Bigger is....worse?

[creyc 10+ year member]

Good read, and I suppose the best way to test the entire concept of this thread is to "free air" an 8 and this RE SE 12 in the same manner as npdang.

Ok, so maybe this is bigger than just the driver, perhaps its the install. Can ported boxes be "fast"? Do I simply tune high? Decrease volume? Switch to sealed? :\

 

[T3mpest 10+ year member]

Ported boxes could be fast, depending on the acoustics of the car and how you tune it. Honestly, I wouldn't port a driver if I was looking for a fast sounding responce out of a driver. I'd use a small sealed box with quite a bit of power to have a good mix of SPL and punchy bass. Another thing to conider is your midbass. Your front speaker will be playing the upper end of the bass notes as well, which are what makes it "punchy". Have a good set of mids in a well sealed door can help you, perhaps even more so than the sub! Making sure the sub isn't up too loud and overpowering the mids will help as well.