Subwoofer Enclosure

[AirPost]

Used my friend, the Search Button, but did not find any answers. I just got a pair of Focal subwoofers and an Infinity amp. My next purchase would be a subwoofer enclosure. The subwoofers are supposed to go in a ported/vented enclosure per the Manufacturer. My questions is: Can I get a sealed enclosure instead of the recommended ported one since I am more of an SQ person, than an SPL? I would still go with the recommended cubic ft area but not the type of enclosure.

Any downsides to this? I like tight bass and not the boomy one where your roof and glass expand an inch to every beat.

Again, my question is: would a subwoofer that was designed to go in a vented/ported enclosure also perform well in a sealed enclosure if all you are looking for is SQ?

[audiophile]

well i have heard the focal subs in the vented enclousre and they are very clean for the box type. as long as you follow the dimensions for the port and enclousre you should be fine.
remember focal is not a cheap brand that has made it's name for boomy or crappy sounding products. they are very respected in the industry for making some of the best sounding speakers out there.

not all subs can play in any type of box. if they are made for proted then you should probably go ported. if you go with sealed then you might not get what you want from that sub since it's not made to go in a sealed box.

[Benzon]

< Dumb

[AirPost]

Thanks! Will stick to a ported enclosure then.

Benzon, as much as I want to put Brabus wheels on the sub, I don't think it will happen.

[Benzon]

HAHA oh man wrong reply box, man that's funny. Sorry man.

[C280/////AMG]

I've got a sealed box with a 12" Hertz sub. Did this cos i want quality bass, not just a gangster boomer. Did loads of research on this..initially i wanted a band-pass box, but apparently bass isn't very tight at all.

The only problem with the sealed box is that it tends to be very efficient at some frequencies, and less at other frequencies, depending on the size of the box...the bigger the box, the deeper the bass.

My friend however has a ported box in his 126 S-class, which seems to play a wider range of frequencies (if you know what i mean). the thing is that his bass isn't as tight as mine tho.

So, to conclude, if you want tight bass, go for the sealed box, but first make sure you know whether you want deep bass, or more mid-low bass, depending on your personal taste and the type of music you listen to. I chose a slightly large box, cos it's a sedan (the 202), and sedans struggle to move the bass forward, as opposed to a hatch. i also like deep bass, but not earth-trembeling stuff!

[trunk-rattlin]

Look at my post in this forum just down the page. They go sweet in a sealed box. The bigger the enclosure, the more boomy it will be.

[AirPost]

So, it's okay to put a subwoofer designed for a ported enclosure into a sealed one if I'm looking for tight bass?

I did a lot of research after posting my question and like all things, all enclosures have their pros and cons.

Sealed type
Pros:
-Best (low) group-delay/transient response which means they are very tight if designed properly
-They can take a lot of power throughout the entire frequency range
Cons:
-Efficiency is relatively low
-Frequency response can suffer in some cases in the lowest octaves/frequencies

Ported/Vented type
Pros:
-Extended frequency response
-Higher efficiency
-Higher power handling above the port tuning frequency
Cons:
-Lower power handling below the port tuning frequency
-Worse group-delay/transient response than a sealed box (but better than bandpass) but still very acceptable if designed properly

I could care less for boomy bass, sq is what I need and from what I've read so far, tight bass from sealed enclosures is the way to go. I downloaded this excel file that you input your t/s of your speaker and it gives you all sorts of recommendations. It says if my Qts is 0.50 which it is then I should go with a ported one. I don't have the luxury these days to go sample out the boxes at the local stores.

Trunk-rattlin, the 33V2 was designed to go in a sealed enclosure unlike mine. :bored:

But my question still is, are there drawbacks of putting a subwoofer designed for ported enclosure in a sealed one?

[trunk-rattlin]

I dont think it will matter dude.

[C280/////AMG]

Won't matter at all...the more watts the sub has, and the more efficient it is, the more volume and clarity you'll have, using the same box (not that you'll really hear the clarity from the sub!)