12" Sealed Box for American Bass XFL1244 to fit 06 Acura TL

[hutt132 10+ year member]

I currently have an 06 Acura TL with an American Bass XFL1244 12" in a ported box made of 3/4" MDF (H 15 x W 27 x D 17.75).
I'm older now and rarely push it to full volume level, and I need more trunk space for road trips, so I'm looking to downsize the box to a smaller sealed design.

I was looking at this 12" Sealed 1.6 CU FT box (https://www.rockvilleaudio.com/rms12/) since one old thread said they like 1.5 cu ft sealed.
Would this be a good choice or could I go with an even smaller enclosure?

https://www.sonicelectronix.com/item-90871-American-Bass-XFL1244.html

RMS 1000 watts
Top-Mount Depth 7.6"
(Fs) 33.6 Hz
(Vas) 31.9 liters
(Qts) 0.437
(Qes) 0.497
(Qms) 3.826
Wasn't able to find displacement, could be 0.1-0.2.

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[Doxquzme Premium Member]

I currently have an 06 Acura TL with an American Bass XFL1244 12" in a ported box made of 3/4" MDF (H 15 x W 27 x D 17.75).
I'm older now and rarely push it to full volume level, and I need more trunk space for road trips, so I'm looking to downsize the box to a smaller sealed design.

I was looking at this 12" Sealed 1.6 CU FT box (https://www.rockvilleaudio.com/rms12/) since one old thread said they like 1.5 cu ft sealed.
Would this be a good choice or could I go with an even smaller enclosure?

https://www.sonicelectronix.com/item-90871-American-Bass-XFL1244.html

RMS 1000 watts
Top-Mount Depth 7.6"
(Fs) 33.6 Hz
(Vas) 31.9 liters
(Qts) 0.437
(Qes) 0.497
(Qms) 3.826
Wasn't able to find displacement, could be 0.1-0.2.

I Used to be a fan of the product but lately is seems they provide little to no info on their page to help people figure these things out. I tried to model the woofer in a 1.6” ported box, wasn’t pretty. The best results I see are in the box you have, around 3cubic feet. The driver is not particularly favorable to sealed or ported but even if you went to a sealed box, half the size of the optimal ported box is a bit of a stretch. I’d be looking at a nice 10" or 12” driver in a small sealed box. Say a Focal 27v2, 11” driver designed for a small stuffed box as small as .53 cu ft and as large as 1.06 cu ft. This is a no compromise setup that will perform very nice. I have 2 of the Focal 13” 33v2’s and they are really quite nice. The 11” and a box to boot will set you back around $300.00. They are being sold (limited quantities) by woofersetc.com (directly or on eBay/Amazon) and are usually priced at $379.00 for the woofer alone. They play plenty loud, not loud like the AB you are using, but still pretty damn loud, uncomfortably loud for that matter. They are tight, articulate and punchy and play down to around 40hz in 1cubic foot stufffed with a pound of polyfil.This driver is designed for small sealed enclosures. I would think you could sell you current setup to easily cover the cost of the new driver and box. You could also go for the 33v2 for about $50 more (woofer and 1.06 to 1.7Cu Ft sealed box). I mean just tell the wife that she will be able to pack an entire extra suitcase if you change it out!

 

[hutt132 10+ year member]

I Used to be a fan of the product but lately is seems they provide little to no info on their page to help people figure these things out. I tried to model the woofer in a 1.6” ported box, wasn’t pretty. The best results I see are in the box you have, around 3cubic feet. The driver is not particularly favorable to sealed or ported but even if you went to a sealed box, half the size of the optimal ported box is a bit of a stretch. I’d be looking at a nice 10" or 12” driver in a small sealed box. Say a Focal 27v2, 11” driver designed for a small stuffed box as small as .53 cu ft and as large as 1.06 cu ft. This is a no compromise setup that will perform very nice. I have 2 of the Focal 13” 33v2’s and they are really quite nice. The 11” and a box to boot will set you back around $300.00. They are being sold (limited quantities) by woofersetc.com (directly or on eBay/Amazon) and are usually priced at $379.00 for the woofer alone. They play plenty loud, not loud like the AB you are using, but still pretty damn loud, uncomfortably loud for that matter. They are tight, articulate and punchy and play down to around 40hz in 1cubic foot stufffed with a pound of polyfil.This driver is designed for small sealed enclosures. I would think you could sell you current setup to easily cover the cost of the new driver and box. You could also go for the 33v2 for about $50 more (woofer and 1.06 to 1.7Cu Ft sealed box). I mean just tell the wife that she will be able to pack an entire extra suitcase if you change it out!

Ah that's a shame my AB doesn't play well in a sealed box. Was hoping to reuse it. The Focal 13” 33v2 in a 1.06 box is tempting, though. That would free up a lot of room in my trunk and reduce weight as well.

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

I would look into an Aero-port enclosure and use that sub.

 

[some dude]

A sealed box is very easy to assemble.
If you can get the round hole for the woofer cut then throw a sealed box together and see how it sounds.

Find a jigsaw and or a router and cut that shiz.

