Subwoofers, Ported or Sealed, Which Is Better For You

svs subs

Subwoofers come in various sizes and power ranges and ported and sealed boxes. Some companies such as SVS offer a Ported and Sealed version of many of their subwoofers, meaning the driver and amps are the same just different cabinet architecture. So what is the difference and which will better suit you and your space? We spent time with the PB-1000 Pro and the SB-1000 Pro, SVS’s Ported and Sealed (respectively) entry-level subwoofers to help you decide which may be better for you. Nothing tops auditioning gear in person but hopefully, this will help you create a short list to check out.

Cabinet Differences

The most obvious difference between ported and sealed subwoofers is the cabinet. Ported subs with have some type of hole(s) in the outside of the cabinet. Sometimes this is a circle or a slot-style hole and can be on any of the sides, for our SVS examples they are on the front of the cabinet. SVS doesn’t just cut a couple of holes in the front and send the sub on its way, they use a tuned length of tube with a velocity stack style end. This tube is both the best length and diameter for the application. The sealed sub is as described, the cabinet is sealed off and has no way of letting air in or out as the sub moves. Typically sealed cabinets are smaller than ported as well, while this is not a rule, it is true for the SVS 1000- Pros.

The reason for porting a subwoofer is typically to get more bass out of a driver for a given amp wattage, as well as for tunning the sub down to a certain frequency. Subwoofer drivers can move easier in a ported cabinet as the air in the box is able to move in and out with the driver. In a sealed box, as the driver moves out it creates a vacuum behind it and as it moves back into the box it creates a positive pressure in the box. The driver has to work against these forces. Tough in many cases sealed subs tend to have better bass sound quality, whereas ported tend to have more powerful bass (all else the same).

svs pb-1000 pro

Sound Differences

You might think there are pretty big sound differences, but I didn’t notice massive differences. The differences in sound were fairly nuanced which surprised me quite a bit. Back when I was into car audio there were usually substantial differences to ported and and sealed setups, though this was also at a much, much higher volume than I listen at theses days. I am sure if I pushed both of these subwoofers to thier limits differences may be come more pronounced, but I just do not listen that loud.

I noticed that the ported subwoofer was ablo to play better at lower volumes, which makes sense as it has less resistance than a sealed subwoofer. As far as sound though they both sound good and both offered good detail. I was originally worried about the ported subwoofer chuffing, as they can do. The PB-1000 Pro ports were quiet, at least quieter than the subwoofer it self so I didn’t hear any chuff or turbulence.

The SB-1000 Pro was slightly tighter, more controlled. I would say personally not enough so that I wouldn’t buy the ported sub for it’s low volume output. It takes a lot of volume before either subwoofer gets sloppy, the type of volume i had to just turn off my mains to try to an get the subs to reach a point that there was audible slop in the bass.

Specs

PB-1000 Pro

  • Protective non-resonant extra-thick ABS fabric mesh grille
  • Iso-elastomer feet included
  • Extra heavy-duty, high current power cord 6′
  • Quick Start Guide
  • Port Plugs (free upon request)
  • Unbalanced stereo input/output
  • Speaker Level Stereo Input
  • Auto/On and Trigger options through app, 3-12V AC/DC trigger
  • RoHS compliant, lead-free construction, world-wide safety certifications
  • Green 0.5-watt low standby power consumption
  • Dual 2.5-inch ports
  • Dimensions (w/ grille): 18.9” (479mm) H X 15” (380mm) W X 20” (509mm) D
  • Dimensions (without grille): 18.9” (479mm) H X 15” (380mm) W X 19.2” (488mm) D
  • Shipped Dimensions: 23.4” (594mm) H 19.9” (506mm) W X 24.4” (619mm) D
  • Weight (unboxed): 42.5lbs (19.3kg) with Grille
  • Shipped Weight: 51.6lbs (23.4kg)

Driver Specs:

