how do i know if my sub enclosure is to small ?

bigblokey0

bigblokey0

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at the mo the subs and the whole boot vibrate badly ive had to remove the tool box the cd changer the warning triangle and the holder along with anything else thats not bolted down however the sub enclosure is the maximum size of the boot would it be best to port them to help with the vibration
 
defininately not !!!

youw would be better spending a little time and effort using a product like dynamatt
which is specifically designed for reducing panel vibration from in car stereo systems
then make sure the system and everything surrounding if fixed down firmly

if you know which sub you have (photo or description) and the amplfier your using i can tell you how big the box should be and how ideally it should be boxed
sealed,ported or infinite baffle

sealed is most accurate and easiset to build ported uses a bigger box is louder than sealed but is very precise in its measurement in both box size and port length
 
is dynomatt exspensive and how much of it would i need ?

i have two 15" kicker comps a jbl grand touring amp (cant remember what power they got) and a powercap pics in my gallery i had the same setup in my vec but the box was bigger because it had a bigger boot and it sounded sweet (deffo competition level) but with a smaller box it just rattles the car to bits so much so the bolts holding the boot catch had rattled off
 
a bulk kit of dynamatt will be around £100 bit is sufficient to do the entire boot area and the front doors which will also require work

the powercap is totally worthless and will actually do more damage than good
you would be better buying either a second battery or uprating the alternator to increase the charge going into the original

the kicker comps will EACH need around 1.8 cu ft to 2.6 cu ft of internal volume sealed to stand any chance of sounding half decent
this will need to be very well made and free from air leaks

1cu ft + 12"x12"x12" = 1728 cu inches which is 1 cu ft

you need to measure the INTERNAL diameter of your box in inches
and multiply the distance in inches together to
height x length x depth
this should tell you whether or not the box is big enough for normal use
if the box is an irregular shape work things out in squares first then triangles
for a trinagular shape simply masure the internal as if the box where square then divide by two

for proper competition use you would only use one sub and two amplifiers
not two subs and one amp
your system may well be loud but it will not be anywhere near competetion level

trust me im a competetion judge !!!
 
Just looking at the pics in the gallery and I'd say that enclosure is way too small for 2 x 15" subs. Absolutely no need for 2 subs in any car let alone slow droney 15 inchers. A well designed enclosure with a single 10" unit and lots of power will sound so much better. Remember the enclosure is just as important as the sub, if not more so. You can't just throw any old subs into a box built to the restrictive dimensions of your boot and expect it to sound good.
 
"the powercap is totally worthless and will actually do more damage than good"

how is this are power caps not designed for this job when i wired the cap up you could tell the difference straight away more power and better sound


"Absolutely no need for 2 subs in any car let alone slow droney 15 inchers"

this depends on the music you listen to surely if i listen to fast punchy music then a 10" i would have but i bought the 15" for more bass


"the kicker comps will EACH need around 1.8 cu ft to 2.6 cu ft of internal volume"

"1cu ft + 12"x12"x12" = 1728 cu inches which is 1 cu ft"

so what would be the perfect size 13"x13"x13" ?

thanks for the input greatly appreciated ill go out and mesure my box now and get back to you with the measurement cheers
 
ok just measured the box and going by the calculations it seems my box isnt deep enuff however i remember that i made it as big as i could any bigger and it wouldnt fit in the boot (i need it to be removable) how can i get around this problem ?
 
