Each type of speaker enclosure has it's own benefits and
drawbacks. Here is a small chart that compares the commonly found enclosures in
the car audio community.
Sealed
Very tight upper bass response
Easy to equalize at all frequencies
Good power handling at all frequencies
Simple design and construction
Excellent subsonic reproduction (less than 30 Hz)
Vented
More efficient in 60-30 Hz range than sealed enclosures
Great power handling down to tuning frequency, very poor below that frequency
Slightly more difficult to design and build
Enclosure volumes are typically larger than sealed enclosures.
Single Reflex Band-pass
More efficient than above 2 enclosures through pass-band (the range of
frequencies the enclosure was designed to play in.
Much more difficult to design, and construct (must be very accurate with volumes)
Sloppier bass response (longer group delay)
Can have power handling problems if not designed carefully
Can be very difficult to blend into mid-bass due to high frequency roll-off
Dual Reflex Band-pass (I'll never have one or build one)
Also very efficient
Enclosure can become very large
EXTREMELY POOR power handling below lower tuning frequency
Very slow response (relatively long delay in output)