  • All-new proprietary 12-inch long-throw driver with high-precision tuned overhung motor configuration.
  • 9.26lb (4.2kg) pound Woofer with 6.91lb (3.14kg) pounds motor
  • 13.1mm Xmax, 26.8mm Xmech precision aligned excursion
  • 1.5” diameter Voice Coil with high current 6-layer high-purity copper wire windings
  • Premium high-purity copper voice coil winding design minimizes distortion and power compression with maximum heat dissipation, linearity, and tuned magnetics for high excursion
  • Two-piece high grade oversized Y35 Ferrite magnet motor
  • High Temperature 3003-H18 aluminum former/bobbing
  • 6” composite cotton-poly extreme excursion linear spider
  • Dual 24-strand copper-alloy high-temperature leads
  • Proprietary injection molded gasket and NBR extreme-excursion surround
  • Lightweight treated Fiber Composite cone for enhanced sensitivity and transient response
  • Top plate assembly with low carbon 1010 steel for optimal magnetics
  • Oversized low carbon 1008 steel T-yoke with integrated pole piece extension for maximum cooling and electromagnetics
  • 12” premium powder coated basket with FEA optimized analysis for maximum rigidity, tensile strength, and energy transference
  • Oversized motor system for driving full excursion and industry best SPL, with pinpoint transient speed
  • Precision machining for motor and narrow tolerance suspension parts ensure flawless linearity at full range of excursion
svs pb-1000 pro

SVS Sledge-325D Amplifier Specs:

  • 325 watts RMS, 820+ watts peak power output Class D design
  • 50MHz Analog Devices Audio DSP, high resolution double precision 56bit filtering
  • Wide input voltage bandwidth compliant for consumer and pro audio up to 4V line level input.
  • High efficiency LLC resonant SMPS with 17A 650V MOSFET, resonant switching results in lower EMI and highest efficiency.
  • Cool-running Class D amplifier switching topology with massive 34A 120V MOSFET’s
  • SVS BLE control app for iOS and Android contains 3 complete name-able and customizable User presets, supports IOS (iphone5 or newer or Android (4.42 or newer), 3 PEQ’s per preset, adjustable low pass, phase, polarity, room gain compensation, and control for best alignment with speakers.
  • Customer EQ and DSP limiter settings specifically for the 1000 Pro
  • Input impedance 16kohm (unbalance RCA)
  • Input impedance 1kohm (speaker level)
  • New Intelligent Feature control (IFC) user interface on the amplifier with bright blue 11 LED bar display and easy push-button controls.

SB-1000 Pro

  • Protective non-resonant extra-thick ABS fabric mesh grille
  • Iso-elastomer feet included
  • Extra heavy-duty, high current power cord 6′
  • Quick Start Guide
  • Unbalanced stereo input/output
  • Speaker Level Stereo Input
  • Auto/On and Trigger options through app, 3-12V AC/DC trigger
  • RoHS compliant, lead-free construction, world-wide safety certifications
  • Green 0.5-watt low standby power consumption
  • Dimensions (w/ grille): 13.5” (342mm) H X 13” (330mm) W X 14.76” (375mm) D
  • Dimensions (without grille): 13.5” (342mm) H X 13” (330mm) W X 13.9” (352mm) D
  • Shipped Dimensions: 17.4” (455mm) H 17.4” (442mm) W X 18.4” (471mm) D
  • Weight (unboxed): 26lbs (11.9kg) with Grille
  • Shipped Weight: 31.1lbs (15kg)

Driver Specs:

