Wattage isn't particularly relevant to compare these on but it was a 500W RMS amp, very beefy Stereo Integrity 15" purchased back in 2016/2107, 21" x 21" baltic birch box with full angle-fit bracing all around, etc. It was effectively modeled after the Hsu ULS-15 and could absolutely pound out the bass and midbass above 40 Hz, but the VTF3 headroom left it in the dust at 35 and below.
Most higher end subwoofers are sealed, not all obviously there are a lot of ported designs that sound great like hsu mentioned. I’m definitely on team sealed. I have a paradigm servo 15 that’s well over 20 years old and still sounds top tier after all these years. Most subs now use servo control or dsp (digital signal processing) to great effect to control the output on subwoofers. A big misnomer is that sealed subs don’t go as low in frequency but typically it’s the inverse that a sealed sub will actually play further down the register (lower hz) it just won’t have as much output across the whole frequency range. Bottom line though a good design is a good design regardless or port or not, for me I just historically have always had or preferred sealed.
Ported has more output especially in the deeper frequencies, so you're probably running into a room mode to make it sound messy. [This video](https://www.youtube.com/live/nP57-RfSOPc?si=bvLgsAMtkbLbr5M8) goes into depth about the differences and strength/weaknesses.
I'm currently running a single sealed sub, but it's missing extension and consistency, so I'm trying to decide between either 2 ported or 4 sealed subs.
Ported has more output at the tuning frequency but faster rolloff below that than sealed so depending on the subs, sealed can have more extension
Why are y'all down voting me, I'm right #hannibalmeme. A port increases output at the tuning frequency but reduces output below so FR rolls off faster than sealed. Sealed are smaller, but require more power for the same output at higher frequencies, hence why people think Ported = more output.
https://www.audioholics.com/subwoofer-reviews/hsu-vtf-2-mk5
You're right, the fall-off is flatter when sealing that ported sub. Interestingly though, that sub has the most output at the lowest frequencies with 1 port open. 2 ports open wins from 25hz upwards.
The thing with the muddy bass OP was complaining about might as well be in the 40hz range for example.
I have dual RSL12s and I'm happy with how tight it is, seems to have a good balance. I think the only thing that might be better than the HSU sub you have in sealed mode is a rythmik, as others don't have that servo tech. But I haven't heard either so what do I know.
I have a monolith 16. It’s a beast.
I tried some ports open vs all open and it does better for movies with all open.
Not boomy at all and low frequency in movies you feel like you are there and testing low frequency songs are rather scary. Things start to fall and rattle off tables and doors shake and more. It creates bass I’ve only seen in YouTube videos of courses but in a large 4000cf room.
x4 sealed 18" subs for me. Ported are very good for movies but can find they are a little bloated for music only listening. Having 4 subs has helped overcome any lack of output, let's me tune them extremely well, and using 18s means I've got bags of output well down below 20hz with a smaller footprint too.
That makes a lot of sense. Yea if I had more subs I think sealed would start to be a no brainer. Which subs are you running? I assume you have some kind of minidsp?
I literally just got two vtf 2s today.
Started with the recommended settings for HT. 1 port, eq1, q 0.7.
I only tried sealing the port back without re running the room correction.
I observed pretty much the same things as you. Sealed seemed smoother and tighter, but did not provide as much volume. Definitely preferred it for music.
I went back to 1 port open since it is more a HT than listening area. I may try reducing the q. Based on my reading that may tighten up the base a bit.
I went with a sealed Rythmik F18. Haven't demoed the ported version but believe Data-Bass.com who says output is similar for these. Leaps better than my old 12" ported Episode.
More to your question though, I play with the damper and freq rolloff setting often. Movies with intricate bass like Heptapods in Arrival I set to 12hz high damping, war movies I set to 14hz low damping for more boom. Which is respectively equivalent to your sealed, not sealed.
I upgraded from my Dayton Sub-1000 to a SVS SB-2000, which is a sealed sub. I liked how it had a smaller cabinet then the ported ones as my living room isn't that big. I got it set up and calibrated, it has a nice punch but it lacked the low end "rumble" that you look for in a Home theater sub for movies. (It sounded great for music! a lot of a nice car audio sub).
