Sub boxes

[minimad]

I am aware that there are many many sites on the net giving details of "how to diy" yourself a sub box. Does anyone have a plan that they have actually built themselves and works?

I'm looking for a 10" sub box that will fit in the boot of my Mini.

Alternatively, Halfords are flogging 10" sub boxes for forty quid or so. anyone know how good they are?

TIA

[lynx]

Any enclosures that i've built have been to the manufacturers specs.I doubt that a prefabricated enclosure would be 'to spec', it would be more miss than hit.
They are not too difficult to make if you are carefull and take your time.If you build a sealed enclosure ( my preference ) you *must * ensure that the joints are air tight for it to be effective.
Again as a personal preference i use ¾'' ply for the construction.
A router will be handy for cutting 360° holes.

[minimad]

Lynx, thanks for the reply. When you say "to manufacturer's specs", what do you mean? take the external dimensions and then build the box or do you have some cunning way of obtaining exact specifications?

I also prefer sealed boxes to ported, obviously I wouldn't have to worry about calculations for the porting. What about fitting the "external" connections? would you just run the wires out and hook 'em up to the amp, or put a connection block on the side of the box?

I had assumed that ¾" MDF was the norm, would you recommend ¾" ply instead? Marine or standard grade?

I have a router and a jig saw which will make life slightly easier.

Collin

[lynx]

Originally posted by minimad
When you say "to manufacturer's specs", what do you mean? take the external dimensions and then build the box or do you have some cunning way of obtaining exact specifications?
The sub manufacturer should provide dimensions for an enclosure ie 1.2 cubic feet etc. This is the internal volume ( minus the subs displacement ) not the external size.
I also prefer sealed boxes to ported, obviously I wouldn't have to worry about calculations for the porting.
Port diameter and length are critical if the sub is to perform satisfactorily.The sound characteristics can be tuned by altering the port parameters.
I had assumed that ¾" MDF was the norm
MDF is the norm.It's cheaper thats all. I feel that ply is stiffer IMHO.

As for cable connection, use a proprietary connector and ensure a good seal there as well.

[minimad]

I originally thought you meant the sub box maunfacturers, not the sub-woofer manufacturers! duh!:blush:

Excellent, thanks for all the info.

[dnrc]

I'll just add my views/experience.

I recently built a car sub box for a 10" driver. I got a sheet of MDF from BandQ for £11 and had it cut up by them. For a total of £17 I got enough cut to build 2 boxes (one for the car, one for HT)

I put the 10" sub into a (roughly) 1.25 cubic ft sealed box.

What i had cut was 2 sheets 33x33 cm, 2 @ 33x37 and 2 @ 37x37. This gave me a box which had 13" internal dimensions.

Stuck it together with Liquid Nails, a few screws and some silicone sealant. Added the contents of an old pillow for filler.

This turned out pretty good, admittedly I got a fairly cheap driver and it's running off a crap amp but it sounds fairly good in spite of this.

And now that I have a decent box, I can now look at an amp upgrade and possibly sticking a Shiva driver in there. (the box was modelled with this in mind. It's just a bit bigger than one of their recommended enclosures.

Now I know this works well, i'm going to build a shiva based one for at home, with the addition of a plate amp from CPC.

[samhain]

I build my own boxes and I have a really powerful piece of software called Bass Box Pro 6. This designs sub boxes for cars and the home and does the measurments for you so all you need to do is cut to the template.

Very accurate, takes into account sub displacement and box bracing not to mention porting the sub box too.

If you want I can design a box for you and e-mai lthe results for you to use.

[GJC]

Bass Box Pro 6 Here (http://www.audioxpress.com/bksprods/sotware/sof-bas.htm)

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