Great concise tutorial. Much appreciated!

First review I've seen that makes some sense... Tks!

Thank goodness I found your channel and especially this video. My listening is 90% movies/tv in a big room so I’ll go with one pb-1000 pro now and get a second later on. Thanks again!

I didn't like my speakers until i took out the padding that i put into. them i really enjoy them now. nice video.

Awesome review nd thanks for the details

Having worked in the hi-fi trade during my student days , then later in my career getting into live sound , recording and various aspects of pro audio ,including early developments of surround sound - Quadraphonics during the 1970s , Ambisonics in the 80s , then Dolby pro Logic and AC-3 in the 90s ; then eventually tiring of it all and going back to 2 channel stereo , I was never a big fan of satellite/subwoofer type systems , much preferring proper full range loudspeakers and transmission line loading which allows low frequencies to extend well below audibility to the point where sound waves are felt rather than heard . I started out in the mid seventies building a pair of KEF Kit 3s , using the largest recommended cabinet dimensions ; amongst many other high end kit , the shop I worked in sold IMF loudspeakers and I sold a fair few pairs of RSPMs and TLS80s , eventually owning a pair of the latter for many years ; in between , I also designed and built a VERY large pair of TL enclosures - these loudspeakers were 8ft tall , 2ft deep and around 18 inches wide , each with four KEF B139s in them , along with the B110 ,Celestion HF1300 and Coles 4001 super tweeters , as used in the IMFs . The four B139s moved a lot of air , and with a constant cross section and the line being more than twice the length of the IMF TLs , these things extended cleanly well below audibility . The flip side was you needed a very good amplifier to drive them , something with a very low output impedance to give good damping factor and keep them clean and under control . I was very lucky back then as my parents had a big old house and we knocked a wall down to turn two rooms into a large listening room that was 35 feet long by 20 feet and with high ceiling ; placing the speakers 1/3 of the way down the length of the room gave a very convincing sound stage behind the speakers in 2 ch stereo . later I added rear channels , initially with a pair of B&W DM2As and using a Sony SQD 2020 decoder between my Quad 33 pre and 405/303 power amps ; the 303 was a nice crisp amp , and in retrospect a better amplifier than the later 'current dumping' 405 . The best source material back then were the simulcasts put out by the BBC from time to time , especially Last Night ofThe Proms , which one year they televised on BBC1 or 2 ( can't remember ) and then used two stereo radio channels to broadcast the front and rear channels as discrete 4 channel surround - that was fantastic , and I wish I'd had a 4 track tape deck to record the audio - I didn't even have a VCR back then . A bit later on , VCRs arrived and I had an early VHS machine with linear stereo , then later Hi-Fi VHS and Hi-Fi Betamax ! Just a few years later the idea of home cinema arrived and I had a system with the Sony TA-E1000ESD AV preamp , with DPL , the SDP-EP9ES AC-3 processor , which could decode from certain Laserdiscs , and I went through several CRT projectors , culminating in a Sony VPH 1292 9" CRT projector . By this time I had a significant other , and my own place with a slightly smaller living room , but still 23ft x 15 , so I 'downgraded to TLS 80s for the front , constructed my own centre speaker using units to match those in the IMFs , and kept the B&Ws for the rear ( mounted high up on top of bookcases at the back of the room , to bring in an element of height ( this was something I learned from Ambisonics and through corresponding with Peter Felgett at reading Uni who was very approachable and did a lot of the pioneering work in Ambisonics . So mine was a 5.0 system , absolutely no need for a sub when you have TLs . Back in the 2ch days , I'd had home , but never owned a large Sony Esprit pre and power amp which was utterly awesome and unaffordably expensive ; the later 'ES' ranges brought out by Sony were a somewhat watered down version of Esprit , but I had five of the TA-N55ES power amps , each running as a 300W mono bloc , to drive each channel independently ; this gave lots of headroom , but these amplifiers kept the bass so tightly under control . Sadly , these amplifiers were not reliable , and the output devices on each of them failed somewhat regularly , I learned from the dealers that this was not uncommon , then these bespoke output devices became no longer available . I did look at other power amplifiers , particularly some Yamaha ones which we used at work for live events ; but i was becoming tired of the room full of equipment which was not just domestic audio and video kit but by this time also included a lot of pro video kit including S-VHS , Hi-8 , Hi band U-matic , and beta SP , all of which I used in production for work ; also did a fair bit of live sound and had built up a collection including no less than five Revoxes , a couple of ferrographs , a couple of Uhers and numerous cassette decks including two Nakamichi 700 Tri tracers . I have a lot of master tapes of various events , some are the only copies in the world . These days I still have players for all the legacy video formats , currently shoot on either HDV or XDCAM HD , but at work we recently got a Sony FS9 and I'm still learning it ; at least I have some knowledge of film production ; having shot my fair share of 8mm and 16mm ( hence the Uhers ) so I can relate to a lot of the principles of digital cine cameras , which some people who grew up with only video sometimes struggle with . Anyway , much of the kit was thinned out ; the Sony electronics gave way to Quad ( Acoustical ) with a 77 pre/CD and FM and a 707 power amp . Her ladyship tired of the IMFs dominating the living room , so they were sold and traded for a pair of Quad ESL63s , these are for listening to music , and while I now have a DLP projector , if watching a movie I just use headphones . For music listening , it is almost all analogue , be it vinyl , quarter inch tape or cassette . I do use CD in my car , but it isn't my first choice for home listening , other than as background music . I do have a set of KEF 'egg' satellite speakers ( seven of them ) and a pair of PSW 2000 subwoofers which I stripped out of an auditorium recently - the eggs are out in my garden shed awaiting stripping and repainting - I really don't know what I'll do with them as I'm not minded to install them here . But , really ,a proper set of full range loudspeakers sounds far more coherent than any sub/satellite system ; I can always hear the two parts of the spectrum coming from different devices ,; certainly the KEF subs are very good , being infinite baffle ; I've also installed Tannoy pro audio subs ( completely different from their domestic stuff , although I also used to sell Tannoy kit back in the 70s , including things like the Lancasters , and then later the Ardens , berkelys , Cheviots etc ; but they were just big enclosures and not transmission lines . Transmission line loading really is the way to go for dynamic drive units , although Linn Isobariks are also good , but you need something like a high end linn or naim system to drive them properly . Surprisingly , though , for two loudspeakers which couldn't be more different if they tried in terms of design , when properly set up and partnered with the right amplifiers , the TLS80s and the ESL63s actually sound remarkably similar , being open , neutral , uncoloured and with fantastic stereo imaging - just completely natural , especially on human voice , which is one of the hardest things for a loudspeaker to reproduce convincingly - to the degree that it can fool you into thinking the person is standing in the room beside you .

