Sealed or Ported in an LS
- Thread starter $m0k3LS
- Start date
05BlackLSE
Active LVC Member
all depends on what kind of response you want to get, what type of music you usually listen to and what subs and amps your using
eastcoastLS
Dedicated LVC Member
ported.
Well I listen to alot of music with nasty lows and i like to feel pressure. You can have loud subs with no pressure. I want loud with pressure. Ported has worked in my other cars but they all had larger trunks.
whatsupadrian
Dedicated LVC Member
always ported
ground_zero298
Dedicated LVC Member
I prefer freeair variants, lowest lows and most air movement. must be a high quality sub like a diamond or jl 6 series or higher.
05BlackLSE
Active LVC Member
ive used many different setups, my most recent was a JL W7 in a bandpass box matched with the JL 1000/1. when i put it in the LS im gonna seal the box for sure. much more accurate by far, very hard hitting too. not so sloppy
n8bachelor
Dedicated LVC Member
I always run sealed. I just prefer it.
Right now I have 1 Alpine type R 12 in a 1.25 cubic foot sealed box. It is by no means an SPL setup. Afterall this is a luxury car, not a honda CRX.
Right now I have 1 Alpine type R 12 in a 1.25 cubic foot sealed box. It is by no means an SPL setup. Afterall this is a luxury car, not a honda CRX.
Mexican3001
Car audio guru
Ported = somewhat of a messy and tight bass
Sealed = Tightest bass and most accurate
Bandpass = Worst bass, messiest and not accurate
Sealed = Tightest bass and most accurate
Bandpass = Worst bass, messiest and not accurate
QFT. I always make my fiberglass enclosures sealed for best response. It really all depends on what you're into. If you like trunk rattling, nasty bass, bandpass is perfect for you. If you like loud bass with very little words being heard in your music, ported may be for you. But a sealed box is well rounded. It all depends on what subs you're using, but a sub in a sealed box with the correct airspace is the perfect blend of responsive bass and well heard highs.
05BlackLSE
Active LVC Member
if you have a bandpass box it doesnt mean its not going to be accurate and that its going to be messy. if you do it right and use good quality products it sounds great. its just what you prefer. my bandpass setup was unreal.
if you look at the speaker manual, it should have a charts for each enclosure design (along with volume and port length) that shows frequency response with respect to loudness. figure out what frequency is important to you based on the music you like and go for that. ported is a little more flexible since you can tune the enclosure without changing its general size.
The tough part with this car is you lose a lot of sound due to the seats blocking it.
for more info go here...
The tough part with this car is you lose a lot of sound due to the seats blocking it.
for more info go here...
Diamond is not that good. I have 1 MEMPHIS M1 DVC 15" speaker off a directed 1200D in a sealed box that hit a whole 6db higher in a sound competition(metered off the dash) than my boy with 2 12" diamond woofers off a memphis 1100D. The new memphis speakers are the way to go because if you blow 1(and its out of warranty) all you have to do is replace the module rather than the whole speaker which is way cheaper. Different strokes for different folks
Well, I like pressure. Sealed boxes seem to make more noise but less air pressure. I love to hear and feel the lows that bass provides lol. I am also planning to port my trunk so that I don't have to let my rear seats down to get that massive bass. I've ported a trunk before(I had 2 L7 12's in a Crown Victoria), and it sounded GREAT!!! SO...be expecting pictures and updates
whatsupadrian
Dedicated LVC Member
i see a lot of miss information on this thread. first of all, you shouldn't be saying sealed or ported in an LS you should be saying " 'driver' sealed or ported" because it really has more to do with the actual driver its self. Some subs are designed for sealed enclosures and dont respond well in vented enclosures. And some subs are not designed for sealed enclosures (like my DD).
Generally if a vented enclosure is built and tuned to spec. It will sound better then even a sealed enclosure. Prefab vented enclosures(or poorly built) is where you get bad sounding output from. Sealed usually sounds better because theres less of a chance of cancellation. Also sealed enclosures are small and compact and cargo space is precious. Sealed enclosures suffer output.
