Subwoofer Ported vs Sealed?

iAerodynamic · 07-05-2009, 10:30 PM

hey guys im about to get a system installed 12" JL W6 and 500/1v2.

question is. what is more prefered ported or sealed box?

what's the difference?

thanks!

bm3sofla36 · 07-05-2009, 11:00 PM

I've had both and it all depends what you're looking for ( being louder or tighter bass). Ported would be a little louder but sealed gives cleaner, tighter bass..just alittle tighter..from my experience. Ify you're playing alot of rap music and stuff def go wit ported.

JayKay335i · 07-06-2009, 01:29 AM

I prefer my bass nice and tight. Ported will give you a little extra rumble for rap but its not my cup of tea. I thought rap sounded good in my old sealed box with 2 12"s. I dont like mushy bass.

rollyn2night · 07-06-2009, 01:57 AM

I think you will be better off with sealed. Its not like sealed will give you no bass, just ported will hit harder. Plus when going with ported you have to be exact with tuning the box or else you might end up with s*** sounding bass.

ohaywood · 07-06-2009, 02:06 AM

Sealed. Make a good, solid box and it'll sound great.

iAerodynamic · 07-06-2009, 12:33 PM

a lot of people are telling me something about bmw how it can't get thru the trunk to the cabin so ported will help gettign sound thru? with sealed the sound won't get thru as much as ported?

i listen to mostly rap and trance. so ported?

amlebede · 07-06-2009, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iAerodynamic

a lot of people are telling me something about bmw how it can't get thru the trunk to the cabin so ported will help gettign sound thru? with sealed the sound won't get thru as much as ported?

i listen to mostly rap and trance. so ported?

Get a good subwoofer in a sealed box (W6 is good enough in my opinion). Ported would be fine if you mostly listened to rap. Sealed is good for both but less loud. Ported may put you at disadvantage while listening to trance.

iAerodynamic · 07-06-2009, 03:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by amlebede

Get a good subwoofer in a sealed box (W6 is good enough in my opinion). Ported would be fine if you mostly listened to rap. Sealed is good for both but less loud. Ported may put you at disadvantage while listening to trance.

what kinda disadvantage?

the lag? where the beat is off?

cause righ tnow im leaning toward ported.

ellipsis212 · 07-06-2009, 04:14 PM

go w/a sealed box with a good sub and lots of clean power. that JL stuff you mentioned should be fine for the job.

i listen to mostly electro and DnB and i used to have a sealed box w/ a 12" in my Merc. the trunk was also well sealed off like the 3 series and there was still PLENTY OF BASS. don't worry about it being too little. you're gonna feel it.

iAerodynamic · 07-07-2009, 03:48 PM

do i have to go with JL spec?

JayKay335i · 07-07-2009, 04:49 PM

You dont need to. But dont buy crap. You cant go wrong with JL. Their stuff sounds great.

ellipsis212 · 07-07-2009, 06:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JayKay335i

You dont need to. But dont buy crap. You cant go wrong with JL. Their stuff sounds great.

+1

Alpine is also really high quality w/out getting into the audiophile price ranges

kaigoss69 · 07-07-2009, 06:29 PM

Also check out Infinity Perfects, my personal favorite.

iAerodynamic · 07-07-2009, 06:43 PM

well i bought 12" JL W6v2 and 500/1v2 amp already

now just problem with box.. dunno whether to go ported or sealed kinda back and forth thing..

Scobar · 07-07-2009, 10:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaigoss69

Also check out Infinity Perfects, my personal favorite.

Had a Perfect 12.1 in a sealed box running on a Beta Digital 100 in my old car. Sounded awesome!

That said JL makes some pretty awesome stuff.

kaigoss69 · 07-07-2009, 10:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iAerodynamic

well i bought 12" JL W6v2 and 500/1v2 amp already

now just problem with box.. dunno whether to go ported or sealed kinda back and forth thing..

Have the shop where you're going to have this equipment installed put one box of each kind in your car during installation....and let your OWN ears decide.

kaigoss69 · 07-07-2009, 10:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Scobar

Had a Perfect 12.1 in a sealed box running on a Beta Digital 100 in my old car. Sounded awesome!

That said JL makes some pretty awesome stuff.

