Ported vs 4th and 6th orders

[ThatOneGuy1175]

So I've read 6th is awful for a daily setup because you only get a small bandwidth of frequencies. Can anyone educate me a little more on this? I listen to mainly rap and some dj russticals rebassed music.

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

So I've read 6th is awful for a daily setup because you only get a small bandwidth of frequencies.

That is very dependent on the subs and response will be quite sensitive to a lot of variables in the box even if it models OK. I have seen several failures in person of guys trying to do bandpass and played with 4th order myself back when it was first a meme in the early/mid 90s. The real issue is that almost invariably by the time you flatten out the bandwidth to be usable for music listening you will lose all the "ripple" gains you would have got.

For example I did a 4th order in a 1980 Town Car ages ago to port up through the rear deck and it sounded nice but was basically just sealed box performance with the only benefit being a good way to get all the sound up front. The subs I used modeled particularly well for that alignment and were very fairly priced at Circuit City at the time. Seen a couple big wall builds up here local that sounded good but weren't very impressive on the meter for their power and cone area (one of those guys switched to just a flat wall and is now doing strong numbers) and saw a couple 6th order attempts that were complete failures and were quickly scrapped.

Again, most important is run your specs through some modeling software and see if you can get anything that looks useful and do make certain you have some kind of plan on how you can easily modify volumes and port area/tuning all around if it doesn't work out the gate or even after several revisions.

 

[ThatOneGuy1175]

So how would I do a wall in a minivan with 2 15s? Lol

 

[Buck 5,000+ posts]

So I've read 6th is awful for a daily setup because you only get a small bandwidth of frequencies. Can anyone educate me a little more on this? I listen to mainly rap and some dj russticals rebassed music.

That's not true. It all depends on the setup and how it's designed. If you're running 2 Skar 15's on 5kw, then a 6th order is probably going to sound like you want it to, right up your alley. 6th orders can really capture all the power and use everything the sub has to produce a decently wide and controlled bandwidth. At a certain power and cone area level, you're creating so much pressure that the box loads no matter where it is in the vehicle, especially with a series 6th. So, you wind up getting a great bandwidth. I have done 2 18's 6th orders that are tuned to 24 hz rear and mid 40 hz range front, like 45-47 hz, and they will play all the way up to 70 hz loudly, and play sub sonic. You have to design the 6th a certain way to get that range. I can't share those specific secrets, but you can make a series 6th do almost whatever you want it to. I've done DC's in series 6th orders, like their 12. I had a single DC 12 in a pickup truck playing 23-67 hz full tilt and fairly flat, and it was just a box that went in the place of a 40 split rear seat. That was a single 12 on 1500w in a giant full sized crew cab, which those trucks have some of the worst and somewhat unpredictable frequency responses. It's all about how it's designed.

 

[Buck 5,000+ posts]

I did my first series 6th when I was 18, and I messed the tuning up, and we were just testing a box anyways. But I figured everything out, and I've been designed them for 11 years or so now. Both 4th and both kinds of 6th orders, they both can sound very good on daily rap music. You just have to understand how each part of a series 6th changes the other parts. They are really diverse, as in, you can really make a series 6th into whatever you want it to be. There's no rules in enclosure designs, and series 6th orders can be so vastly different in performance.

 

[ThatOneGuy1175]

Where are you located @Buck

 

[Buck 5,000+ posts]

Where are you located @Buck

Florida