Box Build Questions

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centraltexastundra

CarAudio.com Recruit
My goal for this post is to gather as much information as possible to make the correct purchases when it comes to my system build. So below I will list the information I currently have on my vehicle and audio build. Thanks in advance and Mods, if this isn’t correct form I apologize.

Vehicle : 2016 Tundra CrewMac

Location in the vehicle: Rear Single seat area

Space available (Length x Width x Height):
32” L x 20” W x 20” H

Subwoofer make and model: undecided

Subwoofer Size: preferably 12”

Number of Subwoofers: preferably 2

Type of Port (Kerfed, Slot, Aero, etc.): need input

What type of music do you like?: rap/reggae/classic rock

Is your goal SPL or Everyday Music?: everyday music

Tuning Freq (Hz): need input

Volume : mid range mostly, some occasional high volume songs

Questions: I’ve figured out my sub box measurements, however I’m not sure how many subs I can fit into said space. Would it be better to go with 3 10s or 2 12s. I’m looking for everyday listening, no competition type usage.
 
6 cubes gross. Around 5 cubes net with 1 8" aero port at 16" long, bracing, and subwoofer displacement.

just so I’m reading this correctly, I need 6 cu ft total. The Aero Port is 8” in diameter and 16” long?

what’s the bracing?
I’ve been playing around with numbers as far as the dimensions, but I’m not too sure about the difference type of ports to use
 
You should brace the inside of the box. The corners need 45s and you should brace the top and bottom together, and the front and back. You don’t want the bigger panels flexing as you turn up the volume. The more rigid it is, the better it will perform.
 
First things first, nearly everyone you ask this question will have a different answer. Brand bias, subjective personal experience, and sometimes even misinformation leads to wildly different options. That being said instead of telling you which subs to buy, which amp to get, etc., Ill tell you the few things I've learned during my car audio journey.
First is what you're doing now, taking some serious time to decide what you really want out out of you system, what you might want in the future, whats best for you.
When I first decided to go from a daily driver with a small system to a high caliber competition vehicle I decided on 4 15" JLW0v3's and 4 8" JLW3v3's thinking I'd have something special that could hit lows and also have a nice punchy response simultaneously. I even bought all of the subs and amps (something like $3000) and never built the car because I realized it was a bad idea. This along with a ton of other decisions like vehicle choice, power supply, amplifiers, the list goes on, have cost me lots of money that I ultimatelycould have used elsewhere. Point is that I've had tons of ideas that I didn't think through and ended up hurting me in the end.

Second is the concept of what actually matters when you're building a system. If someone asked me the 2 things that matter most to get loud id say power and cone area. I know your more geared toward SQ but the idea is still important. DB's is essentially a power measurement. If you want to get more DB there is a mathematical relationship. You can always adjust what you already have to gain DB but when it comes down to it, the only way to get louder is to add subs or add power. Every time you double one of those you gain 3 DB. It doesn't always make it to the meter but mathematically if you double you gain 3 DB. In practice this is important because if you are serious about SPL but want to be as efficient with your power as possible you want to put in as much cone area as you can. Ex: my personal SPL build: we have 4 18s in a truck blowthrough. Those 4 subs are each getting 5000 watts and currently were hitting a 159.4. If we decided we wanted to be louder the only way we could do that is to swap out the 18s for 12s because we can match the cone area in the same box volume but because we have more subs we can double the power and get our 3 DB. Only problem with that is the power upgrades we would need to support the increased wattage. I don't have that kind of money so I opted to go with 18s because it was the cheapest way to fill my trucks usable area. I think you get the idea.

3rd thing ill talk about is box type. This is once again heavily debated. Im not a box master, I'd hardly call myself an intermediate but I have learned a few things. I think ported vs sealed already has enough coverage so I'll skip the pros and cons and give my general opinion. Sealed is good when space is limited and/or a tight punchy response is wanted. Ported is good when space is still a factor but less so and a deeper more rumble type sound is desired. If I had to pick between ported and sealed I'd pick ported but honestly I don't love either. Sealed lacks in the efficiency department and ported is bandwidth limited. With ported your bandwidth effectively stops as soon as you hit the tuning frequency and I assume with SQ, being able to play down to 20 hz is a desirable. As of now my favorite box type is 4th order. Just like everything it has trade offs but for car audio I think its the best option. The sealed section gives you a tight punchy response meanwhile having a ported section gives you attributes of a ported box. There is a lot of factors but when designed properly you can have a box that has serious kick and also plays ridiculously low without losing cone control. Im not sure a 4th could be optimized to play the higher notes associated with your choice in music but I would heavily consider it as an option. As a side note, if you do go 4th I'd be happy to design the enclosure, no cost.