I had the Perfect 12 VQ's and I literally had a hard on the first time the bass hit

(no joke!)

iAerodynamic · 07-08-2009, 03:13 PM

i think im gonna get ported for the w6. just not sure whether i have to build it according to JL spec

RPM90 · 07-08-2009, 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by iAerodynamic

hey guys im about to get a system installed 12" JL W6 and 500/1v2.

question is. what is more prefered ported or sealed box?

what's the difference?

thanks!

10 or 12" Infinity Perfect sub, excellent musical sub, not just thump.
Any well made sealed box with good, dense MDF.
Stuff the box with polyfil.
Rewire the speaker/sub wire hookups from the box input to the sub with at least 12 gauge or thicker.
Run at least that gauge from the amp to the sub. Thicker if you're going farther, but since you'll have the amp in the trunk next to the battery and sub, 12 gauge will work well.

I like Rockford Fosgate Power series amps, not a big fan of the Punch series. The Power RF amps have excellent power depth.
Try to get an amp that supplies 1.5 times rms power than the minimum of your sub's rms handling cap.
If you sub has a min of 100watts rms, then give it at least 150rms to 200rms. This will give the driver the cleanest power with plenty of reserve for any power hungry transient musical spikes. It lets the drivers reproduce the dynamics of the music. Too little power will still be loud, but the tone will sound flat and deadened.

About $140 for a 4ohm dual voice coil version, which let's you wire it in 2ohm's. 400w rms
RF Power series T1000-1bd - $400, 750w rms into 2 ohm's.
RF Power series T1000-1D (2009 model) - $480, 650w rms @ 2 ohm's.
I don't know why the lower rating. RF typically gives you MORE than what they advertise the amp at.

So, that's $540 for amp and sub. The box and polyfil will run about $30.
Include some wiring, and if you do the install yourself, you're goal is met, and it'll sound awesome, as far as the sub bass goes.

StatenEye · 08-10-2009, 08:51 AM

I just made a sealed box out of 3/4 mdf and it sounds weakkkkkkk compared to my ported box. Im going to try to throw a slotted port in the box before i smash it!!! But from my experience definitly definitly definitly a ported box. I have had 4 systems so far and nothing hits like a ported box trust me.

StatenEye · 08-10-2009, 08:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kaigoss69

I had the Perfect 12 VQ's and I literally had a hard on the first time the bass hit

(no joke!)

WTF

335TWNTURBO · 08-10-2009, 11:27 AM

go ported and dropp that weak ass JL audio. Look at these: http://www.ddaudio.com/dd/default.asp

IMHO, and since i have owned both, Digital Designs hit way harder than any of the JL products. Im talking serious bass my friend. I had 2 2500 series 12's in a ported box in my e-46 and WOW!! that bass was amazing.

I am about to install in the 335 and I cant wait. That engine and 12 in dd subs are going to cause me to get serveral tickets. lol

DD FTW...............

View Poll Results: Ported vs Sealed
Ported	18	38.30%
Sealed	29	61.70%
Voters: 47. You may not vote on this poll

