Subs: sealed vs. ported


I need to add a sub. I don't have one now, so I'm not replacing anything, and I also don't have much in the way of preconceived notions. My reading is making me think sealed is preferred for music/2.1 channels, and ported is preferred for movies. Is this a fair assessment. I know everyone will have their own preferences for brands/models, and I'm open to suggestions, but it seems my first decision should be sealed or ported (or one of the brands that has ports and comes with plugs?)
english210
Ample??? Um...yeah, you could say that!! I have it basically setup - it's in the best spot in the room, just need to dial it in. But there's no lack of output!

Definitely helping the mains. I have an old demo disc I know well, and hearing details I haven't heard out of these speakers before. Not as good as the 805D's I listened to, or PM1's for that matter, but they were in a sound-conditioned room. I know what can be heard, let's just say that, and I know what I've been used to on this system, and there's a definite improvement. These main speakers aren't the best with imaging - they do well with vocals, not so great if lots of instruments get going - but they are having an easier time of it now.
I don't know much (anything) about your Yamaha, so wouldn't be able to offer any advice on settings. I suspect you've fiddled with bass settings "per mode". I know some AVRs offer the option either a basic crossover to the sub, or summing the low frequencies of both the mains and sub. This latter setting can cause bass bloat, especially if your mains aren't up to the task.

Best of luck with your setup!
I ran the AVR's room measurement program. Initially when the mains were still set on 'large', I had no sub on 2 channel, but changing them to 'small' brough the sub into play. There are room problems, watching a movie last night I was getting spurious vibrations from the front wall and fireplace area, and something on the side wall was vibrating too, so I have to tracking down and tuning to do.
I do consulting in sound and vision. In the past I did sell a lot of Rel sub. Also the more expensive ones. I always had stereo highend systems without sub's. For me they were too slow. At this moment Rel is not that big anymore. In europe there are many brands which are superior in subwoofers. Many clients bought other brands and they are all much more happy. For stereo I only found a few fast enough. It needs a 15 inch unit, ( Not made of paper), big amp and sealed. And only one speaker unit on the front side. With Audessey Pro you can get fully stealth low freq. I never thought this was possible. Using it to 120 hz is bringing it to a new level. The Old rel subwoofers like stadium became very noisy above 60 hz. because they were slow like hell. I use a Platinum PLW-15 subwoofer from Monitor Audio. It is so much faster compared to Rel. I would not even dear to sell it to my clients anymore.