Need advice on box for new subs

[rlcowboy 10+ year member]

I have a JL 12W6 with a 500/1 pushing it with a sealed JL enclosure. It sounded OK but kinda flat on the top end. My buddy runs a local shop and lives by ported boxes! So he built me a ported box and it is MUCH MUCH louder but with alot of songs the bass sounds funny like real sparatic, hard to explain. Not good sound Quality. Anyway I did more research and saw that the new ported box he built me was NOT what JL calls for at all! They call for 1.5 cu. @ 32hz. The box he built me is a little over 1 cu. and he doesnt know what hz. There is no sound quality to the box at all just loud boom and its making my sub smell like burning electical sometimes, he say now your sub is reaching its potential?

Anyway I just bought another 12W6 and I'm building this box myself! I'm a carpenter so it won't be a problem at all. Going to build it out of 3/4 MDF and cover with Blk vinyl. I just don't know what to do now, build a ported box to JL's specs,3cu @ 32hz, or build a sealed box to JL's specs. I would like the ported IF it will sound right! I use 12W6 cause they are one of the best sound quality subs made so I don't want to mess things up with a bad enclosure. Because he just built the ported box to fit the vehicle and did'nt look at any specs, how much does that have to do with it? Will a dual ported box built to JL's specs sound good or not? What should I do? All advice is welcome and thanks in advance!!

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[rlcowboy 10+ year member]

If I build a sealed box should I use pollyfill and should I puy sound deadening foam,like in recording booths, or carpet padding on the inside walls of the box? I want these W6s to sound perfect!

 

[96GTIVR6 10+ year member]

Your response to your own thread leaves confusion. Do you desire a ported box or a sealed box? You say your subs are lacking in the high end, but never actually define what "high end" is. Subs are not designed to play high freqnecies. If you want it to be louder, build a ported box tuned to JL's specs which one would logically conclude to be a good reccomendation for the subwoofer (plus generally the lower the tuning frequency the better the box will sound, and it wll play lower). Personally, I run my W6 sealed. This way it preserves a less peaky frequency response and a decent amount of crispness with minimal localization of the subwoofer. Basically, better SQ in my opinion.