Sealed or ported

A

ABETRMAN

Member
Location
Washington
Car
2004 FX35 RWD
Name
Johnny
Just wanted to get a feel for what you guys like in terms of your subwoofer enclosure design, for those with aftermarket subs. I am trying to design something for the back of the my fx and can't decide if I should go the sealed or ported route. Just curious of IS thoughts.
 
I have a sealed box in the back. I dont use my back so it works for me. Its not built in the side of the car so it does take up some room.
 
Ported (or Bass Reflex) will provide lower frequency sound and use less power to produce the same SPL as a sealed enclosure. Sealed will give you tighter bass but take more watts from the amp to produce the same sPL. I used to design and build subwoofers for a hobby but since the boys have grown up and left the nest I really dont have a place for any more other than my own home theater.
 
In doing some research, I have been seeing that a ported is also good for open air applications like the back of the FX. I have a sealed box that I replaced the sub in it and just realized that it the box is undersized. I sounds fine, but I don't like the fact that I am not operating under the proper conditions. Additionally, I am not wanting to take up all the space in my trunk anymore with the box anymore so the custom idea is growing on me.

Haven't worked with fiberglass before but I am researching that. Heard it get's easier with use. We will see...
 
Fiberglass is not hard, it's just very, very messy. I built a few systems back in the day out of fiberglass. Not just a box, but full blown systems w/ subs, amps, crossovers, EQ, capacitors, plexi, nitrous bottle, and so on. That was done w/ no prior experience so you definitely can do it. The hardest part is the finish work. It depends on how far you want to take it, whether you'll be covering in carpet, vinyl, or painting it, but it's going to be a lot of sanding. The ones I did were painted so I was sanding non stop for days.
 
shadow191 said:
Fiberglass is not hard, it's just very, very messy. I built a few systems back in the day out of fiberglass. Not just a box, but full blown systems w/ subs, amps, crossovers, EQ, capacitors, plexi, nitrous bottle, and so on. That was done w/ no prior experience so you definitely can do it. The hardest part is the finish work. It depends on how far you want to take it, whether you'll be covering in carpet, vinyl, or painting it, but it's going to be a lot of sanding. The ones I did were painted so I was sanding non stop for days.
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That's also what i am learning about as well in terms of building a custom shape while ensuring I get the proper air space for the sub. I am sure that I will change things up as I learn more and work with it. Excited about the idea of trying though..
 
Yeah, the port is taking some of the otherwise contained rear wave from the sub & inverting it's phase 180 degree to match the front wave & allowing that to escape through a port that is tuned to a certain frequency. At least that's what its supposed to do if designed properly & to the correct specs to match the sub. If everything is correct then all that gofast says is true. Problem comes when your using a generic box & just dropping in a random sub... In a case like this it being tuned correctly becomes hit or miss. A port can provide a nice boost at a particular frequency or a port can provide just noise & sacrifice sub control depending on how ideally it is or isn't matched to the enclosure & sub. A ported enclosure will be larger than an equal sealed box.

If your building it yourself a sealed enclosure Will have a much better chance of successs just because you are removing a lot of variables that could go wrong enough that you wind up with a bad response. Designing & tuning a ported enclosure is not easy at all & chances are much better for success with a sealed enclosure. Success being a linear response with no bad anomalies like farts & flutters, damaged subs, etc... The enclosure is the suspension system for the sub, a bad port can ruin this & allow over extension & damage to the sub too.

A ported enclosure should only be considered if it's a pro designed pre fabbed & correctly matched to the sub being used, unless you plan on really getting deep into learning all you'd need to know to even begin to hope to design & tune a proper ported enclosure
 
Hey turbo..some of what you said about the ported design is what makes me nervous about the idea of deciding to design a ported box. I found a car audio site where a gentleman has provided designs for specific cu.ft. and hrz design one of which matches my sub specs. Again though, the issue of the size of the box would take up even more room that what I have back there already...oh decisions decisions..
 
Yeah, plugging the specs of your sub into software that's made to aid in the design of a ported enclosure is a good place to start if you really want ported, which is what the guy on the forum did for you, but realize that this is about the equivalent of a canned tune & may need some additional port tuning after it's built anyway to really be optimal. Personally I'd go sealed for more power handling & linear response, the hatch will provide a boost in base response as-is anyway & from a sq point of view will be more accurate & musical, if your a basehead that wants max boom though & sq is less priority then ported can def give more boom for the buck, but at the expense of sq in almost all cases..
 
