So why is that people find ported SVS subs lacking for music playback?
While I am not sure who these people are as I haven't read this complaint very often before there are a variety of reasons:
1) Room interaction/placement - many people do not realize the huge impact that placement and room interaction have on sound quality. Improper placement of a subwoofer can cause huge peaks and troughs in frequency response that will make for a horrible sound. Also, standing waves within the room due to lack of or improper room treatment is another thing that can cause a perceived boomy sound.
2) Tuning frequency used - based off of the third party measurements I have seen of SVS ported subs some tuning frequencies create a larger deviation from linearity than others. *Speculation* This deviation could be perceived as boomy tendency by some depending on the frequencies being accentuated.
3) Placebo effect - Many people have simply heard that sealed systems are "tighter/faster" or whatever term you want to insert than ported ones. This simple queue could easily influence what the person thinks of a sub.
The list of possibilities goes on and I could make this sort of conjecture all day but I am tired so read the link I posted previously for some more in depth general subwoofer knowledge myths.
I would like to point out I have no love or hate for SVS and never intend on owning a product of theirs as I can build something for myself instead. I am just trying to clear up a common misconception found in the audio community.
