X5 Add-on Subwoofer: Sealed or Ported?

Hey all,

I've been watching this forum since I took delivery of my new '05 X5 4.4 in October. Very helpful!!!

I intend to replace my DSP subwoofer with an aftermarket subwoofer (10")/amp and would like some opinions on whether I should go with a ported or sealed enclosure. I will position the sub directly behind the rear seat, so it will be rearward firing.

I would have posted in the audio forum, but I am specifically interested in hearing from X5 owners on this, as the sub will be in an open cargo area and not the trunk.

I listen to classic rock, jazz, pop, primarily.

Ported or Sealed, and why?

Thanks in advance.

Originally Posted by BassX

Hey all,

I've been watching this forum since I took delivery of my new '05 X5 4.4 in October. Very helpful!!!

I intend to replace my DSP subwoofer with an aftermarket subwoofer (10")/amp and would like some opinions on whether I should go with a ported or sealed enclosure. I will position the sub directly behind the rear seat, so it will be rearward firing.

I would have posted in the audio forum, but I am specifically interested in hearing from X5 owners on this, as the sub will be in an open cargo area and not the trunk.

I listen to classic rock, jazz, pop, primarily.

Ported or Sealed, and why?

Thanks in advance.

I had a Kicker SoloBaric 10" powered by a RockfordFosgate Power 100 bridged in my three door 900S (not a X5, but an open hatch/folding seat config like we have.)
I would recommend a sealed box for your musical tastes, the music will be like the band intended it to be. The ported boxes can give you great bass, but it is a "boomy" or "muddy" bass.
I prefer accurate bass....just my $.02

I agree with Robert -- I would definitely go with sealed.

I agree with Robert and Chris also. But a properly designed vented enclosure can sound quite good. It just needs to designed right for the driver and the car in question.

I have vented sub enclosure in my X.

I had square kicker sub and amp put in the back of my X5. You can see pics at the bottom of this page. They sealed the compartment and it cost about 1100. I think it is better than premium.

It was the standard sound package but after this it kicked ass. I had a dial mounted under the dash that I could manually turn up or down the bass.

However, I ordered a 2005 with DSP and I am wondering if I should pull out the bass module and do they same thing as before. I am not even sure if I can...

Originally Posted by jonnywad

I had square kicker sub and amp put in the back of my X5. You can see pics at the bottom of this page. They sealed the compartment and it cost about 1100. I think it is better than premium.

It was the standard sound package but after this it kicked ass. I had a dial mounted under the dash that I could manually turn up or down the bass.

However, I ordered a 2005 with DSP and I am wondering if I should pull out the bass module and do they same thing as before. I am not even sure if I can...

Is the whole woofer box made via fiber glass or the whole thing is using MDF board? I am planning on making the box for my X too~ but I don't wanna spend more than 1k on the enclosure itself~ Thx~

BTW~ where should I get the sound source to feed my amp for the woofer? the battery part is no big deal~ but the remote and the RCA cables~ please let me know if anyone has the knowledge of this~ Thx

Originally Posted by x5turtle

Is the whole woofer box made via fiber glass or the whole thing is using MDF board? I am planning on making the box for my X too~ but I don't wanna spend more than 1k on the enclosure itself~ Thx~

BTW~ where should I get the sound source to feed my amp for the woofer? the battery part is no big deal~ but the remote and the RCA cables~ please let me know if anyone has the knowledge of this~ Thx

Turtle. I don't really know how to answer your questions since I paid a company to do it. All I know is that I left it overnight as they needed to seal the compartment with something so there would be no leakage. I paid about $1K but that included the amp, woofer, cables and install. You could probably call this company and ask them how they would do it since they were the ones that installed it.

http://www.paradyme.com/

I might do it again when I get my 2005 X5 but it will be a different story since I am getting upgraded sound. The vehicle with the pics shown was sold 6 months ago so I can't check.

Good luck.

hey who did that for you? It's nice. Do you need dsp in order to get that done?

NO DSP required. I had the basic sound and it sounded great.

http://www.paradyme.com/

Installed it.

Originally Posted by dejavoo81

hey who did that for you? It's nice. Do you need dsp in order to get that done?