SEALED OR PORTED SUB

[mannyg35]

Sealed or ported sub

Need some help choosing a sealed or ported subwoofer. My first pick is the SVS PB13 ULTRA (ported box) or the SVS SB13 PLUS (sealed box). Don’t have a second option but feel free to chime in. I will use this subwoofer for watching movies 98 percent of the time. My budget is $2000 ( USD) . At this time I am leaning towards sealed box SVS SB13 PLUS. There is a big price difference the ported SVS SB13 ULTRA IS $2000.00 (USD) the SVS SB13 PLUS IS $1199.00 (USD) I will only need one sub because of the limited space but I can try to squeeze another in some place.

The subwoofer would go in my apartment living room . the entire apartment is 850 square feet including the outside balcony, and the apartment is on the second floor. I know this is a over kill for the apartment but I need a good subwoofer.

[NorthStar]

Go for a sealed one in your apartment.

[Deleted]

I've always had better results with a sealed sub in my one bedroom apartment.

[Deleted]

I've had both. Sealed would be smaller but have less output. I currently have vented (passive radiator) and they can get very loud (always clean though) in my similarly sized condo. A properly tuned and appropriately sized vented is just as "musical" as a sealed one IMHO. For music you don't really need anything that goes below 30Hz except for electronic and pipe organ music so sealed is probably more than adequate. For home theater 30Hz just doesn't cut it and IMHO 20Hz output at realistic levels is required so a larger vented alignment is often needed if the room is not very small. All of this is opinion informed by experience and research.

[terrynew]

Contact SVS and I am sure they will give you excellent advice for your needs.

[LCSeminole]

As an SVS PB12-Plus DSP owner I can say you won't need it's bigger brother the PB13 Ultra that you mention, in the small area you'll be living in, but I won't talk you out of it either. It's more subwoofer than most anyone on the Lounge would need(I say need as "want", "desire" & "crave" are what most of us here go by. ;D). My PB12 doesn't even begin to break a sweat in the 17x19 area it's in, and sometimes I swear it's laughing at me saying "Is that all you've got"? I will say the SVS ported subs, PB12-Plus DSP and it's big brother the Ultra 13 are quite big and take up some space so take that into consideration. If your apartment is only a stop gap before investing in a home, then I highly recommend the SVS, as good clean output that easily goes below 20Hz is a must especially with movies, and it won't leave you wanting for more or asking yourself why you didn't go this route to begin with.

Read the new review(a few days old) on the PB13-Ultra with DSP from "Audioholics" in the link below. They also have good reviews on several other ported/sealed subwoofers.

www.audioholics.com/reviews/speakers/subwoofers/svs-pb13

[LCSeminole]

Oct 1, 2011 5:39:35 GMT -5 terrynew said:

Contact SVS and I am sure they will give you excellent advice for your needs.

I second this advice, the customer service SVS is known for, will impress. They are quick on return e-mails as well. My experiences with SVS before purchasing my subwoofer from them back in January/February of this year proved to be quite enlightening. They answer any question thrown at them without bias(in my opinion).

[terrynew]

I second this advice, the customer service SVS is known for, will impress. They are quick on return e-mails as well. My experiences with SVS before purchasing my subwoofer from them back in January/February of this year proved to be quite enlightening. They answer any question thrown at them without bias(in my opinion).

+1 ;D

[LCSeminole]

Oct 1, 2011 7:45:36 GMT -5 terrynew said:

I second this advice, the customer service SVS is known for, will impress. They are quick on return e-mails as well. My experiences with SVS before purchasing my subwoofer from them back in January/February of this year proved to be quite enlightening. They answer any question thrown at them without bias(in my opinion).

+1 ;D

I'll also add that their customer service is not unlike Emotiva's, which is why SVS got my business. Customer service is very important to me, and to be even close to a level as Emotiva's, says a lot for SVS.

