Ported or Sealed Box?

[itsfreakingmeou]

Even though I realize how much you guys hate kenwood subs, I plan on getting them because I've read and heard extremely positive things about them until i came here. I understand you guys are probably like audio pioneers who really know their s*hit, and I respect that. But i drive a small coupe and i'm just tryin to add some bump to my music.

Now I would like help on choosing a ported or sealed box. The sub I'm getting is 400W RMS but my amp is only 300W RMS (apine mrp m500) and this baby is going in the trunk. I've heard rumors that ported boxes give better frequency response but sealed boxes hit harder. I listen to mostly indie rock and stuff with natural bass, but occasionally i'll pop a rap cd in my s*hit and jam out. Should I just get a ported box? Even though i do listen to mostly rock, my music has alot of bass drops and stuff. Would i be sacrificing the punch of a drum though if I got a ported box? thankss

[ser33]

Well, with a sealed box, they occasionally get louder. That's if you have the right box with the right amount of cubic feet. I always recommend ported just because you get the lows a lot better than if you have a sealed box. For example, I had a sealed box for the sub I have now and it was ok but once i upgraded to sealed box it was a huge different- lots louder and better sound quality. So I would say ported. But sealed would probably be fine for that sub as well. And for the sacrificing the punch of a drum, nope you wouldn't, at least not on my system.

[HuckOrris]

I would recommend a sealed box for rock. One big reason for this is a properly build ported box will be a lot more expensive than a sealed.

The Alpine mrp m500 makes 300 rms @ 4 ohm and 500 rms @ 2 ohm Whichever sub you end up getting, make sure it will wire down to 2 ohm, and you'll get the 500 watts.

You could get much better bang for your buck with something other than kenwood. What is your budget, and what is the rest of your system?

[ser33]

Yeah if you get a sealed box you could spend more money on the subs if you decide to lean away from Kenwood which you should. Im sure you will be satisfied with them, but there is better stuff out there for the money, thats all i'm saying.

[itsfreakingmeou]

well i mean i'm going to best buy, and the only ported boxes they sell in store are like 179.99 for a 12", but they look really well made and legit.

As for the Ohms, the kenwood sub is 4 ohms, so i would only get 300W RMS and the sub can only handle 400w RMS anyway so i wouldn't want to over-power it.

Would I be better off getting a 12" alpine type R in a cheaper sealed box? Cause the sealed boxes best buy has are like only 69.99

[itsfreakingmeou]

is a 12" alpine type E a good choice? (250W RMS) cause im not tryn to pay $230 for a type r what the f*uck

[ser33]

Ok, the boxes may look really good and legit but what you need to find out is what the size of the box is. You can get the best looking box ever and still have the crappiest sounding system. So what you need to do is choose which sub you want then look at the specs or obtain the parameters to find out the ideal size for a box to match that sub. If I had to choose between the Kenwood and the Alpine Type E, I would go with the Alpine. I trust Alpine products a lotttt more than Kenwood. If you got the Type E, get a sealed box about 1.2cuft. If you get the Kenwoods, get a 1.25cuft sealed box.

[HuckOrris]

You might be able to get a dual 4 ohm verson or a single 2 ohm. Then you keep the gain low on the amp. Using the full 300 watts will have more distortion than having the 500 watts available but only using 80% of them.

You cannot tell the qualities of a ported box by looking at it. You need to know the box volume, and the port tuning. Usually the port of a box from best buy or something is tuned kinda high for maximum volume, but doesn't really sound that great. Plus, they are obviously more expensive.

Get a nicer sub in a sealed box. make sure the sealed has the correct dimensions too. In my experience, cheap ported boxes sound horrible for rock.

One of my friends has 2 12" Kenwoods in a crappily ported box with about 600 watts and it is loud but bass guitars sound like ***. I had him play Intension by Tool back when I thought his system was good, and after he played it, I felt sorry for him. lol. I highly suspect he uses tons of bass boost, but still.

Are you set on best buy because the internet is waaaaaay cheaper.

[ser33]

Yeah he's set on Best Buy. We've been tryin to get him to look on the internet but he wants them to do everything for him.

[DEMOLITION]

best buy is probably the worst place you could buy any sort of audio equipment from

[Rare177]

you need to keep in mind, some subs do not go well ported, and some do not do well sealed.

those kenwood and alpine E subs are sealed drivers, i would not port them.

[ser33]

Yeah they pretty much will steal your money. And all their stuff is like 20% more expensive than any site on the internet. If not more.

[Jimi77]

The Kenwoods are terrible, seriously if you haven't pulled the trigger yet, then get something else. Give us a budget and I'm sure we can come up numerous superior subs.

Here's why the Kenwoods suck donkey ballz:

1) Super high Q: 1.0 for the 12" and 1.6 for the 10". These Qs are really too high for any driver in any application. In your case I wouldn't put them in an enclosure at all. I'd run them Infinite Baffle and even then the Qs mean peaky response. Porting really isn't even an option with these subs. Typically we want to see Q somewhere between .2-.5, maybe as high as .7 for an IB specific woofer.

2) FS on the 10" is 48hz. Basically it's a midbass driver, not a subwoofer. The 12" is respectable at 31hz.

3) VAS is 2.1cuft for the 12" so you need at least 2 cuft if not 4 cuft for a sealed enclosure - that's ridiculous for a 12" sub with mediocre output.

4) Limited throw (~13mm) means these subs won't have a lot of output and porting isn't really an option given the high Q.

I'd have to say avoid the Kenwoods altogether. If you want a good budget sub, then look at JBLs lower lines, the ID/Tidal clones, Dayton DVC, Alpine Type-R, etc.
http://www.kenwoodusa.com/UserFiles/...s/kfcw3012.pdf

[sub-standard]

Originally Posted by itsfreakingmeou well i mean i'm going to best buy, and the only ported boxes they sell in store are like 179.99 for a 12", but they look really well made and legit. As for the Ohms, the kenwood sub is 4 ohms, so i would only get 300W RMS and the sub can only handle 400w RMS anyway so i wouldn't want to over-power it. Would I be better off getting a 12" alpine type R in a cheaper sealed box? Cause the sealed boxes best buy has are like only 69.99

Before even concidering a ported enclosure, You need to make sure that you know the tunning fz of the enclosure & match it up to the sub. Like Jimmi said, Those kenwood KFCs do not do well ported.

[Rare177]

Jimi hit the nail on the head right there...

i'm not sure what crack they were on when they designed those subs, or if there was even any design involved.