Ok I'm sold on Reaction coaxials and upgrading the sub.
Question of ported vs. sealed sub: I thought that sealed provided more controlled bass, but Reaction's ported sub is actually more expensive than its sealed one.
Why is that?
I don't think anyone has answered this, so I will.
IMHO, the myth that sealed subs offer more control than ported subs is perpetuated by comparison of sealed vs. improperly tuned ported. Ported subs tuned to a frequency below the driver's resonant frequency don't sound as good as those tuned to Fs. Some manufacturers tune this way to make the subs more impressive-looking on paper. From what I've read about Reaction Audio, I don't think Jeremy is one of them.
The true advantage to sealed is, given enough power and enough Xmax, you potentially get better subsonic extension due to a shallower low-end roll-off combined with room gain and creative EQ. However, watt-for-watt, vented subs offer several dB more output than their sealed counterparts. This extra output comes with a trade-off of steeper roll-off and potentially damaging excursion below the tuning frequency without a suitable subsonic filter or some other limiter. After all, there's no such thing as a free lunch.
But these generalizations are all quite vague. There's no real cookie-cutter assessment that can be applied to all sealed subs, or all vented subs. Rest assured, the Reaction Audio subs you chose are excellent, and you should be pleased with the results.
