Sub box design advantages/disadvantages

[Charlie]

Well, just wondering what people think is the best design for boxes. I've heard that sealed is the best, and that ported is. What are your thoughts on the advantages/disadvantages of the various setups you can have?

 

[Donner]

Great timing!

I'm about to "part with" three subs because I want my space back... But I can't tell the diff between ported (box w/hole) and non-ported (I learned about porting at this site

 

[sjr033]

JL Audio's web site has some good reading about the differences in sub boxes.

http://mobile.jlaudio.com/support_pages.php?page_id=146

 

[Wagonized]

imo unless you're under major major space restraints or working with a woofer that is specially designed for sealed or infinite baffle use only...ported is the way to go.

Or bandpass. Daily driver bandpass boxes are pretty hard to beat.

I built a 6th order last summer for my explorer to house a single Atomic APX 15. Ran off of a single memphis mojo 4kw the setup broke 150db at the dash on the termlab from 36-62? hz.

 

[Infinity08]

I prefer ported, especially when space allows. When I don't have the space, I change woofers. Something like the Dayton RS HO's use TINY ported enclosures- hard to build that small. I also really like bandpass when it is done properly (as the one Wagonized is showing). Sealed works well in smaller vehicles as the transfer function helps the low end, and less overall output is needed.

 

[Blacksheep Josh]

when i graduated from high school a few years back, and i had a little money to spend. i bought a cheap 500 watt amp from someone at work, and bought the Dual bandpass with sub enclosure. it was rated up to 1100watts max.. we all thought it was going to be a crap enclosure and subs, but ironically it was amazing for what i needed.

i didn't use it for competitions or anything, just for listening while driving, and it was perfect. a lot of people thought i was running a lot more watts, but i think that's just because of the bandpass feature

 

[aznboi3644]

The Dual bandpass enclosure sounds like crap...sorry. It CAN'T sound good.

Different vehicles and applications call for different style enclosures. Some situations I'll choose ported over sealed or vice versa...some installs a bandpass will work better. Too many variables.