Sealed or Vented?

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12-05-2020, 01:14 PM
andygreg

Sealed or Vented?

As a caveat, I am not an audiophile. I love listening to and playing music, and have a discerning ear.

I will be purchasing a pair of Sierra Towers w RAAL upgrade and trying to decide which sub to purchase along with it.

These are going into the family room, which is about 14'X18' with 9' ceilings and hardwood floors. However, it opens up to the kitchen and eat in dining area, which extends back another 20 feet or so (basically same width). There is a room separator (wall about 4' high) in between fam room and kitchen area.

Our listening will be 50/50 music/movies.

I am also limited in where I can place the sub - it will go against the side wall (roughly) about 3-5' in front of the speakers and TV.

The main question is do I get a sealed or vented sub? At first I was thinking sealed given the fam room dimensions. But then thinking about openness to the kitchen makes me wonder if I would be better off w a vented sub.

For my music I don't like earth shaking, rattling bass. I like rich, full, vibrant bass that I can feel inside but that doesn't make the floor move.

Most of our focused listening will be in the family room proper, though we do watch tv/listen to music from the kitchen as we cook and just hang out in the kitchen area. That said, I would be willing to give up some bass in the kitchen to get the rich bass I love when in the family room.

So would something that can power bass back into the kitchen area come at the expense of what I would otherwise want in the family room?
Also, a 15" sealed sub would not really fit in the fam room, so may be limited to 8" (like the F8) or 12", and dual subs are a potential option as well.

Looking for feedback on what better option would be.

Andrew
12-05-2020, 03:36 PM
natetg57

Re: Sealed or Vented?

I would suggest 2 12" sealed subs. If you can place them correctly, you should be able to get a nice smooth bass response in your listening area.
12-06-2020, 03:46 AM
racrawford65

Re: Sealed or Vented?

Agree with Nate's suggestion -2 x L12's or F12s depending on your budget. You could also start with one and add a second later. I prefer sealed although from what I've read, with Rythmik subs the ported perform very well with music as well.

Depending on your space/placement options, you may also want to look at the L22 or E15. The E15 is only a bit bigger than the F12. I use 2 E15's in my room (16x12x11, but opens to Den (~22x20) to left and Dining Room (16x12) behind, fills the space nicely.
12-15-2020, 05:34 AM
N Boros

Re: Sealed or Vented?

Quote:

Originally Posted by andygreg

These are going into the family room, which is about 14'X18' with 9' ceilings and hardwood floors. However, it opens up to the kitchen and eat in dining area, which extends back another 20 feet or so (basically same width). There is a room separator (wall about 4' high) in between fam room and kitchen area.

Our listening will be 50/50 music/movies.

The size of the subwoofer that you choose is based on the entire space that it is opened up to, not just the proposed listening area. Since you have a huge space that it is opened up to, I’d suggest ported, the largest that you are willing to go with and can fit into your budget. A ported sub will give you more bass for your money down to the port tuning, if you can live with the larger size. If you can’t live with the larger size then you need to spend significantly more money for similar output in a sealed design.

I have a 12 in ported subwoofer in a huge open space and I don’t think it is enough to give tactile bass for movies. Because of this I plan to put up a couple of walls to make a much smaller dedicated theater room at only around 2000 rather than 10,000 cubic feet to where a 12 inch ported subwoofer will do great.
12-15-2020, 09:27 AM
Bruce Watson

Re: Sealed or Vented?

Quote:

Originally Posted by andygreg

Our listening will be 50/50 music/movies.

I am also limited in where I can place the sub - it will go against the side wall (roughly) about 3-5' in front of the speakers and TV.

The main question is do I get a sealed or vented sub?

Ported, due to the 50/50 mix. If you get a servo sub (Rythmik, Paradigm, Velodyne, etc.) the ported sub(s) will integrate really well due to their lower distortion, so it will sound great for music. And the ported response curve works better for movies (so it can play the LFE channel better).

Many people will recommend sealed for music. And if it's a non-servo sub, I'll concur. But if it's a servo sub it can be surprisingly difficult to tell sealed vs. ported. Even on things like the bottom end of an acoustic piano, the bass section of an orchestra, or low brass.

Quote:

Originally Posted by andygreg

Also, a 15" sealed sub would not really fit in the fam room, so may be limited to 8" (like the F8) or 12", and dual subs are a potential option as well.

Looking for feedback on what better option would be.

Sounds to me what you're looking for is a pair of 12" ported servo subs. I was in this same boat a few years ago and bought a pair of the Rythmik LVX12s. They were surprisingly easy to integrate with my Sierra 2s, work a treat with movies or music, and are small enough that even my wife seems to not notice them in the room any more. The only time she complains about them is when they are not active for some reason or other. She really likes the Sierra 2s with the subs.