View Poll Results: Ported or Sealed?
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22
50.00%
Sealed
22
50.00%
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Ported or Sealed with my setup?
Thread Starter
Joined: Jun 2002
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From: Diamond Bar, CA
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Ported or Sealed with my setup?
I have a DD Audio 3500c 15" with a JBL1200.1 I'm about to start building my enclosure but dunno what would be better, ported or sealed. What kind of difference would it have and what would be best for me? 
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Joined: Sep 2002
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From: Seattle, Washington, US
Rep Power: 0 Sealed... With that large of a sub you'll have a lot of air being pushed through ports which could cause an annoying whistling. That's not to say you can't build a ported box that won't whistle. A sealed box will also help save space in your trunk.
Sealed.. unless you know exactly what you're doing with ported enclosure construction.. the box has to be tuned and the port needs to be tuned as well, AND needs to be the correct length according with the port diameter. Besides, you get better sound quality with sealed.. IMO
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Joined: Jul 2003
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From: Charleston, SC
Rep Power: 0 argh. this has to do with what type of music you like to listen to! i went ported because i listen to boomy bass music (gansta rap). if you listen to regular rock, then i'd go sealed. k, so i'll list the pro cons
-ported-
pro-
1will get louder than sealed
2lower bass handling
3less power from amp needed
con-
1takes up more space
2if you build the ports yourself, you'll have to round the edges to prevent whistling
3heavier
4you have to have a subsonic filter
-sealed-
pros
1lighter
2smaller
3more trunk space
cons
1not as loud
2won't get as low in bass as easily as ported
3takes a more powerful amp
disreguard the amp power deal, as since you aren't doing a competition you won't really notice any differences...
-DINGALING
-ported-
pro-
1will get louder than sealed
2lower bass handling
3less power from amp needed
con-
1takes up more space
2if you build the ports yourself, you'll have to round the edges to prevent whistling
3heavier
4you have to have a subsonic filter
-sealed-
pros
1lighter
2smaller
3more trunk space
cons
1not as loud
2won't get as low in bass as easily as ported
3takes a more powerful amp
disreguard the amp power deal, as since you aren't doing a competition you won't really notice any differences...
-DINGALING
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Joined: Nov 2002
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From: New York Mills, New York, US
Rep Power: 0 Sealed doesnt mean more trunk space.
I'd like to see a sealed enclosure give you more trunk space then my ported one for 3 12's.
The trunk floor isn't finished yet but you'll get the idea.
I'd like to see a sealed enclosure give you more trunk space then my ported one for 3 12's.
The trunk floor isn't finished yet but you'll get the idea.
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From: Cedar Rapids, Iowa, US
Rep Power: 347 Most of the time a sealed enclosure will give you more trunk space, unless you have a good idea like Custom. I think SQ is better with Sealed so that what I will stick with.
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From: Charleston, SC
Rep Power: 0 custom2k1, what are you talking about? were is you air space for your subs? is in the spare tire well? and i bet i could build a triple sealed 12 enclosure to fit into your car that would take up less space than that. realistically, what are you going to risk putting in your trunk with your subs mounted like that?
-DINGALING
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From: New York Mills, New York, US
Rep Power: 0 Actually there is no risk at all. Nothing in the trunk can interfere with the way the subs play. There is nothing in the spare tire well but the amps. The entire trunk is sealed off from the front of the car making the entire trunk the enclosure so there is absolutly nothing taking up space except the actual subs themselves. So like I said before its not possible to build a smaller sealed box and take up less trunk space. 
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From: Charleston, SC
Rep Power: 0 but what if you put something or any size IN your trunk. it will change the effective cubic foot size inside your "enclosure" and therefore change the properties and forcing a retune, if you care about your subs, not to mention the fact that if you put something in there it could slide into a sub. a punctured sub isn't a pretty sight. ALSO, if you play it with your trunk open it's like making your subs "free air" subs. once again, forcing a retune. the problems are endless. i would have gone with an enclosure...
-DINGALING
-DINGALING
i boogie for the raindrops
Joined: Oct 2001
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From: Jackson, Mississippi
Rep Power: 0 Originally posted by DINGALING
but what if you put something or any size IN your trunk. it will change the effective cubic foot size inside your "enclosure" and therefore change the properties and forcing a retune, if you care about your subs, not to mention the fact that if you put something in there it could slide into a sub. a punctured sub isn't a pretty sight. ALSO, if you play it with your trunk open it's like making your subs "free air" subs. once again, forcing a retune. the problems are endless. i would have gone with an enclosure...
-DINGALING
but what if you put something or any size IN your trunk. it will change the effective cubic foot size inside your "enclosure" and therefore change the properties and forcing a retune, if you care about your subs, not to mention the fact that if you put something in there it could slide into a sub. a punctured sub isn't a pretty sight. ALSO, if you play it with your trunk open it's like making your subs "free air" subs. once again, forcing a retune. the problems are endless. i would have gone with an enclosure...
