Most subs have an electronic low pass filter, often set at 4th order 24dB/octave - if you choose 80Hz as the crossover frequency for the sub, the sub and mains wouldn't combine well in amplitude, phase or time. Say your main speakers are sealed and have a high pass response rolling off at 80Hz (ie 3dB down at 80Hz with a 2nd order/12dB per octave rolloff - the response for a sealed box). No - crossovers aren't brick walls (ie infinitely steep) - how the mains cross over to the sub is an important consideration - you want an acoustic crossover (ie what you hear) where the mains combine evenly with the sub in amplitude and phase - not trivial to achieve, as the room response contributes massively in this region.
It can be heard as intended, in particularly the classic AR speaker models, here the smallest, the AR7Ī sealed speaker might not need to drop much below 80hz if you integrate a subwoofer, It proved a sealed enclosure can be made to work with the loudspeaker itself to provide better frequency extension using smaller cabinets. So the difference between a ported and sealed in the above scenario means practically identical performance.Įdgar Villchur's acoustic suspension principle is described here So if you crossover your ported speaker at 80Hz to a sub-woofer you are avoiding or mostly avoiding the group delay of the port because it's not contributing or not contributing much. I think the only thing you may have overlooked is where the group delay in speakers are in the frequency range.įrom my knowledge (it may be wrong) but most ported speakers are tuned in the 40-60Hz range and this frequency (and lower) is where the group delay will occur. Is there any validity to this thought or have I overlooked something?
Is there any validity to this thought or have I overlooked something? Are modern ported designs as good or nearly as good as their sealed counterparts these days maybe? Is bass roll off something else to consider? And finally, can I just plug my port and gain the advantages of a sealed enclosure, or is this not the same as a speaker designed from the start to be sealed. A sealed speaker might not need to drop much below 80hz if you integrate a subwoofer, and you might be rewarded with better tighter bass from 80hz to 250hz.
Sealed speaker enclosure design driver#
However, from my understanding sealed speakers are said to have better control of the driver and tighter more accurate bass (as seen in sealed subs), which leads me to wonder if they might be the better choice when you know you will be integrating a subwoofer. On their own the advantages of one seem to outweigh the other and the reason for their popularity. A bookshelf for example might sound like a bigger speaker, while a sealed design might be missing the lower end to satisfy music listening and require a more powerful amp.
So I was thinking, are sealed speakers better when you know you will be integrating a subwoofer?įrom my understanding ported speakers have an advantage of being more efficient and being able to go lower than their sealed counterpart, and when comparing A to B on their own one might find these advantages more to their liking and the better overall speaker.