Question On Direct Leads/Aero Ports

[MrLandedra]

Excuse my naiveness, but what exactly on the advantages/disadvantages to having direct leads?

When it comes to ports, I have the basic idea as to how they work, back pressure, etc. Something I don't understand is how aero ports work, as well as the pros and cons of going with them.

[Dan2427]

I don't think their is a disadvantage to using direct leads myself? Maybe besides the fact you gotta buy big butt connectors and heat shrink or solder and heat shrink.. Someone else will jump in here if they don't like direct leads for whatever reason.

Pros of aeros- more efficient, fairly easy to change tuning, I prefer the look, and take up less box space

Cons- can get expensive depending on what size box your making, i don't feel they are very solid, I've seen people resin them duct tape them etc to keep them together better..

[MrLandedra]

Ah okay, I really wish my 18 was direct leads, but ah well there's always tomorrow right? I also heard Aero ports have difficulty staying together, so I went with a slot port and the box is 7 cubes

[Kyblack76]

MHO

i hate direct leads.. hate em..

Seems like people think thats what makes a big boy driver.... meh...

[audiofanaticz]

Why I dislike aero ports is because people think its easy to change tuning, but people never look at the other side of changing port length which results in either more or less box space, which in the end alters the amount of port area per cube. Which could lead to way too much port area per cube which could cause over excursion, bottoming out the coil, or torn/broke triple joints. O with the port area to small making the box very inefficient and not as loud as it should or could be.

As you said, most the time areos can fall apart when they are taped together, but you can also glue them together however that will limit you from adjusting tuning down the road as well.

Direct leads, some love them, some hate them.

To me doesn't matter much either way.

It doesn't necessarily mean a better connection like some say because you no longer are using the push terminals of a woofer, but now your stuck using crimp caps, wire nuts, or solder.
Depending on the type of connection you go with, you now have to cut the direct leads to remove the woofer, or change to wiring to alter the coil configuration. Over time and a few box rebuilds these wires will get shorter and shorter.

Ive seen direct leads so short its a pain to attach new wire to them. Now that's not always the case, but it is very possible.

Some people say its easier than trying to cram an 8awg wire into a push terminal and that is semi true, many woofers are now coming with larger terminals to accommodate larger wire, some woofers can even except up to 4awg in the push terminals.

I guess all in all, I would never make a woofer purchase on a woofer by direct leads or not, and if I was after direct leads Id want them to be long enough to reach my amplifier so no extending wires would be needed.

Just wise to keep in mind that you are normally paying more for a woofer with direct leads because the wire alone costs more than most terminals being used and your not really gaining much of anything really.

Plus if you ever recone your woofer you could always add direct leads yourself (possible even now if your good with a soldering iron in tight spaces).

Its also worth mentioning that many of the companies will add direct leads at your cost if you ask even if they dont traditional come with them.

[MrLandedra]

Why I dislike aero ports is because people think its easy to change tuning, but people never look at the other side of changing port length which results in either more or less box space, which in the end alters the amount of port area per cube. Which could lead to way too much port area per cube which could cause over excursion, bottoming out the coil, or torn/broke triple joints. O with the port area to small making the box very inefficient and not as loud as it should or could be.

As you said, most the time areos can fall apart when they are taped together, but you can also glue them together however that will limit you from adjusting tuning down the road as well.

Direct leads, some love them, some hate them.

To me doesn't matter much either way.

It doesn't necessarily mean a better connection like some say because you no longer are using the push terminals of a woofer, but now your stuck using crimp caps, wire nuts, or solder.

Depending on the type of connection you go with, you now have to cut the direct leads to remove the woofer, or change to wiring to alter the coil configuration. Over time and a few box rebuilds these wires will get shorter and shorter.

Ive seen direct leads so short its a pain to attach new wire to them. Now that's not always the case, but it is very possible.

Some people say its easier than trying to cram an 8awg wire into a push terminal and that is semi true, many woofers are now coming with larger terminals to accommodate larger wire, some woofers can even except up to 4awg in the push terminals.

I guess all in all, I would never make a woofer purchase on a woofer by direct leads or not, and if I was after direct leads Id want them to be long enough to reach my amplifier so no extending wires would be needed.

Just wise to keep in mind that you are normally paying more for a woofer with direct leads because the wire alone costs more than most terminals being used and your not really gaining much of anything really.

Plus if you ever recone your woofer you could always add direct leads yourself (possible even now if your good with a soldering iron in tight spaces).

Its also worth mentioning that many of the companies will add direct leads at your cost if you ask even if they dont traditional come with them.

Very well said, you sir..are a question answering wiz. Thanks!

[Chris Braun]

Ya hard to say why to use direct. My guessing is that you should be able to just slap on connectors, and they should connect to the connector on the box. Maybe they think it's just one less connection between your amp and sub = better electric sub flow haha. Someone should email one of the companies and find out why they do that, but i'm guessing it's just one less connect point.

As for ports, I've found that with slot, there's less chuffing, but that's just me. There should be NO chuffing on either type of port if you do it right, but to me, tuning, sound, less chuffing, built into box and don't need to glue in ports, or flare them etc. I dunno, slot just seems to be the winner to me, although aero ports are def easier if you're just using a standard box. Buy box, buy tube, cut holes, flare tube, slap it in and seal, good to go.

Also on the tuning, you can tune a slot port with an exact piece of board, just slide it into the port and secure it somehow. It's even possibly easier to re-tune rather than an aero port, depends on the design, but not really a pro or con at that point.

Sorry, should have mentioned something about the box cubes etc. Tuning aero's isn't that hard, and it doesn't change box cubes that much to the point of blowing subs, if it's what i'm thinking of. The actual box size and cubes of that box is what matters most, and port size won't change that immensely enough, although a slight bit. It's also quite easy to re-tune with pvc adapters, just cut a small piece, slide it on, slide it off.

Lastly, another thing to use if you don't feel like messing with port re-tuning, or if you tuned it wrong, or wrong size box is to use poly fill. I'm amazed at how well it works if you use it right. I had my 1000w RE audio 10 going hard, sounded decent but just was missing something. Checked port etc and it was tuned properly, but didn't account for the idiots at RE who didn't tell me the box specs were for displacement WITHOUT the sub, so I had just a bit too small of a box. You would think they would give you specs for the actual box to buy/build. Added some poly and BAM, it came to life, and sounded like a completely different sub altogether. Slammed way more, clean bass, hit the lows, even a bit more punchy which surprised the hell outta me.