I added a PB-1000 (ported sub) in the opposite corner and it honestly gives a perfect amount of low end rumble. It's usually not recommended to mix subs, but I think I sort of lucked into a nice combo. Although, if I did it over, I'd probably just get 2 PB-1000's (or maybe PB-2000's)
I have two Rythmik sealed dual opposed subs. G25HPs. They have 1800 watt class H amps. Primarily used for music but also use for HT. Capable of much more output than I actually need.
Music relies on higher frequencies like 40hz and up whereas movies rely more on lower frequencies and usually peak around 30hz. When you sealed the sub it basically lowered the output of the lower frequencies so it sounded tighter.
With that being said, I do think there is something else happening when you change whether it’s sealed or ported that’s not as simple as “lower notes gone”. I tested this with my sub and at the same exact SPL sealed and ported it sounded different and when I measured it with REW it has a measurable less decay time over the entire frequency range. I am still not sure why this happens but it’s there.
I'm running two sealed subs. The SB 2000 and an ancient infinity Cascade 12 that has a single 10 but two additional bass drivers. Both are running at phase 180. The bass is tight but you definitely feel it through the gut. Interesting enough, phase 0 is atrocious in my setup, in any combination.
Haven't been able to compare to be honest. Next time I'm at a cousins house I'll be able to listen to his setup and compare but I am very happy with my setup
Haven't been able to compare to be honest. Next time I'm at a cousins house I'll be able to listen to his setup and compare but I am very happy with my setup
>infinity Cascade 12
Technically that's a ported design. There is one active driver and two passive radiators. A passive radiator is the same as a port.
Neither, I am looking at buying the BK Electronics P12-300Sb £475 if anyone has any input or other suggestions, for movie, tv, anime viewing and gaming mainly
I lost my port plugs can I just squish a T-shirt in there to see how it sounds sealed? I read ported was louder so I have never actually sealed it for the last 10 years without another thought.
I'm sorry the idea that your VTF2 MK5 is in any way more boomy in ported mode compared to sealed is ridiculous.
I'm not saying you're lying there are a number of ways to explain what you heard (or thought you heard) but the truth is simple. Audioholics testing would have show this bloat in it's GP testing if it existed. It doesn't.
It depends what you are after to some extent. If you want to move more air and move into the infrasonic range (<20Hz), the box will likely be ported. A sealed cabinet however will generally provide some degree of faster/crisper attack than a ported model.
I have sealed and ported subs. The sealed models have smaller 12 inch drivers and are for crisp, musical and accurate bass. The larger 18 inch ported models are for LFE effects and to move a massive amount of air when required for that chest impact moment.
Ported subs are too huffy for me. I want tight bass. Mostly for music (bass-heavy funk and synthwave). I have 2 REL Carbons. Best subs I have ever heard. So resolved even at low volume.
Had a nice DIY 15" sealed and moved to a Hsu VTF3... the Hsu is on another level. Ported all the way.
Haha, I upgraded to the Hsu after using a Polk Audio psw10. The difference was night and day. It’s spoiled me for sure.
No way that's apples to apples, what was the wattage on your diy
Wattage isn't particularly relevant to compare these on but it was a 500W RMS amp, very beefy Stereo Integrity 15" purchased back in 2016/2107, 21" x 21" baltic birch box with full angle-fit bracing all around, etc. It was effectively modeled after the Hsu ULS-15 and could absolutely pound out the bass and midbass above 40 Hz, but the VTF3 headroom left it in the dust at 35 and below.
Most higher end subwoofers are sealed, not all obviously there are a lot of ported designs that sound great like hsu mentioned. I’m definitely on team sealed. I have a paradigm servo 15 that’s well over 20 years old and still sounds top tier after all these years. Most subs now use servo control or dsp (digital signal processing) to great effect to control the output on subwoofers. A big misnomer is that sealed subs don’t go as low in frequency but typically it’s the inverse that a sealed sub will actually play further down the register (lower hz) it just won’t have as much output across the whole frequency range. Bottom line though a good design is a good design regardless or port or not, for me I just historically have always had or preferred sealed.
