Sealed Subwoofer Box Design: Science and History of Acoustic Suspension

In this video we learn abut the science and history of the humble sealed enclosure, called the Acoustic Suspension loudspeaker by it's creator Edgar Villchur. The leading minds of the time said that his design was impossible.

To learn more about Edgar Villchur check out these websites:
To listen to the man himself check out these videos.

Links* to products used in the video:

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Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
0:45 Villcher's Epiphany
2:00 Qtc
2:40 Three Examples
6:30 History of the Design

*As an associate/affiliate marketer I may earn a small commission on qualified purchases on Amazon, Crutchfield, Parts Express, Sonic Electronix, Arylic or Down4Sound.

@AesOrgPage

[joser]

I have actually done back to back comparisons of sealed vs ported enclosures in my car using the same subs and amp. While the output of the ported box is much stronger, I am willing to give it up for the accuracy of the sealed box. Thanks for the history and explanation, it was surprising how recent the concept was.

[jameskyser]

I love the sound of sealed enclosures.

[icemanification]

I've been running sealed enclosures for years. At the moment I'm running a single Savard Rap 12 in a 2.0 cu. ft. box stuffed with polyfill. It's being pushed by a 90's era PPI Power Class PC2150 bridged 4 ohms mono. It sounds amazing. It gets down pretty low too.

[Elliott-Designs]

Sealed enclosures also typically have less maximum pressure on the walls of the box than ported enclosures! This means less colouration from cabinet vibration and/or less bracing needed. Also, unlike ported, you can line/stuff pretty much to your heart's content (or for the most part at least), this means less cabinet colouration and less cabinet reflections back into the cone causing some extra modes to develop in the cone, something you can't do too much to a ported enclosure due to efficiency losses. Gotta admit I love everything about sealed, 1 downside, less -3dB extension than a ported. Thanks for the vid Justin! Great explanations!

[BSDMDESIGNS]

I've always ran sealed enclosures as I love the accuracy and quality of the bass. I got back into car audio recently and wanted to try a ported enclosure and in all honesty j wasn't really happy with the sound so now going back to a sealed enclosure.

[louiesipes]

Not many woofers designed for sealed box these days, I personally like a sealed over ported or passive radiator. Tlines are another story. 😊

[dilbeckskate]

great video I loved the editing and the history thrown in

[victorfreeman]

Running an old school 90s jl audio w3 in a super sealed box when you push cone down it takes forever to come back up. I think ported is louder and more efficient but a good sealed box i think is better sounding and they can handle more power as well. Its just more accurate and it sounds the way you were intended to hear the lower frequencies in the music

[msh]

In the late 80' a pretty sizeable majority of car audio systems used sealed enclosures. But, at that time people still cared about SQ while trying to get loud. SQ was the driving for in car audio competitions then but, they also included a SPL component.

[ABWSKITCHEN]

After more than 35 years of buying, building and enjoying subwoofers, I have a Kerf subwoofer enclosure and closed enclosure with 10" Revel subwoofer drivers, with 1000 watts of power, there are lots of difference between both, which I have them working together. The closed enclosure give more precise sounds than the Kerf, which rattles the whole house.

[MadLadCustoms]

I have two Infinity 1200w @ 500w each in two ohm total load (switchable between 2 & 4)

They're stupid cheap at $115 each and sound phenomenal, highly recommend if you're looking to try the sealed route with decent amount of kicks that aren't overly abnoxious.

[tomkocur]

Sealed + DSP = win. You'll just need a bit (a lot) more power.
However it's worth it. I'm using Ultimax 10 in my home cinema with the very low end boosted to give a flat response from 25Hz and I wouldn't never return back to ported/passive radiator. 500W gives more than enough SPL.

[imnotshort]

I tried a custom box tuned at 33 hz for a sundown 10sa v.2 It sounded great and was very loud but once I tried sealed I was sold. A sealed enclosure captures all the little details that a ported just blends in. I listen to hip hop, rnb, reggaeton and Spanish trap; and I still prefer the accuracy of sealed. I’m making up on the loss of output by going dual sealed.

[posford]

Hi..
I love your channel, very professional and very informative

[mattnewbern]

I'm building a 15.5 cubic foot enclosure for a pair of 18" drivers. It will have a removable external port with a block off-plate so it can be ran sealed or ported. Tuning can also be varied quite easily.

[blakebrockhaus]

One thing I think is funny is that ppl will say "progressive suspension sounds terrible, you need a linear suspension for a sub to sound good." And then say they love the way a small sealed box sounds. A sealed box acts like a progressive suspension. As the woofer moves in and takes up more airspace, the airspring tightens.

[tommyK]

To me it makes more sense for a sealed enclosure to be bigger.

[sudd]

as long as you use reasonable quality subwoofer drivers, and you leave a bit of air in the box after the driver is mounted. its all that is needed to get great sound. eq is a necessity for all subwoofers so woofer air displacement is the limits how low and loud it can play.
small as possible box internal volume within reason is the easy way. no going in larger.
watts is not a big deal. i made very small(18L) subwoofer with 10" woofer. 100watts amp and dsp to get it to 15hz. best bass i had.

[thedubwhisperer]

No subs I have ever heard come close to the accuracy of a Qtc 0.5 sealed enclosure. Inefficient as hell, but with 6 x 18", 4 x 21", and ten power amps totalling 20kW continuous I'll live with that...

[twinturbotony]

I have a single 18 in my car. I wanted ported but my builder said he couldn't build the box big enough for my car so he went sealed. Luckily the sub I have was rated to be able to run it sealed or ported.