  • All-new proprietary 12-inch long-throw driver with high-precision tuned overhung motor configuration.
  • 8.33lb (3.78kg) pound Woofer with 5.73lb (2.6kg) pounds motor
  • 13.3mm Xmax, 26.9mm Xmech precision aligned excursion
  • 1.5” diameter Voice Coil with high current 6-layer high-purity copper wire windings
  • Premium high-purity copper voice coil winding design minimizes distortion and power compression with maximum heat dissipation, linearity, and tuned magnetics for high excursion
  • Two-piece high grade oversized Y30 Ferrite magnet motor
  • High Temperature 3003-H18 aluminum former/bobbing
  • 6” composite cotton-poly extreme excursion linear spider
  • Dual 24-strand copper-alloy high-temperature leads
  • Proprietary injection molded gasket and NBR extreme-excursion surround
  • Lightweight treated Fiber Composite cone for enhanced sensitivity and transient response
  • Top plate assembly with low carbon 1010 steel for optimal magnetics
  • Oversized low carbon 1008 steel T-yoke with integrated pole piece extension for maximum cooling and electromagnetics
  • 12” premium powder coated basket with FEA optimized analysis for maximum rigidity, tensile strength, and energy transference
  • Oversized motor system for driving full excursion and industry best SPL, with pinpoint transient speed
  • Precision machining for motor and narrow tolerance suspension parts ensure flawless linearity at full range of excursion

SVS Sledge-325D Amplifier Specs:

  • 325 watts RMS, 820+ watts peak power output Class D design
  • 50MHz Analog Devices Audio DSP, high resolution double precision 56bit filtering
  • Wide input voltage bandwidth compliant for consumer and pro audio up to 4V line level input.
  • High efficiency LLC resonant SMPS with 17A 650V MOSFET, resonant switching results in lower EMI and highest efficiency.
  • Cool-running Class D amplifier switching topology with massive 34A 120V MOSFET’s
  • SVS BLE control app for iOS and Android contains 3 complete name-able and customizable User presets, supports IOS (iphone5 or newer or Android (4.42 or newer), 3 PEQ’s per preset, adjustable low pass, phase, polarity, room gain compensation, and control for best alignment with speakers.
  • Custom EQ and DSP limiter settings specifically for the 1000 Pro
  • Input impedance 16kohm (unbalance RCA)
  • Input impedance 1kohm (speaker level)
  • New Intelligent Feature control (IFC) user interface on the amplifier with bright blue 11 LED bar display and easy push-button controls.

Measurements

As you can see there is not a massive difference in the response between the two subs, the SB-1000 Pro has a little less roll off at the low end, and a little smoother line as the frequency climbs. The over all output of the sealed box is lower, but you can always adjust the level on your preamp or the sub itself to increase the output and have the line of the sealed box.

Conclusion

I really thought this would be a bigger article with way more to cover. But the differences simply where not as big as I thought they would be. Ultimately I would recommend in this case the ported subwoofer if space is not a concern as it is significantly larger than it’s sealed brother. Output wise the Ported sub has the edge at both higher and lower volumes, without a compromise in sound quality. That said the ported sub also cost more so if price and size are concerns you are not losing a ton by going with the sealed version. Both subs offer a pretty good set of tuning tools built into the app which is a nice addition by SVS. I want to say these results will not automatically translate to all sealed vs ported subs out there. Not every ported sub is tuned as well or uses proper ports, I have had cheaper ported subs in the past that have sounded awefule with a ton of port chuffing. I would say if you are on a budget an inexpensive sealed sub will tend to sound better than an inexpensive ported sub. When I was into car audio I only ever built sealed boxes, as building a well ported box was harder and more expensive, as it meant more materials, more volume, and construction time. I think cheap ported subs are one of the reason so many people don’t think a ported sub can sound good, but just like Class D power, if done properly and with quality components they absolutely can sound great.

So which is right for you? really only you can decide that, based on what is most important to you, be it size, output, or price. Luckily you really don’t have to choose between the sound quality and frequency coverage as both subs have pretty similar output levels at default settings and can be tuned. I highly recommend auditioning subs at your local dealer as much as you can before buying to hear for your self. SVS offers a 45 day trial period on all thier products so you can try them in your own system and simply return the one that you like less.

For information on where to find SVS Subs click the link below

https://www.svsound.com/pages/us-dealers

https://www.svsound.com/pages/international-dealers

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