**Huge Subwoofer Delama Please Help!!**
I agree with mr joksters take, ported boxes can sound good if they're designed right, I'd stay away from prefab ported tho like he said. If you want to keep it simple sealed will be easier to design and still be louder than the infinite baffle setup you're running now.
When it comes down to it, it all depends on your needs/desires and what your ears like. Try to listen to a few ported setups that have been designed and tuned well like mr jokster described and see if they sound good to you.
When it comes down to it, it all depends on your needs/desires and what your ears like. Try to listen to a few ported setups that have been designed and tuned well like mr jokster described and see if they sound good to you.
if all else fails... buy that box and do 4 12's in isobaric!!! 
I did a prefab isobaric style with 4 15's once and man it sounded pretty
well actually it was 8 15's with 4 in isobaric and 4 in a wall (and for some reason I didnt take pictures when I had all the same brand in there? switched them a few times)
I did a prefab isobaric style with 4 15's once and man it sounded pretty
well actually it was 8 15's with 4 in isobaric and 4 in a wall
(and for some reason I didnt take pictures when I had all the same brand in there? switched them a few times)
Thread Starter
★ I
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 570
Likes: 0
From: Ohio
thanks alot guys I made up my mind and am going to stay with ported haha now I dont know if I should go with 2 Rockford Fosgates in an enclosure which are dual 4 ohm subs 200-400 watts RMS (800 watts peak power) or my Kicker sub is 400 watt rms and 800 watt peak power and thats just one and gona get another one sooo whats your guys take on this
I'd invest in a perfectly designed custom box for the kicker sub you have and get another. You save money since you have one already, while the money you spend on that RF custom set up you showed, you can use the same amount or less on a specifically designed one for your car for the kickers that will probably out do that RF box. I'd recommend though running the new kicker by it self for a while so it can break in to as close to what your current kicker is at, if not you'll get a little fighting action since one will be tighter than the other. You can either cover one of the holes in the box you build and run the 1 woofer in it for a little while, or hook the new kicker you buy up to an amp while it sits on the floor and run a 20 cycle bass note on low to medium volume to break the sucker a bit...
I'm not sure if you're already set on getting a sub w/ an enclosure and a custom designed ported box should sound great, but if you want to retain as much of the trunk as possible, I very highly recommend running an Image Dynamics ID10 in the factory position.
I've never previously used a free air sub and I finally got around to installing an ID10 in the factory location with an old school PPI Art A300 and I'm totally blown away by this thing. I have a pair of IDQ10s in a sealed box in the trunk of my other car and this setup is somehow hits harder AND cleaner. I was only aiming for SQ and not SPL, but I have the gain turned all the way down on the amp and head unit and it STILL hits pretty hard. Oh, and the factory sub cover should still even fit over the sub if you do the install correctly.
I've never previously used a free air sub and I finally got around to installing an ID10 in the factory location with an old school PPI Art A300 and I'm totally blown away by this thing. I have a pair of IDQ10s in a sealed box in the trunk of my other car and this setup is somehow hits harder AND cleaner. I was only aiming for SQ and not SPL, but I have the gain turned all the way down on the amp and head unit and it STILL hits pretty hard. Oh, and the factory sub cover should still even fit over the sub if you do the install correctly.
Last edited by potatoBBQ; Feb 9, 2010 at 10:06 AM.
Thread Starter
★ I
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 570
Likes: 0
From: Ohio
wow love the pics bro looks really nice, but I visited my local audio shop and he showed me Diamonds which are supposed to be one of the best subwoofer brands out there so I probably might go with the Diamond D3 with a chambered enclosure.
No prob... another suggestion in addition to the above pics... You can invest on one BAD *** 10" woofer and amp for the factory location, have a shop (or if you can do it) build an enclosure around it and that way you save a lot of space and it stays stealth. You can achieve some mid to upper 130's db slams (or maybe more 
) with a great box on a bad *** ten, if I'm thinking right 
... or buy just one bad *** 12 and do the same with port also facing in the cab and belt out some 140+db's , but still gotta be done right. Best thing to do is find a good budget and get the most for your money (what I tell my customers) 1 bad *** woofer with bad *** box can slam better than 2 woofers in poo poo box you know. I'd get an estimate on putting a bad *** 12 in the factory location with a box built around it and see what that looks like. Also, sometimes spending more $$ can feel better
) with a great box on a bad *** ten, if I'm thinking right ... or buy just one bad *** 12 and do the same with port also facing in the cab and belt out some 140+db's , but still gotta be done right. Best thing to do is find a good budget and get the most for your money (what I tell my customers) 1 bad *** woofer with bad *** box can slam better than 2 woofers in poo poo box you know. I'd get an estimate on putting a bad *** 12 in the factory location with a box built around it and see what that looks like. Also, sometimes spending more $$ can feel better
Last edited by Mr Jokster; Feb 10, 2010 at 03:30 AM.
