Ported sub box: wood , fiberglass , or plexiglass?

[eb2phkingood]

ok so on another thread you guys convinced me to go with a ported box as my sealed box is a little too crisp of bass for my liking. so now id like you input on one of the 4 options:

1) ported wood box covered in carpet or white vinyl (interior of the car is white vinyl as well)

2) fiberglassed ported box covered in white vinyl as well

3) ported plexiglass box COMPLETELY see through with white wires ran into the box to the subs to match the cars theme

4) ported combination. I.E wood box with fiberglass cones. or wood box with plexiglass top ect.

What i am looking for: the bass to be a bit louder and drag on a little more than it does with a sealed box, so ported should take care of that, however im not sure if one is louder than the other between fiberglass plexi wood ect. if it were based on looks alone i would either go with a complete ported wood box covered in vinyl or the see through plexi. price is not an issue, just realized my box is lame and lacking. thanks! -n00b

[redwrangler]

A wood box covered in vinyl or carpet would be the easiest. Fiberglass boxes take some time and are messy. I'd just stick with wood unless you need to follow a particular contour of paneling or something

[Stangman67]

Fiberglass isn't great for getting loud. Stick to a standard wood box with carpeting.

[eb2phkingood]

Originally Posted by redwrangler A wood box covered in vinyl or carpet would be the easiest. Fiberglass boxes take some time and are messy. I'd just stick with wood unless you need to follow a particular contour of paneling or something

Originally Posted by Zachfeen Fiberglass isn't great for getting loud. Stick to a standard wood box with carpeting.

so lets say i go with wood. should i run the 2 big rectangle ports? or 2 small circle tube ports? maybe 4 circle tube ports? what do you guys recommend?

[pjhabit]

Somehow I don't see Type R's as having "too crisp of bass". Nevertheless the R's are at home in a ported box. Just use whatever type of port that gets you enough port area to not cause turbulent noise & is of reasonable length to get your tuning...box building software like WinISD is great for this. You might also go through a few different enclosures before you 'get it right' so I'd stick w/ MDF for the time being. And I still say you'll see improvements optimizing the other areas of your install...as the old adage goes, 90% install - 10% equipment.

[bumba000]

^^ agreed unless they were underpowered and seriously choked in a 'way to the fawck small' of a box.

Fiberglass is going to resonate at a much higher frequency = same problem
Plexy glass = lower freq but your looking at a 1\2in thick plexy panels which you have to special order....

Wood has a much lower freq response in comparison to the others.

I like the 'slotted' port to me its easier to tune. Your best bet would be to contact JL or whoever subs you go with and ask them what they recommend 'talk to a tech' and say I like music blah blah. what do i want to do to get the audio I want.

They will tell you how many cubes to make the box as well as port length and such for a given freq

[eb2phkingood]

Originally Posted by pjhabit Somehow I don't see Type R's as having "too crisp of bass". Nevertheless the R's are at home in a ported box. Just use whatever type of port that gets you enough port area to not cause turbulent noise & is of reasonable length to get your tuning...box building software like WinISD is great for this. You might also go through a few different enclosures before you 'get it right' so I'd stick w/ MDF for the time being. And I still say you'll see improvements optimizing the other areas of your install...as the old adage goes, 90% install - 10% equipment.

Originally Posted by bumba000 ^^ agreed unless they were underpowered and seriously choked in a 'way to the fawck small' of a box. Fiberglass is going to resonate at a much higher frequency = same problem Plexy glass = lower freq but your looking at a 1\2in thick plexy panels which you have to special order.... Wood has a much lower freq response in comparison to the others. I like the 'slotted' port to me its easier to tune. Your best bet would be to contact JL or whoever subs you go with and ask them what they recommend 'talk to a tech' and say I like music blah blah. what do i want to do to get the audio I want. They will tell you how many cubes to make the box as well as port length and such for a given freq

well we have a local place here that specializes in plexiglass and glass and plastic. he has 1/2 and 3/4 plexi in stock. the subs are powered with a alpine m1000 with wires 1 size overkill than how big they need to be, and the box is 1.1cu per sub sealed. so yea i think ill take your advice and call up alpine and see what they can give me as far as info goes, i never really thought about doing that. so thank you, i really appreciate it. i guess ill ask them between wood and plexi also, if you guys had a chance to get 1/2 or 3/4 inch plexi would you still go with wood?

[pjhabit]

Originally Posted by eb2phkingood well we have a local place here that specializes in plexiglass and glass and plastic. he has 1/2 and 3/4 plexi in stock. the subs are powered with a alpine m1000 with wires 1 size overkill than how big they need to be, and the box is 1.1cu per sub sealed. so yea i think ill take your advice and call up alpine and see what they can give me as far as info goes, i never really thought about doing that. so thank you, i really appreciate it. i guess ill ask them between wood and plexi also, if you guys had a chance to get 1/2 or 3/4 inch plexi would you still go with wood?

I'd still use wood...but vanity isn't higher on my list then performance.

What size & model Type R's do you have? Alpine seems to recommend their enclosures on the small side.

[tundro6]

Originally Posted by eb2phkingood well we have a local place here that specializes in plexiglass and glass and plastic. he has 1/2 and 3/4 plexi in stock. the subs are powered with a alpine m1000 with wires 1 size overkill than how big they need to be, and the box is 1.1cu per sub sealed. so yea i think ill take your advice and call up alpine and see what they can give me as far as info goes, i never really thought about doing that. so thank you, i really appreciate it. i guess ill ask them between wood and plexi also, if you guys had a chance to get 1/2 or 3/4 inch plexi would you still go with wood?

plexi IS cool but is unforgiving.... if you do good on the wood build THEN try your luck at plexiglass...

[Jimi77]

Originally Posted by bumba000 I like the 'slotted' port to me its easier to tune.

Please elaborate on how you're tuning slotted ports. I've been suggesting PRs because they can be tuned, but it's pretty difficult to tune a slot port and you can only tune down.

[tundro6]

Originally Posted by Jimi77 Please elaborate on how you're tuning slotted ports. I've been suggesting PRs because they can be tuned, but it's pretty difficult to tune a slot port and you can only tune down.

I LOVE passive radiators.... just sayin-