With the large magnet on my sub and I wanted mine to not be overwhelming in size, I went with sealed. For my sub, I think a ported box would have needed twice the cubic volume and that would have taken a lot more of my trunk space making things unusable. Most people get sealed from what I've seen when custom work....most ported you will see in pre-built boxes not specifically made for the car. Ported boxes typically require more space. If you don't care about losing space and have a powerful sub, then you may go for ported. make sure the installer or you follow the cubic volume measurements required by the manufacturer of the sub when it is designed. The manufacturer will have details of how the ported box should be built as well for your sub to perform optimally. You can always check out my thread...I have pictures there how mine looks.
 
JD..took a look at your install and it is nice. What size speaker is that you have? and was that a custom enclosure?

turbo, I am a bass head but not at the expense of sounding ragged. I am in no rush in to build so I will definitly take my time in research and designing what is best for my application.

I have a alpline tyre r 1243d with a mrp 500 amp pushing it and would like to get a box designed for this speaker instead of just fitting it in just any ol box.
 
well it's not like a sealed box doesn't proved base, it most certainly does, just maybe not quite as boomy as a ported box does... again the natural acoustics of the car will boost base anyway so really the only reason to go ported is if you want to shake the cars across the street & be heard for blocks... if you just looking for more than enough base to match the rest of your systems capability then sealed is the way to go, if you want to drive around listening to magic mike & bone crusher all day then your a basehead & maybe the ported is better for you... if you really value sound quality then you really don't want a ported box in almost all cases...
 
turbocad6 said:
well it's not like a sealed box doesn't proved base, it most certainly does, just maybe not quite as boomy as a ported box does... again the natural acoustics of the car will boost base anyway so really the only reason to go ported is if you want to shake the cars across the street & be heard for blocks... if you just looking for more than enough base to match the rest of your systems capability then sealed is the way to go, if you want to drive around listening to magic mike & bone crusher all day then your a basehead & maybe the ported is better for you... if you really value sound quality then you really don't want a ported box in almost all cases...
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hahaha..too funny..Magic Mike, I still have some of his stuff on my ipod but that was me ten years ago. I just want a good bump while riding. My car is like my mobile mancave so I want it to be exactly what I want from it. I am not trying to set off car alarms (although having the ability to do so is always fun), so sounds like sealed may be what I go for. Just need to make it to size appropriate for my sub. I probably need to learn a little more about amp tuning as well to be sure I am optimizing it all.

I still may put on that Magic Mike for S&G...Feel the BASE!!!

Any orientation suggestions?
 
most practical orientation for space is tucking it in the left corner, but you would probably get a little better base repose by corner loading it, IE: having it behind the seat facing rearwards... don't think you'll see much difference though so side mount is probably more practical for space reasons but will be much more involved to build & take advantage of that space, like a custom fiberglass box.. a regular rectangle box behind the seat & facing rearwards would be much easier to build though...

why not just take advantage of the custom fiberglass boxes that are already made for this? def looks to be the easiest route & should be more than adequate really I think...
 
turbocad6 said:
most practical orientation for space is tucking it in the left corner, but you would probably get a little better base repose by corner loading it, IE: having it behind the seat facing rearwards... don't think you'll see much difference though so side mount is probably more practical for space reasons but will be much more involved to build & take advantage of that space, like a custom fiberglass box.. a regular rectangle box behind the seat & facing rearwards would be much easier to build though...

why not just take advantage of the custom fiberglass boxes that are already made for this? def looks to be the easiest route & should be more than adequate really I think...
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I looked into that, just being a DIY kind of guy, I am always trying to learned to do for myself. If all else fails, I know that is an available option.
 
ABETRMAN said:
JD..took a look at your install and it is nice. What size speaker is that you have? and was that a custom enclosure?

turbo, I am a bass head but not at the expense of sounding ragged. I am in no rush in to build so I will definitly take my time in research and designing what is best for my application.

I have a alpline tyre r 1243d with a mrp 500 amp pushing it and would like to get a box designed for this speaker instead of just fitting it in just any ol box.
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Yes custom sealed fiberglass, 10'' sub 400 rms. plenty of bass even to hit with the hard guys. Ported would have doubled my enclosure and made it more unpractical for me. I like every type of music as well so I wanted sealed. So songs from Fall out boy to Lil Wayne A Milli all perform great.
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jdTrader said:
Yes custom sealed fiberglass, 10'' sub 400 rms. plenty of bass even to hit with the hard guys. Ported would have doubled my enclosure and made it more unpractical for me. I like every type of music as well so I wanted sealed. So songs from Fall out boy to Lil Wayne A Milli all perform great.
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Good to know. Thanks!!
 

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