facing the sub, any major changes to sound and output?

[vnsmanual]

hey everyone,

ive got a mach 5 ixl 12 sub in a 4ft ported box, had it going for about a week and its going awesome. amps gain is set at 50 and its already shaking everything! my main issue is that the box is huge, and due to its dimensions it doesnt really fit in anywhere.

i have a whole other sheet of mdf left and im thinking of making a box that fits in behind the right hand taillights, then comes out about 500mm. then from there goes towards the front of the car as in up over the hump.

The box will be like an L shape and the top part of the l will have an angle then come up onto the hump.

i did some rough calculations and i will have more than enough volume to achieve 4ft cubed and should have enough mdf. The main issue is the sub will be in the left hand side of the box, meaning that it will be facing the spare tyre side, left hand side of the car. Ive heard that this will decrease the output volume? is this true? and if so is it a huge deal?

Im building this box for everyday use as it will give back heaps of room and leave the middle of the boot open. So is the sound decrease a myth and if not is it a big deal? Im keeping the current box for comps, because its really good where it is at the rear righht at the boot.

the new box wont cost be much as i have th mdf, so as long as it sounds ok i will build it asap, as this huge box is kinda annoying.

also for anyones whos interested i recorded 125db in my vn yesterday with my current box, thats recorded at the middle of the front windscreen. The meter we used only goes up to 125db to so it may have been a tad more. plus amps at 50% and front door was open

[vnsmanual]

btw ill be making the box the same volume as my current box just weird dimensions, it will have the same size port. just the sub will face differnetly. im just wondering how that wil effect sound.

[2LOUD2OLD]

yes it will affect the sound..... how? you wont know until you try.

[vnsmanual]

Good point i guess, id prefer to get some idea before i build it though.

Like how much change have people experienced facing the sub different ways?

[HCVP]

vnsmanaul, i'm chime i with a few clarifications. Your box isn't 4 cu ft. Remember the driver and port both take up internal volume space. I can't remember exactly but yours is around the 2.85 mark internally. Slightly larger than the manafactuer reccomendations, but from the sounds of things it is working out well for you.

Second, you mention db testing and comps. Your current port fq tune is for musical use, not competition. If you wanted to use the sub in a competition, you would need to alter the port tuning to be a lot higher. But at which point it would begin to sound a lot worse for day to day listening.

Also you refer to your gain settings a couple of times. Gain setings are not power settings. You can set your gains at full if you like, all this means however is that your amp will reach it's power output levels at a lower volume setting on your head unit.

And finally, don't be put of or ashamed of having a big enclosure in your boot. It is just that, a large, and well designed enclosure. You see these cars with multiple subs and fancy fiberglass installs and they still have almost the entire boot of free space remaining, well i guarantee you that most of them wouldnt sound half as good as they look.

[vnsmanual]

Sorry everyone i thought i knew what i was talking about but im way off. what size internal volume should i be aiming for minus the port and woofer displacements?

I dont want to build a super pretty layout or anything, just make a box which makes better use of the space. Ill post up some skecths of what i sorta want to do. Ill draw them up so the sub still faces the rear. i just want a weird shaped box with the same interal volume and tuning as my cuurent box. I may also steal the port from my current box and build a new one tuned differnetly for better spl? so tune it more for comp that way i can throw it in and maybe go to a few comps, probably not win but have a shot

[vnsmanual]

with this first one i build th front face on an angle, so that it tucks right into the corner but angles the sub firing it at the tailgate still but on a slight angle, for everday use this shouldnt effect sound quality much at all should it?



This option means that the front face will be square and built to be back from the tailgate my about 100-200mm. This should be exactly the the same as my current set up if i get the volume right and us ethe same port. Because the sub is currently sitting about that far away from the tailgate just a tiny buit more central.


Whats your opinions on building a box like this, i know il will be weird shaped but it should give me quite a bit of room back, by building it to fire at the rear tailgate i shouldnt in theory loss any bass that i currently have.
The main reason for wnating this is it opens up the middle seat and allows be to still put a bag or something in the boot.

Thanks

[vnsmanual]

so on the affordable drivers website they state the box should be about 1.8 cu ft. So im guessing the 2.85 of mine is including the sub and port volume?

so if i design a install like the first on i sketched to be 2.85 internally i should be on the right track?

[vnsmanual]

bump??????