hiya pete :nyah:

bigblokey
basically
the power cap in your system in itself needs to get power from somewhere ,the only place it can get power is the battery
however the cap can discharge power quicker than it can charge it
so in actual fact all the cap does is present itself as another load for the battery and alternator to deal with instead of just the amplifier
as said you would be much better with either another battery or an upgraded alternator

since you do not have enough internal volume for the two subs id suggest you used one in the correct sized box and power it correctly use the proceeds from the second sub to help with this

andy mac
its a common misconception that a 10" sub is actually quicker than a 15" sub there actually the same
the cones both resonate at the same speed to produce any given note but the bigger cone usually has more mass
have a look on the adire audio site they have all the technical stuff that proves the subs are both the same speed the only differance in a fifteen and a ten is the tuning of the person listening to it
 
big blokey

an enclosure size of 15"x15"x15" INTERNAL DIAMETER will give an ENCLOSURE size of 1.95 cu ft which is adequate for one 15" subwoofer
if you wished to fit both you simply double the size to
30"X15"x15" whch will give you a 3.9 cu ft enclosure

this is internal dimensions do not forget to add the width , height and depth of whatever material you are using for the enclosure
i would reccomend either marine ply or good old mdf to make the enclosure in no less than 18mm for the main box and double the thickness for the front baffle 36mm where the speakers mount
using anything thinner will cause the box to flex and you will lose potential output
 
mass is not the only variable andy
theres also xmax as the bigger speaker has more cone area it has less way to travel to create a note with the same intensity
basically lower mass has to travel further to create the same intensity of note
so the smaller speaker has less weight but has further to travel
hence why they equal each other out and neither is quicker than the other
 
dualmono21 said:
big blokey

an enclosure size of 15"x15"x15" INTERNAL DIAMETER will give an ENCLOSURE size of 1.95 cu ft which is adequate for one 15" subwoofer
if you wished to fit both you simply double the size to
30"X15"x15" whch will give you a 3.9 cu ft enclosure

this is internal dimensions do not forget to add the width , height and depth of whatever material you are using for the enclosure
i would reccomend either marine ply or good old mdf to make the enclosure in no less than 18mm for the main box and double the thickness for the front baffle 36mm where the speakers mount
using anything thinner will cause the box to flex and you will lose potential output
Click to expand...


its allright saying that but the opening of the boot aint big enuff to fit a box that size
 
audi upgrades
I think a lot depends on the quality of the sub, I had a Cerwin Vega stroker 12 in the boot of my old car and it was very punchy, but didn't last, it blew the voice coil and the amp was nowhere near on full capacity.
IMO 15" subs are OTT, 2 12's are more than enough for most cars. You might find you will get beter bass if you make an air passage from the enclosed boot space to the car's interior.

Sell the 15's and buy a 12 or 2 10's. I have 1 10" JL sub in my boot and it kicks the **** out of my car, I can't see a thing out of my rear view when its pumping and thats more than enough.

Don't forget to have a play around with your crossover settings because each setup is different.
 
Sorry, that wasn't a serious suggestion, really must start using smiley faces
You don't have to use those precise dimensions just as long as the overall volume is retained, so make it shorter but deeper.
 
A4Quattro said:
IMO 15" subs are OTT, 2 12's are more than enough for most cars. You might find you will get beter bass if you make an air passage from the enclosed boot space to the car's interior.

Sell the 15's and buy a 12 or 2 10's. I have 1 10" JL sub in my boot and it kicks the **** out of my car, I can't see a thing out of my rear view when its pumping and thats more than enough.

Don't forget to have a play around with your crossover settings because each setup is different.
Click to expand...


ive had two twelves in my last install and allthough they sounded good i wanted more bass if your happy with one 10" sub then fair enuff but i want to feel the music
 
You can't feel the music with two 12's? You either had crap subs/enclosure/amp or you really need to seek medical help.
Unless you are going purely for competition SPL there is absolutely no need for 2 x 15" subs in the average saloon.
 
have you ever had 2 12s or 2 15s ?

with my 2 12s you could feel the music ie.you could feel your hair moving your back and legs vibrating and with 2 15s i get even more you say theres no need to have 2 15s in an average saloon says who ? didnt realise there was a rule
 
No I haven't as there's absolutely no need, (I've heard enough systems in other peoples cars to work that out).
It's obviously all dependent on the quality of the subs/enclosure/amp. You can get exactly the same effect with 2 good 10" subs, without needing to go larger. I would look at the quality of the components and especially the enclosure before just assuming you need bigger drivers. e.g. if you need more horse power in your car you don't necessarily have to fit an engine with a bigger capacity.
 
