Ported or sealed?

[crazyravr]

What are the sound differences? I am not partian to one or another but there must have been a reason you chose one over the other. Why? what are the sounud differences?

[engtaz]

sealed = smaller foot print and tighter more controlled bass
ported = big badda boom, simple more output. Not as controlled bass just more off it.

Just my way of looking at it.

I like sealed.

[persisting1]

+1 for sealed. Never going back to ported.

[boober]

1 thing to consider is you may have a heard a certain ported/sealed sub, and thought it sounded great. You then hear the opposite of the type of sub you just heard, and may have not thought it sounded as great as the other sub you had heard, so you make the incorrect assumption of not liking it as much due to thinking it's because it's the opposite of the sub you heard that you liked so much. :peeping:

[persisting1]

1 thing to consider is you may have a heard a certain ported/sealed sub, and thought it sounded great. You then hear the opposite of the type of sub you just heard, and may have not thought it sounded as great as the other sub you had heard, so you make the incorrect assumption of not liking it as much due to thinking it's because it's the opposite of the sub you heard that you liked so much. :peeping:

If one is looking for a smaller enclosure and also doesn't need high SPLs or extremely low Hz, then there's no need for a ported sub. Plus you wont have to deal with port noise.

[Archaea]

I've heard quite a few highly recommended subs in 2011, (about 20 at two different get togethers this year), and I've quite firmly decided in all equal match ups of ported vs. sealed I personally liked ported better in every single last instance. I didn't know my preference at the beginning of this year, but after attending the two get togethers I know for a fact which I prefer.

Sealed has a slight edge for music in my opinion, but for movies ported is much more advantageous. Thus the slight edge of music is outweighed by the larger difference in movie related performance and so overall - ported is the winner. I do believe there is a distinct difference in sound. That characteristic is hard to explain and seems different to each person - probably based on our individual ears. To me ported sounds free, articulate, authorative, loud, and powerful even at high volumes. Sealed at the edge of SPL limits sounds burdened and muddy to my ears.

At KC Meet Sub Lineup (heard in the same room)
SVS PB12+, HSU VTF-15H (ported) -- I prefered these ported subs to the Jamo D7sub and the Epik Empire (sealed)

At Omaha Meet Sub Lineup (heard in the same room)
CHT 18.1 VS and MFW15 Turbos (ported) versus CHT 18.2 SS and ED a7-450s (sealed) - I preferred the two ported to the two sealed.

At both KC and Omaha meet
JTR Captivator (ported) vs. Seaton Submersive HP (sealed) - I easily preferred the Captivator overall at both meets.

Now - of different classes I'd take a sealed higher class sub over a lower classed ported sub - because I think SPL capability comes into play dramatically - but of two equal caliber subs capable of generally the same spl headroom - I've like the ported sound ever single time in every single instance I've heard -- so don't buy into the notion that only sealed are good. It is a subjective and personal choice based on your own ears!

[boober]

You're a lucky guy Arch to have been able to hear so many different high end subs. :salute:

[Archaea]

make it happen boober.

I organized and hosted one meet, and attended a second, and am getting ready to host a 3rd meet January 14th in Kansas City to blind test some top shelf subs! If you can attend the meet Jan 14th in KC - you are welcome to come! That goes for anyone here. Also don't be afraid to buy and sell. If you can find good prices on new or used subs, you can sometimes demo subs for months for next to free.

2011 I've owned
pair of Infinity HPS-1000 - my first quality subs - kept having problems and so their failure started me on this trek.
pair of Jamo D7 Subs - THX Ultra 2 certified subs - $2000 Retail, $500 each on close out at Vanns - bought and sold1/returned1 within a few months
Yamaha CW218V - bought and haven't sold yet - two 18" emminance drivers - $730. Trying to sell on craigslist now for $550.
pair of SVS PB13 Ultra -bought and sold within a few months - bought pair used for $2300 - sold for the same
pair of JTR Captivator Pros - bought and plan to hold for a long time (at least until I hear something better)

[boober]

Thanks Arch for the invite. :)

I live near Boise Idaho and every once in awhile on various HT forums, I'll come across someone from Idaho, but there's so few of em. :(

Maybe only 4 or 5 tops I guess. And of those 4 or 5 none of em really seem to have decent equipment. :peeping:

[HuskerOmaha]

Archaea hasn't mentioned the fact yet that his ears ring constantly, so him giving listening advice and saying ported sounds better is a bit funny.

:peeping:

[HuskerOmaha]

Archaea should be along soon to counter this statistic. Don't believe his lies! Sealed is the only way to go.

It has a wider bandwidth for the <20 hz in movies. It is also better with music.

BOOM
DONE
GAME OVER

[Archaea]

Archaea hasn't mentioned the fact yet that his ears ring constantly, so him giving listening advice and saying ported sounds better is a bit funny.

:peeping:

ha -
whatever!

you are a class act! :biglaugh:

Its always a pleasure bantering with you.

If you like a sub that sounds great at low levels (yes even slightly better with music) ---- BUT muddy, burdened, and underwhelming when you want to push the limits on a movie scene or explosion - go sealed.

I know I personally can't hear stuff below 17hz, and if you say sealed offers more tactile down low --- well my current ported subs have tactile covered in spades - and if you want even more tactile?--- just turn them up! They'll not give up before your ears cry uncle. I didn't hear any helicopter blade subsonics at the Omaha meet that was supposed to reveal which subs were sealed vs. ported - actually I don't think anyone did - that was one of the many conversations afterwards "What were we supposed to hear there?

Greg -- hmmm - do you think you could accurately identify the difference blind between a sealed sub with a HPF at 15hz (say 48dB/octave) and the same exact sub without the HPF engaged? The missing sounds in this test would actually only be those coveted ultra low frequencies -- yes those sounds no normal human being can even hear in individual test tones??? - Now in a movie -- there are other tones to cover it up??? I can understand why someone likes ported or sealed sound better -- they sound different. (Ported being clearly better! ;) ) -- but I don't fault someone for liking the sealed sub better, just like I wouldn't fault a dung beetle for rolling dung. Suffice to say subsonic (meaning below human perception) detection at typical movie watching levels hasn't convinced me yet. I'm ready to be proved wrong at the meet - if it really does hold true. I guess we'll see. At the current I'm more impressed with near limitless headroom and a STRONG ability to play the lowest audible frequencies ~20hz than the ability to play something I can't hear.

This is probably the time were I should throw that one fact in there about me hearing 5 seaton submersives hps in the same home theater room. If any setup can play those subsonic frequencies - that outta be the one. I subjectively didn't notice anything unique or different in the same subsonic demo scenes from the scubasteve demo disk that I've watched a dozen times before outside of the difference in sound between ported and sealed which encompases more of what you can hear than what you can't. Others might be able to tell the difference. If so - then sealed should definately be their choice. We shall uncover this mystery ---- in one month to the day.

[HuskerOmaha]

How many times have you modified that post now so you don't sound like a...

shill, plant or stooge is a person who helps a person or organization without disclosing that he or she has a close relationship with that person or organization. Shill typically refers to someone who purposely gives onlookers the impression that he or she is an enthusiastic independent customer of a seller (or marketer of ideas) that he or she is secretly working for. The person or group that hires the shill is using crowd psychology, to encourage other onlookers or audience members to purchase the goods or services (or accept the ideas being marketed).

This is fun.

Well, I can't buy anything before your GTG. If we don't play everything at the same level it will be useless to me. Of course I'll like the OS the best if they are 10 db louder than everything else!

[Archaea]

^ you didn't answer any of my questions. :neener:

[HuskerOmaha]

Well that just confirms it.