Great video. Thanks mate.

I always choose ported because I like being able to feel the pipe organ in recordings. The Fenlands: I. The Vikings or Lauds Praise High Day both by Dallas Wind Symphony really put subwoofers through their paces. If you want the most intense experience for your entire system, Epiphanies "Fanfare and Chorales" by Dallas Wind Symphony will blow you away.

I can buy non because I live with family and cant play loud I just got Skullcandy crusher Evo when I want to feel some bass. But I listen to your whole videos while having dinner and I appreciate your effort I mean you just killed this topic. 👍

In general you make good points. However I disagree with the low frequency extension. Ported subs are what they are with their listed rating whereas a sealed sub with room gain is much greater at extending lower. Moreover, you probably didn't see the specs on the Rythmik F18... It extends to below 10hz at over 90db with low distortion !

Great video, thanks. I'm 99% music and I bought 2x sb2000 (sealed) for a med/large living room. I'm very happy with the performance (including electronic dance), in fact I have them dialled down to -30db. The secret sauce was getting them tuned, I highly recommend doing that if you love your music.

Great explanation sir. I just got an SVS PB-1000 Pro dual port Sub and it definitely reaches way down. I did, however ask SVS to send me the foam plugs for the ports so that I could make my own comparisons. While I don't forsee leaving the ports sealed, since the plugs are sent at no cost (SVS Customer Service is great) I figured why not try them.

I went back and forth on this for months, I finally went into a audio store and listened to SVS3000's Ported and Sealed Side-By-Side. The Sealed sounded very nice but not nearly as much output as the ported counterpart. I did like the sound of the sealed better but when we put on some low subterranian music and sounds OMG the Ported PB3000 were WAY louder and deeper, we had to wind them back. I ended up going with the PB3000's (Pair) and tested in my room sealed vs ported with REW. I actually showed better response and deeper bass with SEALED mode over Ported mode but when I play movies with crashes and explosions the Ported mode was WAY WAY better. In sealed my couch would shake my floor would vibrate with ported mode the whole freaking house shook, walls, doors the works. I am glad I went with Ported speakers, if I plan to listen to music for a prolonged period I can put them in Sealed mode and insert the plugs (cause IMO, I really do think music does sound better in sealed mode) But a PB3000 in sealed mode will have more output than a SB3000 due to the larger enclosure but not all movies use that low LFE channel and not much music hits those frequencies either so in that case a sealed sub if enough power might be more practical especially with its smaller size. But OMG, if you experienced what we get from some of these action movies with the large ported subs you would see what I mean, they shake the whole freaking house!

