If a sub's recommended box volume is 1 - 1.5 cubic feet, should I make the box on the higher or lower side of what's recommended? ie: Will a 1.5 cubic foot give me more/better bass than the same sub in a 1 cubic foot enclosure?
Thanks

 

generally speaking, with sealed enclosures, as the box volume increases, power handling decreases, freq response is smoothed out, and you loose some output. So the converse is that putting a sub in a small box creates a peaky output with more spl and more power handling.

So, decide on what kind of sound you want and go from there. If you already have the big 1.5 box. Put the sub in and listen. Then use something like wood to decrease the size of the box and listen again - then you can get an idea of what size is good for you.

 

I will be building a custom enclosure. I just want bass that hits hard and compliments the music, not too "rumbly" if you know what I mean

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by CrazyModGSR &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I will be building a custom enclosure. I just want bass that hits hard and compliments the music, not too "rumbly" if you know what I mean</TD></TR></TABLE>
With that said I would go smaller sealed box. The bigger boxes and ports are better for the low rumbling bass...if you are looking for good sound quality smaller sealed is the way to go

 

a smaller box will give you punchier bass, a bigger box will give you loose, deep bass. i'd stick somewhere between the demensions they gave you...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 2ndchancehonda &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i'd stick somewhere between the demensions they gave you...</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by puddz27 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
With that said I would go smaller sealed box. The bigger boxes and ports are better for the low rumbling bass...if you are looking for good sound quality smaller sealed is the way to go </TD></TR></TABLE>

but if you're looking for sound quality you'd want a larger box wiht a smoother frequency response. a small box that sounds punchy wouldnt integrate well with anything. when i say larger box i dont mean build a 15 cubic foot box for a single 12 either. Build it close to the mfg recomendation and remember to use lots of bracing inside the box too

 

I was recommended 1.8 cubes ported, I made it 4.5cf and ****** LOVE it, hits so unbeliably hard its not funny, Im going to start entering a show just to get a number because its disgusting how loud it is inside my crx, never heard louder other than a guy in my town that has a 4th or 5th in the world record

 

A crx only has 5 cubes internal airspace

crazymod, stay close to the manufacturers recommendation until you gain more knowledge on modeling, and listen to a lot of boxes.

 

you guys are f*cking idiots, telling him what size to build his box to with total disregard to what sub it is? what will the application be? yes, small sealed boxes deliver tight, clean bass...if you have a jl-audio w6...try putting a w7 in a small sealed box...WE NEED MORE INFO!!!

 

These are the subs I will be using (mainly because I have had two of these subs for a year and am happy with their quality and performance. yes, there are better subs out there, but i am happy with them) i also got two more for real cheap on ebay, so i will have 4 total (receiving about 400 watts each), plus one of kenwoods 13" dvc sub with a link below that:

http://www.kenwoodusa.com/prod...=2438

http://www.kenwoodusa.com/prod...=2534
(^disregard the MSRP on that sub, I can get it for like $350)

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by troublecodes &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you guys are f*cking idiots, telling him what size to build his box to with total disregard to what sub it is? what will the application be? yes, small sealed boxes deliver tight, clean bass...if you have a jl-audio w6...try putting a w7 in a small sealed box...WE NEED MORE INFO!!!</TD></TR></TABLE>

hey genius, did you read his first post?? it said the sub calls for 1-1.5 cu ft of space so before you call us ******* idiots learn to read.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by troublecodes &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">you guys are f*cking idiots, telling him what size to build his box to with total disregard to what sub it is? what will the application be? yes, small sealed boxes deliver tight, clean bass...if you have a jl-audio w6...try putting a w7 in a small sealed box...WE NEED MORE INFO!!!</TD></TR></TABLE>

sigh....where do these people come from...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by rcurley55 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">generally speaking, with sealed enclosures, as the box volume increases, power handling decreases, freq response is smoothed out, and you loose some output. So the converse is that putting a sub in a small box creates a peaky output with more spl and more power handling.</TD></TR></TABLE>

I agree for the most part... but just to clarify - you don't lose output when going to a larger sealed enclosure - you'll actually gain output if you put the same power to it (less restriction to cone movement). Putting the sub in a smaller box will change the frequency response such that the low end is reduced and upper end increased a little, but this does not mean it will necessarily output a higher SPL.