Do Sonotubes need to be Reinforced?

[ARSkemp 10+ year member]

I was thinking about using a 8" sonotube in my next enclosure, but do they have to be reinforced with fiberglass or anything like that? Since they are cylindrical i'm assuming they are pretty sturdy as it is, and i really don't want to deal with fiberglass if i don't have to.

Thanks in advance for the help.

Click to read more...

 

[audiobahnuser18 5,000+ posts]

It does help.

 

[solidcrowd 10+ year member]

If they can stand the pressure of concrete, I'm sure it will be fine. I have a 18" wide and 5ft tall tube for my home audio and it works fine.

 

[ARSkemp 10+ year member]

Bump,

Anyone else have any input?

I was thinking about a sub up port side with 2 12" HDCs in a 4ft3 box tuned to 38hz w/ 1 8" Sonotube.

Do you think the sonotube will be ok w/o any kind of reinforcement?

 

[netzero 10+ year member]

Ya it'll be fine, those things can take a beating. I sprayed the outside of one with some car undercoating that has (sound deadening) and that helped it structurally and deadened higher frequencies. It's cheap and might be worth it, $6 at autozone or walmart.

Just out of curiosity, why go down from your four AQs you have now?

 

[ARSkemp 10+ year member]

Ya it'll be fine, those things can take a beating. I sprayed the outside of one with some car undercoating that has (sound deadening) and that helped it structurally and deadened higher frequencies. It's cheap and might be worth it, $6 at autozone or walmart.
Just out of curiosity, why go down from your four AQs you have now?

I've already sold those a few weeks ago. Definitely more than loud enough for a daily driver, and i wanted to get some trunk space back. I'm currently running 2 10" rd alpha's @ the moment.

Right now i'm using a flared labyrinth port for the alpha's, but i'm thinking if i use a sonotube for 2 12" AQs my box will only be 2" deeper than the current box for the alpha's, and i'm sure i'll have a little more output than i am currently getting them being 12"s (+ they should take a bit more power too).

pretty much just an idea i'm throwing around in my head.

do you happen to know the name of the deadening spray you used?

 

[netzero 10+ year member]

Oh ok, ya I bet those four 12s were loud. Ya I would definitely go with the sono tube, if you can do it so you attach it from the inside and round over the outside of the port, you will have no noise at all.

As for the spray, it was 3M "premium" or something spray on undercoat. It drys hard, but takes a few days to fully cure, but it has some texture and rubberization to it. Its nice, it adds integrity and weight to whatever it goes on, and keeps any pings and stuff down. This is a picture of a box i did with it.

 

[Rashadddd 10+ year member]

an 8" one should definitely be fine

the bigger ones, I'd reinforce somehow

 

[snb778 5,000+ posts]

8" sonotube here... never had a problem

 

[Millertime1028 10+ year member]

With my current setup (2) 10 inch sono's , I coated both the inside and out with fiberglass resin. They are fairly sturdy to begin with so the 8's will have a bit more structural ridgity to them due to the smaller size. You should be just fine as they are.

 

[ARSkemp 10+ year member]

Thanks for the responses