This has been covered in the past - a search may reveal a lot of information (and arguing
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I prefer a VENTED box. Why?
1) Free output. Generally 2-5db louder. How can that ever be bad?
2) Lower useable frequency output. A vented box is typically louder between 25 and 45hz than a sealed box. This makes it sound like it 'plays lower' and with very little information below 25hz, I'm willing to make that trade. Look at the F3 point of a sealed and a vented box for the same driver. The F3 point is where the response of the box is down 3db from the reference level. The lower the F3 the 'deeper' the box will generally sound.
Sealed boxes hover in the high 30s to low 50s range, in general. Vented boxes often run high 20s to high 30s.
3) Flexibility. Oh you want deeeeep bass all week and a little SPL comp on the weekend? No problem. Run a 30hz vent all week and swap it for a 55hz vent for the show.
4) Power Handling. Vented boxes generally handle more power than sealed ones. The exception is at very low frequencies below tuning but this is an easy workaround.
Those are the 4 major reasons. The sealed camp wins in respect to enclosure size - but this to me is a minor concession and in more than a few instances one can go with a smaller sub or fewer subs and go vented and have the same performance as a larger or more sealed woofers. The topic of 'group delay' comes in as well. Most people don't understand it and figure 'more is worse'. Technically it is but most boxes, sealed or vented, are not a problem.
I will give sealed enclosures one for sure advantage: If you have some random woofer or like to change woofers a lot without changing boxes, get a sealed box. They are way way more forgiving this way.
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