Preference For Sealed Cabs? Why?

[agedhorse]

Sealed cabinets represent maybe 10% (if that) of all cabinets sold.

Players have voted with their purchases, ported cabs are by far more popular.

 

[deff]

Sealed cabinets represent maybe 10% (if that) of all cabinets sold.

Players have voted with their purchases, ported cabs are by far more popular.

Or it's just all we have to choose from?

 

[5StringPocket]

Sealed cabinets represent maybe 10% (if that) of all cabinets sold.

Players have voted with their purchases, ported cabs are by far more popular.

… and if I remember correctly, a well-implemented ported cab with the right damping factor has a good transient response and doesn’t suffer from boom and overhang like a poorly implemented one. Add an HPF to prevent overexcursion and rumble from low frequencies below the useful range (I usually run mine about 40+ Hz) and you have a good sounding cab.

 

[agedhorse]

Or it's just all we have to choose from?

No, sealed cabinets don't have anywhere near the demand therefore most manufactures don't offer them (or offer very few).

… and if I remember correctly, a well-implemented ported cab with the right damping factor has a good transient response and doesn’t suffer from boom and overhang like a poorly implemented one. Add an HPF to prevent overexcursion and rumble from low frequencies below the useful range (I usually run mine about 40+ Hz) and you have a good sounding cab.

Yes, this is more or less correct.

 

[Wasnex]

Or it's just all we have to choose from?

Pretty much anybody in the US can buy a sealed cab if they want it. Ampeg 810E, 810AV, 210AV.

If Ampeg doesn't float your boat, Bergantino has made several sealed cabs. NV215, NV412, NV610, NV115, NV212, HG310, HG410. I don't think any of these are currently in production, but several production runs have already been done.

Some of the older Hartkes were sealed.

There are probably others that I am not considering.

 

[deff]

You guys are crazy if you think the average bass player thinks,.... jeez I need a ported cab, none of those old fashioned sealed ones.

They look at brands, power handling and listen to their friends and see what people play.

 

[agedhorse]

You guys are crazy if you think the average bass player thinks,.... jeez I need a ported cab, none of those old fashioned sealed ones.

They look at brands, power handling and listen to their friends and see what people play.

Maybe the players you hang with, my experience is that bass players are generally (not all players) looking for higher sensitivity and greater low frequency extension (at higher sensitivity) than most sealed cabinets of reasonable size can deliver.

Before you dismiss me as "crazy", consider that I have been designing bass cabinets for over 30 years commercially. I have designed some sealed cabinets, and while they sounded as expected, once they were compared with my competing ported designs, the ported designs always won out by a long shot. Thinking back, I don't think any of my sealed designs made it into production (with the exception of the Uber Quad 1288 that used a sealed low mid section).

 

[dkelley]

You guys are crazy if you think the average bass player thinks,.... jeez I need a ported cab, none of those old fashioned sealed ones.

They look at brands, power handling and listen to their friends and see what people play.

IN A WAY, I think you are saying the same thing, actually.

Like I personally said earlier, and I must admit I actually know a lot about loudspeaker design compared to yer average bassist, but that still doesn't affect my personal reasons for choosing the cabs that I choose:
- compact, light, efficient (== loud), great low end, affordable.

Those are my criteria for buying bass cabs. The affordable aspect brings me to used gear often, but not always, if a new piece of gear has everything else I want and I can't find it used, I'll buy new.

The fact of the matter is that to accomplish those goals, you need a ported design, pretty much.

So bass players look for the specs they want. If that includes efficient, compact, great low end, possibly all from a single driver in a single cab, or maybe a dual driver in a single cab... then they will most likely be choosing ported, since it is one of the only, effectively THE only, commercially viable solution to solve engineering challenges for that customer's requirements.

Hence, bassists ARE looking for ported cabs... as a side effect of what they want.

Uness the bassist is fine with fridge sized cabs, which is totally fine also.

That's why choice is a great thing...

But keep in mind, the market manufactures and sells to provide for what customers demand.

Personally, I wouldn't care if bass horn technology had somehow magically changed the laws of physics so compact folded bass horns actually sounded great AND had low extension AND still provided high frequencies from a single driver. But that isn't how physics works.

I also wouldn't care less if they were sealed, if the driver somehow was high efficiency enough to compete, and still got down low enough to make me happy, without being much too big and heavy than my needs require.

In my recording studio, I have 2 sets of near field monitors (ported, active), and 1 set of 3 way mid field monitors (sealed woofer enclosure, small dome mids, planar tweeters). Appropriate speakers for the situation... they NEED a lot of power to come to life, but they truly can, and sound amazing when doing so. But they are designed for studio listening and reasonable levels, and even the several hundred watts peak that I put through them is never deafening or overpowering.

It's all about appropriate decisions.

 

[Old Fart]

I like ported cabs.

 

[Old Fart]

Sealed cabs sound, to me, like cabs with a bit of constipation. Just being funny.

But seriously folks, sealed cabs can sound deliciously round and fat down low. Which is nice. And tight. Almost muffled. Okay....all the way muffled. Ported cabs breathe. Like the music we play.

