i have kenwood kfc-w3003 12" sub and i've been looking around for an enclosure for it but all i'm finding is a 1cu. ft box. there's one site that i found that says that i should be using a 1.5cu ft box for the sub. i haven't found the specs for the enclosure on any other site. i even called kenwood themselves but they don't even have the sub itself on file to look it up.

what do you guys think? get a custom 1.5cu ft box made or just run the 1cu ft box? i would like to run it to factory specs but every place is telling me that a custom box would be $100+ and i can't justify spending that much for a box when i got the sub for $25.

 

Do you have access to a place/tools with which you could build a custom box? --it'd be an easy build that plenty of us here could help giude you through.

total cost: less than $25

 

yeah, i have access to the tools. it's just that i went to lowe's and home depot to check out prices for 3/4" MDF and it's $20 a sheet there. i wanted to build one myself actually but when i looked around for supplies i noticed that it was going to be around $35-40 so why not just buy a pre-fab box?

 

Because custom box = good
prefab = okay to bad



If you want the sub to sound as good as it possibly can, build a box for it.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by vteg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Because custom box = good
prefab = okay to bad



If you want the sub to sound as good as it possibly can, build a box for it.</TD></TR></TABLE>

word.


supplies:
(1) sheet 3/4" MDF $20
(1) box 2" deck screws $3
(1) tube silicone sealant $2
total: ~$25

satisfaction for building a box that matches your sub and your car: priceless

A drill, table saw (or circular saw), and jigsaw (or rotary saw) should be all you need.

Try this place for a good start to configuring and tuning your enclosure: http://www.the12volt.com/caraudio/boxcalcs.asp

be sure to post up some pics of the product, if you decide to go for it.

Good luck.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ndustryalGSR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

word.


supplies:
(1) sheet 3/4" MDF $20
(1) box 2" deck screws $3
(1) tube silicone sealant $2
total: ~$25

satisfaction for building a box that matches your sub and your car: priceless

A drill, table saw (or circular saw), and jigsaw (or rotary saw) should be all you need.

Try this place for a good start to configuring and tuning your enclosure: http://www.the12volt.com/caraudio/boxcalcs.asp

be sure to post up some pics of the product, if you decide to go for it.

Good luck.</TD></TR></TABLE>

u forgot to put approx. time it takes to build one. 3-5 hours.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ndustryalGSR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">




supplies:
(1) sheet 3/4" MDF $20
(1) box 2" deck screws $3
(1) tube silicone sealant $2
total: ~$25

</TD></TR></TABLE>

you forgot carpet which is around $8 a yard. carpet to cover the box would be around $20 so that puts the total around $45. plus there's the cost of the terminal (only around $3 or so but still missing from your price) and glue.

the total is actually closer to $50 or so when adding everything else. i will still consider building my own but i doubt i will actually do it.


Modified by mrm1682 at 11:21 AM 3/31/2004

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by mrm1682 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you forgot carpet which is around $8 a yard. carpet to cover the box would be around $20 so that puts the total around $45. plus there's the cost of the terminal (only around $3 or so but still missing from your price) and glue.

the total is actually closer to $50 or so when adding everything else. i will still consider building my own but i doubt i will actually do it.


Modified by mrm1682 at 11:21 AM 3/31/2004</TD></TR></TABLE>

You do not have to cover the box in carpet if you want to do it cheaply.

Also take a look at the construction of the pre-fab boxes, and thump the sides/top/bottom of them. Most of them make a slightly ringy sound (i find), which means they are badly braced, which leads to a really, really shitty sound.

IMHO either get a box custom made to suit your woofers and pay $$$$, or build your own custom made box to suit your woofers (less $$$). Unless the box was specifically made to suit your woofer, and was built very well, I would not consider a prefab box as an option.

Sidenote: If you didn't have the tools to build a box, you could buy cheap(ish) tools to build the box with, and still have the whole cost come up less than what it would have cost to get one custom made. And everyone needs more tools.

 

If places are charging you over $100 for a single sealed box then they are charging too much...you should be able to get a box like that built for around 70 bucks (my shop builds boxes $50 a whole sealed). And that includes getting it carpeted to whatever color you want. Call them and tell them you got a quote of 75 bucks including materials...they should match it

You really should let the guys who do this all day long do it, If you buy all those materials and mess up even one part then the box you just spent all that money and time on will sound worse than prefab box. Unless you are a serious carpenter and understand how to do all the calculations then let those guys do it.

Just so you know:
Length x Width x Height / 1728 will give you square footage, but you still have to take into account the displacement of the woofer.

 

i'm calling a couple of local shops to see what they can do about making a custom box but i don't want to pay an arm and a leg for this thing.

 

i picked up a prefabbed box (carpet covered MDF) from circuit city for a pair of 10s for $20.

The Type Rs in there were only $50 each.

Oh yeah, they had a warranty.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Goatsterrman &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Just so you know:
Length x Width x Height / 1728 will give you square footage, but you still have to take into account the displacement of the woofer.</TD></TR></TABLE>

You mean cubic footage