ported or sealed s.u.v. box

I have a 99 tahoe. I also have 3 jl 12 w3's in a 3 cubic foot sealed box. my amp is a soundstream class a 10.2 pushing a little over 1000 watts. I had the sealed box in my camaro and it sounded good but it seemed like it was not as loud as it could be, it also didn't hit very deep. I am considering putting in a large ported box instead of the small sealed one. I have never owned a big ported box and I have never really heard one. Does the sound quality drop as much as people say? Would I be better off with one. What are your opinions? I do like sound quality but shaking my mirriors off is also important.

Ok well the ported box will give you more of a thunder but not as tight of bass as the sealed box.  If you want to really shake things up, put in a bandpass but that's pretty hard to find a quality one especially for three 12's.  The ported box allows a lot more vibrations. I have one made from subzone and the trick is to try and tune the ports the air/vinrations are coming out of.  If you have tubed ports and cut them to the frequency the subs run perfectly at then you'll hit really hard, pretty tight, and unbelievably loud.  the W 3's will compensate for the loudness. they are quality subs.  Hope that helps.  www.thezeb.com has awesome boxs and free shipping!!! 

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Sonic

Pioneer AVH-P4000DVD
Zapco 360.4
Zapco 500.1
Zapco SP-4SL Processor
Two JL 10 W3v3d2
Alumapro 15 Farad Cap

I prefer sealed enclosures. They are more forgiving if you have the incorrect volume, and can hit harder at more frequencies. You can also throw more power into them without shredding your subs or getting a lot of distortion.

A ported box will perform great at the "tuned" frequency, but don't expect much power at lower-then-tuned frequencies. You don't have to throw a lot of power into a ported box to make it sound good, which is a benefit if you are on a budget.

Which model Soundstream (Human Reign, Davinci, Tarantula, Van Gogh, Rubicon II, D'Artagnan 5.1, or Edge)?

And which model 12W3V2 (2, 4, or 6ohm DVC)?

About your current enclosure...
Did you built it yourself or was it a factory made enclosure?
Are there 3 seperate chambers, or is it 1 large chamber?
3 cu. ft. actually sounds a bit small. JL recommends 1.25 cu. ft. per sub (not including sub displacement). You would be amazed how much better it could sound with a proper sized sealed enclosure.

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Squirrel
"No more Cpt. Kirk chit chat"
If its too loud, then you're too old
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I have another thread goin about almost the same subject...someone told me to put my 15 solo baric into a ported box and if done corrrectly it will sound louder than 2 12s, I want my bass to be DEEP!! and to travel far, will i get that response from a ported box or go with a sealed box? yet some say i wont get that because im putting it into a accord sedan so it wont have enough room to breath so im stumped!!

The acoustics of the vehicle play a role in the sound. Put the exact same enclosure in a hatchback, and it will sound differently than in a trunk.

You can get deeper bass from a ported enclosure, but you have to have it tuned to the proper frequency. If it's not tuned right then it will not sound good. The bass is also not as crisp as it would be in a sealed enclosure. IMO that limits the SQ depending on what you listen to. I listen to a wide variety, from classical to rap, and if I was tuned to 1 particular type of mysic then the rest would sound like crap.

You may also have to play with the position of the enclosure for the best sound in your car (facing up, back, or forward). I have 2 Punch HX2's in my '02 mustang trunk in a sealed enclosure and it will shake fillings out of your teeth. And there's only less then 1 foot between the subs and the rear of the trunk. As with any enclosure, you want as much "breathing room" as possible around the enclosure. With a Ported enclosure you would want to keep as much room as possible clear from around the ports in particular.

Believe it or not, having the windows rolled up or down will affect the sound as well. Your cabin acts as a sealed enclosure of its own with the windows up. Roll the windows down and you just created "ports" for the sound to escape/elongate.

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Squirrel
"No more Cpt. Kirk chit chat"
If its too loud, then you're too old
Donate to the12volt.com

The box is one open chamber. It used to sit in the back of a 97 camaro. I stuffed it with 3 lbs. of polyfill to simulate a bigger box but it still sounds stifled. The local JL audio dealership built the box. They used the "JL Audio Bible" which they use to optimize the box and subs for your vehichle application. The subs are 3 JL 12 w3's, the old ones and they are d4's. The amp is a rubicon class a 10.2. It is chrome plated and will really perform well. I had it dyno tested at 1095 watts at 2 ohms and it is 1/2 ohm stable. I would definately be interested in a large sealed enclosure if it would really do much better but everyone so far said it would not help much. As far as tuning a ported box to your speakers could anyone elaborate on that. I am new to the whole ported box thing. Also my budget is limitless. I have stinger hpm wires, expert rca's, expert dist. blocks, platinum terminals, stinger 1 farad cap, and a secondary optima yellow top that all came out of my camaro and is going back into my tahoe when I get the time.

Yeop.  I have an '02 Tahoe and wanted to put in a JL10w6.  I was inquiring around and people stated a sealed box would be the way to go.

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I have '96 Tahoe that started out with 2 12's in a sealed box and I wasn't real impressed with it. I went with 2 15L7's because I also wanted something low and loud. I built my own box giving each sub about 5 cubes and built 2 ports into each chamber. Now I can block one port on each side and change the tuning between 25 and 45 Hz. If you are careful about the design and construction, a ported box can sound just as good or even better than a sealed box. I've got the low loud bass that you feel more than hear, but its still pretty clean and tight, not real boomy.

With the right specs a ported box can sound excellent. The only problem is they are less forgiving with internal volume then sealed enclosures, which makes them more difficult to build. You also run the risk of "port noise", which I believe is distortion caused by the port itself.

Either way, it's usually recommended to run each sub in it's own chamber instead of 1 large chamber, regardless of if it's a ported or sealed enclosure.

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Squirrel
"No more Cpt. Kirk chit chat"
If its too loud, then you're too old
Donate to the12volt.com

so I should just go with a sealed box in the trunk? (95 accord) i want DEEP i mean DEEP bass that travels...u know setting off alarms...will i get that with a ported or sealed box?

i think a sealed one because they travel pretty far.once i was inside my friends house and i could hear the house creeking and rattling because of this car or something like 2 or 3 blocks away. i mean this system was deep and he wasnt nowhere in sight for like a couple blocks at least

get ported. but make sure its made for that sub your installing. don't buy a pre-fab unless it is made for that type and brand of sub. ported has alot of lowend response. if built right that sucker will pound.

A sealed box will be the most accurate bass you will get in your car but as for eficiency I would say that the ported will sound louder with the same power input than the sealed, But a sealed box can make your sub handle more power than a ported box and with a good amount of power in a sealed box you can get bass traveling blocks. Personally I like the sealed but if you are looking for a whole lot of bass without investing in a huge amp then go with a ported or bandpass.

also keep in mind that a ported box will always run bigger than a sealed so if space is an issue sealed may be a better choice . Different music souinds better on diferent types of boxes generally rap and rock sound good on a ported box because of the added output it will give over a sealed,,again if you feed a good quality sub enough power in a properly matched sealed box the basss will sound better and be pretty damn loud.

actually special-k,  its the other way around...the ported will give you more bass at the tuned freq., and the sealed will be more acurate, provided the boxes are built to the sub specs.  i have a pair of infinity reference 1030w's in my trunk now, and have built ported, sealed, and bandpass boxes, just to see what the difference would be.  i threw out the bandpass box as there was nothing above 55-60 hz, i kept the ported for the occasional spl attacks, _tuned to 28hz_  and i keep the sealed enclosures for everyday, SQ. so, yes, it depends on what you want.

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toyota echo...perfect sound named vehicle