Know anything about acoustics? I've been around car & home audio for over 20 yrs & it's still largely a mystery to me.
Here's the situation - I'm pimping out the van, a massive 14 passenger Ford with an interior length of over 12'. I have a 15" sub in a makeshift sealed box that I'm experimenting with positioning before I fiberglass it into the rear corner. The objective is very much SQ first. (current box is sealed 5/8's MDF with assymetrical interior, it's decent but not great.)
In that box, most positions yield poor sound quality - a boomy, resonant sound that just makes me want to turn the volume down. Down-facing (3" gap) or rear-facing are the worst. Side-facing sounds better but still resonant. Front-facing sounds good - smooth, musical full & round.
First question - why & how do these positions affect the sound? Standing waves? Horn effect? I'm looking for a technical answer, not just "bass bounces off the wall & gets louder dude."
Second question - when the sub goes into a fitted fiberglass box that butts into the rear wall (for instance in the left-rear corner facing right), will this change the acoustics versus my wooden box in the same position but 5" out from the left wall?
