Porting the Aerius ?

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Jem90

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Just a question but has anybody ever thought of porting the woofer section of the Aerius??? Would it make any improvements?
 
That is highly unlikely unless you knew a lot about the design of the Aerius as well as loudspeaker design in general. Since you asked the question I think it is fair to assume that you do not ;). I know that I don't, but I do know that there are many variables to play with. The area, profile and length of the port, the size and shape of the cabinet, the x-over, transfer functions of the woofer and other drivers, etc. Hard to get right especially with a system which was voiced to be closed. Porting if done right gives deeper bass. I for one prefer the clean and fast sound of closed designs.

If you use a receiver to drive your Aerius and that receiver has pre-outs, or if you use separates and the pre-amp has two pre-outs, I would simply get a Dynamo. Hook up the stereo ins and set the x-over to 30Hz. Find a good location for the Dynamo and dial in its volume. This worked very well for me when I had Aeon-is. The Dynamo can really shake during movies, too. If the pre-amp has only one set of outs but has a low output impedance, too, you can get Y connectors to split the output signals.
 
Ralflar,

Wanted to first echo that I think tying to turn the Aerius woofer into a ported system is a bad idea. My guess is that the woofer driver itself was designed to operate optimally in a sealed environment and if you remove the backpressure supplied by the cabinet, who knows what that would do to the sound.

I don't want to hijack the thread into a ported vs sealed debate, however, I just can't let the statement below pass without comment.

I for one prefer the clean and fast sound of closed designs.

I have a pair of Vista's and Aerius's and guess which one has the cleaner, "faster" bass? The ported Vista. The Aerius sounds kind of bloated and congested in comparison.

The whole ported vs sealed argument is just a load of crap. A properly designed ported system can be just as clean and fast as a sealed system. The Vista proves the point. You can't make sweeping generalizations like that. I would imagine that fully 80% or more of the speakers made today are ported, and I have not heard anyone complain that the bass on the Watt/Puppy's is slow or unclean. :D Just my 2 cents.

Chuck
 
I would imagine that fully 80% or more of the speakers made today are ported, and I have not heard anyone complain that the bass on the Watt/Puppy's is slow or unclean. :D Just my 2 cents.

Chuck

Chuck,

Yet, there are people who do complain, and these are usually people coming from the sealed Magico Mini.
 
I would imagine that fully 80% or more of the speakers made today are ported, and I have not heard anyone complain that the bass on the Watt/Puppy's is slow or unclean. :D Just my 2 cents.

Chuck

Chuck,

Yet, there are people who do complain, and these are usually people coming from the sealed Magico Mini.

I think that a properly designed ported design vs a properly designed sealed cabinet design with all things equal, meaning the woofers are equal (in which the Aerius and the Vista arent) and the tune is the exact same and the crossovers are set the exact same way using the exact same board and caps/inductors, the sealed will win... which is what I think Raflars point is.

As for the market being 80% ported, it's just an easier way to get a lower tune, lower extension. It doesn't mean it's right, it's just what's popular and cost effective.

Why are almost none of the top end subwoofers ported... with exception of REL? The Descent isnt, the Wilson Benesch Torus infrasonic generator isnt, and the Velodyne 1812 isnt (nor are the DDs), the JL Audio Gotham and Fathom arent either...

Like Raflar, I'll take sealed over ported when all things are equal.

The Vistas may have better bass than the Aerius because:
1. Vistas have a more contemporary, and likely, better woofer.
2. The xo are set differently.
3. The two are tuned differently.

Just my 2 cents... :) .
 
Joey,

I understand and agree with most of your points, but what bothers me is the dogmatic assertion that sealed is always tighter and faster. Although I don't think using the same woofer ported, then sealed is a valid comaprison. I believe that woofers are designed (or they should be) to work either in a sealed system or a vented system. A particular woofer will sound better either vented or sealed, but should not be optimal for both.


The Vistas may have better bass than the Aerius because:
1. Vistas have a more contemporary, and likely, better woofer.
2. The xo are set differently.
3. The two are tuned differently.

You kind of help prove my point here. The things you mention are design elements that contribute to the sound. Note, I did say that the ported system needs to be properly designed. Like most myths there are enough badly designed ported systems out there to prove the case.

I would wager that if you approached a high quality speaker without knowing if it were vented or sealed, that you could not tell from the sound alone which one it was. :D
 
Woo! Touchy subject here!

They can both sound good, though ported subs' response (a boost at tuning, and then a sharp rolloff below it) is usually less agreeable with music, unless tuned very low. If tuned very low, (as in a LLT - a MASSIVE ported sub) the frequencies down to infrasonics (down to 20hz or so) should sould very similar between the two designs. Then again, if size is no object, the pinnacle in extension and "accuracy" is an infinite baffle...a sealed design.

A good ported sub is going to sound better than a bad sealed sub, even for music, if that is your point cstory, but given the same resources, and an ideal driver for each situation, the sealed will almost always sound more musical.
 

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