Sealed, Ported, or Bandpass?

[Coach]

Which do you prefer? Or which is better and why?

Having been a pro audio tech for many many years, I'm biased to sealed units as the quality is usually superior. Sealed tends to be tighter and more accurate with little decrease in the low end.

In certain live events, I have needed to use a huge pair of ported subs but I could DJ a wedding reception (300-400 people) with a single pair of Mackie SRM450 active speakers ( [Only Registered Users Can See LinksClick Here To Register] ). Alas, I digress as this is suppose to be about car audio.

I agree that a good ported sub can give you the boom boom that you all like but I'd rather hear each note and beat clearly. Also find that the music is for me, not for the guy in the car a block away.

Bandpass is the poor man's way to get crazy loud bass volume without breaking the bank. I find with both ported and bandpass, the bass is muddy and unclear. Rhythms tend to bleed/mash together and you lose the distinct beat most songs have.

If setup right, with a sealed sub, your trunk in effect turns into a ported sub enclosure.

Sealed is better IMHO. I've had all 3 setups and none of the other two compare to my sealed Cerwin Vega single 10" HED sub.


Discuss.

[HondaKillah]

I have always used sealed subwoofer enclosures,when i first started gettng into car audio,I had a bandpass enclosure.It was extremely hard to tell when you were getting distortion and to tune them right with the amp gain.I have yet to get another BP enclosure since my first car stereo,I have stuck to sealed since then.

Ported is sorta too boomy,your right as far as the note goes,but there are some ported guys who will tell you up and down that they get better sound and freq tuning with a good port length and placement.

[nismos14]

I've run bandpass sealed and ported. I hate bandpass (this was aroughly 12 years ago that I ran a bandpass). I liked ported (when done right, tuned low and properly setup will sound extremely clean and gain alot in output with the same power as a sealed box). My personal preference though is sealed, can handle more power and sound great doing it.

[Sassan]

great topic!

[zadeluca]

i cant contribute that much because i 100% agree with everything coach said in the first post

[Specboy]

Anoher agreement with the OP. My PReference is Sealed because of the accuracy. I'd rather have less bass and more accuracy on the note than more bass. It really depends on what the individual is looking for. Ported is great for rap where it's less about the note/tone and more about the beat. Techno/Electronic, jass, classical need accuracy that's just not realistically possible with a ported box. Bandpass is kind of the middle ground but is primarily used to take up trunk space. it can handle jazz or techno alot better but still gives the opportunity to punch out the beat nice and hard. but one must remember. this is not without tuning. you can't expect a bandpass box to just work for everything without making changes to your stereo or amp's configuration.

just my humble opinion. My background isn't pro car stereos but just doing my own installs and installs in family/friends cars. my next task will be to install 1 or 2 10" kappa subs and either a kappa 5 channel or Kenwood 4 channel amp into my altima. (leftovers from my Integra before trading)

~SB

[ManicSquirrel]

my first enclosure was bandpass, never got one again, sealed only for me now. I found the bandpass worked ok in a hatchback where it is in the car with you, or if you can't afford a powerful sub/amp combo it will give you more kick, but in the trunk it's gotta be a sealed enclosure, the sealed enclosures are just more accurate as noted above. I currently have a Rockford Fosgate HE1 12" in a sealed enclosure and a Rockford amp just sitting in my closet now, great sub, but i don't feel like rattling another car apart

[nismos14]

Again, ported enclosures can be fine, and just as accurate as sealed enclosure. The key is low tuning around 30hz, and the advantage is less power needed to reach full excursion.

[ManicSquirrel]

Originally Posted by nismos14 [Only Registered Users Can See LinksClick Here To Register]

Again, ported enclosures can be fine, and just as accurate as sealed enclosure. The key is low tuning around 30hz, and the advantage is less power needed to reach full excursion.

agreed, i have heard some that were tuned correctly(ported), but no go on bandpass, it's almost like it muffles the sound and makes the bass very muddy

[nismos14]

Ya bandpass's take small frequency widths like 50-100 and emphasize them, leaving alot of room for boominess. Now a PROPERLY setup bandpass can get insanely loud, and as long as its properly tuned and built will/can sound phenomenal. The majority of bandpass's though sound like horse manure.

[ManicSquirrel]

Originally Posted by nismos14 [Only Registered Users Can See LinksClick Here To Register]

Ya bandpass's take small frequency widths like 50-100 and emphasize them, leaving alot of room for boominess. Now a PROPERLY setup bandpass can get insanely loud, and as long as its properly tuned and built will/can sound phenomenal. The majority of bandpass's though sound like horse manure.

yeah, and most people don't bother to set things up properly, they just get power, box, sub, throw it in and make it sounds as loud as they can, i'd rather hear the music....though in my caddy I still had the bose head unit hooked up in the trunk so it would turn on the amps for the regular spakers (it was weird how that thing was wired), that way I had my alpine in the dash, Bose in the trunk, then the steering wheel controls still functioned, but only effected the normal speakers, so they could be turned down all the way, and the alpine could be turned up with just the sub running....that was some trippy shit..

[nismos14]

^Haha the wonderful world of BLOSE!