Are Sealed Subwoofers More Musical than Ported Subs?

Yes.

They are, because of the tight bass compared to ported. Ported extends the lower end and they are used in movies. I have a ported sub and I observed lot of struggle when taking it super low in some of the movie scenes.
 
Yes.

They are, because of the tight bass compared to ported. Ported extends the lower end and they are used in movies. I have a ported sub and I observed lot of struggle when taking it super low in some of the movie scenes.
This is what he explains. It’s cause of the additional extension and combined with room issues especially when the MLP is near the rear wall the bass feels sloppy but if you can address this issue with dual ported subs the bass will be much tighter and ideal for music as well
 
Yes.

They are, because of the tight bass compared to ported. Ported extends the lower end and they are used in movies. I have a ported sub and I observed lot of struggle when taking it super low in some of the movie scenes.
But with the modern day subwoofers, the gap is closing. For example, consider the Rythmik Ported subs. If we set the Damping to high, the sub sounds like a sealed sub and its lowend rolloff also becomes shallow like a sealed sub.
Size is the primary benifit of the sealed sub besides being if musical.
In most of the blind tests performed, people couldn't find the sealed from ported. You can refer avsforum for Blind Subwoofer shootout threads.

Like this thread:
KANSAS CITY BLIND SUBWOOFER SHOOTOUT 2012

This is what Archaea said in his comment post the blind shootout: "And let me just tell you that the ported vs. sealed argument is pretty much put to rest. Nobody knew much of anything between what was what, and wild guesses abounded for most every sub."
 
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But with the modern day subwoofers, the gap is closing. For example, consider the Rythmik Ported subs. If we set the Damping to high, the sub sounds like a sealed sub and its lowend rolloff also becomes shallow like a sealed sub.
Size is the primary benifit of the sealed sub besides being if musical.
In most of the blind tests performed, people couldn't find the sealed from ported. You can refer avsforum for Blind Subwoofer shootout threads.

Like this thread:
KANSAS CITY BLIND SUBWOOFER SHOOTOUT 2012

This is what Archaea said in his comment post the blind shootout: "And let me just tell you that the ported vs. sealed argument is pretty much put to rest. Nobody knew much of anything between what was what, and wild guesses abounded for most every sub."
Check the models compared.. the ported subs used are good designs which can provide clean bass..
Ported subs like SVS pb series would have clearly shown the difference.
 
Check the models compared.. the ported subs used are good designs which can provide clean bass..
Ported subs like SVS pb series would have clearly shown the difference.
That we will know only after we do a blindfolded audition comparing the sealed SVS to its equal ported model .

Edit: Do you mean to say that the HSU VTF-15H and JTR Captivator Pro are superior designs compared to the SVS? I don't think so. In fact, Many people who have compared the JTR captivatirs and the SVS PB Ultra subs have said that these two brands have similar sound signature.
 
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This guys reviews a lot of sealed subs and owns relht1205 and Rythmik f12. Seems like a stereo guy who prefers only sealed subs. Listen to his feedback on the fvx12

 
Never thought audio could be so detailed, and people analysing sound thru graphs ...

(Long back at AIR (All India Radio), most LPs produced all types of crackling noises, that we heard on studio quality hi-fidelity speakers, but the same transmitted and heard on radios and transistors appeared flawless). Now the reverse is happening :cool:
 
I don't see this as being musical or not. Its about how you want your bass delivered. Its that simple. You want spades of it, go big (As in bigger sub) and go ported. This is ideal for home theater where you want the ground to shake. You want impact that goes with what is on screen. A restrained slam will not work or won't give you that excitement.

Music is a different ball game. You are not looking for absolute impact. Its more a support role for your main speakers. The only situation you'd want copious bass is if you're playing Drake, G-Eazy or an organ on full blast, where you want those sub bass notes to power through.

I discovered sub's for music only recently. I have a ported 100 watter with just an 8" driver (A joke besides todays Class D 1000 watt sub's). Its dialed up to 70% gain but it ain't over powering my music at all. It steps in for the G-Eazy kind stuff and it is absolute fun. Is barely noticeable when I play other genre's of music.

Don't think you can go wrong with either kind of sub.
 
I don't see this as being musical or not. Its about how you want your bass delivered. Its that simple. You want spades of it, go big (As in bigger sub) and go ported. This is ideal for home theater where you want the ground to shake. You want impact that goes with what is on screen. A restrained slam will not work or won't give you that excitement.

Music is a different ball game. You are not looking for absolute impact. Its more a support role for your main speakers. The only situation you'd want copious bass is if you're playing Drake, G-Eazy or an organ on full blast, where you want those sub bass notes to power through.

I discovered sub's for music only recently. I have a ported 100 watter with just an 8" driver (A joke besides todays Class D 1000 watt sub's). Its dialed up to 70% gain but it ain't over powering my music at all. It steps in for the G-Eazy kind stuff and it is absolute fun. Is barely noticeable when I play other genre's of music.

Don't think you can go wrong with either kind of sub.
that implies a ported sub would be a better option as it will serve both for music and movies, by adding the low end frequency to music and on demand high output for movies.