-DINGALING
in addition, if Tim were to seal up his ports, it would essentially be a free-air or infinite baffle enclosure. Tim has ports therefore making it a ported enclosure
2 - when dealing with volumes as large as the full trunk (ie, 10+ cubic feet) something like a box or two, or some clothing or groceries wont really take up that much of your space...
3 - the human ear really cant hear audible changes as small as changing tuning within a few hz. even more, in some situations, you can be off on your box size by 10-20% and still not have an audible difference
4 - the motor and basket structure on his subs almost totally eliminates his risk of having a puncture or having a problem like that, and also, to hitthe surround in that exact spot would take a mixture of him driving like an azzhole and him carrying arrows or spears in his trunk..
5 - Tim competes and in competition, 2 factors that could highly affect your spl level are port area and box size. in ported applications, box size increases efficiency. I wanna see you find another way to get 12 cubic feet of airspace out of our civic trunk =)
6 - His setup is widely used throughout the audio world and the fact that its still being used says something...
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Joined: Sep 2002
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From: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Rep Power: 0 Originally posted by custom2k1
Sealed doesnt mean more trunk space.
I'd like to see a sealed enclosure give you more trunk space then my ported one for 3 12's.
The trunk floor isn't finished yet but you'll get the idea.
Sealed doesnt mean more trunk space.
I'd like to see a sealed enclosure give you more trunk space then my ported one for 3 12's.
The trunk floor isn't finished yet but you'll get the idea.
Wouldn't this setup leak a lot of air?
as well, wouldn't it be better to have tuned ports instead of hollow cylindrical nubs?
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From: Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Rep Power: 0 Originally posted by custom2k1
Sealed doesnt mean more trunk space.
I'd like to see a sealed enclosure give you more trunk space then my ported one for 3 12's.
The trunk floor isn't finished yet but you'll get the idea.
Sealed doesnt mean more trunk space.
I'd like to see a sealed enclosure give you more trunk space then my ported one for 3 12's.
The trunk floor isn't finished yet but you'll get the idea.
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Joined: Jul 2003
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From: Charleston, SC
Rep Power: 0 sure. take all the carpet out of his trunk, the board, and spray resin the interior (to ensure no leaks), and paint (sanding and priming respected) i think i just got more air space than him(using his technique ) 
-DINGALING
) -DINGALING
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From: New York Mills, New York, US
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sure. take all the carpet out of his trunk, the board, and spray resin the interior (to ensure no leaks), and paint (sanding and priming respected) i think i just got more air space than him(using his technique )
Ohhhh so what your saying is if i seal everything up like i did 3 weeks ago including expandable foam, resining and matting my rear deck with 4 layers of glass, and Kitty hair in any visible holes,then it should work exactly like it does now. Hmm good idea.
This isnt the first car i've done this in guys. It works and it works well as both White Rabbit and Ludlam can both tell you. In my last car i never had problems. This one was an IB setup.
http://www.teamcaraccessories.com/showpicture.cfm?id=18
As for opening my trunk and it changing the tuning I look at it this way.
If you open your trunk and are trying to impress someone with the way it sounds then you know nothing about car audio. Whether your trunk is set up like mine or you have an enclosure in your trunk, your subs will sound like **** 99% of the time when your trunk is opened vs. sitting in the front seat where the bass should be.
And as Ludlam said those "nubs" right now are tuned properly at about 25 Hz. They are 2" pvc interconnects were used purposly for playing with the tuning since a can just cut a piece of 2" pvc and slide it in snug.
i boogie for the raindrops
Joined: Oct 2001
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From: Jackson, Mississippi
Rep Power: 0 i believe he's got a few inches of clearance, but i also believe he rolls witht he seats down...
Me, personally, when i do a similar install to this in my car with a pair of 15's, ill have the baffle offset both in angle and in distance to the seat because of that, also, im gonna have interchangeable ports (1 spl, 1 daily driver)
Me, personally, when i do a similar install to this in my car with a pair of 15's, ill have the baffle offset both in angle and in distance to the seat because of that, also, im gonna have interchangeable ports (1 spl, 1 daily driver)
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From: New York Mills, New York, US
Rep Power: 0 There are a couple inches of clearance but my seats do stay down 98% of the time. They are only folded up when my son is in the back in his carseat and when that happens i turn my subs off anyway.
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From: Houston, Texas, US
Rep Power: 0 I have never heard my setup in a closed box, I have a JL Audio 12w3v2 in a slotted box built to JL specs being run off an Alpine M300, 300W RMS and people think I have two subs. It hits hard, loud, and sounds clean in my opinion.
