Does port size make a difference?

[siucsaluki11]

The answers you got really are the main points that need to be made. Sound is different per person and dependent upon your ears...so I have never noticed louder scores when going from 14^2 to 16^2 to 22^2. What I have noticed is that the boxes become more and more peaky. "peaky" means a big hump in the frequency response just above the F3 point. A box being peaky is not caused by the port size (unless it is undersized and has too much compression), the tuning frequency vs. the box size vs. the driver parameters will determine the frequency response. High Q designs will have more peak. Usually works out great in a car where cabin gain boosts the lower frequencies. That is why you see car subs tuned 30-35 Hz, but home subs tuned down around 20 with drivers that have different t/s parameters (or amps with EQ on the lower end). I'm not sure if you're expecting more, or thinking that more port equals louder, it doesn't always unless the sub isn't given enough port to begin with. Some say port area to volume has zero connection whatsoever and maybe they will chime in.

Ya this topic mainly derived from my enclosure where I undersized the port area a lot and therefore port noise is a huge issue. So I mainly wanted to know how about I would be able to make a new enclosure with a great port that would maximize the subwoofers performance, mainly sound quality wise.

like i said, my first ported box, not enough port area, low scores and i forgot to mention the port noise. Built a new box with the right port area, and it did better on the meter, sounded louder and cleaner to my ears, and the annoying chuffing sound of the port was gone.

[Brian2435]

The answers you got really are the main points that need to be made. Sound is different per person and dependent upon your ears...so I have never noticed louder scores when going from 14^2 to 16^2 to 22^2. What I have noticed is that the boxes become more and more peaky. "peaky" means a big hump in the frequency response just above the F3 point. A box being peaky is not caused by the port size (unless it is undersized and has too much compression), the tuning frequency vs. the box size vs. the driver parameters will determine the frequency response. High Q designs will have more peak. Usually works out great in a car where cabin gain boosts the lower frequencies. That is why you see car subs tuned 30-35 Hz, but home subs tuned down around 20 with drivers that have different t/s parameters (or amps with EQ on the lower end). I'm not sure if you're expecting more, or thinking that more port equals louder, it doesn't always unless the sub isn't given enough port to begin with. Some say port area to volume has zero connection whatsoever and maybe they will chime in.

Ya this topic mainly derived from my enclosure where I undersized the port area a lot and therefore port noise is a huge issue. So I mainly wanted to know how about I would be able to make a new enclosure with a great port that would maximize the subwoofers performance, mainly sound quality wise.

like i said, my first ported box, not enough port area, low scores and i forgot to mention the port noise. Built a new box with the right port area, and it did better on the meter, sounded louder and cleaner to my ears, and the annoying chuffing sound of the port was gone.

Ya I'm definitely going to follow that path and make an overall better box. Using winisd, my design looks a lot better than my current build. Plus about 150 feet per second less port airflow, which, I know, is ridiculous. I'm really looking forward to seeing better output from my sub