6
SEALED ENCLOSURE INSTALLATION
VENTED ENCLOSURE INSTALLATION
The most basic and simple of all speaker enclosures is the sealed enclosure otherwise referred to as
an acoustic suspension design. They are called acoustic suspension enclosures because the air inside
the box acts like a brake to control the woofer.
The sealed enclosure is the easiest design to build and tune, as long as you work within the minimum
and maximum recommended volumes you cannot get it wrong. The smaller enclosures produce a
tighter punchy bass, the larger enclosures produce a deeper bass. Sealed enclosures offer high power
handling, tight response and smooth low end roll off and cone motion is better controlled at all frequen-
cies because of the constant pressure on the back of the woofer.
Sealed enclosures are ideally suited to rock, jazz and live music.
A vented (also known as ported) enclosure is not much more complex than a sealed design. It consists
of a box with a hole in it.
The vented enclosure has to be correctly designed in order to function correctly. The vent in the
enclosure interacts with the air in the cabinet and the woofer to increase output and reduce cone
excursion at and around the tuning frequency.
At the tuning frequency of the enclosure almost all of the bass is being produced by the vent, not the
woofer. It is more difficult to achieve good performance as the enclosure volume and port volume are
critical but the results are worth it as the ported box is up to 3 times as loud as the same woofer in a
sealed box. It is also possible with the correct tuning to add a “bump” in the response of the enclosure
to boost bass at a preferred frequency. Vented enclosures are best suited to dance, R&B, electronically
produced music and high SPL applications.
ED510-E2
ED512-E2
Tight bass:
1 cubic feet
Deep bass:
1.5 cubic feet
Tight bass:
1.25 cubic feet
Deep bass:
2 cubic feet
ED510-E2
ED512-E2
Volume:
1.75 cubic feet
Port area:
25 square inches
Port length:
20 inches
Port volume:
0.3 cubic feet
Total enclosure volume:
2.05 cubic feet
Volume:
2 cubic feet
Port area:
30 square inches
Port length:
20 inches
Port volume:
0.35 cubic feet
Total enclosure volume:
2.35 cubic feet
