Nearfield Tactile Subwoofers SHOULD be sealed!

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Should you use a ported or sealed subwoofer for nearfield tactile bass reinforcement?

The answer is sealed, full stop -- and here's the evidence as to why.

This is a common question we get on the AV Experience podcast. I think this video clearly illustrates why I recommend sealed cabinet alignments for nearfield subwoofer use. Even if you have a low 20Hz or 15Hz tune, you are going to lack that desired cone movement at the box’s port tune frequency...which simply means the tactile feel will not be from a reliable, linear excursion, driver cone source.

Then there are other negatives for ported for nearfield and that is below port tune the driver is less controlled, and may actually move too much exaggerating driver feel, right after having no feel at the port tune, and then any port noise is more audible with the subwoofer placed close to you, than it is from across the room. An unloaded subwoofer below port tune creates lots of extra undesirable harmonics and distortion too. Since we want the nearfield for feel and especially for the lowest frequency feel, a ported enclosure is ultimately the wrong tool for the nearfield subwoofer job. To be clear, I like ported subs and think they can be of great use and value as farfield subwoofers, but for nearfield subwoofer use, I prefer, recommend, and use sealed cabinet subwoofers.