• Welcome to the Contour Enthusiasts Group, the best resource for the Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique.

    You can register to join the community.

Enclosures question

CSVT #0037

CEG'er
Joined
Dec 11, 2006
Messages
324
Location
SE-MI
So i have two brand new kenwood subs 12 inch 1300 watts and a brand new kenwood amp 1,100 watts and i have it in a custom box i made a day before SZ. my question is, is the smaller the box, the harder it will hit? or is it the opposite? i think i have like 3 or 4 sq ft per sub in the trunk. its not hitting hard at all on the higher bass. but it sure hits hard on the low.
 
which model are your sub, a box depend of a lot of thing

first do you want it sealed or ported,
if sealed, you can look for what the recommended volume for your sub and build and seal the box the best you can, those are generaly smaller (for a 12" between 0.85 - 1.2)

if you want a ported box the port need to be a particular diameter en lenght to be tune on the proper frequency. generaly ported box are much bigger (for a 12" around 1.8 - 2.3)

there also the bandpass box which apply the principle of both sealed and ported box but are bigger and more complex to build
 
Bigger the box = hit louder, and take less watts to get there

Smaller the box = tighter bass, and more watts to get almost same effect as a bigger box
 
The size range of the enclosure is specific to each subwoofer. The size will affect how "hard" it hits, but each sub is designed to work properly ina specific sized enclosure. The size of said enclosure will also depend on whether it is a sealed, ported, or bandpass box. Check the owners manual for the subs, they should have a range listed for each type of enclosure.

FWIW, my Infinity Kappa Perfect 12" has a sealed volume recc. of 1.25 ft^3, so to me, "3 or 4" ft^3 seems kinda big.
 
actually with the custom box that i made, it had huge spaces from not cutting the wood perfect. i jus sealed it and it hits like crazy! you cant see anything in front of you because it hits so hard everything is blurry
 
to answer the other question

whats the sound difference between a ported box and a sealed?

o and my subs are the 2007 model. not sure what the #'s are on it
 
Ya, its like itll only play at a certain frequency or somethin if the box is at a certain cubic foot.

like okay if infinity says "you should have a box that is 1.25 cu"
okay, that box is tuned to play a certain frequency at that size and it will never hit as "low" or sound good at lower frequencies.

However, I do believe that if you say made that box at 1.45, It will hit lower notes because it is "tuned" to play lower notes type thing.

So yes, for each sub, there is a "manufacturer suggested" size for each type of box, be it sealed, ported, bandpass, 3rd order bla blah blah...type enclosures. But Im sure that if you stuck with Infinity's "reccomended" size, that sub will play at a certain freq, and probably not play low notes under 35 hz as say a box tuned to 35 hz. or even 30hz.
 
I really hope you are only pretending to spew nonsense, because you are spewing nonsense. :nonono:

Please stop before someone thinks you're serious and you cause irreparable harm.:help:
 
FordSVT98 you have demonstrated time and time again that you have zero knowledge on car audio. Stop posting!
 
dorkboy???

:nonono:

Son, I've probably forgotten more about car audio and speaker enclosures than you'll ever learn. Please stop posting.
 
to answer the other question

whats the sound difference between a ported box and a sealed?

Going back to answer this question....

The answer is that there could be no difference and there may be a huge difference.

If you have a sealed box built to achieve a particular frequency response from a specific driver, and a ported box built to achieve the exact same frequency response from the same driver, there will be no audible difference in the sound. The boxes may be extremely different in their size and the ported box might be slightly louder (but barely perceptible), but the sound of the music will be basically the same.

Conversely, if the boxes are not designed to provide the same response, you won't get it and the result is that they will sound different. (how redundant can I be in one sentence?:shrug: )

I'll reiterate that the sound reproduction from a subwoofer is totally dependent on the driver/enclosure combination. Talking about the driver by itself or the enclosure by itself is meaningless.
 
Okay soundq, if volume of the box doesnt have ANYTHING to do with how loud your sub will be....why are these boxes all in different sizes for the SAME 12?


2.cu
http://cgi.ebay.com/12-CUSTOM-KICKE...7QQihZ007QQcategoryZ18803QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


3.c
http://cgi.ebay.com/12-CUSTOM-KICKE...1QQihZ007QQcategoryZ18803QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

smaller 2 cubes

http://cgi.ebay.com/KICKER-12-SUBWO...2QQihZ004QQcategoryZ50568QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

AM i dreaming here or does size REALLY matter.....I really dont understand what your point is soundQ?
 
I don't know why I am even justifying your existence with an answer, but if it will shut you up I'll go for it.

The volume differences in the enclosures you linked to result in different frequency responses of the subwoofer system. Nothing more, nothing less.

The effect of box volume on a ported system is much the same as for a sealed enclosure, small boxes raise the Q and increase boominess more than do large boxes. This indicates a large box should be used for speakers with a high Q and a small box should be used for speakers with higher damping and a lower Q. What is Q you ask? It is a numerical term used to measure the degree of damping on a speaker. It stands for resonance magnification, the tendency of the speaker to peak in response at the resonant frequency. The greater the damping on a speaker, the lower its output at resonance and the lower its Q. When drivers are put in a closed box, the Q and the resonant frequency will both be raised.

Generally speaking, the Q of the driver in the enclosure should be between .7 and 1.0 and this will result in a gentle roll-off in the lower frequencies. A Q higher than 1.0 will seem boomy with unpleasant peaks in the frequency response.

So, to get this back into terms of your question, the lower tuning frequency of the smaller enclosure is there to offset the higher Q and higher resonant frequency the smaller enclosure caused. The larger enclosure has a higher tuning frequency because the Q and resonant frequency did not rise as much. Also note that although the enclosures all say they will work with either the L5 or L7, the response will be different for each because the L7 has a higher Q (.51) than the L5 (.47). (Speakers with a Q of 0.38 or lower are typically considered to have a low Q.) This means the L7 will have more boominess, or an exagerated peak at its resonant frequency than the L5 if each is put into the same enclosure. This of course is undesirable if you want a smooth, musical subwoofer but very desireable if you are striving for a one-note wonder for SPL comps that sounds like ass with music.

Notice I have said nothing about which one would be louder. Both sizes can be louder than the other depending on the tuning of the port, but the smaller enclosure has the better capability to have more "boominess" because of the higher possible Q.

There are many more aspects of speaker design that will impact the performance of a subwoofer system than the small amount of information I have included here. The Thiele-Small specs for the driver are used to determine what the enclosure specs need to be to achieve a desired result, or they can be used to estimate what the result will be based on the enclosure that is available.

Convinced yet that a subwoofer in a larger box is not louder just because it is in a larger box? That there is a lot more to the physics involved?
 
Last edited:
To put it simply SoundQ,

I have AMPLIFIER A.....set gain at 50%

Wired to the same sub.......

Wich box will be the loudest for the sub?

The small enclosed sealed one?

Or the Big Ported Box?

Obviously Im going to get 2 different sounds and frequencys, but to match the bass level of the Ported box i will achieve, The gain on the amp for the sub in the sealed enclosure will have to be turned up to get the same effect am I wrong?

Or Unless the small sealed box will be LOUDER.....Im wrong then.

Obviously im not talking in terms of SQ, Im speaking SPL, Decibels, Now if youre going to say yes, fordsvt98, the sealed box will out Db the ported one, then I swear Ill go sealed
and small.




whats the sound difference between a ported box and a sealed?

Hmmmmm....duuuuuh.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top