 

[sunbeast]

Pretty much anybody in the US can buy a sealed cab if they want it. Ampeg 810E, 810AV, 210AV.

If Ampeg doesn't float your boat, Bergantino has made several sealed cabs. NV215, NV412, NV610, NV115, NV212, HG310, HG410. I don't think any of these are currently in production, but several production runs have already been done.

Some of the older Hartkes were sealed.

There are probably others that I am not considering.

Yep, and Bergantino has regularly discontinued the NV line due to low sales. The reality is that it requires a pretty large sealed cab to get great stage volume for bass, and in general bassists are moving away from massive stage rigs and generally towards deeper sub tones (that sealed cabs can’t efficiently replicate). My NV610 is still among my favorite pieces of gear, but I definitely get to use it a lot less these days. I also have a 210AV for recording purposes, but for stage volumes I’d need at least two or three of them to feel anything!

 

[smeet]

But seriously folks, sealed cabs can sound deliciously round and fat down low. Which is nice. And tight. Almost muffled. Okay....all the way muffled. Ported cabs breathe. Like the music we play.

Yes, sealed cabs can sound a bit muffled and lacking bottom when soloed. But for some/many styles of music, in the mix, the punchy mids with rolled off lows and highs can sound better in the mix than a piano-like full-range open tone.

 

[Al Kraft]

I find that with the right combination of HPF/LPF and EQ I can often get some ported cabs to sound similar to a sealed one. Sealed cabs are not quite as flexible in terms of opening up to get that same type of sound, especially lower extension IME.

I will offer that Duke's AK designs offer some ported/sealed variation flexibility and are quite nice, but they do tend to have much lower sensitivity as a trade-off. Although in today's world of higher powered amps I see that as almost irrelevant.

 

[smeet]

Yes, sealed cabs can sound a bit muffled and lacking bottom when soloed. But for some/many styles of music, in the mix, the punchy mids with rolled off lows and highs can sound better in the mix than a piano-like full-range open tone.

I find that with the right combination of HPF/LPF and EQ I can often get some ported cabs to sound similar to a sealed one. Sealed cabs are not quite as flexible in terms of opening up to get that same type of sound, especially lower extension IME.

I will offer that Duke's AK designs offer some ported/sealed variation flexibility and are quite nice, but they do tend to have much lower sensitivity as a trade-off. Although in today's world of higher powered amps I see that as almost irrelevant.

I'll agree with @agedhorse that when I A/B'd my NV610 against some nice ported cabinets, the extreme mid-focus and lack of lows did bother me. And I do find myself often eq-ing things to kind of sound like an NV610 with extended range. And my favorite cabs right now are the AK Hathors (with tube preamps and high-powered amps), so I guess that makes sense.

 

[Al Kraft]

I'll agree with @agedhorse that when I A/B'd my NV610 against some nice ported cabinets, the extreme mid-focus and lack of lows did bother me. And I do find myself often eq-ing things to kind of sound like an NV610 with extended range. And my favorite cabs right now are the AK Hathors (with tube preamps and high-powered amps), so I guess that makes sense.

Jim's NV cabs are really nice for what they are meant to be in terms of satisfying specific tone goals. However, as you mentioned that tone goal/voicing preference is not as mainstream as what ported (or Duke's "hybrid ported/sealed") design cabs can deliver.

There is no good or bad here, just an observation on what the market demand signal seems to indicate regarding player voicing/performance preferences. IMO the NV610 is an exceptional cab that can stretch a bit beyond the sealed cab stereotype, but is still limited by its original design goal (which I think it hits brilliantly).

 

[tvbop]

Thing is what exactly is everyone talking about. Your stood next to ur cab on stage, what u hear there is nothing like what the audience are getting if ur unsupported,and if ur using FOH then frankly you could be playing thru anything as its the FOH dude who creates"ur" tone. Basically speaking an unsupported ported cab will pump more bass into the audience than a sealed cab which will to some extent remain tightly focused....at around 30 to 60 feet away.

 

[kringle77]

The nv610 is probably my all time favorite but, there were so few places to use it that were convenient, I eventually started using bad end s15 cabs as a substitute. Similar tone and more modular. Very tight and controlled but, nothing has ever felt like a sealed cab under my fingers. Sometimes I would like a less voiced cab but, when I go that route, I generally end up trying to make the neutral cab get that voicing again! A vicious cycle!

 

[kringle77]

Thing is what exactly is everyone talking about. Your stood next to ur cab on stage, what u hear there is nothing like what the audience are getting if ur unsupported,and if ur using FOH then frankly you could be playing thru anything as its the FOH dude who creates"ur" tone. Basically speaking an unsupported ported cab will pump more bass into the audience than a sealed cab which will to some extent remain tightly focused....at around 30 to 60 feet away.[/QUOTE

funny, one of the reasons I always liked big sealed cabs is that I felt they had a more consistent volume and focused output whether near or far from the cab, compared to ported. The real meat of the sound projects better. The extra lows from the ported cabs seemed to get washed away easier. I won’t debate anybody on this, it’s just been MY experience.

 

[pepj]

All my cabs are rear ported.