Does length and width matter when building a sealed box for a sub?

[jriley3 10+ year member]

I am new to the car audio stuff, and me and my friend are going to try to build a box for this 10" KickerCVR.

these are the specs:

# power handling: 50-300 watts RMS

# peak power: 600 watts

# sensitivity: 85.5 dB

# top-mount depth: 5-9/16"

# sealed box volume: 0.8-3.0 cu. ft.

# ported box volume: 1.25-1.75 cu. ft

so does that mean i can build a box whatever shape i want as long as it is .8-3.0 cu. ft. in volume?

Obviously im not talking about circles lol. So if thats true, then what should i make the volume,

should it be the most possible? or least? what will sound best.

Also, would i be better off making a ported?

is it that much harder and will produce a better sound?

And what am i supposed to fill the box with and how much. someone told me cotton?

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[blackbonnie 5,000+ posts]

as long as it is within the subs specs you can build it however you want

 

[jriley3 10+ year member]

isnt 1 cubed foot kind of small? i mean thats like 1 foot by 1 foot by 1 foot correct, so why do they say the sealed boxes are smaller than ported. i could go another foot than a ported in a sealed

 

[jdc753 10+ year member]

isnt 1 cubed foot kind of small? i mean thats like 1 foot by 1 foot by 1 foot correct, so why do they say the sealed boxes are smaller than ported. i could go another foot than a ported in a sealed

100% correct lol One thing to remember though, this needs to be your internal dimensions so a perfect cube box meant to have 1 ft^3 of internal volume for a box will actually need to be at least 1'1.5" all around (to account for 3/4" MDF) and then also a bit more volume would be added to account for the speaker displacement. All of this of course would be in a perfect world and not too much of a problem for for the common user (except to remember your looking for internal volume and not external.)

Not really sure I understand the second question but I will make an attempt at a response or explaination.

Sealed boxes can be larger than a small ported however its not necessary, the volume of the box will affect how the sub will play, as well as the ultimate power handling of the speaker. However it is generally true a sealed box will be smaller than ported. Also majority of ported enclosures have the ports built into the overall dimensions of the box (slot port) The displacement of the port itself is subtracted from the over all internal volume of the box, and thus the box must be made slightly larger to account for this displacement in air volume.

Hope this helps some, there is plenty of reading and searching you can do on here to learn more (its what I have been doing for the past while.) As well as many helpful members who really know what they are doing when it comes to designing the perfect speaker box.

And on the part of 1 ft^3 seeming kind of small I ran my my 2 Infinity 12" subs in 1.25 ft^3 each (separate chambers) sealed and they sounded great, I would think a 10" kicker in 1 ft^3 would be a nice match.

 

[Immacomputer 10+ year member]

so why do they say the sealed boxes are smaller than ported.

It's an over generalization that is not always correct.

 

[jriley3 10+ year member]

Hmm thanx alot for reminding me i was doing the outside volume and not inside lol.

I was told to use plywood by one person... but i should used MDF or the best results correct? how should i go about getting that, could i go to home depot, and if i can will it cost less at lets say a lumber yard or something like that? so I'll be fine just rounding off the outside volume to 1.2 all around won't I? So if i did that I would need.... 8.64, so about 9 square feet of wood correct?

 

[jriley3 10+ year member]

oh and I'm supposed to stuff the box correct? what should i use, one person told me cotton.

 

[morgans432 10+ year member]

oh and I'm supposed to stuff the box correct? what should i use, one person told me cotton.

polyfill lots of it and use MDF or Turpan a lighter weight wood.

 

[jriley3 10+ year member]

where can i get polyfill and be a little more specific with a lot of it, do i stuff and much as possible, just fill it but dont stuff, leave some room...etc

 

[jriley3 10+ year member]

i just did a little more research and my research states that fiberglass is the best cheap material to put in it and a lot of the time it will do absolutely nothing.

 

[bhsdriller 10+ year member]

you can get polyfill at walmart.

iirc it was pretty cheap last time i bought it

 

[jriley3 10+ year member]

anyone have experience with stuffing with fiberglass?