Great video Brad. I have always enjoyed ported subwoofer is as well for home theater. It was not until I upgraded to (2) JTR Captivator RS2’s that I felt that I was getting the best of both worlds. As mentioned, to pressurize a room and have extreme impact, you either need multiple sealed subs or use larger woofers (18’s, 21’s 24’s etc).

This question is for Home Theater Gamer... I enjoyed this video and the overall presentation of details. I'm not quite understanding the section of this video that speaks to subsonic frequencies below 20Hz and the impact of potentially missing that dynamic at a movie listening level becoming an issue. It's to my own understanding that the average human ear can hear sound wave patterns between 20Hz - 20KHz. My question is given this range of listening, how much is not heard but "felt" below that 20Hz listening level? Does 3-4 Hz make that much of a physical difference? Perhaps an example would be most helpful for some clarity.

Good info. You just missed talking about the sealed + passive radiator types, wich blends the faster transient responses of the sealed with the frequency articulation of a ported subwoofer…

DeepWater Horizon and Black Adam has unbelievable LFE! A good test for either Ported or Sealed..

I have the monitor audio silver 5.1. Great speakers but the sub just didn't give me that theatrical bass you can feel. So, I bought an SVS PB2000. Hopefully have it in tomorrow. Can't wait.

in a full size van. I'm thinking a single 18" sub in a small box with 2 ports, along with two passive rads in seperate boxes piped into those ports from the 18. When you see the 18 go in, the rads will be going outward, 18 goes out the rads go in. The system will be interanaly sealed, but the energy from the 18 will be recycled to power the passive rads. Not sure what size to get for the rads.

i was looking at a sealed but after this review i think ill go with a ported as i listen to alot of EDM and movies

A nice large 15inch or so driver in a well designed sealed box can be amazing. Size does matter in this realm

Dammit I need to make both kinds lol. Great video thou. But I check all the above needs except the big room

PSA...S3612...i have them dial in at 10hz,but they go down to 7...i have two...i will never go back to ported...i had them now 1yr and now I'm starting to anchor pictures and mirrors, my hutch from falling...getting that inhouse experience...haha great video

Technically a sealed sub should have the lowest subsonics response, it just doesn't have the highest output of general low frequencies, and a ported sub can have a higher output of a low note, but just not as high of an output of the lowest note.

Can you go over the pros and cons of hitchiking?

I prefer ported for home theatre, but sealed for car audio. In home, usually a fairly large space, a ported box can play down to 20hz or lower. Because I am able to use a 90hz crossover point to the subs, there is little or no impact on the clarity or tightness of the bass. In the car, cabin gain allows any decent 10 or 12 inch driver(s) to play to 20 hz or lower and take up less space. My home subs produce 18 hz at their -3 db point and have substantial output at 16 hz. Can't do that with a sealed sub unless you're using an 18 or 20 inch driver. Just my opinion.

On that pressurized feel, I have dual SVS PB2000s and I’m honestly kind of disappointed. They have good output but not even close to really getting that feeling in your chest and puts out a lot of port noise at low frequencies. Probably shouldn’t have gotten rid of those boxes so quick, oops...can’t return them now :|

I believe it was Audioholics that debunked this one for me that the cabinet size mattered more than if it were sealed or ported. Meaning, if you had a sealed sub that was in the same cabinet volume (but still sealed) then it would play indistinguishably from a ported sub..but no one makes a sealed sub in cabinet that size.

i have to go with a sound bar set up....was thinking of getting the sennheiser Ambeo....would it be good to go with the svs sb1000 or should i or could go with the sb3000....would it sound good or go with the ported ? i watch a ton of movies and tv shows...hardly no music.....thx from Canada....cheers

I have a question about subwoofers.I listen to Stevie Ray Vaughn and but also EDM and Daft Punk. I have a small car (2001 Insight) and was wondering which way I should go.

I have 4 kicker cvxs on a soundigital 3000.1d evox which box should I get ported or sealed

Ported seems popular for raw power and low end extension and sealed for tighter response and smaller physical size.

