Beginners Guide to Hifi - Part 5 Ported vs sealed box speakers

The benefits of ported vs sealed box enclosures and visa versa discussed.

[thisisnev]

Thanks, Tarun - I've just binge-watched the series and your explanations of the basics are concise and clear. Looking forward to more!

[ahuesphoto]

I really like that you play music at the beginning of your videos. Thanks for the tutorials!

[donalddeorio]

Sarah Brightman and Andrea Bocelli beautiful. This is a wonderful series on audio and putting together a quality system regardless of price. Great job Tarun. Love your videos

[SpeakerBuilder]

One important difference you did not mention involves the required size of the box for the two types, much smaller for a sealed design and much larger for a vented design. I mention this because very little market exists for large bass boxes, hence most speaker manufacturers are unwilling build large ported bass speakers. That results in vented systems being designed with very small boxes, which then introduces many of the problems associated with ported speakers, those being improper sonic characteristics coming from the vent that listeners call farting. But most importantly, the major sonic advantages possible with a vented design in addition to a very low f3 are never realized with such a small box. Sadly, the only way anyone can experience the awesome performance of a large ported bass speaker system is to build it yourself. Of course, the other aspects of good bass performance must also be adhered to, including proper placement of the speaker and listener in a room for flat response in the bass region, proper amp size to drive the bass speakers, adequate speaker cabling, and finally a good recording with nice sounding bass, which is actually not very common.

[christopherward]

Great discussion of the two types of enclosure and the diffraction due to wavelength. The pinhole camera analogy isn’t the same though until the aperture is extremely close, think about diffraction gratings. Pinhole cameras depend on the fact that light travels in straight lines to a surface and gets reflected and absorbed by the surfaces of objects it hits. It then gets scattered. The pinhole selects the rays that are travelling in directions that pass through the pinhole. These project overlapping patches of light onto the surface of the screen that together form the pinhole image. Pinhole cameras are only subject to diffraction when the pinhole is too small, less than the wavelengths of visible light. This makes the image blur a little and resolution decreases.

[Romulus]

I enjoyed your above video, there other pros and cons with ported and sealed box speakers, such as placement in rooms, sealed boxes tend to be less fussy and may be the answer to difficult rooms . Also the bass on sealed box speakers may often not go so down as on ported speakers, but the timing of it and its texture may often be an advantage on sealed box speakers, so beautifully expressed in ATC passive speakers. For those people who have 'difficult rooms' the sealed box speaker may be a solution, the compromise being having a more powerful amp to drive the speakers.

[SkipAM]

I found your channel to be very informative. Please enable subtitles. Strangely the auto-generated ones are not available.

[kirarittberg]

While I agree that ideal placement is not against the wall, I don't fully agree with the imaging argument on this. It may have gone over my head ! Please consider that most high frequencies are performed by a mid and tweeter or a tweeter on its own. Usually these drivers are in a sealed enclosure or sealed drivers within the cabinet. Whether the cabinet is ported or not these are enclosed. It is also through these driver that most of the imaging cues occur. I have great imaging in my too small room with front ported lows with compression driver highs. Speakers are almost against the rear wall but away from the side walls, possibly just as important for imaging. I like your explanations and videos.

[anandshah]

Love the sound of a sealed sub I have peerless XLS 10” stereo subs they are awesome
But now I am enjoying OB bass different ball game altogether no 3 way tower can give the image of a dual 15” per side OB

[sourdough]

Your explanations are clear and concise. Thanks again for the vid.

[nirajmathur]

Good video ! I would perhaps add that ported or bass relex speakers are much more power effecient, give a better sound with extended frequency response for the lows- tymphanny drum etc . Additionally would elaborate on front ported speakers wherein the sound energy from the rear of the speaker drive units cone is pushed out in phase with that of the front of the cone. I prefer front ported units to back ported ones.

[davidperry]

KEF 104 series speakers uses a bandpass box which is a very unique design for floor-standing speakers.

[michaeltabeling]

I really like your videos and the content. If one is willing to get something out of the content it will work. Thx for using your obvious longterm expertise to create these videos in a way that beginners (me) can understand. Understand in a way meant of gettting knowledge. Munter bleiben ! Greetings for germany.

[dell]

That was a good clear explanation of ported speakers.

[ENGBriseB]

Would having an SVS 1000 SB pro in a small room help out the speakers. Like the mid range. Room size 13 by 13 by 9ft ceilings. Have an AVR not properly calibrated yet because have not got the new CD DVD player.

[peterjarunek]

Hi Tarun, I see you have ProAc bookshelve speakers with Hegel. Have you ever tried Response D18s? Or do you think it might be a good combo? Nice channel btw, you have good knowledge and great presentation skills.

[marcfoss]

Very useful video...thanks. I'm a new subscriber and fan of your channel, and find your videos really helpful! Could you possibly comment on front ported speakers. I have a small, almost square listening room and was thinking that front ported standmounted bookshelf speakers might be the way to go to avoid boomy base issues and also as I can't place the speakers 85 cm from side/back wall...I was looking at the Sonus Faber Sonetto 1s or the PMC Twenty5.21 as possible contenders? Would welcome any advice. Thanks again.

[nevillellewellyn]

Hi Tarun. Really enjoy your scientific/analytical approach.


I live a Victorian era house with 'bijou' rooms. I understand the logic of distance behind the speaker to the nearest wall etc, but for me that would not be practical. Instead could I add some kind of sounds absorbing surface behind the speaker?


Lastly what's your take on speaker cable? I'm hoping your going to say cables matter as I've just forked out for 10 m of ShawlineX :-S

[markh]

Big cabinet, ported speakers are the way to go. JBL L100 Classic or Klipsh Cornwall is what I'm thinking. Those Bristish "Little Boys" that are over your shoulder, after you listened to the most commercial opera trash ever, are not for me. :^)) What is wrong with a 12 inch woofer, a 5 inch mid and a 1 inch tweeter? Nothing of course. The Met Opera opens this Monday night with "Fire Shut Up in My Bones" composed by Terence Blanchard. Even though it will be streamed, I can't wait to hear the intersection between Jazz and Opera. Better tunes, and better speakers British Audiophile; better tunes and speakers!

[martinjn]

Have I understood this correctly, in my proposed listening room or ‘man cave’ as my wife calls it, I would be better with a sealed box speaker set up as the speakers will have to be placed reasonably close to the wall as the room is only going to be approximately 9ft x 9ft. A rear ported design would have to sit too far into the room and compromise usable space?