1/4" Aluminum Box sound quality

[TurboRedneck 10+ year member]

Anyone have first hand knowledge of how an aluminum or steel box sounds? I'm contemplating front seat riser boxes made from .250" thick 5052 Aluminum. Plenty of braces for the seats to bolt to so flexing shouldn't be a problem. Shooting for 10's or 12's in a single reflex bandpass tuned to 100hz running 70 to 180hz for a midbass punch.

Just not wanting to spend lotsa $ and time to have boxes that sounds like total arse.

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[RangerDangerV2 5,000+ posts]

i would think that it would resonate quite a bit which equal lost energy...

 

[kramer_212 10+ year member]

fuqq just do 1" like a boss.

 

[Spooney 10+ year member]

I work with aluminum all day long.........1/4 inch will not be thick enough for what you want and I don't envision it sounding very good either.

 

[matt_bennett05 10+ year member]

by the time you spend the cash and energy used in aluminum you would be much better off using mdf man... not only that but I would think it wouldn't look the prettiest either... unless you also spent lots of time and effort in doing that too.

 

[TurboRedneck 10+ year member]

Yep, I wasn't envisioning it sounding SQ great, just hoping for daily driver decent. My quick sketch has the largest unsupported plates less than 10 inches & that won't flex visibly but does have a good ring when smacked with a hammer. Dunno if a speaker will make that ring show up.

1/4" I can form. 1/2 or 1" would need more cutting & welding.

 

[RangerDangerV2 5,000+ posts]

why not just go with mdf or birch plywood???

 

[TurboRedneck 10+ year member]

why not just go with mdf or birch plywood???

A wood box would need wrapped with a metal structure for seat & person support for the long run. PITA to integrate the two, rather just do aluminum all the way. Just haven't the foggiest how it might sound, thats the unknown.

 

[Moble Enclosurs 10+ year member]

Its likely that you may have a hollow like sound to it, due to the fact that it will be used for midbass. If there are any panel areas larger than the cone diameter total, its likely that the panel will cause undesirable effects......ringing maybe not so much, but a muffled sound, very likely. By adding a material that is more dense than the types of wood we normally use, you are giving it a higher degree of reflection within the enclosure, so ratios of width, height, and depth may have to be carefully followed.

This is different for subbass frequencies, as they are too long to make a difference at less than half wave resonances in most cases, but when you increase the frequency range, you may end up matching the natural resonance of the aluminum, which will only excite the panels even easier. So bracing, as you mentioned is a must. I would also line the inside with fiberglass cloth insulation as well, with a high density material rating. This will help with reducing a possible tube-like sound from the port.

Bracing and inner dampening is beneficial. This can be done if done right.

 

[VisceralSound 10+ year member]

Do it and send us your full report I would say //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[TurboRedneck 10+ year member]

M'kay, Sounds good enough to make a venture. I guess I'll leave the inside texture rough for a possible additional coating. Maybe something like the spray in Dynamat or bedliner. Tips much appriciated. To the drawing board....

 

[CAT MAN 5,000+ posts]

by the time you spend the cash and energy used in aluminum you would be much better off using mdf man... not only that but I would think it wouldn't look the prettiest either... unless you also spent lots of time and effort in doing that too.

mdf blows. pine sheath or birch man...

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

M'kay, Sounds good enough to make a venture. I guess I'll leave the inside texture rough for a possible additional coating. Maybe something like the spray in Dynamat or bedliner. Tips much appriciated. To the drawing board....

I would brace at regular intervals with some angle iron (or aluminum I guess you'd call it) or I beams, or even sections of pipe. I can't see 1/4 aluminum flexing a lot with some bracing.

 

[matt_bennett05 10+ year member]

mdf blows. pine sheath or birch man...

Agreed but compared to 1/4" aluminumimum it's t!ts.

 

[GLN305 10+ year member]

Magico Product | Q7

Might need thicker, but it can be reference quality.