Ported. Definitely Ported. Cuz SPLOSIONS!!!

for me, a sealed subwoofer is the only way to go. an example: 2x2 dayton 10" aluminium membrane RS270-8 are affordable and very good for the money. box volume: 150 liter, inner measurements approx. WxDxH: 28cm*45,3cm*118,6cm if you look very closely, you can see the golden cut ratio 1.618 applied here. positioning of both woofer on the top end of the front panels, the horizontal boards with 4 very big square holes cut in it to block resonances, dampening material inside on every wall. extra few cm heavy dampening (5cm) on the bottom and added 5cm light dampening on it. this way you get 3 refection layers on the bottom that disperse the standing wave resonances between top and bottom. on top, you can place a 2 way speaker in d'appolito configurations with two mid range woofers and a vifa ring radiator in the middle. crossover between the sub and the small speaker in the area of 250-300Hz, crossover between mid and tweeter 2500-3000Hz. just have to find the right midrange woofer. of course the subwoofer boxes are big, but they will sound fantastic! and you have enough headroom to give the amplifier a tone correction to add extra 6dB at 20Hz, if you need that. but usually for rooms with up to 50 square meter it is more than loud enough. if you have an apartment, it is better to have sealed boxes without a particular resonance that finds it's way to the neighbors through the walls.

You do such a great job with your channel and delivering information. Binging your conent lately :) I wanted to make very important comment about size! I have a couple of 2cuft sealed ultimax 18" subs. They're probably the same size as some of the ported subs you have mentioned. They play down to about 17 hz (as in peak at 17hz not f3), in my room. I don't have to worry about xmax or bottoming out because of the sealed design and anything at 1K watts or less won't push the driver past what it can do. It does all the things you say sealed subwoofers can't do, ie, fills the room (I have two but can fill the room with one and it a big room), goes loooow, Sounds great with all music, but still has transient response of sealed etc etc. I got lucky and found the um18-22 drivers and 1K watt crown amp for $500! couple of $120 flat packs to build the boxes (no tools required) minid dsp, another crown 1k watt amp and I'll never need to worry about low end again.

After testing many sealed and ported subs, I always stick with sealed subs these days - as the majority of the time so am listening to music rather than movies. Ported subs just don't deliver the tight, snappy bass I prefer when listening to rock and old funk/soul records. The ported subs always just sound a little too slow and sloppy. If I was primarily a movie guy, I'd go ported.

I had to create to setups in my house. One setup with big subs for movies and a setup with smaller faster subs for music

For a medium sized living room would you go with a sb3000 or monolith v10?

What if you mix them up, so fi 1 ported and 1 sealed? Can they supplement eachother?

I don't listen to low frequency extension stuff I'm all about that kick drum that's all I care about. I've tried multiple subs and all lack in that thump area. Thinking of trying to get some pro audio subs to work with my avr

I found a powerful amp and a 15 inch? Even a 10 inch matched by my speaker repair ( engineer) his box sizing always made my sealed boxes perform great! But I still love ported as well! It depends on situation?

my sealed polk audio 8" woofer sounds way better than my canton 10" ported sub. maybe it's due to age but the polk sounds not only cleaner but is about as loud as the canton. polk misses some loudness in the lowest notes, but the notes sound clean and there are no air noises when i crank it up. The cantona on the other hand makes more airnoise then sound, i always hear it and it's really stressing me out

i went with ported at first because i thought that with ported i would hear those low bass notes better. not the case for me ... i sealed the box and now i can hear the lows go lower with a sealed than with ported. so it brought the response of low bass down some when i sealed it. so i could still hear bass fairly well at 35hz with ported but now i can hear bass notes at 25hz sealed EDIT: you mentioned hearing lower notes with ported ... mine wasnt that way... i hear the lower notes better with it sealed. i was thinking part of the reason being i can push the sealed woofer a little more. this is in a smaller than avg room space

Nice...

Which sounds better?

Do you know if a ported sub like the SVS PB 3000 can perform just exactly like the sealed SB 3000 when the ports are optionally covered?

The dark horse in design you failed to mention are subs with passive radiators which I, like Dustin from Average Guy Hi-Fi think, are the best of both worlds even though most subs I own are ported

I’m not an audiophile, but I just bought some pretty high end speakers, and I’m trying to understand the audio world more. But this technical stuff can get pretty complicated

And for gaming? Ported for big action scenes on games?

Ported!

Thanks bro ported ok

I've decided to go with Rythmik subs. Their ported models do the best job of handling music and getting low for movies.

Depends on size of the room.

