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Cab Porting, pros vs. cons

G

Goose72

Dec 24, 2006
220
1
NW Indiana
#1
hey guys, i need to know if it does anything

i am specifically looking at either the GK Backline 210 combo(which is ported) or the GK BL 600 head and a BL 210 cab(which is non ported)

i will most likely add another cab, probably an Avatar neo 112, to either of these later on

i guess along with the porting question, i would like to konw which would be best. I think i am actually leaning towards the combo, but give me your opinions. This would be my first rig that can/ will be used for small gigs
 
#3
Ported = more bottom
Sealed = more punch

Some people will opt for a ported 410 for example and have plenty of low end.
Others will have a sealed 410 and add a 15.
The Ampeg ported 410 is 4 ohm making hard to add another cab while the sealed 410 is 8 ohm making it easy too add a cab.

Does that help?
 
#8
Goose72 said:
is that 210 combo even ported or is that tweeter?
can they be front ported? or is it always back?( i know the Avatar is back)
Click to expand...
If your just looking at a picture you may only see the tweeter. The tweeter is on top the port is on the front on the bottom and hard to see. My Eden is ported on the top and bottom in front.
Yes some cabs are ported on the back also.
 
#9
fdeck said:
Front or back ported doesn't matter. As mentioned above, your ears decide.
Click to expand...
I regularly play in Pubs/bars in the UK, quite often, due to lack of space, the cabs are placed on the seating with the back of the cab up against the seating this is the reason that I don't use rear porting when building a cab, for the same reason I have changed my mind about the Mesa walkabout Scout Combo with the downward facing Passive radiator it would be playing into the seating upholstery.
The cabs are designed for an ideal world most of our gigging environments are anything but.
I'm not implying that you are wrong in what you are saying though, I'm just saying how it is any many smaller gigs in the UK.
 
#11
Bassman62 said:
I regularly play in Pubs/bars in the UK, quite often, due to lack of space, the cabs are placed on the seating with the back of the cab up against the seating this is the reason that I don't use rear porting when building a cab, for the same reason I have changed my mind about the Mesa walkabout Scout Combo with the downward facing Passive radiator it would be playing into the seating upholstery.
The cabs are designed for an ideal world most of our gigging environments are anything but.
I'm not implying that you are wrong in what you are saying though, I'm just saying how it is any many smaller gigs in the UK.
Click to expand...

Anything coming from the ports or passive radiator (near tuning frequency of the cabinet) is non-directional. Outside the range near the tuning frequency, little sound comes from the ports/passive radiator at all, and if it did it is still low enough to be non-directonal. It doesn't matter if it's pointed at a wall (there are other effects that matter here - boundary reinforcement), at your face, or at the ground.
 
#12
HMZ said:
I like front ported cabs because most of the time with small bar type gigs I'm in a corner or up ageist a wall and rear ported cabs can sound real boomie in this situation.
Click to expand...

This isn't because of the porting location on the cabinet. This is a phenomenon called boundary reinforcement. Place your cabinet in front of a wall, and you essentially turn half-space (the hemisphere that the sound radiates through if it's sitting on ground with no walls) into quarter-space (the quarter sphere above the ground and in front of the wall). A corner turns it into eighth-space. This causes a boost in the low frequency content simply because there is less air for it to propagate through. Studio monitors and other higher-end audio speakers often have small adjustments to the low-end response that can be made by the user (often by DSP now) to maintain the same response when placed against a wall or in a corner instead of in the middle of a room. This usually consists of a 2-3dB (against a wall) or 4-6dB (in a corner) cut in the bass.
 
#13
i use the backline 600 and the bl210 along with a 4x10 nothing is ported and i love it....

i used used to use an SWR custum 350 and a triad cab which was ported and i was never ever satisfied with it...for my ears that ported cab was never punchy enough but i never liked a 15 either i guess i just perfer those 10's!
 
#14
Bassman62 said:
I regularly play in Pubs/bars in the UK, quite often, due to lack of space, the cabs are placed on the seating with the back of the cab up against the seating this is the reason that I don't use rear porting when building a cab, for the same reason I have changed my mind about the Mesa walkabout Scout Combo with the downward facing Passive radiator it would be playing into the seating upholstery.
The cabs are designed for an ideal world most of our gigging environments are anything but.
I'm not implying that you are wrong in what you are saying though, I'm just saying how it is any many smaller gigs in the UK.
Click to expand...
Good point. That's certainly a consideration.
 
#15
BassIan said:
Anything coming from the ports or passive radiator (near tuning frequency of the cabinet) is non-directional. Outside the range near the tuning frequency, little sound comes from the ports/passive radiator at all, and if it did it is still low enough to be non-directonal. It doesn't matter if it's pointed at a wall (there are other effects that matter here - boundary reinforcement), at your face, or at the ground.
Click to expand...
Hi I wasn't refering to walls I was refering to the soft furnishing on seating and the back of seating in most of the bubs/bars in the UK, it is quite common to see amps/cabs placed on seats due to lack of space; anything that restricts airflow of the tuning port must surely be detrimental to the overall performance of the cab.
 
#16
Bassman62 said:
Hi I wasn't refering to walls I was refering to the soft furnishing on seating and the back of seating in most of the bubs/bars in the UK, it is quite common to see amps/cabs placed on seats due to lack of space; anything that restricts airflow of the tuning port must surely be detrimental to the overall performance of the cab.
Click to expand...

That's true, certainly. As I tell anyone who has a passive radiator cabinet, bring yourself a thin, small piece of plywood to go under the feet of the cabinet. 1/4" would even do it. Round the edges, finish it with some black paint or some tolex.

As for the port, on the Walkabout, you'd have to really try to block it since it's behind and under the head, as you know.
 
#18
Just a note, I have demonstrated that at least in some cases, a ported speaker can be made to sound just like a sealed speaker, though not with the same driver. The result is higher sensitivity, higher power handling, a smaller box, or some combination of those benefits. However, it is a whole 'nother matter to find such an ideal realized in a commercial cab. Some of the curves shown at Bill F's page for horn loaded systems also suggest the "punchy" sound. I am thinking of the DR250 in particular.
 
#19
fdeck said:
Just a note, I have demonstrated that at least in some cases, a ported speaker can be made to sound just like a sealed speaker, though not with the same driver.
Click to expand...

You can do it with the same driver, it's a matter of finding the right alignment. But you can't do it with every driver.
 

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