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

Custom Ported Subwoofer Box Sub Enclosure for 1 12" American Bass XFL Sub 34 Hz | eBay

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Can you fit that in there and have enough room??

 

[Doxquzme Premium Member]

Ah that's a shame my AB doesn't play well in a sealed box. Was hoping to reuse it. The Focal 13” 33v2 in a 1.06 box is tempting, though. That would free up a lot of room in my trunk and reduce weight as well.

Agreed. It's an SQ driver fpr sure, the sound, it's impressive. I found that when I migrated to this kind of driver, I could actually listen to it louder than other configs, the tuning is all about appealing to the ear, not assaulting it! The 33v2’s build quality (as is most all Focal), truly top notch. I find myself spending 15-20 minutes at times, stopped in the driveway just amazed at how clean and accurate they are.

 

[SlugButter]

aeroports cut down on space. This is the same sub and same box specs. Both of these boxes are 1.3 cubic feet tuned to 32 HZ. You can see the size difference. The slot port takes up over 1 cube of space inside the box by itself. The round ports HAVE to be flared on both ends or there would be a lot of port noise though. I just did a custom box for an AB XFL 12 a couple weeks back. 1.8 cubes tuned to 34 HZ. Very impressive sub in a ported box. I would recommend to anyone running this sub not to run it sealed. It won’t do as well as some other subs in sealed boxes. The Dayton ultimax 12 or Stereo Integrity 12 would be an excellent choice for a sealed setup. Either of those would love a sealed box.

 

[hutt132 10+ year member]

aeroports cut down on space. This is the same sub and same box specs. Both of these boxes are 1.3 cubic feet tuned to 32 HZ. You can see the size difference. The slot port takes up over 1 cube of space inside the box by itself. The round ports HAVE to be flared on both ends or there would be a lot of port noise though. I just did a custom box for an AB XFL 12 a couple weeks back. 1.8 cubes tuned to 34 HZ. Very impressive sub in a ported box. I would recommend to anyone running this sub not to run it sealed. It won’t do as well as some other subs in sealed boxes. The Dayton ultimax 12 or Stereo Integrity 12 would be an excellent choice for a sealed setup. Either of those would love a sealed box.

The listing for the Dayton ultimax 12 shows Cabinet Recommendations:

• Sealed 1.5 cubic ft. (net internal) with 1 lbs. of Acousta-Stuf polyfill, f3 of 35 Hz with a 0.707 Qtc alignment
• Vented 2 cubic ft. (net internal, not including driver or port volume) yields an f3 of 22 Hz

Is it safe to assume that is 1.5 cu ft including the driver, or should I go with a 1.6 cu ft enclosure to account for the driver?

 

[SlugButter]

The listing for the Dayton ultimax 12 shows Cabinet Recommendations:

• Sealed 1.5 cubic ft. (net internal) with 1 lbs. of Acousta-Stuf polyfill, f3 of 35 Hz with a 0.707 Qtc alignment
• Vented 2 cubic ft. (net internal, not including driver or port volume) yields an f3 of 22 Hz

Is it safe to assume that is 1.5 cu ft including the driver, or should I go with a 1.6 cu ft enclosure to account for the driver?

1.6. It would actually work in even as little as 1 cube in car audio applications. I would probably still do as close to 1.5 if the space is available. It is a bit large for a sealed 12, but it does perform very well. Nice low end extension and very accurate.

 

[audiobaun 5,000+ posts]

aeroports cut down on space. This is the same sub and same box specs. Both of these boxes are 1.3 cubic feet tuned to 32 HZ. You can see the size difference. The slot port takes up over 1 cube of space inside the box by itself. The round ports HAVE to be flared on both ends or there would be a lot of port noise though. I just did a custom box for an AB XFL 12 a couple weeks back. 1.8 cubes tuned to 34 HZ. Very impressive sub in a ported box. I would recommend to anyone running this sub not to run it sealed. It won’t do as well as some other subs in sealed boxes. The Dayton ultimax 12 or Stereo Integrity 12 would be an excellent choice for a sealed setup. Either of those would love a sealed box. View attachment 51936View attachment 51937

Those are some Badd Azzed looking enclosures man. Love It!!

 

[hutt132 10+ year member]

1.6. It would actually work in even as little as 1 cube in car audio applications. I would probably still do as close to 1.5 if the space is available. It is a bit large for a sealed 12, but it does perform very well. Nice low end extension and very accurate.

I got the Dayton Audio UM12-22 installed in a sealed 1.6 cu ft box and it's still loud and sounds cleaner than my ported American Bass sub (except below 30Hz). It takes up half as much space in the trunk now too! Thank you for the recommendation.

 

[SlugButter]

I got the Dayton Audio UM12-22 installed in a sealed 1.6 cu ft box and it's still loud and sounds cleaner than my ported American Bass sub (except below 30Hz). It takes up half as much space in the trunk now too! Thank you for the recommendation.

No problem. The Dayton ultimax is one of the better sounding sealed subs I’ve heard. I kinda want to try the 18 in my ride.