Ported all the way! but i’ve recently purchased a SVS SB2000 first sealed sub i’ve owned can’t wait to see the difference and hear the difference in person.

So I guess sealed subs gives that vibration bass effect more and the ported gives a better boom effect..lol idk

My svs sb2000 shakes the house nicely. Just saying..

Now what about a passive radiator?

People forget how have best of both worlds, I have a 21" Sealed 6000W RMS monster Sub in 4ft tall 2ft wide Enclosure the size of a washing machine! As far as 🔋 power ,the extra power sealed Subs need...power is cheap got 2 Crown amps on Each voice coil! Big,stop on a dime bass! If you need that Adult Sealed sub signature? Get a big Sealed sub...you won't miss out.

techno sounds good with a sealed one Yo!

Hi,,, I'm big fan of your reviews... Want your help, Confused between SVS SB 2000 PRO Or SVS PB 2000 PRO. I use 25% for Music & 75% for Movie. I don't like very Boomy bass & to listen very loud music. Right now I'm using Polk DWS 550 Pro Sub with Polk Reserve series R600, R400, R100. Please help me out to decide which Sub will be good for me SB 2000 PRO OR PB 2000 PRO OR (3000 Micro or SB3000)...!!!!! Room size 14×18 Very much confused Please suggest, your reply will be great help for me...🙏🏼

Sealed is better because it can go lower while being smaller and no port chuffing. Just EQ it so 20hz is 5db higher than 40hz and you’re good

My usage is 60% music and 40% movies. Which one would be good? SB 2000 Pro or PB 2000 Pro?

Ported for me. I watch alot of action movies, and listen to rap music with alot of bone shattering bass.

I have a 15 square meters room. 14 feet long and 12 feet wide. Movies, music and video games.

Hi! Thnx for explaining the sealed vs ported. Still don't know what to do. I seen 2 subs I really liked. The Arendal 1961 1s and 1v. Both are great but the vented version is big! Would it be better to get 2 smaller sealed subs than 1 big ported ? My room size is 4 x 6 meters. Not very big. Open kitchen. So with kitchen the wall is almost 9,3 meters. I listen to hip hop and techno hardstyle music but also watch a lot of movies. Maybe would be wiser to just make an appointment with a sub shop to hear it for myself. What do you think? Don't want to freak out my girlfriend nor will I give my neighbors a heart attack lol.

What about: front ported, back ported. Down ported even? So complicated.

How about one of each.

always sealed.... all the time. i dont care if it takes more subs to fully charge the room. _for my tastes_ i like clean sounds..... not hairy. most subs which offer the same sub in both fashions....the ported goes 2 or 3 hz lower. i'll gladly trade 3 hairy hz for clean sound. e v e r y time

4th oder bandpass subs 😍

Bag End speakers with processor down to a flat 8 Hz most amazing bass almost on the planet Is our a sealed cabinet

I don't think a ported can go lower, it just plays louder. If everything was the same: driver box and everything ported shouldn't be able to go lower. It just plays lower louder

Rather have a musical sub for movies than a ht sub for music.

Sealed all the way.

This video seemed to lean towards ported

This is all null and void if you purchase a JTR ( so I’ve heard)...lol... what Youthman said

Didn’t you steal the chipmunks?

ported is a way to fake some extra bass, so why not go sealed, with dsp it can have any frequency response and below port tuning a sealed sub can play even lower. ported has no place in hifi

Ugh, ported can easily be musical and fast. 😂. Motor force matters.

There's no reason to buy a sealed sub. I have the svs pb 3000. When playing music it's great and you can get the port plugs for free. It's the best of both worlds. The sealed sub produces much less bass. Sealed subs are only viable for tiny spaces.

Neither of the subs are accurate. Ported subwoofers don’t sound right and accurate, sealed subwoofers can’t play low frequency notes.

subtitle is bad

There is a LOT of misinformation here man

You have it backwards. Sealed have lower extension than ported as sealed rolls off naturally where ported drops like a rock after the port tune. What ported sub is tuned to 10hz? Even giant subs like Marty’s are around 18hz. Plus sealed gives more room gain, so if you’re trying to achieve single digit hz, you’ll likely get there with sealed before ported. Honestly this sounds like you only have experience with budget subs. Once you step up to premium subs, it’s all about room size, physical size of the box you need, and how many subs you can run. Both ported and sealed can be crazy good. Content is irrelevant.

I've been an audio engineer and loudspeaker designer since I was a teenager. What this guy says is not science. He has his facts jumbled. He's not an sudio scientist.