Building a Box

[d3ity]

So... I've decided I'm gonna build me a new sub box so I can actually play my subs as loud as possible.

So... I've been searching around and after finding many many conflicting things... I'm confused as hell.

First of all.. Vented or Sealed.

Rockford Fosgate sayeth in manual:

Reccomended Sealed Enclosure .85 ft3
Reccomended Vented Enclosure 1.75 ft3

However, upon digging I found that my subs would be best placed in a sealed enclosure as per this: Answer

However, I've also been told that sealed enclosures provide better response for music such as rock, however vented enclosures are louder and provide a "looser" sound better for rap.

So I listen to metal and rap... about 50/50. Leaning towards rap since I've gotten subs.

However, what that told me is that I should build a sealed enclosure anyway.

Also in designing the box... I'm very very confused as to how I should go about it. My initial idea was to create two wedge shaped boxes, joined by a single "box" with a plexiglas front to house my amps...light it up... make it look all pretty and such.

However with the trunk space available I don't think that's going to work, since I'd need room to somehow display two amps with dimensions of 17.5"x11.5". I was thinking about mounting them in a < sort of shape with one hanging from the top and the other on the bottom.

The outer size of the box I haven't decided yet. I could make a wedge with the back edge being 34" and the leading edge being 46", or I could just build a box with a back edge of 34".

I'm gonna attach everything else I have (datasheet for sub)

Some other things I know... Speaker displacement is .049 cu. ft.

Can anyone shed some light on what calculations I need to do? I've found like 8 sub box calculators and all of them seem to want diffrent info. Whats the best for my application?

[d3ity]

Here's the datasheet....

Grrr... it won't post. I'll do it when i get home.

[d3ity]

Ok, so the forum apparently won't handle pdf files over 20k... so...

I guess I'll just have to figure out how to post all the #'s.

[d3ity]

Here they are...

Nominal Diameter: 12"
Frequency Range: 26-250 Hz
Nominal Impedance (2) 2 ohms
DC Resistance (Re) 3.0 Ohms
Voice Coil Inductance 2.8 mH
Resonance Frequency (Fs) 26 Hz
Qms: 10.28
Qes: .59
Qts: .55

Cms 1.88E-04 m/N
Vas: 2.387 cu ft.

What do I do with all this stuff? I've googled a bit but every site seems to use diffrent numbers to make diffrent calculations and give me a diffrent answer about what I need to build.

With these subs, am I shooting myself in the foot with a ported enclosure?

[d3ity]

Ok so I managed to find some meaningful calculations and started building a box.

Few things of note:

1. MDF is heavy.
2. Gorilla Glue may possibly be the greatest thing ever invented.
3. Gained respect for every piece of wooden furniture in my house.

Now my shop teacher would shoot me for how I built this box. I used all butt joints. My justification in this is that I don't have a router. That said I've got one of the boxes almost finished. The only two pieces left are the top of the box and the front plate which I need to cut with a jig saw. I used 50 2 1/2 inch screws so far, on top of gorilla glue, When I add bracing and silicone to the mix, it'll be strong enough.

Now I need some more help. At this stage, I'm trying to figure out how I want this box to look. here are my options:

1. Carpet. Boring and readily available.
2. Veneer... it's gonna be pricey, but I have a feeling it would look damn sexy to have a stained oak or maple box in my trunk.
3. Paint ... not sure I'm quite digging this, but I could paint the box to match my car somehow...

any other ideas?

[da_bull]

Unless you have wood grain throughout the car I'd either get the same carpet your trunk has, wrap it in that, or router the corners, sand and paint to match the car's body color. Painting will require a lot of sanding and a REALLY good primer/sealer. Either way would look good.

[d3ity]

Apparently I'm retarded and can't cut a 15* angle... so I'm on hold until I get another sheet of MDF.... The front plate is the last piece I need and I can't seem to cut one right that will fit.

Gonna try to make it to home depot tomorrow morning before work, hopefully I'll be able to snag another piece and get back to work... Looks good so far, I just started building the second box.

[da_bull]

lol good luck...

[d3ity]

Alrighty, almost done. Since I'm retarded and can't cut a front plate to save my life, I'm getting up early and attempting it again before work.

Here's how they look so far though...

[AlpineSixAndSeven]

sounds cool