ported or sealed sub in a boat??

I know ported is louder but what about the moisture causing problems with the sub motor and/or tensil leads? Anyone with any information?

Ported! Use plexiglass or if you use wood just glass it!

I have both in my boat, ported is definately louder. Both my ported boxes are resined inside and out.

Has anyone taken a DB meter inside a boat and tested
Ported Vs Sealed box. Or is this just somthing everyone is repeating?

Most boat's that I know have sealed boxes.

This is my take. If you were gonna install 1 sub in your boat and you had a some what of a large aera that you could make a box for and the amp you were dealing with was just ok I would say a ported box would work well for you.

The reason I don't like ported box's is the bass seems some what sloppy. The box takes up to much space for the amount of extra bass its supposed to give you. If you had tones of time and were willing to make a bunch of diffrent size boxes with diffrent port sizes and tryed fireing the sub in every diffrent direction and did the same with the port I bet you could get the ported box to sound great. No question. IMO if you looking to add a sub and you want a no brainer install a sealed box is gonna sound better because IMO its harder to mess it up.

what ive always heard is that a sealed box is more accurate and better sounding while a ported box is louder but is not as accurate. accurate meaning " sound quality"

Depends on the sub and not the box; the box shoul dbe a function of the sub, not the other way around. Pick your sub, then look at the specs the manf has on it, then decide on a box.

(Message edited by OlskoolTige on December 06, 2007)

I agree with Steve. If you buy a sub designed to be in a sealed box, but you put it in a ported box, you won't get the same response as if it was installed in sealed box.

also depends on the levels..

with decent subs, enclosures, amp, and crossover. sealed will "generally" sound better at lower volumes and ported will "generally" be louder at higher volumes..

i have heard both sound really good- just depends on the the design and application.

I am no where near the expert that many of those who have chimed in are, but do have an observation since last week I built a sub box for my JL 12W3. I previously had it just mounted at the driver's feet. This was essentially a really big ported box with air leaks at various spots. Now I have a sealed box.

I think what clubmyke said seems true so far in my extremely limited experience. It sounds better and louder compared to the music at lower volumes, and might be a little less at higher volumes.

Ported will almost always be louder, but only where the box is "tuned". A sealed box is much better for the home builder because you can fudge numbers a bit and end up with a decent end result. Any mistakes in box cu or port size/length and you've got garbage. Either it'll be tuned wrong for the driver or you'll get "port noise". That and the sealed boxes take less space which is critical in most boats.

FWIW... I always wanted to try to horn-load a boat box and see how it sounds. A lot of the PA and "club" subs are horn loaded these days and achieve insane DB numbers.

I'd probably go sealed and not look back unless you don't mind building a few boxes for trial and error exercises.

Anyone ever do bandpass boxes in their boats? I had one in my last truck with one 12 and it absolutely pounded. I'm not sure how it would deliver out in the open though.

c.i.e. the sub in my closed bow is sort of set up like a folded horn and it does slam. with 1- 12" im not sure how you would do it in a open bow unless you used the vdrive compartment, and i dont think that is a very good idea. i have a folded horn box with 1 15 " to go with my p.a. rig and they do rock, but it is huge and cumbersome.

back to the original post, ported is louder. and i prefer the sound of a ported box tuned low[around 28 to 30. but c.i.e. is right on on the ease to build a sealed box. anyone can build a sealed box. you have to be handy to build a ported box.here are some links if you do decide to go ported.
http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=137804
http://www.reaudio.com/speaker_box/LPort_Box_Calc.html

ty you could have reached for the back of your neck and that would be a nice fashion air!haha

that pic was too fun too make...i had to post it.

i've got a bandpass in my boat. 12" JL 12v6w3 with about 700 watts running to it. Sounds good at high volumes. can be a little sloppy at low volumes. i think it works well for a boat.

My take on it: if you put 1500 watts to a sub, sealed will always sound cleaner, deeper. For smaller amps, ported or bandpass can deliver louder bass throughout the boat.

I am super happy with my sealed box, it has two 12's, and since I chose 12's with relatively high efficiency, it get PLENTY loud with 500-700W (I have used different amps with them)

I am so happy with the result, that I wouldn't have done it any other way.

Tim, whats subs did you use?

Infinity perfect 12. Bought them in 2003.

I wanted a sub that was more efficient so I wouldn't have to modify my charging system to support multiple huge amps. I don't park and crank the tunes at a beach or party spot either, so I didn't want to add multiple batteries.

Ty- If you want to swing by the house and hear mine just let me know, 3-12 W7's in sealed boxes with plenty of power driving them, your mind will be made up.

I have heard about your stereo....VERY NICE.