subwoofer port holes

danger boy
danger boy Posts: 15,722
i can't remember what tuning the port holes do on a subwoofer... if you plug one or both of them.. what does that do?

mine doesn't appear to hit as low.. but it seems to respond faster with the bass in music..

anyone shed some light on this please. tanks!
PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin:
Post edited by danger boy on

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  • Mick88
    Mick88 Posts: 26
    edited June 2011
    danger boy wrote: »
    i can't remember what tuning the port holes do on a subwoofer... if you plug one or both of them.. what does that do?

    mine doesn't appear to hit as low.. but it seems to respond faster with the bass in music..

    anyone shed some light on this please. tanks!

    I have HSU VTF series with the two ports......here is the info from the manual.

    Hope this helps.

    Now that the basic setup is complete, it?s time for optimization. Mark down the current volume and crossover settings with a soft pencil
    so you can go back to where you started.
    Variable Tuning
    If you don?t like the air shaking feeling of very deep bass, or if you often listen to extremely loud chest-thumping material that has less
    deep bass, Maximum Output mode is for you.
    You can switch over to Maximum Output mode when the system?s volume level is low or the subwoofer is OFF. There are two steps:
    1) Grip and pull out the foam port plug that is inserted in one of the port holes on the back of the subwoofer, or remove the turbo.
    2) Flip the BASS EXTENSION switch on the back of the subwoofer to the 2 ports open position.
    In technical language, you will get about 4 dB of extra head-room so that bass can be played louder, at the expense of some deep bass
    extension. In other words, the subwoofer has been transformed into a louder device with less deep bass.
    Switching back is simply a matter of firmly re-inserting the port plug into one of the port holes or attaching a turbo and flipping the
    switch back to ?1 port open? or ?1 port open or with turbo? position. Make sure that the switch setting is consistent with the port setting.
    Using the wrong switch position at loud volume levels may damage your subwoofer and void the warranty
  • TNRabbit
    TNRabbit Posts: 2,168
    edited June 2011
    Depends on the sub; some are tunable, others aren't. Which model do you have?
    TNRabbit
    NO Polk Audio Equipment :eek:
    Sunfire TG-IV
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  • rubin
    rubin Posts: 565
    edited June 2011
    My 3 ported svs ultra13 is as follows: all open =20 hz 1,2, plugged =15hz,10hz. All plugged (sealed) is less than 10hz. Sealed gives the lowest frequency and lowest output.
  • danger boy
    danger boy Posts: 15,722
    edited July 2011
    all good info guys.. i suspect most subs work pretty much the same in terms of plugging or unplugging the port holes..

    when I plug both of mine.. the output level drops some.. and doesn't hit as low...
    PolkFest 2012, who's going>?
    Vancouver, Canada Sept 30th, 2012 - Madonna concert :cheesygrin:
  • GTB
    GTB Posts: 87
    edited July 2011
    Another effect SOME subs are sensitive to is called "oil canning".

    If you take a sub speaker made to work in a ported enclosure and put it in a sealed enclosure, run it hard, the cone could collapse. This is not a good thing.

    Some speakers are vulnerable to this, others are not.

    Greg
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