Ported or not, plus packing

[azglocker]

OK I saw a thread a while ago regarding using a packing material in the speaker housing (14 sgs) but I hadn't pursued it far enough and now I can't find the thread. So this is a two prong question really.

Running Polk mm651 speakers in plastic oem housing, modded to fit. Is it better to use a sealed housing or ported for general sound and possibly enhanced bass?

What if any packing material would you recommend for placing in or around the housings?

Thanks in advance to all the audiophiles. My ears are pretty bad for my age so I can't say I'm a good judge of audio quality. What a shame, as my dad recently retired from qsc audio.

Sent from my Droid Turbo 2 using Tapatalk.

 

[NGOT8R]

I'm no audiophile by any means, but I researched the subject a bit and found lots of information about using polyfill or fiberglass which causes the sound waves to think that the enclosure is bigger than it actually is, thus making the speakers perform a little better. I had a bag of loose fiberglass motorcycle muffler packing on the shelf, so I used some in my speaker pods when I was installing my amp and speakers. The polyfill can be purchased at Walmart, or you can even cut open an old pillow and use the polyfill inside. Here are a couple of pics.

 

[danoday]

I am audio head either, but from my research I've determine for the pods you don't need anything and the sealed pods were basically designed for the crappie HD speakers. With a more active speaker cone and better amp, the sealed pod may hinder the sound quality. Just my opinion.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

 

[azglocker]

Thanks for the quick replies. I think I have some muffler packing lying around but I do remember some mention in a previous post about a filler material available at wally world, probably that poly fill you mentioned. Either way, 2 stroke muffler packing is cheap if that's what would work best.

I guess to cross the questions, what is the recommended combo? Packed ported, packed sealed, unpacked ported, unpack sealed? I'm in no rush, my radio is off until I address the broken wire in my cycle sounds line leveler.

Sent from my SM-T330NU using Tapatalk

 

[TomA]

Running mine without any filler and it sounds amazing but I'm running focals and Arc 600 watt amp.

 

[bryan0994]

Who needs speaker pods when u have biketronics speaker brackets, lol. When I had pods I used some denim insulation inside the pods, this was recommended by Pete with Soundz. As you can see I have since got rid of the pods and went with the brackets, I couldnt really hear a difference between the 2 set ups, but it sure is a lot easier to install.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[N2DEEP]

I'm a little bit of an Audio Head.

On porting, it only helps with bass. And only if the port came thru the inner fairing, and I'm sure you don't want to cut a hole in your inner fairing. With a hole cut in the speaker pod, just venting inside your fairing. It would do you no good, plus you could possible get water in to the pod during a rain storm.

On packing, you only use packing if your speaker calls for a bigger box than you can put it in, and it is a sealed box.

So to answer your question;
Packed Ported - Do one or the other, but not both.
Packed Sealed - Only if your speaker calls for a bigger speaker enclosure than you can provide.
Unpacked Ported - Only if you want to cut a hole thru your inner fairing.
Unpacked Sealed - Only if the speaker enclosure is the right size or bigger than you need.

With our bikes, I would only use a sealed or packed sealed pod. With a packed sealed pod, it will only help with low end bass. If you like tight bass, leave it unpacked. And you might just try 1 pod packed, and 1 pod regular and see which way you like better.

 

[Designflaw]

As some, Not an Audio Expert, but I can tell you that porting is more for the performance of a speaker if it needs more air volume. A larger speaker in an improper sized sealed enclosure may not perform correctly. J&M recommends the number and size of hole to drill in the pod.

 

[azglocker]

Thanks for the responses. I'm going to experiment with sealing up my enclosures as well as I can. My deaf ears may never know the difference but I'll try it. Worst case scenario nothing changes noticeably or I undo it.

Sent from my Droid Turbo 2 using Tapatalk.