So what driver do you plan on running? About how many watts? What kind of music do you typically listen to? Looking for a great sound or want it to bump hard?
Generally if a vented enclosure is built and tuned to spec. It will sound better then even a sealed enclosure. Prefab vented enclosures(or poorly built) is where you get bad sounding output from. Sealed usually sounds better because theres less of a chance of cancellation. Also sealed enclosures are small and compact and cargo space is precious. Sealed enclosures suffer output.
So what driver do you plan on running? About how many watts? What kind of music do you typically listen to? Looking for a great sound or want it to bump hard?
Ported is only good if you wanna generate noise. If you want sound quality, then sealed is the way to go in the LS.
Ported, by design, usually hurts sound quality as it is tuned to a specific frequency. More noise does not equal better sound quality.
Rarely do you see sound quality competition vehicles with anything other then sealed.
The question comes down to, do you want accurate sound reproduction, or lots of noise?
Ported, by design, usually hurts sound quality as it is tuned to a specific frequency. More noise does not equal better sound quality.
Rarely do you see sound quality competition vehicles with anything other then sealed.
The question comes down to, do you want accurate sound reproduction, or lots of noise?
Former Member
Dedicated LVC Member
- Joined
- Jul 25, 2007
- Messages
- 703
- Reaction score
- 0
ported usually gets the best responce and sound quality. stay away from bandpass. sealed works great for punchy bass, it just lacks the SPL and "performance" a ported box can offer when built correctly. i highly reccoment using caraudioforum.com just because some subwoofers actually preform alot better in box's that arnt reccomended by the manufacturer. cubic feet plays an important role in tuning. sub positioning and port positioning also plays a pretty big part. theres alot more involved then wood, screws, and glue. for an LS the best set up would be subs back, port back. the size of the box really depends on your subwoofer. dont be fooled thinking you need 1000watts/2000watts (most of these amp ratings are inaccurate anyways) in the right box a subwoofer with 250 watts can sound extremly good. the box is 95% of the subwoofers performance.
Like i said id hit up caraudioforum.com and make a post with your specific products. someone will likely be able to give you dimensions for the most efficent setup and box/port size.
i also disagree with shagdrum, in a ported box you can tune it to your personal prefrence. depends on what you really like to hear in your bass. you can tune high or low, or even add port inserts to further your tuning desire at the time.
Like i said id hit up caraudioforum.com and make a post with your specific products. someone will likely be able to give you dimensions for the most efficent setup and box/port size.
i also disagree with shagdrum, in a ported box you can tune it to your personal prefrence. depends on what you really like to hear in your bass. you can tune high or low, or even add port inserts to further your tuning desire at the time.
Well as far as what sub and amp I'll be using...I intend to use an Fi BTL 12" sub woofer on a Power Acoustik 3000D. The box I will be about 1.75-3.0 cuft. I'm not sure how many Hz it will be but it WILL be ported. Also I cut out some spots in my rear deck to reduce trunk rattle and bring some pressure into the cabin. It wasn't really hard to do. I just had to make sure my measurements were correct and I didn't cut the outside diameter too large. (Port tube size: 3"x4") Here's a couple pix...Let me know what you think.
stuntin_LS
Well-Known LVC Member
No matter what make sure u invest in dynamat.. I heard it makes a huge difference
NoLimit95
Dedicated LVC Member
Slot port (vented) and tuned for the nasty lows and uppers. I have 3 10" JL Audios and I have the high pitch bass and lows that make my moon roof jump up and down. The guy up above that mentioned Dynomat, very good suggestion. Nothing worse than hearing a car coming and then when it goes by, hearing the trunk and gas tank and everything else rattle.
What I said was correct; if you want accurate sound reproduction, sealed is the way to go.
Ported focuses on one frequency and doesn't reproduce (at the same level) the whole range of frequencies needed for accurate sound reproduction. If all the music you listen to only has that frequency in the subwoofer range that the ported box is tuned to reproduce (not realist) then ported is the way to go for sound quality; if you listen to actual music, and then ported is terrible for sound quality as it is too inconsistent across the frequency range it is used to reproduce to accurately transfer the signal into noise.
