I putting together a system for my 93. I have a aquired a nice audiobahn amp, two 10" pioneer subs and two rockford fosgate boxes. I dont know what the rating on the subs is so I plan to start with the low setting on the amp which is 300 watts. I was looking at my boxes and realized they were completely enclosed. I thought sub boxes had to be ported to allow the speaker to breath as it were. Should I get a holesaw and port them myself or will my subs be ok? What about if I want to up the power later on? The amp is capable of 420 watts and then 840 watts bridged. I can install a stereo and speakers, the but the science of how it all works is greek to me.

 

I got this off of Crutchfield's website. Has a pretty good explanation of the different types of boxes and their uses.

gw

From Crutchfield:

The type of bass you get from your component subwoofer doesn't depend on the woofer alone. You'll need a strong, tightly-constructed enclosure for optimum subwoofer performance. Speakers without an enclosure can't deliver full bass because the sound from the back of the speaker can cancel out some low frequencies emanating from the front of the speaker.

Using our box-building accessories, you might choose to construct your own box to create the enclosure size that you want. However, unless you have excellent craftsman skills and a solid understanding of enclosure volumes and other technical terms, you're better off purchasing a convenient, professional-looking pre-made enclosure.

Different types of boxes will produce different types of bass:

Sealed boxes: For deep, precise bass
A sealed box is an airtight enclosure housing your subwoofer. A sealed box is best for any music that demands tight, accurate bass. Expect flat response (not excessively boomy), deep bass extension, and excellent power handling. Since a sealed enclosure tends to require more power than a ported box, use an amplifier with ample wattage for optimum performance.

Ported boxes: For forceful bass
Ported boxes use a vent (called a port) to reinforce low bass response. You get more output than you would from a sealed box at any given amplifier wattage. Some people prefer the sound of ported boxes for rock, heavy metal, or any hard-driving music. Ported boxes can deliver deeper bass than sealed boxes, though they need to be much larger than sealed enclosures to accomplish that.

Bandpass boxes: Maximum slam
Bandpass boxes are a special type of ported box designed for maximum slam. The woofer is mounted inside a dual-chambered box (one chamber sealed, the other ported), with the sound waves emerging from the ported side. The sound that comes out of the port is extra loud within a narrow frequency range.

Because bandpass boxes are super efficient within that range, they tend to boom. Their aggressive sound is great for rap, reggae, and hard rock. Not all subwoofers work well in bandpass boxes, though; consult our product information or call one of our Advisors to be sure.

Free-air subwoofers
A free-air system consists of woofers mounted to a board attached to the rear deck or placed in the trunk against the rear seat. The trunk of the car acts as an enclosure which houses the subwoofer and isolates sound from the back of the speaker, solving the sound cancellation problem of subs without an enclosure.

Free-air systems save space and have flat frequency response. The woofer must be specifically designed for free-air use. The lack of a box makes them more convenient to install, but their power handling levels are usually much lower than their boxed counterparts.

 

Wow, thanks. That tells me alot. I may want to look for some ported boxes as rock/heavy metal is my genre of choice. I'll try the sealed boxes though to see if I notice a difference when I switch.

 

I love a sealed box, but have also run ported. Bandpasses sound like crap

 

I built a sealed enclosure that fits on the hump in the middle of the cab and it sounds great with rock-n-roll. I put a little bit of polyfill in my box, but not a whole lot. You could tinker with the amount of poly-fill and supposedly get different sounds, but i've never tested, I just read it somewhere.

 

I think sealed enclosures for rock is the way to go. Nothing like that super tight "kick" from a sealed enclosure, of course sealed enclosures need a bigger amp to run them then ported ones. Also there is just more to a ported enclosure than cutting a hole and stuffing a tube or "port" into it. You need to look at what the speaker itself is designed for enclosure wise. Look at the documentation for your subs and it will give you that information. A poorly ported enclosure will also sound like junk.

 

The bandpass you have quoted or described, is a Fourth Order
Single-Reflex Bandpass box design and there are severalmore order bandpass box designs. So that is just one type of bandpass box and they are not all the same. Maybe they are when built from a mass produced build company.

 

I'm a big fan of sealed boxes. I hate boomy bass and with a sealed box and enough amp you can get tight, accurate bass with plenty of volume.