Now if they can port and woofer it through the rear deck, you'll eliminate any trunk rattle and get some nice clean bass...but our sloppy headliner is gonna rattle 
but worth it 
and get some nice clean bass...but our sloppy headliner is gonna rattle but worth it
Driver School Candidate
Joined: Feb 2010
Posts: 19
Likes: 0
From: OK
will it hit hard as hell? No, will it bump? Yes. Going by your question, " will it hit hard" will allow me to answer you no to the box. I've been building and designing boxes for quite awhile. Here are other things to think about, again, the fact that you ask if it will hit hard makes me believe that once you hear what this box will sound like, you will want to try to crank it even more to get more out of it, doing this in a sealed box is murder to the woofer cause the heat generated by the coil will stay in the box and bake your woofer. Sure sealed has its benefits, but IMO (and others) ported is the way to go. You cant tune a sealed box so you're stuck with a -3db high point (3db is A LOT) a sealed enclosure may have a -12db drop per octave while a ported can have a steep drop, however anything below 25 hz is really unfeelable in a low powered system thus not something to base your choice of box on, but even then you can spend a LOT of brain time designing/tuning a ported box to give you a slow roll off and identical slope as a sealed but with a higher output. As for ported boxes being sloppy? yes its possible in a "FAILED" box design. I actually put the factory specs in to a bass program, and the sign wave looked liked kid scribbled along the the whole way! nasty sound...
now the main disadvantage of a ported box is the bigger the better so you'll have to take space from your trunk, however I was still able to achieve a pretty hard hitting ported box in our small space so my vote is to go ported and DO NOT get prefab ported boxes! They are tuned to like 45hz 
which means you're gonna get a punch high end and loose all your low end for street bass you want to be tuned around 32hz to give you some good frequency response, and most rap (if thats what you listen to) hits most around that note. I personally enjoyed my 20hz tuned box (my other set up) I sacrificed a bit on the hard hitting top end, but the extra power made up for that. I hope I didnt confuse you or leave something out cause I'm watching football as I type and am loosing my concentration
now the main disadvantage of a ported box is the bigger the better so you'll have to take space from your trunk, however I was still able to achieve a pretty hard hitting ported box in our small space
so my vote is to go ported and DO NOT get prefab ported boxes! They are tuned to like 45hz which means you're gonna get a punch high end and loose all your low end for street bass you want to be tuned around 32hz to give you some good frequency response, and most rap (if thats what you listen to) hits most around that note. I personally enjoyed my 20hz tuned box (my other set up) I sacrificed a bit on the hard hitting top end, but the extra power made up for that. I hope I didnt confuse you or leave something out cause I'm watching football as I type and am loosing my concentration 100% truth
do work!
You cant tune a sealed box so you're stuck with a -3db high point (3db is A LOT) a sealed enclosure may have a -12db drop per octave while a ported can have a steep drop, however anything below 25 hz is really unfeelable in a low powered system thus not something to base your choice of box on
for street bass you want to be tuned around 32hz to give you some good frequency response, and most rap (if thats what you listen to) hits most around that note. I personally enjoyed my 20hz tuned box (my other set up) I sacrificed a bit on the hard hitting top end, but the extra power made up for that. I hope I didnt confuse you or leave something out cause I'm watching football as I type and am loosing my concentration
(my other set up) I sacrificed a bit on the hard hitting top end, but the extra power made up for that. I hope I didnt confuse you or leave something out cause I'm watching football as I type and am loosing my concentration Couple things to note - a sealed enclosure doesn't "bake" a woofer unless it is seriously overdriven. This isn't a fault of the enclosure so much as it is the listener not paying attention to the limitations.
A sealed box will usually offer a tighter and faster response time than a vented enclosure due to the fact that the air inside isn't being replenished through the vent. It is resisting the speaker itself, not being pushed out of a vent and then being sucked back in on a forward stroke of a speaker.
If you found a capable shop that will build a good enclosure for you for $200 complete, I'd go for that. It's a good deal, provided they do it right and it's made well. Like Jokster said, good box + good woofer = good sound.
Big Mack