SPL does not equal SQ. in fact, they are on opposite ends of the spectrum. An SPL competition car will never seriously compete (as setup for SPL) in a SQ competition. Most SPL cars use ported boxes, while most SQ cars use sealed (dependant, somewhat, on the driver used and the type of vehicle).
It sounds like, considering $m0k3LS's preferences, that ported would work best for him....but the end result won't be accurate, realistic sound reproduction.
The nature of the noise a ported box generates inherently distorts the part of the signal a subwoofer reproduces; it just does so in a way that many people like. A very well designed, high-end home audio system built around sound accuracy/realistic sound reproduction would never have bass of that nature (ported) as it isn't accurate, realistic sound reproduction. Same goes for recording studios.
Electric bass guitars use, live, a speaker in a sealed box to generated the sound input the player is making. How can a ported box more acurately replicate that sound then a sealed?
Trilkb, you are focusing on personal preference, which should ultimately dictate what you put in your car, but don't mistake personal preference as defining sound quality. Sound quality (when it comes to sound reproduction, which is all car audio is) is defined by being as realistic and close to the actual performance originally recorded as can be. Ported boxes, by their very nature move away from that by coloring the sound in a distinct way that wasn't in the original performance, and thus cannot generate good sound quality.
NoLimit95
Dedicated LVC Member
I like those ports in the back. I need two of them on each side of my third brake light to release more pressure. Clean looking and not something that's real noticeable on black.
Everyone has their opinion about sound quality and it could be argued all day long. Sealed does give the more realistic kick from the music but if you want to be able to feel the air pressure coming out of the windows while they're down, then venting the box will do it but using only one 12 will only do so much. I probably have a bigger trunk than you do and I really don't know how all the trunk air space that's left over comes into play but all I know is that the setup I have in mine puts out the pressure. If I wanted to be mild mannered, I could simply set the head unit frequency for the subs up to 120 or cut the sub volume down a few notches. The head unit can be adjusted for quality of sound if it's a fairly good unit. It's only eXcelon for me but again, everyone has their own preference for name brands of everything they use for systems.
I only use three and that three would be Kenwood eXcelon, JL Audio and Kicker. Next door neighbors look at me like when I'm outside and I'm like :waving: but I never set out in the garage and just bump the system. Only when I'm coming home and sometimes not even then. If I was riding through your neighbor hood, you would first :shifty: and then wonder where the sound is coming from and then when I passed by, like most, you would be like "another one of those damn stereos" and that's the sound I like, even at the age of 39, I'm still boomin but I like all sorts of music from classic rock, all the way to Lil Jon. When you finally get it all installed, test it with Gucci Maine / Dope Man and that will give you all the bass notes you could need.
Everyone has their opinion about sound quality and it could be argued all day long. Sealed does give the more realistic kick from the music but if you want to be able to feel the air pressure coming out of the windows while they're down, then venting the box will do it but using only one 12 will only do so much. I probably have a bigger trunk than you do and I really don't know how all the trunk air space that's left over comes into play but all I know is that the setup I have in mine puts out the pressure. If I wanted to be mild mannered, I could simply set the head unit frequency for the subs up to 120 or cut the sub volume down a few notches. The head unit can be adjusted for quality of sound if it's a fairly good unit. It's only eXcelon for me but again, everyone has their own preference for name brands of everything they use for systems.
I only use three and that three would be Kenwood eXcelon, JL Audio and Kicker. Next door neighbors look at me like
when I'm outside and I'm like :waving: but I never set out in the garage and just bump the system. Only when I'm coming home and sometimes not even then. If I was riding through your neighbor hood, you would first :shifty: and then wonder where the sound is coming from and then when I passed by, like most, you would be like "another one of those damn stereos" and that's the sound I like, even at the age of 39, I'm still boomin but I like all sorts of music from classic rock, all the way to Lil Jon. When you finally get it all installed, test it with Gucci Maine / Dope Man and that will give you all the bass notes you could need.