Acoustic Suspension vs. Bass Reflex (Ported) Designs
Rusin
Unregistered guest
Posted on
I have always been curious about the pluses and minuses in using the ported design and sealed cabinets for bass response. I know that the sealed design is less efficient and it also seems that it's much less popular these days. It also seems like the ported designs have gotten more sophisticated. I know that there are many knowledgable posters on this board. I'm very interested in learning about the advantages and disadvantages of both designs, and what the future holds.
ACOUSTIC SUSPENSION IS AWESOME. ITS BASS DOESNT ROLL OFF AS BADLY AS PORTED DESIGNS, AND TYPICALLY HAS LESS DISTORTION. IT IS LESS EFFICIENT THOUGH. IF YOU PLACE THEM RIGHT UP AGAINST A WALL THOUGH IT WILL HEAVILY REINFORCE THE BASS, ALLEVIATING THAT PROBLEM TO A DEGREE. GOOD LUCK IN YOUR QUEST RUSIN.
Discussing the advantages and disadvantages of each design would really take more space than the forum allows. It is quite simple to do some research into this topic yourself and see what the people who design speakers think about each type of enclosure. And, that is the rub to your question; each type of speaker can be divided into subcategories (particularly true in the case of a vented enclosure and a sealed box is a subcategory of infinite baffle) and each enclosure design has particular benefits and disadvantages.
Place "diy loudspeakers" or something similar into a search engine and you will have a dozen well written sources where you can find your answers.
Yeah its way better now Art,but years ago it was not better.sealed cabinets used to be the way to go many great speakers in the past were a sealed design.Look at Avalon just when they introduced the Eidolon and Eidolon is the first speaker they have made as a ported design,Linn for years all of their speakers were a sealed design and some still are,In general a ported design is better but the big reason is because it has improved so much over the years.
"In general a ported design is better but the big reason is because it has improved so much over the years."
That is a poorly reasoned response which does not have much truth in it. Each enclosure type has its advantages and disadvantages. As I suggested, a search engine will provide the reasons for using each enclosure. It is a function of what the designer is trying to achieve which dictates which enclosure type to use. There is no "better" enclosure.
For example, compared to a sealed box system, a vented enclosure will often show the amplifier a more severe impedance curve (two peaks close together in the low frequencies. This combined with the electrical phase angle of the speaker system could present serious problems to low priced/low quality amplifiers. This isn't a gospel fact of all vented enclosures but it does represent what could be considered a common fault of vented designs.
All enclosure and driver types can be better designed with the assistance of a computer than they could 40 years ago. T'waun, if you're going to make such statements, you have to give some logical reason to back up what you say. Name dropping speaker manufacturers isn't enough.
And if you'll pay attention, that is not Art Kyle.