Ported or sealed box speakers. Which do you prefer?

[tuga]

Unlike electronics there is no single correct output from a speaker for a given input when it comes to music in the home. There are a range of neutral(ish) responses but which is optimum varies with the form and level of reflections in the recordings, the form and level of reflections from the room and user preference in the broad area of exchanging a sense of spaciousness for a sense of source location. There are also a range of deviations from maximising neutrality that can sound attractive in enhancing things like a sense of detail, a sense of spaciousness, image precision, an absence of harshness, etc... It seems valid to me to exchange maximising neutrality for a more characterful sound in the home if that is the user's preference. Or more useful in the studio where high clarity helps with the job.

I think it is fair to say that since each speaker topolgy has particular shortcomings and one is forced to live with limitations whatever the speaker type, choosing a pair of speakers is ultimately a matter of personal preference.
But in my opinion and experience "character" or a deviation from absolute accuracy will almost inevitably have a more or less significant negative impact in the signal. Wheter or not this matters is down to the end user, her/his listening preferences, her/his expectations.
Even some studio gear is "voiced" for detail and by this I mean that the tonal balanced is deviating from flat/neutral.
I'm sure you know but other's may not that many of these "effects" can be achieved through "voicing"/EQ'ing alone but there are technical shortcomings which will also provide some amount of "character" and mave have a more worrying impact on sound quality:

 

[cooky1257]

It's probably worth thinking about blocking ports when you integrate a sub and letting your mains run full bandwidth to avoid any high pass crossover adding more GD.