The Great Subwoofer Debate: Ported vs Sealed - Which Sounds Better? KICKER Comp Gold

In my opinion if you like rock or a sub with a bass hit like the drum set bass drum that you hit with your foot, you should use sealed for those kicks and also use a ten inch cause I had two tens before in sealed box it was insane. If you wanted long bass hits that have long drawn out bass or deep deep bass you should use a 15 or even 18 the bigger the better for the deep bass and vented. So for punch you want the smaller subs and sealed box for big deep bass those long drawn out bass hits go with a 15 and use vented. Back in the early 90’s we actually used bandpass boxes more often. I knew a girl had a ten inch in band pass with big power and it was in her crx, still to this day it’s the loudest ten I ever heard.

Got a pair of JL Audio 10W7's. Never heard bass so tight and clear than what Ive heard with sealed enclosures. No drag!

I have 2 rocksford p2 12s, I've been looking into these for a while now, obviously don't want to downgrade😂 would you say these are "better" or hit harder than the p2s?

Huge sealed box, low power = no brainer

So if i want low frequency bass, like 20hz, but accurate, something i can feel, what encloser will be the best?

Sealed enclosures are superior unless you're the type who drives around with subs and tweets with no midrange or midbass running one Amp with no crossovers you'll like and keep your ported subs!

My cousin had a pair of 12" Kicker subs, and he ran them in a closed, and vacuumed box. I could hear his music from a very far distance, like about 1/2 mile away or so.
I'd choose closed for bass like he did. I don't know how he got the vacuum on it, he never told me.

My very first set of subwoofers was two 8 inch kicker golds back in the early 90's. Pretty cool they still use the original lettering. Too bad they are made in China now but I get it. They can mass produce things for a fraction of the cost compared to in the United States.

How about 1988-1995 subs vs what’s best now. For a subwoofer there shouldn’t be any music or distortion going through the bass channel?

I personally liked sealed as well, low deep crisp bass. Speakers have to match the amp you choose…

I had sealed bandpass & ported i found sealed to b best cuz it sounds much cleaner & accurate

Will you review the NVX 10” sub and amp combo? Not many reviews. I purchased one to place under the seat

For a space as small as a car, a large subwoofer is too much. Maybe a single 8” in a sealed cabinet buried in the trunk, but even then it’s going to musically overpower the interior speakers. If the sound system was designed and installed properly, a sub isn’t really needed for good sonic balance. A lot of low IQ people just want to shake the ‘hood.

Ported properly beats all all around

I’m thinking just get 2 kicker 12 comp q round subs put them both in a sealed box. This way have sound quality, and they are powerful enough to produce spl. (850 RMS x2) Kicker CX1800 will be my amp.

I always liked sealed you get the resonance without distortion even at low power

Thinking i want ported, but with a single or dual 8s or 10s. I want loud, but I'm hoping a smaller diameter will keep it from getting muddy. I listen to mostly house music and DnB, so heavy, faster kicks than your average hip-hop etc.

I’m rocking 2 sealed pioneer shallow mount and even though they are small and sealed, they still hit hard and sound very clean and clear.

People always say ported is sloppy when dealing with pre-fab enclosures. People stop saying that once they have a properly designed and built enclosure for their application.

Sealed - better accuracy and you can feel the vibration much more in your vehicle

Ported - more low-end capability, assuming the size and port on the box matches the specs of the subwoofer