Sub Box wood thickness

[acarmody]

Mate you can't just cut a hole in any ol' box and make it a port. Ports have to be very specific sizes, and your subs manual should tell you what that is. Also ported boxes are bigger than sealed boxs so chances are that this box just won't cut it.

Why do you want to port them so badly?

 

[MG's VH Wag]

Yeah i know all that. What i was wondering is can i port this box? The reason why i want to port it is because i was told that it sounds alot better ported, is that true?

 

[acarmody]

No as a matter of fact bass sounds a lot tighter in a sealed box. A properly tuned box can sound as good, if you are willing to fork out hundreds of dollars. But definately stay sealed. As a simple rule, sealed is for quality and ported is for loud low bass.

Like I'm building some boxes for some Kicker L7 subs I just bought. I'm buiding some sealed boxes for everyday use and some large ported boxes for when I have some fun at comps.

 

[MG's VH Wag]

Ok thanks mate. I want my subs to be loud too just to show off to my mates as to who has a louder car lol. How much louder bass do you get from a ported box to a sealed box? If its not too much different i wont bother with a ported box.

 

[StoneX]

You need to go and do some research into ported boxes... Google will help you out there.

Porting is quite complicated... The volume of the box, the port volume (and area) and subwoofer all determine how it will sound... You can tune a ported box to be VERY loud at a small range of frequencies for competions or you can tune it for a wide range of frequencies but it will be quieter. Then you need to know what frequency to tune it for... The lower you tune it, the lower bass you get but it usually reduces the overall output of the sub. You have to compromise and generally a sealed box is a much easier and better sounding compromise than a poorly designed ported box.

Also, only certain subs can sound decent in ported boxes... Others will sound bad no matter how you design the box. You need to tell us the model number of your subs and we can find out what type of boxes they suit.

Your subs are not 1200W, that's just marketing bullshit. It'll say 300W or something in small writing on the back of the sub.

 

[acarmody]

That really depends on a lot of factors. Like what model Kenwoods are you using and what amp are you using to power them? Also how big of a box do you want to build? the ones I'm building for my L7s take up nearly all of my VX boot.

Also sacrificing sound quality that you would hear every day in exchange for showing off to your friends once or twice isn't really worth it.

 

[MG's VH Wag]

Ok yous have convinced me to stay with sealed. My subs and amp probably aren't even that good to be used in a ported box. My subs are Kenwood KFC-W3011 and it says they are 1200w (400rms) and my amp is a Kenwood KAC-8104D 1000w monoblock. They probably wouldn't be good enough to produce low bass lol.

Thanks guys you have been very helpful.

Cheers!

 

[acarmody]

I was having a look at Kenwood's website (goddamn the australian version is slow), and i found the specs for your woofer. Bloody helpful it was too, gave all the specs we want and even dimensions for building a ported box!! :thumbsup:

Now that sealed box you have I'm assuming its the Aerpro box cause it looks pretty similar to mine, it's going to be 1 cubic foot. So looking at the sealed box graph the sub is going to have the best responce at about 70Hz, but your amp is way underpowering those subs so this might be different.

Now have a look at the ported box graph. Notice the spike of the 1 cubic foot box at about 75Hz. So this will be the most loudest design. It says that the port size for this size box will have to be 2.5" diametre and 7.5" length. So if your box is 1 cubic foot than that is the size port you want. So if you can get some sort of pipe (PVC??) thats 6.35cm in diametre and cut it down to 19mm and can then fit this to the box than you will have a properly ported box. It will be a nice and tight bass but will still go hard!

If anyone sees any flaws or anything with what I wrote then please correct me.

 

[StoneX]

That is a terribly high frequency to tune at... Ideally you want it to peak in the 30's or 40's for music, even 40's is high, in my opinion. I prefer to tune it even lower into the 20's to give that extra low bass you can only feel, but I'd sacrific output for quality anyday

 

[MG's VH Wag]

I was having a look at Kenwood's website (goddamn the australian version is slow), and i found the specs for your woofer. Bloody helpful it was too, gave all the specs we want and even dimensions for building a ported box!! :thumbsup:

Now that sealed box you have I'm assuming its the Aerpro box cause it looks pretty similar to mine, it's going to be 1 cubic foot. So looking at the sealed box graph the sub is going to have the best responce at about 70Hz, but your amp is way underpowering those subs so this might be different.

Now have a look at the ported box graph. Notice the spike of the 1 cubic foot box at about 75Hz. So this will be the most loudest design. It says that the port size for this size box will have to be 2.5" diametre and 7.5" length. So if your box is 1 cubic foot than that is the size port you want. So if you can get some sort of pipe (PVC??) thats 6.35cm in diametre and cut it down to 19mm and can then fit this to the box than you will have a properly ported box. It will be a nice and tight bass but will still go hard!

If anyone sees any flaws or anything with what I wrote then please correct me.

Gee thanks mate that was very helpful. I'm just not sure on the port, are you saying i need a hole 2.5" in diametre to fit a peice of pipe with the same diametre but 7.5" long? Or can i just have a ring of pipe 6.35cm in diametre by 19mm long so it fits snug with the thickness of my wood?

Cheers mate.