Is my box hurting me?

[Fi-brations 10+ year member]

Ive had the same box since i got into car audio about a year ago. It's just a box i bought of ebay for $80, its a dual 12 inch ported box. It's 3/4 in MDF. Its 36 in wide 19 in deep and 15 or so inches high, the port is on one side and is 12 inches tall and 3 1/2 in wide, the inside l piece is about 4 inches long, i have 2 Fi Audio Q 12s on a soundstream tx1.2000d, the only problems i have with the box are that it is too wide for my trunk. My trunk narrows as it goes back and i would like to be able to push it farther in, which would require my box to be around 32 inches instead. But my Main concern is that i want to get the most out of my system. I dont really have an idea of what my box is tuned to or how many cubic feet it is. Ive tried to use calculators, but i havent found a good one. So im just wondering if i would notice a large difference in quality or loudness if i made a box myself specifically for my situation, or if my box is fine. Also how much would it cost to make a box myself?

thank you for your advice

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[wenn_du_weinst 10+ year member]

if you have to ask chances are yes.

 

[THATpurpleKUSH 5,000+ posts]

It would cost no more than $50 to make a box by yourself, maybe a little more if you carpet it. And you would notice a huge difference in quality and maybe a little in output.

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

It would cost no more than $50 to make a box by yourself, maybe a little more if you carpet it. And you would notice a huge difference in quality and maybe a little in output.

only if you buy cheap home depot wood,if you get a better quality piece of wood ,like at a lumber yard ,it will cost $50 by its self , so $100 or so to build the box and yes it will prolly be better sounding and have better out put if done right

 

[wenn_du_weinst 10+ year member]

my last box cost me 125 with birch and resin and screws it was a small 1 sheet box

 

[bhsdriller 10+ year member]

mdf is like $35 a sheet at home depot...would be perfectly fine for what the op is going to do

 

[mylows10 5,000+ posts]

my last one i built was for a single dc level 3 15 mdf 4 cubic ft after port and displacement and it cost 110 to build and 5 hours of work . wood, screws, glue, paint , but i dont use regular sheet rock screws [they break easy] i like the better screws .

 

[dB-SPL 10+ year member]

It costs $30 for a sheet of MDF and $10 for a bottle of glue. If you don't have a brad nailer or clamps, add a box of screws. That's less than you paid for that. Your box is about 5.9 cubes gross. Subtract wood thickness and port volume and you could be somewhere in the ballpark of 4.5 cubes. But if your measurements are right, that box is tuned pretty **** high. Especially for Q's.. You're around 45 hz +/- a few

 

[Fi-brations 10+ year member]

It costs $30 for a sheet of MDF and $10 for a bottle of glue. If you don't have a brad nailer or clamps, add a box of screws. That's less than you paid for that. Your box is about 5.9 cubes gross. Subtract wood thickness and port volume and you could be somewhere in the ballpark of 4.5 cubes. But if your measurements are right, that box is tuned pretty **** high. Especially for Q's.. You're around 45 hz +/- a few

Thank you, that is what i was wanting to know, i felt like my problem might be that my box was tuned way too high because i always hear about q's hitting the real lows real hard, but mine dont seem to live up to what i expected, is there anyway i could just modify my box to have it tuned to around 32 hz?

 

[goingdef 10+ year member]

Is my box hurting me? well#1 If your not using lube then Yes most likely it is hurting you but #2 in it's defence meant it's not for that!

 

[JerryEllis 10+ year member]

only if you buy cheap home depot wood,if you get a better quality piece of wood ,like at a lumber yard ,it will cost $50 by its self , so $100 or so to build the box and yes it will prolly be better sounding and have better out put if done right

i wouldn't say that, home depot has this cabin grade 3/4 inch plywood out, we have been testing it and we are getting great numbers with it, and plus its only 26 bucks after tax! it looks just like birch and even layered like it... i have a box that i build with that wood in my car and i am burping 52's 53's with just one 15 in it tuned to 32 hz with just a little american bass vfl 120.1 going to it. and it only took me and my team mate 25 minutes to put it together, cut the wholes out and get it in my car to start testing...

 

[JerryEllis 10+ year member]

Thank you, that is what i was wanting to know, i felt like my problem might be that my box was tuned way too high because i always hear about q's hitting the real lows real hard, but mine dont seem to live up to what i expected, is there anyway i could just modify my box to have it tuned to around 32 hz?

your box makes all the differance bro, if you made your port longer on that box somehow it would be tuned lower therefore you would be hitting the lows strong

 

[rbtrucking 10+ year member]

Ya the box makes all the difference. I was messin with prefabs for about a year before I got smart and had a custom box built to spec for my subs and car and the difference in output and quality is like night and day! Also i see allot of people saying they used screws to build there box, I always heard that was a big no no, and all you should use is wood glue. Is that not true? I mean I know of course you need screws to screw the subs in but I mean to put the wood together I always heard just use screws.. Is that incorrect?