What Sub Box?

[Vash00es]

Ah, sub boxes, sub boxes, sub boxes.. so many choices, so little time.. youve got sealed ones, ported one, etc.. the list goes on... if i was looking for the " big boom " effect what would be the best choice for me? personally when i demod some boxes at a audio store near me, i found that the bandpass boxes seemed to boom the loudest ( the ones with the speakers in a sealed / ported enclosure behind plexiglass ) ... whats your opinions?

[Rowdy S13]

It depends on a lot of different things. What sub what amp what kind of sound are you looking for? If you just want loud bass and dont have a very strong sub or amp then bandpass works but sounds like ****. If you have a lil better stuff then ported works well for loudness but still not great quality. For the best sound quality Sealed is the way to go BUT you need a strong sub and a good amp because it puts a lot of stress on the sub from the pressure inside the box. It also is a lot harder to get SPL from a sealed box because the amp has to work a lot harded to keep the sub moving. But like I said you have the advantge of sound quality. For a best of both worlds kinda deal Id say get the box I have. I know it seems like im saying that cause I have one but I have never seen a box have the best of both like mine. Its a small compartment for the sub with a long port so it kinda acts like a sealed box and kinda acts like a ported box. When I had 1 Type R 12" in my box with 400 watts RMS going to it eveyone who got in my car said they never heard 12 sound so loud. And when they heard it was only 400 watts they were amazed. All that and it had great sound quality.

Hope this helps a lil,
Sean

Boxes

That place has awsome deals on a lot of stuff. Thats where I got all my Stinger stuff and 2 of my AMP's

[blue LEDz]

the bottom line is that to meet your needs, a custom enclosure is the best solution.

bandpasses are the most efficient, but they lack low and high frequency response on the prefabricated ones. a custom built 6th order BP can achieve amazing frequency results, and get louder than sealed, ported, or standard 4th order BP enclosures, but they are difficult to design and build, since they are a ported enclosure on each side of the sub.

a good ported enclosure is a decent compromise for loudness and SQ. just be sure it's built specifically for the sub you have and that it's tuned low enough.

[steve_protege]

the bottom line is that to meet your needs, a custom enclosure is the best solution.

bandpasses are the most efficient, but they lack low and high frequency response on the prefabricated ones. a custom built 6th order BP can achieve amazing frequency results, and get louder than sealed, ported, or standard 4th order BP enclosures, but they are difficult to design and build, since they are a ported enclosure on each side of the sub.

a good ported enclosure is a decent compromise for loudness and SQ. just be sure it's built specifically for the sub you have and that it's tuned low enough.

So what would be a recommendation for (2) 12 inch Sony Xplod subs hooked up to a 1000 watt, 4 channel Rockford amp? The subs are both 750 watts max and 400 or 500 RMS. I don't have the money to do custom enclosure so Im more than likely relegated to a box, either ported/sealed/or both.

[blue LEDz]

So what would be a recommendation for (2) 12 inch Sony Xplod subs hooked up to a 1000 watt, 4 channel Rockford amp? The subs are both 750 watts max and 400 or 500 RMS. I don't have the money to do custom enclosure so Im more than likely relegated to a box, either ported/sealed/or both.

when going with prefab, i usually recomend sealed enclosures. they are more forgiving for not being custom designed for your subs.

[jnorion]

If you're getting a pre-built box go to an actual car audio shop, and avoid places like Wal-Mart. The box will definitely be a bit more expensive, but you'll get a hell of a lot better box out of the deal, and therefore better sound.

[steve_protege]

About how much do these boxes run? Do places like Best Buy and Circuit City sell pretty good boxes too? Or should I go to places that are exclusively audio (i.e: Extreme Audio, Stereo World)?

If you're getting a pre-built box go to an actual car audio shop, and avoid places like Wal-Mart. The box will definitely be a bit more expensive, but you'll get a hell of a lot better box out of the deal, and therefore better sound.

[jnorion]

There was a little local shop in Idaho that I went to a lot, and boxes there ran ~$80. Wal-Mart had the same size and type for about $50.

[steve_protege]

So if I go to a place like Wal-Mart or someplace else, I can expect to pay about less than 100.00 for a bandpass box to hold (2) 12 inch subs? Plus it should be sealed... Isn't that bad for the subs though? I thought a ported box helps with keeping the subs cool, but also helps project sound for louder music??

[jnorion]

Bandpass and sealed are not the same thing. You won't find a bandpass box at Wal-Mart, they're too complicated. There is no issue keeping the subs cool... the amp is what needs to be kept cool. The port is intended to project louder sound as you said. The problem with a ready-made ported box is that the port needs to be tuned exactly for your particular sub and application (a port amplifies a single frequency, and so you want to match it to your sub) and so a pre-built one usually comes out sounding pretty crappy. If you get it custom built for your system it should sound great, but you're looking at a lot more money. Therefore, if you are going with a pre-built box, it's a good idea to go sealed instead.

[steve_protege]

Ok, so sealed it is. Now one more thing before I go buy one: Would it be good to insulate the inside of the box? Say with Dynamat or some other kind of dampening material? Or should I just leave the box the way it is and dynamat parts of the car (i.e trunk, inside cabin, etc)?

Bandpass and sealed are not the same thing. You won't find a bandpass box at Wal-Mart, they're too complicated. There is no issue keeping the subs cool... the amp is what needs to be kept cool. The port is intended to project louder sound as you said. The problem with a ready-made ported box is that the port needs to be tuned exactly for your particular sub and application (a port amplifies a single frequency, and so you want to match it to your sub) and so a pre-built one usually comes out sounding pretty crappy. If you get it custom built for your system it should sound great, but you're looking at a lot more money. Therefore, if you are going with a pre-built box, it's a good idea to go sealed instead.

[steve_protege]

One more thing as well: Is it better to get a dual box or two single ones?

[MazdaRacer]

preferably, you want both...a dual box with individual chambers, the subs still work together, but are independent of each other and do not share the same internal volume air space.

[steve_protege]

Ok, so a box from someone like Q-Logic (who I see makes a lot of dual, separate chamber boxes) would be sufficient? Something like this then?

http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/MTX-Dual-12-Subwoofer-Enclosure-BS212S-/sem/rpsm/oid/119724/catOid/-13094/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

or this

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=6294388&type=product&productCategoryId=cat03082&id=1072287759557

preferably, you want both...a dual box with individual chambers, the subs still work together, but are independent of each other and do not share the same internal volume air space.

[steve_protege]

This one here is both sealed and vented. Is this just as good or better as a sealed one by itself?

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7008463&type=product&productCategoryId=cat03082&id=1099392684140