Sealed vs. Ported vs. BandPass
Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Audio
Forum Discription: Car Stereos, Amplifiers, Crossovers, Processors, Speakers, Subwoofers, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=2368
Printed Date: July 22, 2025 at 3:50 AM
Topic: Sealed vs. Ported vs. BandPass
Posted By: TrigZip
Subject: Sealed vs. Ported vs. BandPass
Date Posted: July 30, 2002 at 1:09 PM
This is a topic that got started on another thread, and I thought I would ask it here in its proper category.
Yes its the age-old question which box is better?
I have 2 JL 12W3's in a sealed box. I was told to buy a sealed box as I have an extremly small trunk, and that was the only way to get 2 12's in there. Anyways Im an amatuer (just know small stuff)but I thought sealed was the best for pressure. Another user says Ported is best for sound inside. What do you think?
What is best for sound far away? like to be one of those guys that you hear from a block away. What does building up pressure inside my sealed box do for my setup? Im not in any competitions, just like to sound good, and ideally want a setup where u can hear the thump thump from a block away. I dont really care about db rating (unless it helps the thunp thunp).
I personally love the look of BandPass boxes, but they need to be made so much bigger, and plus Id never see mine cause once I close the trunk I dont see it and wont since I no longer use my trunk (zero room with box and spare tire) my back seat is my trunk now.
Whats your opinion on the diff types of boxes.
Thanks PS. Anybody ever shopped at cartronics.vstoreauto.com ? I bought an amp, came in good condition, thinking of buying some other items.. Anybody have any experience?
Replies:
Posted By: mobiletoys2002
Date Posted: July 30, 2002 at 3:34 PM
First any box wether it is sealed ported or banpass will knock and can be heard now there are advanteges to a ported box one is you wont need as much power to run over a sealed and still produce a large output. A bandass will need the least amount of power to have a large output. Now there are a lot of factors to consider when building a system one is space the otehr is what kind of bass do you want a sealed will produce the clenest tightest sounding bass of all the boxes, but it will require the most power to give the best results. A ported box will be bigger and will have a little more output than a sealed box with the same input power. in my opinion stay away from banpass boxes they are sloppy bass machines a whole lot of output but lacking the quality of a sealed box. and banpasses are verry big as well . Bottom line is you need to listen to the types of boxes and see what sound best to you ,but if you want my opinion stick with the sealed box throw a nice amount of power in it match the box with the subwoofer and not only will people hear you blocks away you will be sounding verry clear and accurate .
Posted By: mobiletoys2002
Date Posted: July 30, 2002 at 3:38 PM
the main key here is to match the sub with the box if the sub calls for 1.5 cubic/side you need it in that size box.if not you will ruin the bass again a bigger box can produce a little deeper notes and a smaller box will produce a bumpier type of bass.but if you stick within the limit of the sub maybe a bit smaller you can play with poly fill to get the sound you like.
Posted By: GlassWolf
Date Posted: July 30, 2002 at 5:10 PM
>I have 2 JL 12W3's in a sealed box.
W3s are designed for a sealed box. period.
>I thought sealed was the best for pressure. Another user says Ported is best for sound inside.
Sealed is the best for sound quality. It will always be this way. Sealed does not suffer the problems inherant to ported boxes or bandpass such as harmonics, colorations, over-damping below tuned frequencies, and so forth. Sealed boxes do have the drawback of requiring more power for equal output compared to other designs.
>What is best for sound far away?
Ahh you're one of those kids eh? heh The ability for a sound-wave to carry over distance is based on resonance, frequency, power output at the source. This is all basic physics. If you want the sound to travel beyond your car I suggest using 15" subs, in a 6th or 8th order bandpass box (if you can find someone to build you one) with horrendous amounts of power for each sub.
>Im not in any competitions, just like to sound good
a ported box or a bandpass box will give you a higher SPL with the same amount of power. The design was created solely to be able to produce more volume from a less-than-ideal-sized enclosure. Consider that ideal box volume for a 12" sub is usually about 6 cu. ft. This is rarely used of course, so alternative means were found to accomplish the same effect. Bandpass and Ported will not play as deeply as a Sealed box however, and playing the subs below their tuned port frequency causes the subs to play quite out of control, and can cause damping issues where the sub over-extends and trashes the sub.
>I personally love the look of BandPass boxes, but they need to be made so much bigger
approximately 1.5X the size of a non-bandpass enclosure.
I also personally dislike the sound they produce. They are very restricted in the range they can reproduce and they don't hit very deeply at all.. just hit hard.
>Whats your opinion on the diff types of boxes.
each sub, based on it's Thiele-Small specs, is designed specifically for a sealed or ported box. This should determine the type of box you use.
I've built some very effective ported boxes, that sounded great.. but the subs were made for this type of box. Ideally I'd go sealed, probably with some DD or JL Audio W7 subs.. maybe 4 12"
>Anybody ever shopped at cartronics.vstoreauto.com ?
No. what are you using for equipment so far? which subs, amps, source, crossover etc?
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-GlassWolf
Pioneer Stage-4, Orion, DynAudio, Fi
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