Front ported, Rear ported or Sealed speakers

[Tarub]

What are the pros and cons of rear ported, front ported and sealed speakers? Which has better sound quality?
I know that for rear ported is not suppose to be place near against the wall.

 

[j_garcia]

Front vs rear ported makes little difference unless you want to put them into a cabinet. Sealed is a different animal and does have different pros and cons, but sound quality is a function of the total speaker and looking at sealed or vented alone doesn't tell you enough to base any kind of opinion on.

 

[rynberg]

Ggunnell: that thread you linked is about subwoofers, not main speakers.

As j_garcia stated, there can be excellent designs using all three methods. You should know that there are VERY few sealed designs left on the market. Those few sealed speaker still on the market are almost entire 2-way bookshelf/monitors.

 

[gmichael]

Rear ported is a pain in the butt. I will never go that way again.

Front ported tends to give you a little more output around the range that the port is tuned to. But once you get below that, the base drops off sharply. Sealed designs roll off a little sooner but continue to roll off instead of dropping completely off. Sealed tends to sound tighter while ported seems like a softer base to me.

But as others have said, there are more things to consider that can make a bigger difference. These are just tendencies that can vary widely from one manufacturer to another.

 

[Hi Ho]

My DIY speakers are rear ported. I get good output down to around 50hz with the 6" Dayton Reference woofers. I was originally going to go with front ports but I decided it looked too cluttered with no grills.

 

[j_garcia]

Front ported tends to give you a little more output around the range that the port is tuned to. But once you get below that, the base drops off sharply. Sealed designs roll off a little sooner but continue to roll off instead of dropping completely off. Sealed tends to sound tighter while ported seems like a softer base to me.

The rise at the tuning frequency is the same whether it is front or rear ported, given the same speaker and same tuning, it should be no different. Audible port noise may be an issue with a front ported design that is not well implemented, but with most bookshelf size speaker's tuning that generally isn't an issue.

Bass with sealed is tighter because of the spring effect that the enclosure lends to the driver and while the bass can extend relatively low, most sealed designs tend to lack the same kind of oomph at the lowest extension that a vented design often yeilds. Sealed designs also tend to both require more power to drive, but also can take more power.

There are fewer companies making sealed designs these days, but there are still some out there. NHT still produces sealed speakers and I like their sound.

 

[gmichael]

The rise at the tuning frequency is the same whether it is front or rear ported, given the same speaker and same tuning, it should be no different. Audible port noise may be an issue with a front ported design that is not well implemented, but with most bookshelf size speaker's tuning that generally isn't an issue.

Bass with sealed is tighter because of the spring effect that the enclosure lends to the driver and while the bass can extend relatively low, most sealed designs tend to lack the same kind of oomph at the lowest extension that a vented design often yeilds. Sealed designs also tend to both require more power to drive, but also can take more power.

There are fewer companies making sealed designs these days, but there are still some out there. NHT still produces sealed speakers and I like their sound.

I agree. I just have had problems with placement of rear ported designs. I didn't go into that because the original poster had mentioned that he knew about it.
All of what you have here is correct.
I have a ported sub now that I enjoy. But I'd like to get a sealed sub next time.

 

[Sheep]

The rise at the tuning frequency is the same whether it is front or rear ported, given the same speaker and same tuning, it should be no different. Audible port noise may be an issue with a front ported design that is not well implemented, but with most bookshelf size speaker's tuning that generally isn't an issue.

Bass with sealed is tighter because of the spring effect that the enclosure lends to the driver and while the bass can extend relatively low, most sealed designs tend to lack the same kind of oomph at the lowest extension that a vented design often yeilds. Sealed designs also tend to both require more power to drive, but also can take more power.

There are fewer companies making sealed designs these days, but there are still some out there. NHT still produces sealed speakers and I like their sound.

The SVS bookshelves are sealed too.

I've owned front ported and rear ported mains (although, not the same models, or companies...) and I think the difference is there. The rear ported ones were towers, and the front ported ones are my Energys.