[terrynew]

Oct 1, 2011 7:58:56 GMT -5 LCSeminole said:

Oct 1, 2011 7:45:36 GMT -5 terrynew said:

+1 ;D

I'll also add that their customer service is not unlike Emotiva's, which is why SVS got my business. Customer service is very important to me, and to be even close to a level as Emotiva's, says a lot for SVS.

And like Emotiva they also offer excellent products

[jamrock]

The range of human hearing is approximately 20Hz-20Khz. So, whether ported or not, get a sub that has good output down to and below 20Hz and you are set. It does not matter whether the sub is sealed or ported or any other variant. Also, if your sub is only good for music or movie, you do need a better sub. Assuming that you find a sub of the size and finish you like, the only specs that matter are: output, extension & distortion IMHO.

[aliminas]

For movies you want ported sub, it will generally be louder at lower frequencies. By the way, you might want one for music also, depending on your preferences. Tuba and organs will dig down to 10hz.

[Deleted]

With a ported sub, unless it is enormous, you need a high pass filter just below the frequency the port is tuned to (or higher). For me this is 18Hz but I really don't feel I'm missing much. I don't need to communicate with submarines (which use ULF) and haven't listened to pipe organ music in a long time.

[jamrock]

At 10Hz there is not much to hear. You only feel. There are very few instances if any, that you will need to use the maximum low end extension of your sub, especially if your system is tuned properly. Surely, you can over drive it if sound quality is of secondary importance. But, many subs have self limiting circuits to prevent over driving. There are sealed subs that will play louder at lower frequencies than similar sized ported ones. It all depends on what the designer sets out to achieve. But, I do agree that all things being equal (size, woofer design, power) the ported sub will have marginally better low end extension than the sealed one, and will roll off more precipitously too. But whether ported or not, both types of subs will serve well for music and movie.

[stiehl11]

I'm just going to jump in here... show me someone above the age of 30 who has listened to loud music most of his adult life or has been in any type of band that can hear a pure 20 Hz signal (and not resonance/harmonics) and I'll show you a rare individual, indeed.

Just my $0.02

[edoggrc51]

Sept 30, 2011 21:13:00 GMT -5 mannyg35 said:

Sealed or ported sub

Need some help choosing a sealed or ported subwoofer. My first pick is the SVS PB13 ULTRA (ported box) or the SVS SB13 PLUS (sealed box). Don’t have a second option but feel free to chime in. I will use this subwoofer for watching movies 98 percent of the time. My budget is $2000 ( USD) . At this time I am leaning towards sealed box SVS SB13 PLUS. There is a big price difference the ported SVS SB13 ULTRA IS $2000.00 (USD) the SVS SB13 PLUS IS $1199.00 (USD) I will only need one sub because of the limited space but I can try to squeeze another in some place.

The subwoofer would go in my apartment living room . the entire apartment is 850 square feet including the outside balcony, and the apartment is on the second floor. I know this is a over kill for the apartment but I need a good subwoofer.

Get the Ultra and dont look back. Matter of fact 2 of them will do you just right! ;D

[aliminas]

Jamrock: *** marginally ***

No.

Theresa: '..haven't listened to pipe organ music in a long time.'

As i said, depends on your preferences

[stiehl11]

If space is a concern look at SVS PC subs (Powered Cylinder). They take up very little floor space but can be a bit unsightly. Nicknames for mine have been the water heater and the cat scratching post.

[DYohn]

Oct 1, 2011 10:16:38 GMT -5 edoggrc51 said:

Get the Ultra and dont look back. Matter of fact 2 of them will do you just right! ;D

Yep. You can always turn down a sub system that overpowers you, but you can never boost one that is too small for the space.

[Deleted]

Yes it is a matter of preference and of practicalities too. I don't have a four bedroom house to fill with sound anymore. If I did I'd probably have an infinite baffle using the crawl space as the "non-enclosure." My system is probably the only one on the block to even produce 20Hz.