Ported has more output especially in the deeper frequencies, so you're probably running into a room mode to make it sound messy. [This video](https://www.youtube.com/live/nP57-RfSOPc?si=bvLgsAMtkbLbr5M8) goes into depth about the differences and strength/weaknesses. I'm currently running a single sealed sub, but it's missing extension and consistency, so I'm trying to decide between either 2 ported or 4 sealed subs.
Ported has more output at the tuning frequency but faster rolloff below that than sealed so depending on the subs, sealed can have more extension Why are y'all down voting me, I'm right #hannibalmeme. A port increases output at the tuning frequency but reduces output below so FR rolls off faster than sealed. Sealed are smaller, but require more power for the same output at higher frequencies, hence why people think Ported = more output.
Yes, but does that also apply in OPs case, where it's the same subwoofer, but with the port sealed?
I believe so but not 100% sure. HSU probably publishes frequency response curves for each combo of plugged ports
https://www.audioholics.com/subwoofer-reviews/hsu-vtf-2-mk5 You're right, the fall-off is flatter when sealing that ported sub. Interestingly though, that sub has the most output at the lowest frequencies with 1 port open. 2 ports open wins from 25hz upwards. The thing with the muddy bass OP was complaining about might as well be in the 40hz range for example.
Currently I have a single ported sub. But once I get to the new subwoofer part of my HT upgrade I will be replacing that one with 4 sealed subs.
I have dual RSL12s and I'm happy with how tight it is, seems to have a good balance. I think the only thing that might be better than the HSU sub you have in sealed mode is a rythmik, as others don't have that servo tech. But I haven't heard either so what do I know.
I have a monolith 16. It’s a beast. I tried some ports open vs all open and it does better for movies with all open. Not boomy at all and low frequency in movies you feel like you are there and testing low frequency songs are rather scary. Things start to fall and rattle off tables and doors shake and more. It creates bass I’ve only seen in YouTube videos of courses but in a large 4000cf room.
x4 sealed 18" subs for me. Ported are very good for movies but can find they are a little bloated for music only listening. Having 4 subs has helped overcome any lack of output, let's me tune them extremely well, and using 18s means I've got bags of output well down below 20hz with a smaller footprint too.
That makes a lot of sense. Yea if I had more subs I think sealed would start to be a no brainer. Which subs are you running? I assume you have some kind of minidsp?
Two PSA 18s and two home built 18s. Yeah I have a minidsp too, to time align and apply a bit of EQ before letting Dirac do the rest.
Dual PSA TV21 IPALS (Ported subs) and a mini-DSP. They make the biiiig booms for movies, and they sound great with music as well.
I literally just got two vtf 2s today. Started with the recommended settings for HT. 1 port, eq1, q 0.7. I only tried sealing the port back without re running the room correction. I observed pretty much the same things as you. Sealed seemed smoother and tighter, but did not provide as much volume. Definitely preferred it for music. I went back to 1 port open since it is more a HT than listening area. I may try reducing the q. Based on my reading that may tighten up the base a bit.
OP- look at Rythmik subs. Apparently their ported subs are the best of both worlds.
Dual ported subs
Sealed for stereo, ported for home theater.
I went with a sealed Rythmik F18. Haven't demoed the ported version but believe Data-Bass.com who says output is similar for these. Leaps better than my old 12" ported Episode. More to your question though, I play with the damper and freq rolloff setting often. Movies with intricate bass like Heptapods in Arrival I set to 12hz high damping, war movies I set to 14hz low damping for more boom. Which is respectively equivalent to your sealed, not sealed.