Obviously, my towers had more slam and extension (6 1/2 inch woofers) but the bass sounded different. I don't want to use loose terms, but it sounded warmer, a little muddy (but, some of that could be the speaker itself).

I know I have heard nicer sounding rear ported towers, but I still feel they are too room reliant, thusly making them more difficult to place. My C-1s and my C-C1 sound great right where they are, but the towers and my old rear ported center didn't. The vocals didn't have the body that they do now, sounded dry.

I don't know, I'm rambling. Maybe I'll pull out my rear ported rears and A-B them with my Energys.

SheepStar

 

[j_garcia]

Rear ports do need room behind them to allow the port to do what it needs to, so placement can be an issue with rear ported speakers. Place a rear ported speaker too close to the wall with no treatment and you can very easily get exaggerated bass near the tuning frequency. That is not the speaker's fault though, that is a room/placement issue.

 

[Tarub]

Just a novice curiosity dumb question.
Can speaker designer/manufacturer can make their rear ported speakers sound exactly the same if they make it to be a front ported so placement will not be a big issue for consumers?
I.E. Ascend 340SE w/c is rear ported. Good reviews not only in this forum but I'm so hesitant to purchase it because the reason I am going for bookshelf speakers is space saving for my room. But for placing this speakers it will be more footprint than my old floorstanders.

 

[j_garcia]

Yes and no. In the case of the 340s, there isn't really a good place to put the port that wouldn't compromise the design. Unless you are going to put them in a cabinet or right up against the wall, it isn't going to be a huge issue. A foot or so from the wall is probably good for most speakers like this.

 

[gmichael]

Just a novice curiosity dumb question.
Can speaker designer/manufacturer can make their rear ported speakers sound exactly the same if they make it to be a front ported so placement will not be a big issue for consumers?
I.E. Ascend 340SE w/c is rear ported. Good reviews not only in this forum but I'm so hesitant to purchase it because the reason I am going for bookshelf speakers is space saving for my room. But for placing this speakers it will be more footprint than my old floorstanders.

I'm sure they could come close. Rear porting can give more base when placed correctly though. IMO they can be great for floor standers when you have the room. Corner loading them can yield mucho base if done right. But for bookshelf's they cause more issues than they are worth. I have a pair of rear ported bookshelf speakers that I just can't get right with the shelves I have. And you can not wall mount them at all. I would have to get stands or ceiling mounts.

 

[3db]

Before upgrading to my PSB Image T45s

I used to own a pair of Technic towers, SB-T200 which sported two 5 1/4" drivers , the tweeter in between them. The speaker was both ported in the front and back which I thought was kinda unusual as I've not seen this before. They sounded OK but are no match for my PSBs.

 

[j_garcia]

I have a pair of rear ported bookshelf speakers that I just can't get right with the shelves I have. And you can not wall mount them at all. I would have to get stands or ceiling mounts.

Have you tried just plugging the ports?

 

[gmichael]

Have you tried just plugging the ports?

No, but I guess that's an option. Seems to me that it would change the characteristics of the speaker though. Acoustic damping material would work best right?

 

[j_garcia]

I just used a rolled up sock - works just fine. It definitely changes the character of the bass - you'll lose some extension, and to some extent the midrange will be affected. The effects will vary depending on the tuning and the speaker. Many manufacturers offer their own foam plugs for close to wall (bracket mounting, etc..) and cabinet placement, but the sock does pretty much the same thing.

 

[gmichael]

I just used a rolled up sock

Clean or other?

 

[j_garcia]

Clean or other?

Preferrably clean, of course

 

[Tarub]

Preferrably clean, of course

Now I got George Michael of WHAM and Jerry Garcia of GRATEFUL DEAD talking about smelly socks instead of music.
Thanks for all the inputs anyway. You guys are great musician.

 

[gmichael]

Now I got George Michael of WHAM and Jerry Garcia of GRATEFUL DEAD talking about smelly socks instead of music.
Thanks for all the inputs anyway. You guys are great musician.

We aim to please. Oh look! There's a $20 on the floor. You wanna pick that up?