Difference between Free air subwoofer and Enclosed subwoofer

[snb778]

Can anyone tell me the difference between the design of a free air subwoofer and a subwoofer that is meant to be enclosed. Does the free air have the capability of producing the same levels of SPL if all the variables are the same?

[Underage Driver]

any sub can be free aired. free airing a sub will let be able to have the same xmax but a lot less power.

[squeak9798]

"Free Air" (infinite baffle) setups generally don't have the SPL of sealed, but *generally* have stronger bottom end. IB is also more efficient and needs less (i.e. can't handle as much) power.

Any sub can be ran infinite baffle; but that doesn't mean every sub willl sound good doing it.

[audioholic]

Jmac is right. In this regard, there are two basic subwoofer types: suspension dampened and enclosure dampened. Most suspension dampened subs play fine (and even excellent) in enclosures, but enclosure dampened subs wont play free-air well because there is not enough cone control/suspension.

There have been subs made exclusively for IB, I know ID made a model or two a few years ago, and others too Im sure as well as home audio. But Im not aware of any current mainstream car audio subs that are meant exclusively for IB.

[snb778]

I believe some of the older Kicker comps were meant for IB.

Why don't companies list their reccommended power for an IB application then?

[themainman]

Another bad thing about using free air is that the subs will be sacrificing the deep bass compared to properly designed sealed or ported systems. This is true to even the best of trunks, where sonic isolation is not an issue.