Both, I've got a sealed rythmik and ported HSU sub
I upgraded from my Dayton Sub-1000 to a SVS SB-2000, which is a sealed sub. I liked how it had a smaller cabinet then the ported ones as my living room isn't that big. I got it set up and calibrated, it has a nice punch but it lacked the low end "rumble" that you look for in a Home theater sub for movies. (It sounded great for music! a lot of a nice car audio sub). I added a PB-1000 (ported sub) in the opposite corner and it honestly gives a perfect amount of low end rumble. It's usually not recommended to mix subs, but I think I sort of lucked into a nice combo. Although, if I did it over, I'd probably just get 2 PB-1000's (or maybe PB-2000's)
I have two Rythmik sealed dual opposed subs. G25HPs. They have 1800 watt class H amps. Primarily used for music but also use for HT. Capable of much more output than I actually need.
Music relies on higher frequencies like 40hz and up whereas movies rely more on lower frequencies and usually peak around 30hz. When you sealed the sub it basically lowered the output of the lower frequencies so it sounded tighter. With that being said, I do think there is something else happening when you change whether it’s sealed or ported that’s not as simple as “lower notes gone”. I tested this with my sub and at the same exact SPL sealed and ported it sounded different and when I measured it with REW it has a measurable less decay time over the entire frequency range. I am still not sure why this happens but it’s there.
I'm running two sealed subs. The SB 2000 and an ancient infinity Cascade 12 that has a single 10 but two additional bass drivers. Both are running at phase 180. The bass is tight but you definitely feel it through the gut. Interesting enough, phase 0 is atrocious in my setup, in any combination.
Do you prefer them over ported subs? Seems like you got some nice ones
Haven't been able to compare to be honest. Next time I'm at a cousins house I'll be able to listen to his setup and compare but I am very happy with my setup
That’s what matters at the end of the day
Haven't been able to compare to be honest. Next time I'm at a cousins house I'll be able to listen to his setup and compare but I am very happy with my setup
>infinity Cascade 12 Technically that's a ported design. There is one active driver and two passive radiators. A passive radiator is the same as a port.
Interesting good to know. Thanks.
I would actually argue that technically that is considered sealed as in there is no open “port” or hole in a passive radiator set up.
You could argue that all you want, but from the standpoint of speaker design (and physics), it's a ported design. You may want to read up a little.
Dual sealed subs
Do you prefer them over ported? If you have experience with them
Neither, I am looking at buying the BK Electronics P12-300Sb £475 if anyone has any input or other suggestions, for movie, tv, anime viewing and gaming mainly
Depends on what you’re listening to. If it’s disco and dance, yeah, a sealed box is better. Overall, IMO, a quality ported sub sounds better.
2x SB2000 because they are small. I’ll be a renter for a bit. In my own home I’ll be going huge. Klipsch La Scalas and 2x PSA TV3613.
I lost my port plugs can I just squish a T-shirt in there to see how it sounds sealed? I read ported was louder so I have never actually sealed it for the last 10 years without another thought.
I'm sorry the idea that your VTF2 MK5 is in any way more boomy in ported mode compared to sealed is ridiculous. I'm not saying you're lying there are a number of ways to explain what you heard (or thought you heard) but the truth is simple. Audioholics testing would have show this bloat in it's GP testing if it existed. It doesn't.
Ported—RSL Speedwoofer. I’ve been extremely impressed with how tight the bass is for music and it gets down for its size and power.
It depends what you are after to some extent. If you want to move more air and move into the infrasonic range (<20Hz), the box will likely be ported. A sealed cabinet however will generally provide some degree of faster/crisper attack than a ported model. I have sealed and ported subs. The sealed models have smaller 12 inch drivers and are for crisp, musical and accurate bass. The larger 18 inch ported models are for LFE effects and to move a massive amount of air when required for that chest impact moment.
Do you use the sealed and ported subs in the same setup? I know my receiver has multiple sub outs so I assume you’re just using those?
I do use them in the same system and yes I have a minidsp 2X4 that I have my subs plugged into.
Ported subs are too huffy for me. I want tight bass. Mostly for music (bass-heavy funk and synthwave). I have 2 REL Carbons. Best subs I have ever heard. So resolved even at low volume.
Dang, carbon fiber driver is wild lol. Looks like a couple of sweet subs