QUOTE- "A sealed box will be more accurate than a ported box, but the ported box will be louder."
This is partially true. Alot of people say that ported always hits harder, what they don't realize is that with a ported, it lowers your RMS power handling. So say you go buy a Audio Bahn Flame Q 1100watt RMS DVC sub and stick it in a sealed box. You can probably run it around 750-900 watts easily but, if you put it in a ported you are only gonna wanna run 500 watts to it. Because of this wattage difference the loudness factor isn't much different at all. It's comes down to the fact of finding an amp that can handle both channels with alot of power to go the route of sealed.
As for materials the best possible box is made of Berch but that is expensive. Go with 3/4" MDFB like stated. Also to cut that stuff you need a fine toothed "diamond blade" and a relatively high RPM saw (2,000+ RPMs). If you goto your local Home Depot, you can get a few free cuts with your purchase, so try to have them do your bigger pannels for you. Make sure you have your dimensions for all your pannels done before you head off to the store!
Once you have all your pannels finished use a generous coating of Elmer's wood glue at each connection point. Screws will merely act as a clamp as the glue dries and as a "skelleton" later (make sure to still use clamps where able).
Once your box is put together for the most part, use some more Elmer's glue to seal the edges. DO NOT use caulking if you have foam surround. It releases particles that will eat through your surround.
Afterwards paint/carpet or do whatever you want. It may sound difficult but it's not. Also, make sure to always keep your internal area as close to the companies specifications as possible.
