Abstract Helmholtz resonators with sound absorption materials filling the neck may have an improved sound absorption capacity. In this work, parallel perforated ceramics with different perforation diameters were installed into the neck of a Helmholtz resonator to improve its acoustic impedance to simultaneously achieve a better acoustic absorption coefficient and a wider absorption bandwidth. An experimental system was built to investigate the effect of the perforation diameters on the sound absorption performance of the resonator. It is found that nonlinear effects near the resonance frequency affect the resonator׳s neck mouth impedance and further its sound absorption performance significantly. For frequency range 50–500 Hz, a model of the neck mouth impedance is developed based on a revised Forchheimer relationship. The experimental results are in good agreement with the theoretical model.