sealed vs vented subwoofers

I have never heard of Floyd Toole.

Then you might enjoy reading up and learning a bit more on the engineering of audio equipment. There are University accredited courses in the physics of applied acoustics and electrical engineering. It is not all smoke,mirrors and voodoo, as some of the journalists would have everyone believing.

There are university courses on every conceivable subject including creationist geology. I prefer the work of accomplished engineers such as Martin Colloms, Ben Duncan or Malcolm Hawksford who are actually engaged in the design of audio equipment. Those who can , do; those who can't, teach has some validity here. If it were so easy to quantify the requirements for accurate sound reproduction why is it so hard to do and why does good equipment sound so different? Good designers will tell you that theory is important but it is only the starting point. An over reliance on measurement is one of the root causes of most bad sound. Hawksford is an academic [as am I] but the serious work in sound reproduction is mostly being done at the practical rather than the theoretical end.

My reference noise for reproduction in a subwoofer is not natural acoustic bass but the noise that comes from a 10ton metal stamping press at the KTP plant here in my state. Thats the real everyday authority. Who cares about the sound of real unamplified instruments anyway. The group delay of an acoustic bass or cello must be really high because they are naturally ported and are also mechanically coupled to ground very poorly just like most speakers. Tom

Hawksford is an academic [as am I] but the serious work in sound reproduction is mostly being done at the practical rather than the theoretical end.

Stan,

It is a pleasure to have an academic researcher in audio engineering on these forums - what aspect of audio are you currently researching?

Dr. Floyd Toole's work was almost entirely practical - his research demonstrated strong correlations between loudspeaker measurements and listener preferences. He has written an excellent book - Sound Reproduction: The Acoustics and Psychoacoustics of Loudspeakers and Rooms.