Only issue is the fear that ported subs might overpower remaining spectrum of music, might not sound tight, fast and controlled.

Forum member @subhash is using sonodyne sub 1012 dual ported sub for music and movies, seems to be very happy with ported subs.
 
Listen and decide for yourself.
This is the major problem most of us face here. We don't get the option to have home demo with 30 or 45 days return policy like US and few other European countries. So we tend to rely on owners feed back. Even if you demo in showroom its not the best approach to decide whats best for you. For example you want to get an amp and matching speakers . You check with a dealer and he will have the amp alone in some cases or the speakers alone. Lets say he has both and again there is no guarantee it is going to sound the same at my place compared to the dealers place. And also most dealers don’t calibrate the system to its full potential as customers will change the settings frequently.Only way to listen and decide whats best is if we can audition at our listening area which is impossible in our country. So we are left to rely on owners feed back and technical forums to have as a reference. I for one am a lucky bird as all the gears i have purchased are after home demo except for atmos speakers
 
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This is the major problem most of us face here. We don't get the option to have home demo with 30 or 45 days return policy like US and few other European countries. So we tend to rely on owners feed back. Even if you demo in showroom its not the best approach to decide whats best for you. For example you want to get an amp and matching speakers . You check with a dealer and he will have the amp alone in some cases or the speakers alone. Lets say he has both and again there is no guarantee it is going to sound the same at my place compared to the dealers place. And also most dealers don’t calibrate the system to its full potential as customers will change the settings frequently.Only way to listen and decide whats best is if we can audition at our listening area which is impossible in our country. So we are left to rely on owners feed back and technical forums to have as a reference. I for one am a lucky bird as all the gears i have purchased are after home demo except for atmos speakers

I agree that it's difficult here with limited demo opportunities but people probably don't realise that what they read online is mostly incorrect. They are either irrelevant technical specs or the subjective opinions of someone who probably doesn't have the same taste/room as you. It takes time but the best approach is to learn about sound itself rather than learn about which equipment is popular. For example rather than reading about X company being popular, read about and understand why it's product is popular. At the same time reading and learning about what you like will greatly help. Most people are averse to this but DSP is very helpful to tailor sound to preference, it does take a lot of time and work though. In this regard one must either shed thier thought that 2 channel systems (for example) must be pure without DSP or that their HT system (for example) must measure flat.
 
A little bit off-topic, if you have a Tower with a perfect balance between High, Mid, and Low, will you still prefer adding a Sub in the chain?
 
You mention perfect balance but you do not mention whether the owner is satisfied with it.

If you are the owner and are asking this question, then clearly you are not satisfied, so I would answer "add a sub".
 
Only issue is the fear that ported subs might overpower remaining spectrum of music, might not sound tight, fast and controlled.
A little bit off-topic, if you have a Tower with a perfect balance between High, Mid, and Low, will you still prefer adding a Sub in the chain?
I am struggling to do the dual quote so forgive me.

There are some really good ported sub that do well for music too. As someone else mentioned, that gap has narrowed. Its more a individual preference too. You can always dial down the gain on the sub if it does over power your music.

I use a floor stand speaker that goes down to 48hz and use a sub. The floor speakers do great bass by themselves but I discovered sub bass with a sub woofer post which I just love them for some genre's of music. Its a kind of bass you can't get from a floor stand that will go down to even 30Hz. You don't need a monster sub for this. Just any good sub woofer will do. Listen to them before putting down your money though.
 
How can one listen and decide unless the subs are setup properly and comparing by Listening means listening should be done in similar conditions for fair comparison.
Exactly. 99% of any gear, including subs auditions are worthless - being done in different environments with different gear. The ideal audition would have to be in the same room with the exact same chain ,post tuning. In US they give home audition chance , can’t expect that here.
 
Just to add my two cents. My primary watch in my HT space is Movies/OTT with around 30% Music(at most). I was very clear I wanted a ported sub and was exploring the ported sub of SVS and Rythmik and I finally settled for a sealed sub (F12) which both my music and movies preference. To me the ported sound for equivalent costs were just not tight enough even for movies.

In my home measurements, I am easily getting 100db at 12Hz with the sub at 60%, so I dont think its a ported vs sealed sub but the specific sub and how its designed and your own preference of the type of sound you like.
 
Just to add my two cents. My primary watch in my HT space is Movies/OTT with around 30% Music(at most). I was very clear I wanted a ported sub and was exploring the ported sub of SVS and Rythmik and I finally settled for a sealed sub (F12) which both my music and movies preference. To me the ported sound for equivalent costs were just not tight enough even for movies.

In my home measurements, I am easily getting 100db at 12Hz with the sub at 60%, so I dont think its a ported vs sealed sub but the specific sub and how its designed and your own preference of the type of sound you like.
Rythmik have designed their subs in such manner that both their sealed and ported subs seems to be performing well for both movies and music. I have used a 12 inch osd 800 watts rms sealed sub and the LV12f i am currently using is almost equal to the OSD sealed sub in music performance
 
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