2 x 12" subs should be more than enough if they are set up properly. I used to own a MK2 Golf which had 2 Pioneer 12" subs and they were really bassy. So much so that on the right song, you could put keys on the roof and they would easily bounce around like crazy. Don't see why anybody would need more bass than this IMO.
 
its all down to personal preference from my experience ie. the cruise scene meets and shows ive heard a few installs which is why i chose to go bigger theres no way 2 10s setup right can sound better than 2 15s setup right ??????
 
honestly?
If you removed the rear seats in your car so the sound actually made it unimpeded into the cabin, you'd probably find the 10's gave better response, due to there being less mass to move, they can move at a faster rate.
Size would equate to a lower frequency being able to be reproduced, but much below 40hz is pretty academic really.
 
A4Quattro said:
honestly?
If you removed the rear seats in your car so the sound actually made it unimpeded into the cabin, you'd probably find the 10's gave better response, due to there being less mass to move, they can move at a faster rate.
Size would equate to a lower frequency being able to be reproduced, but much below 40hz is pretty academic really.
Click to expand...



mass is not the only variable
theres also xmax as the bigger speaker has more cone area it has less way to travel to create a note with the same intensity
basically lower mass has to travel further to create the same intensity of note
so the smaller speaker has less weight but has further to travel
hence why they equal each other out and neither is quicker than the other
 
"each to their own as they say!!"
its a fact not a preferance

there is a big differance between QUALITY and QUANTITY

for QUALITY i personally would use one single woofer ten or twelve makes no odds as long as its in phase with the rest of the system
for pure spl then i would use one single 15 or 18
for street bass or QUANTITY i would use multiples of 10,s or 12,s as there natural resonant frequency is more susceptible to the human ear

big blokey wishes more quantity than quality as opposed to most other people in this thread
 
ive taken the advice from you guys and i have made one box for one 15" sub the dimensions are 15x17x18" is this to big i think it comes up at 2.65625Cu/Ft will that be ok ?
 
its just a tiny bit too big (so i would put something solid inside which will not compress under pressure ) make sure you fix it down though
powered correctly it will give marvellous extension and hit the really really low notes
 
how much to big shall i shorten the box by an inch or just screw some more mdf inside
 
ive just found this info out about the sub

500 watts max output
250 watts RMS rated
15" high powered competition series subwoofer with grille
Mounting Depth: 7-3/8"
Rec. Sealed Box Dims: 2.25 - 5.00 cu.ft.
Rec. Ported Box Dims: 3.00 - 4.00 cu.ft.
Free Air Usage: yes
Sensitivity: 90.2 dB
Frequency Response: 25-500 Hz
Impedance: 4 ohms


according to that i can go up to 5 cu ft
 
Well I think you've nailed the problem right there
250wrms for a 15" sub?? It's obviously a piece of garbage.
I can't find a decent 10" or 12" sub that's less than 1000wrms.
So maybe you should fit four of them to make up the shortfall!
 
AndyMac said:
Well I think you've nailed the problem right there
250wrms for a 15" sub?? It's obviously a piece of garbage.
I can't find a decent 10" or 12" sub that's less than 1000wrms.
So maybe you should fit four of them to make up the shortfall!
Click to expand...

hoffmans iron law !!!
effiecency,small enclosure or ability to drop pick any two but you cant have all three
 
"So maybe you should fit four of them to make up the shortfall!"
That wasn't a serious suggestion, blimey humour by-pass or what?
 
AndyMac said:
"So maybe you should fit four of them to make up the shortfall!"
That wasn't a serious suggestion, blimey humour by-pass or what?
Click to expand...

When you only really meant fit three:p
 
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