07-05-2009, 10:30 PM	#1
iAerodynamic Colonel 116 Rep 2,178 Posts Drives: 325i Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: San Marino, CA iTrader: (31) Garage List 2006 325i [0.00]	Subwoofer Ported vs Sealed? hey guys im about to get a system installed 12" JL W6 and 500/1v2. question is. what is more prefered ported or sealed box? what's the difference? thanks!
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07-05-2009, 11:00 PM	#2
bm3sofla36 Private First Class 12 Rep 156 Posts Drives: E90 AW Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Miami iTrader: (1)	I've had both and it all depends what you're looking for ( being louder or tighter bass). Ported would be a little louder but sealed gives cleaner, tighter bass..just alittle tighter..from my experience. Ify you're playing alot of rap music and stuff def go wit ported.
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07-06-2009, 01:29 AM	#3
JayKay335i Banned 189 Rep 5,046 Posts Drives: ///M323 DCT Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: North Dakota; its best DUHHHHHH iTrader: (1)	I prefer my bass nice and tight. Ported will give you a little extra rumble for rap but its not my cup of tea. I thought rap sounded good in my old sealed box with 2 12"s. I dont like mushy bass.
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07-06-2009, 01:57 AM	#4
rollyn2night Lieutenant 12 Rep 428 Posts Drives: 07 E92 335i Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: NJ/NY iTrader: (0) Garage List 07 e92 335i [0.00]	I think you will be better off with sealed. Its not like sealed will give you no bass, just ported will hit harder. Plus when going with ported you have to be exact with tuning the box or else you might end up with s*** sounding bass.
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07-06-2009, 02:06 AM	#5
ohaywood Major 75 Rep 1,009 Posts Drives: 2007 JB/Saddle E92 335i Join Date: May 2009 Location: Malibu, CA iTrader: (3) Garage List 2007 E92 335i [0.00]	Sealed. Make a good, solid box and it'll sound great. __________________
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07-06-2009, 12:33 PM	#6
iAerodynamic Colonel 116 Rep 2,178 Posts Drives: 325i Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: San Marino, CA iTrader: (31) Garage List 2006 325i [0.00]	a lot of people are telling me something about bmw how it can't get thru the trunk to the cabin so ported will help gettign sound thru? with sealed the sound won't get thru as much as ported? i listen to mostly rap and trance. so ported?
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07-06-2009, 04:14 PM	#9
ellipsis212 Colonel 1618 Rep 2,161 Posts Drives: 2017 M3 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: RVA iTrader: (5) Garage List 2018 BMW M3 [0.00]	go w/a sealed box with a good sub and lots of clean power. that JL stuff you mentioned should be fine for the job. i listen to mostly electro and DnB and i used to have a sealed box w/ a 12" in my Merc. the trunk was also well sealed off like the 3 series and there was still PLENTY OF BASS. don't worry about it being too little. you're gonna feel it.
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07-07-2009, 03:48 PM	#10
iAerodynamic Colonel 116 Rep 2,178 Posts Drives: 325i Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: San Marino, CA iTrader: (31) Garage List 2006 325i [0.00]	do i have to go with JL spec?
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07-07-2009, 04:49 PM	#11
JayKay335i Banned 189 Rep 5,046 Posts Drives: ///M323 DCT Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: North Dakota; its best DUHHHHHH iTrader: (1)	You dont need to. But dont buy crap. You cant go wrong with JL. Their stuff sounds great.
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07-07-2009, 06:29 PM	#13
kaigoss69 Brigadier General 300 Rep 3,969 Posts Drives: '08 335i Join Date: Jul 2008 Location: JAX iTrader: (6)	Also check out Infinity Perfects, my personal favorite.
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07-07-2009, 06:43 PM	#14
iAerodynamic Colonel 116 Rep 2,178 Posts Drives: 325i Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: San Marino, CA iTrader: (31) Garage List 2006 325i [0.00]	well i bought 12" JL W6v2 and 500/1v2 amp already now just problem with box.. dunno whether to go ported or sealed kinda back and forth thing..
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07-08-2009, 03:13 PM	#18
iAerodynamic Colonel 116 Rep 2,178 Posts Drives: 325i Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: San Marino, CA iTrader: (31) Garage List 2006 325i [0.00]	i think im gonna get ported for the w6. just not sure whether i have to build it according to JL spec
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08-10-2009, 08:51 AM	#20
StatenEye Banned 528 Rep 2,822 Posts Drives: X5M F85 Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: SI NY iTrader: (4) Garage List 2016 BMW X5M [0.00] 2011 BMW X5M [9.00]	I just made a sealed box out of 3/4 mdf and it sounds weakkkkkkk compared to my ported box. Im going to try to throw a slotted port in the box before i smash it!!! But from my experience definitly definitly definitly a ported box. I have had 4 systems so far and nothing hits like a ported box trust me.
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08-10-2009, 11:27 AM	#22
335TWNTURBO Captain 54 Rep 740 Posts Drives: 07 335i Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: MARYLAND iTrader: (0)	go ported and dropp that weak ass JL audio. Look at these: http://www.ddaudio.com/dd/default.asp IMHO, and since i have owned both, Digital Designs hit way harder than any of the JL products. Im talking serious bass my friend. I had 2 2500 series 12's in a ported box in my e-46 and WOW!! that bass was amazing. I am about to install in the 335 and I cant wait. That engine and 12 in dd subs are going to cause me to get serveral tickets. lol DD FTW...............
	Appreciate 0 Quote