# Ported Vs Sealed



## mathoets (Feb 14, 2013)

Hey guys

I know there are a few threads for this already but i havent noticed any that quite depict my situation. My new place has a VERY open, wooden floored, and high ceilinged combined kitchen, living and dining area.

It seems to be that ported is slightly louder but it seems to lack "punch", i have considered getting a second sub and have one sealed and one ported on opposite sides of the room.

Any Ideas will be most welcome as I am quite a fanatic about my sound quality

Thanks


----------



## mvision7m (Feb 9, 2013)

mathoets said:


> Hey guys
> 
> I know there are a few threads for this already but i havent noticed any that quite depict my situation. My new place has a VERY open, wooden floored, and high ceilinged combined kitchen, living and dining area.
> 
> ...


Ported subs usually go a little lower and maybe a little louder at those lower frequencies while sealed subs may not go as low or play as loud in the super deep bass. Sealed will however, tend to be tighter, cleaner and more well controlled which most people who use their sub in a music system covet. A lot of people will choose ported for strictly home theater applications and sealed for music + HT systems. Multiple subs even out over all low frequency response. 

Using one ported with one sealed would be interesting, I wonder if you'd be able to calibrate them to work together. There's got to be someone in this forum that has such a set up who could better advise you on that.


----------



## mathoets (Feb 14, 2013)

calibrating them is my main concern, im worried they may cancel each other out at some frequencies based on phase and or lag... suppose i could always give it a go.. haha


----------



## theJman (Mar 3, 2012)

mathoets said:


> I know there are a few threads for this already but i havent noticed any that quite depict my situation. My new place has a VERY open, wooden floored, and high ceilinged combined kitchen, living and dining area.
> 
> It seems to be that ported is slightly louder but it seems to lack "punch", i have considered getting a second sub and have one sealed and one ported on opposite sides of the room.


How big is this open space and what type of sub do you have now? Those two pieces of information are going to be critical in order for anyone to provide assistance.


----------



## asere (Dec 7, 2011)

theJman said:


> How big is this open space and what type of sub do you have now? Those two pieces of information are going to be critical in order for anyone to provide assistance.


This is interesting. I own the Hsu vtf3 that I used ported and I just received the Kreisel 12012 that is sealed sub and they both sound the same to me. Great subs I just can't tell the difference.


----------



## theJman (Mar 3, 2012)

asere said:


> This is interesting. I own the Hsu vtf3 that I used ported and I just received the Kreisel 12012 that is sealed sub and they both sound the same to me. Great subs I just can't tell the difference.


How long have you been running the 12012? The 808's needed a good 15-20 hours before they started coming into their own. Also, how do you have it set? Are all the controls on the green dots?


----------



## asere (Dec 7, 2011)

theJman said:


> How long have you been running the 12012? The 808's needed a good 15-20 hours before they started coming into their own. Also, how do you have it set? Are all the controls on the green dots?


All of the control are on the green dot except the gain is not on the green dot . I started with min and got it closer to 6db line on the back of the sub. The sub is on a corner but the side driver is not facing the wall. I barely un boxed it yesterday.


----------



## theJman (Mar 3, 2012)

It's probably better then if you hold off on making proclamations until it's properly broken in and tuned. If you have concerns or questions you should reach out to Ken. He was very easy to work with.


----------



## asere (Dec 7, 2011)

theJman said:


> It's probably better then if you hold off on making proclamations until it's properly broken in and tuned. If you have concerns or questions you should reach out to Ken. He was very easy to work with.


I'll spend the weekend with heavy bass to break in . Very nice sub thats for sure.


----------



## DanTheMan (Oct 12, 2009)

The total design of the sub will be more important than typology of the sub. The room modes will dominate the SQ issues in general provided the sub plays as loud as you like easily. I'm betting only 1 person in this thread will believe those statements.

I have participated in threads where people complain about the slowness of sealed subs sound...

Dan


----------



## mathoets (Feb 14, 2013)

this big


----------



## mathoets (Feb 14, 2013)

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=599635460065885&set=a.249314741764627.81376.100000583080429&type=1&theater


----------



## mathoets (Feb 14, 2013)

Wont let me add a pic...


----------



## theJman (Mar 3, 2012)

mathoets said:


> this big


Without actual dimensions it's difficult to give specific answers, but the picture does help provide an understanding of what you're confronting so I can at least give some general guidelines.

The first thing I noticed is all the hard surfaces, which are going to be a bit of an acoustical nightmare. Your first post intimated you're very concerned with sound quality, which is going to be a challenge to achieve without adding some material surfaces. Whether that's carpets, drapes, wall treatments, or some combination of them all, you will need to dampen the reverberations if you want to get good sound.

The total volume of space will require more then one subwoofer to fill, each of which will have to be fairly potent in their own right. Speakers can be undersized, to an extent, because they can be aimed directly at the seating positions. That's not ideal, but can be workable. Subwoofers, on the other hand, want to pressurize the entire area, which requires a lot of power in such a large space.


----------



## mathoets (Feb 14, 2013)

... i thought this was going to be a nightmare.. dampeners i can only do to an extent as the property is a rental and maybe i can strategically place a couple of subs to help boost the bass?


----------



## theJman (Mar 3, 2012)

mathoets said:


> ... i thought this was going to be a nightmare.. dampeners i can only do to an extent as the property is a rental and maybe i can strategically place a couple of subs to help boost the bass?


Sure, a pair (or more) of sub will definitely work. So too might a Gramma for each of them - that should help mitigate some of the resonance issues.


----------