All in all there are many things to think about before making concrete decisions. Based on your post and my opinionated knowledge, I'd go with 2 lower power SQ geared 12's in a 4th. With roughly 5 cunesnof gross volume you should have the volume you need. The pair won't need tons of power either which is nice for your power supply too.

As you can probably tell I'm definitely more of an SPL guy but the mindset and process of system design is very similar. Any other questions let me know. Sorry for the book.
 
Mpoole96, thank you for the detailed response. I'm actually going to go over it again and research some of the things you covered. I've come to this conclusion so far, I think my choice in subs should dictate my box choice and design, and overall what I want from this system. I know for sure being a family man, and the main driver in the family, having a competition type system isn't ideal. I like to listen to different types of music, and also be able to turn the bass up/down when the BOSS is in the car is important, lol. So I'm strongly considering two options with said space for the sub(s). Option 1, go with 1 12" Kicker Solo Baric, and have a simple ported box, and the amp to support it, which in the Tundra I'm hoping it wont draw too much battery and I wont need a stronger alternator. Basically the simple setup. Option 2, go 3 10s and choose a brand like DC Audio, and utilize all of said space I have for the sub and add a battery and alternator if need be. Biggest concern with the 3 12s, is having proper power so there is no dimming of lights or anything. With the 3 10s, I'd like to have 2 firing upward and 1 firing towards the front of the truck. I do feel like the 3 10s will be more costly, which is ultimately the deciding factor.

Main thing Im going for is a system that isnt crazy dumb, but isnt bottom of the barrell, walmart type setup.
 
Mpoole96, thank you for the detailed response. I'm actually going to go over it again and research some of the things you covered. I've come to this conclusion so far, I think my choice in subs should dictate my box choice and design, and overall what I want from this system. I know for sure being a family man, and the main driver in the family, having a competition type system isn't ideal. I like to listen to different types of music, and also be able to turn the bass up/down when the BOSS is in the car is important, lol. So I'm strongly considering two options with said space for the sub(s). Option 1, go with 1 12" Kicker Solo Baric, and have a simple ported box, and the amp to support it, which in the Tundra I'm hoping it wont draw too much battery and I wont need a stronger alternator. Basically the simple setup. Option 2, go 3 10s and choose a brand like DC Audio, and utilize all of said space I have for the sub and add a battery and alternator if need be. Biggest concern with the 3 12s, is having proper power so there is no dimming of lights or anything. With the 3 10s, I'd like to have 2 firing upward and 1 firing towards the front of the truck. I do feel like the 3 10s will be more costly, which is ultimately the deciding factor.

Main thing Im going for is a system that isnt crazy dumb, but isnt bottom of the barrell, walmart type setup.
I highly doubt you'll run into headlight problems even with 3 10's. One of my older systems had 1000w in it, a horrible battery, and an old stock alt. I played it for 4 hours straight at full tilt on a road trip and never once dimmed the lights. Every car and setup is different but even if you do start to dim, replacing your battery with a nice xs power will do the trick. My current daily driver has 1 12 on a 4k and only once I added 2 xs power batteries did I finally stop dimming, but were talking a lot of power. Long story short, power draw should be the least of your concerns given the amount of power you would be putting to a single 12 or even 3 10s
 
Best way to find out is to take your vin number to the car manufacturers website and type it in and "usually" they will have that information on there in the electrical area. Just depends on the whether or not they do that sort of thing. Some also had options as well for higher output alternators from factory.
 
So the decision has been made, I've ordered 3 DC Audio Level 1 10s. My first thoughts on the box 24 L x 20 W x 15 H which gives me a little bit over 4cuft3. Each one of the 10s requires 1. Id like to have 2 firing up towards ceiling, and one firing towards the front of the cab. Is this possible?
 
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centraltexastundra

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