Need advise : 2 sealed better or 1 ported sub?

[mkwglyg]

Can anyone advise:

For 20hz performance (movies and music per se), is it better to go for 2x sealed 12" or 1 x 13" ported ?

I know that ported trumps sealed for better bass extension and spl but not sure if 2 x sealed will easily trumps 1 x ported. Or will they still lose out on bass extension ?

Specifically speaking, I'm considering to get 2 x SB12 or 1 x PB12 plus (or PB13)
* given a choice, I would rather have 2 smaller boxes than 1 large box but not sure how they would perform comparatively in terms of bass extension and spl.

thanks

 

[mike c]

for your options, the 1 ported sub has more output in the 20hz range (and therefore has "more couch shaking, pant flapping feel")

the two sealed however has more chest kick

 

[timoteo]

I used to have 2xEarthquake P12 subs. Each sub had an active 12" driver and a 12" Passive Radiator. Those subs had a lot of power & I was always very impressed with them!! However I ended up selling them & buying an Hsu VTF-15H (ported 15"). The improvement in bass was big!! More headroom, more deep bass etc. I would however say that the mid bass slam was near the same if not a bit less. I took care of that by getting an Hsu Mid-Bass-Module (MBM-12 MK2) haha. BUT had I to do it over again I would still rather have the larger ported sub over the smaller duals. Take in not though that I had a very large space to fill. If the room was smaller then it would be a closer battle between the 2 options though.

If you want all out power go for the larger ported. If you like to play with placement & fine tune then the dual 12"subs can be an excellent choice as well. But a 12" sealed is different than the 12"PR subs I had so the comparison isn't exactly the same. Just my experience & some food for thought!!

 

[Bryceo]

12" ported, I had dual 12" subs seald that had kick but it seemed to be that I really had to give them a hard time to get the bass out I've recently gone back to a single 13" ported and the bass is so much deeper the. The seald

 

[Steve81]

For 20hz performance (movies and music per se), is it better to go for 2x sealed 12" or 1 x 13" ported ?


Specifically speaking, I'm considering to get 2 x SB12 or 1 x PB12 plus (or PB13)

In terms of output capability, a single PB13U has been bench tested to deliver up to 110.6dB clean at 2 meters, outdoors, at 20Hz; under the same conditions, a single SB12 managed 91.9dB, so we're talking about a little over an 18dB difference. If you had a pair of SB12's stacked, you'd gain 6dB, reducing the PB13's advantage to a 12dB, which is still a very large gap.

The PB12+ is reasonably close in performance to the PB13U; to my knowledge, it is about 3dB less powerful than the Ultra, so around 107dB at 20Hz.

http://www.data-bass.com/systems

 

[j_garcia]

Ported if you want that rumble down low. Steve pretty much answered why too.

Then there's always these XS30 XS15

 

[Steve81]

Then there's always these xs30 xs15

For whatever reason, your links didn't translate, at least for me.

POWER SOUND AUDIO — XS30

POWER SOUND AUDIO — XS15

I'd love to see a review on the XS30. I'm not looking get rid of my current sub or anything, but if I ever wanted a sub for my second system, you know how it goes...

 

[j_garcia]

Yeah, they both got messed up. Fixed, but you've already got them now too