Sub Enclosure

[h_bodyfreek]

ok heres the thing as of now i got two ten inch infinity dual voice coil subs in a bandpass box, but i was told that it would sound better in my g/a if it were a sealed enclosure what do you think would sound better, and for the record i listen to a lot of rap and heavy heavy metal in my car...

[xtantman]

depends alot on ur wattage and boz size, there r so many factors, i listen to alot of rap and heavy metal to and i would say over all a sealed box is better overall and if ur going for real deep bass go with a single ported box.

[kicker187]

either option is better than the bandpass i've had a couple, and they never soud a good as ported or sealed boxes

[Blackhawk]

The best thing to do is no matter which type you choose to either make it yourself or find one with the correct specs. The problem with bandpass boxes is that most of the time it's not the right size because it was made to handle every sub regardless of specific enclosure demands. For example, my Image Dynamics 12" takes 1ci maximum for a sealed box, which is pretty small compared to the other subs that I've seen.

[JeremiahCoffel]

Bandpass boxes are great, as long as they are tuned for that specific sub! If the box was built for a Hifonics HF12D4 you can't put a Hifonics HF12S4 in it because of the different specifications that the subs have. They are complicated to build too, but once they are built correctly, you get a GREAT deal of bass/sq compared to sealed or ported. I have 2 sealed Hifonics HF12D4's and they sound great. I have yet to port them.

[OpTiMaTeZ]

from my experience, the sealed boxes sound better overall, but when you port them it hits alot harder. i have the box that u can port or seal with an adapter and its not a big difference, but its noticeable between them.

[Blackhawk]

Which is why you should think about your use for the subs, whether you want to compete or if you are using them for SQ.

[MantaGreen97]

If it's a pre-fab bandpass box, I would throw it in the garbage, lol. Bandpass boxes are quite driver specific as Jeremiah noted, and also difficult to build. I don't know about them being that great though... They are great if you want to bump the response in a relatively specific frequency range (and again this is heavily dependent on the driver(s) being used).

It's not really a good idea, in general, for music reproduction. And, truth be told, not even many SPL competitors use bandpass boxes--most use ported boxes, tuned to a frequency that will give maximum output for whatever driver(s) they are using.

If you want it to sound as good as possible with as much output as possible, toss that bandpass out, unless you had it custom made for those subs (which it sounds like you did not); forget about the sealed as well (unless you just want to make this simple/easy); instead, make (or have made) a ported box properly suited to your subs.

[JeremiahCoffel]

Originally posted by MantaGreen97
If it's a pre-fab bandpass box, I would throw it in the garbage, lol. Bandpass boxes are quite driver specific as Jeremiah noted, and also difficult to build. I don't know about them being that great though... They are great if you want to bump the response in a relatively specific frequency range (and again this is heavily dependent on the driver(s) being used).

It's not really a good idea, in general, for music reproduction. And, truth be told, not even many SPL competitors use bandpass boxes--most use ported boxes, tuned to a frequency that will give maximum output for whatever driver(s) they are using.

If you want it to sound as good as possible with as much output as possible, toss that bandpass out, unless you had it custom made for those subs (which it sounds like you did not); forget about the sealed as well (unless you just want to make this simple/easy); instead, make (or have made) a ported box properly suited to your subs.

I don't know if I agree with you totally. On most of it yes, but the last part, not so much. If you have a ported box, it will definately give you a lot more output as it is able to move more air, but sound quality is questionable compared to sealed (and of course the drivers.) If you have adequate power for the rest of your setup and proper mids and highs, yes it will sound great, but if you don't have the other stages properly setup, or have weak mids or highs, it will be overthrown by the deep bass.

[03graystone]

my experience, i have a sealed custom made box, with dual enclosures (the subs are seperated) i had it built to my subs' specs, and it sounds great. all my underground hip hop and heavy metal sounds great. i would say though, im kinda sick of my Rockford P2 subs, so im goin for somethin else sooner or later.

and i do plan to get a pre-fab fiberglass sealed enclosure that is uni-chamber. not sure how its gonna sound, but it looks nice! Ebay, made to order and painted to what you want.

[MantaGreen97]

Originally posted by JeremiahCoffel
If you have a ported box, it will definately give you a lot more output as it is able to move more air, but sound quality is questionable compared to sealed (and of course the drivers.)

LOL you're joking right? A properly designed, made and tuned ported box will sound every bit as good as a sealed box and be louder, period. The myth that sealed boxes somehow have better sound quality than ported boxes is just that--a myth. One that's very often propagated on car forums (as opposed to car audio forums), btw.

Originally posted by JeremiahCoffel
If you have adequate power for the rest of your setup and proper mids and highs, yes it will sound great, but if you don't have the other stages properly setup, or have weak mids or highs, it will be overthrown by the deep bass.
Okay there I agree with you somewhat. If by sound quality you mean relative to the rest of the system I agree--if your front stage can't keep up it's going to be too bass heavy overall, unless you dial down the sub level. Relative to a sealed box, OTOH, the quality will be no different, it'll just give more output.

There is the argument that using certain drivers with certain tuning frequencies you get an unnatrural bump in response (in some cases worse than others), but most of the time in car environments people prefer that bump.

The warning about using inadequate speakers/amplification for the rest of the system should go without saying. Whether you're using a sealed box or a ported box, it's still the same. If the rest of the system can't keep up you're either going to get a potent low-end with terrible overall sound quality because your main speakers/amps are crappy or inadequate.