Well, first of all, the questions are not dumb at all. You're doing good for asking first before purchasing anything you may not keep for more than a week. So, we appreciate that. Keep em coming!
Secondly, as far as tuning, there is a reason why people are so concerned with that rather than the entire response curve. The reason is for boxes like what has been shown. With those designs, that are already too small for any real performance, they do some interesting things to the output.
1. They are so small that they can contribute the curve to that of a sealed phase response, which is great for sound quality, but does lack output. And if you are looking for a balance, these types of designs, shown above in the links, have about a 70% quality, 30% output authority to them. The problem then is number 2...
2. With the tuning, most tune low because these design have given the audio community a reason to tune low. And no one realizes otherwise that this is only a "fix" for other issues in the design. So, a design that has a higher tuning is not mainstream mainly because there is a loss of output quickly below tuning. SO, tuning is a concentration for most who do not know about the other contributing factors of the response. These concerns are mainly for conventional designs where there is a lack of control compared to other styles with more control. So, tuning has became an important concept in keeping the output authority higher in the low frequency range rather than controlling the response effectively, it only hides the inaccuracies by changing the tuning. It is tough to get a conventional idea to not have these issues, but not impossible. Which is why tlines and horns of the like have became popular (once again).
So, with a proper sized design, and proper control, you can get any driver to perform very well and the way you want, instead of limiting yourself on these boxes that not only are smaller, but also have the higher tuning so it will drop fast in the lower range, because without the size factor being more usable, the response will suffer, and tuning then becomes the only factor that can make the difference.
I would not rely on tuning in any design to do the job for the sub. The subwoofer can perform at any frequency you throw at it, depending on the power applied. So, i tis then up to the box to reproduce these frequencies so they have enough authority to sound good. And this is reliant on size, and control rather than how thick the wood is (though it does help), and what its tuned to. When people ask me how many cubes or what the tuning is of any of my designs, I try to let them know that they were not designed around those factors mainly, but they were considered in the design as having an importance.
This was kind of a rant, but I just wanted to point out that tuning and manufacturer volumes recommendations are crap when the other factors do not work. Then again, tuning is the only thing you have control over at that point. I dont want to have control over only one factor, I want to control them all, and these boxes you have linked to do not do that at all.
