a dual subwoofer set up, could one have two separate chambers, with one of them being sealed, and the other being ported? I have not seen this question anywhere and think that it could be the best of both worlds. It would be like having two different subwoofer set ups. I am not talking about a bandpass box but instead lets say my 12" subwoofer on the left side would be in a sealed part of the box, and the 12" subwoofer on the right side would be ported. What do you think? Thanks Tyler

Theoretically, it SHOULD work. But, I would not recommend this. What exactly are you after? great SQ, and SPL. This can be achieved with a ported box easily. A seal box will provide you with a very "flat" bass response, which means that all bass notes will have the same output level from the woofer. A ported box "focuses" the energy to a certain frequency, giving you, in most cases, double the output at that frequency. most advance installs use ported boxes because the port length allows control. hope this clears up some stuff for you.

icearrow6 wrote: A ported box "focuses" the energy to a certain frequency, giving you, in most cases, double the output at that frequency.

People shouldn't mistake a 3 db increase to be the same thing as double the output.  An increase of 10 db is perceived as twice as loud.

This is a confusion caused, probably, by the fact that it takes twice the power to get a 3 db increase.  But the +3 db is just an appreciably louder output (where +1 db is just noticeably different to a pair of good young ears.)

Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.

you are right stevdart, i will watch exactly how i word my responses from now on. I was trying to convey the point to this fella in "normal" words. my bad.

Point taken, icearrow, and to the OP:  there is no "best of both worlds".  If there were, it would be a commonplace type of installation; that is, everyone would do it.

In building such a beast that has a ported sub and a sealed sub, there is an increase in the smearing of sound at each frequency.  The ported response will have more of a delay than the sealed response, and combining them creates a confused sound that you cannot control.  When using just either one of the alignments, though, you can adjust the overall sound so that it works for your listening satisfaction.  That is done in a variety of ways that we won't disect here in this thread.

So, it is best for you to think about what icearrow asked you:  what is it that you are trying to achieve?  A musical environment that makes you appreciate the nuances of the instruments and vocals, or a sound level competition among friends?  Or something entirely different?  Think about it and answer that, and you can then be on your way to building a fine system that suits your needs.

Oh yeah, just for fun since you've never seen this question asked before, here is a search through the 12volt archives for "best of both worlds".

Build the box so that it performs well in the worst case scenario and, in return, it will reward you at all times.