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Sub Box wood thickness

MG's VH Wag

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Hi guys, I have made myself a sub box for my two 1200watt subs but they don't seem to be performing as well as i would like. I was just wondering if the thickness of the sub box wood makes much of a difference. Currently the box has 6mm thick MDF of the top and bottom and 12mm MDF on the back and front. Would this be causing my subs to be under performing?

I will get a pic of my box tonight with dimensions because it is too hard for me to explain lol.

Cheers!
 

acarmody

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Why did you use two different thickness MDFs? What subs are they? Pioneer, kicker, fusion, JL? Is it one single chamber twin box or two single boxes?

Depending on the answers the box may be flexing with the 6mm MDF, maybe even on the 12mm.
 

cander24

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Unfortunately you've made them with mdf that is way too thin and will not resonate very well. If you want a sub box that performs well and gives a real deep bass note and resonates properly you really need to use a minimum 16mm or even 19mm is ideal. The only downside of the thicker mdf is the weight. Are you going to cover the box in carpet? If you are and you dont want to have to start again you could always try and add another 6mm thickness to the top and bottom and see if this improves it????
 

MG's VH Wag

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My subs are Kenwood 1200 watt 12 inch with 400rms. The two subs are in the one box. I will get a pic tonight of it. Also it is ported.

Can i fill the box with foam or body dedener or similar?

I will most likely cover the box in carpet but i dont wanna do it yet if my box is no good lol.
 

acarmody

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No foam or sound deadener won't stop the box flexing. Its the pressure that the subs are creating that makes the wood flex.
 

StoneX

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18mm is the standard thickness that is generally used. I like to use 25mm or two layers of 18mm for the front baffle.
 

holdenboy

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My subs are Kenwood 1200 watt 12 inch with 400rms. The two subs are in the one box. I will get a pic tonight of it. Also it is ported.QUOTE]


Mate to port a homemade box youve gotta get it right otherwise it'll sound like crap, no matter how thick the wood is. But yes, a minimum of 16mm MDF. Its also VERY important that the box is sealed properly, and dosent leak air anywhere else other than the port.
 

VQXTC

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I would strongly suggest making a new box and using 18mm craftwood and getting the proper dimensions for the ports..... As Holden Boy said it will sound like crap..... but an experiment to try would be to temporarily seal the ports that you have created in the box. The easiest way to do this is just to screw some bits of craftwood off cuts over the ports and see if that makes much of a difference. If it does then you know that the ports are not tuned properly and consequently are one of the factors hampering the performance of your subs the other is definitely the thickness of the wood....

Hope this helps...

cheers
 

MG's VH Wag

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Ok guys thanks heaps for the help. I think i will leave the box making to the pro's lol. I have a single sub box that i bought from strathfeild so i think i'll just buy another one of them and have two single boxes. I want to port the boxes so what would be the correct size hole for each box?

Here is a pic of the box i have, i will get another one of these.

Cheers!
 

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