Thickness of an enclosure?

[blenahan]

Hey everyone,

I'm building a sealed enclosure for my two 10" SSA dcons that are coming in the mail soon. Each driver is going to be getting its own box (not sure if that would make a difference rather than sharing a box). When I looked it up online I got a few different thicknesses, I've read that 3/4" or 1" should be used but then I've also read from other websites that you can't use anything less than 1.5". I know this may seem like a stupid question but I don't want to have to build the enclosure only to find out that the walls weren't thick enough. Also how would I know if I need to brace any of the walls? Thanks for the help!!

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[72Impala 10+ year member]

how much power do you have on tap? Need to know that, but more than likely for those subs a single sheet of 1" should be fine. You can always double baffle if you want. I use dowel rods to brace the inside of the enclosure

 

[bubbagumper6 5,000+ posts]

3/4" MDF is the standard and would be just fine for a pair of 10's, even if they're beefy.

 

[BoomTaco64]

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/iagree.gif.15d6c075ee8d3913ba26866d06993068.gif 3/4" mdf will be just fine and if needed you can double up for the price of a sheet of 1" normally. for inner supports use allthread or wood supports.

 

[blenahan]

Okay thanks for clearing that up guys! Just two more things, the suggested sealed volume for the dcon is .50-.75 cubic feet and I know that the bigger you go the better it is, but is it really a huge/noticeable difference if I am on the smaller end of that spectrum? I'm working with a rather tight space. Also is it absolutely necessary to have inner supports if I'm working with a small volume? I apologize if these are idiotic questions, I just don't want to build it then realize that I need to redo it. Thanks again for the help!

 

[T3mpest 10+ year member]

Okay thanks for clearing that up guys! Just two more things, the suggested sealed volume for the dcon is .50-.75 cubic feet and I know that the bigger you go the better it is, but is it really a huge/noticeable difference if I am on the smaller end of that spectrum? I'm working with a rather tight space. Also is it absolutely necessary to have inner supports if I'm working with a small volume? I apologize if these are idiotic questions, I just don't want to build it then realize that I need to redo it. Thanks again for the help!

A box that small shouldnt' need bracing. Generally bracing is only needed if your panels go beyond 18 inches or so. Since your doing less than a cubic foot, odds are none of your panels will be that large. Anyways the bigger the box the more low end you'll get out of it. If your listening to rap or things with a heavier bottom end, you want to be near the larger side as big as 1 cubic foot net. If you mostly listen to rock, the smaller part of that area should be fine closer to .5. I wouldn't sweat it too much it's not a drastic difference for most people. I'd build the box for about .75 internal if you can fit that. Once the subwoofer takes up some of that space you'll likely be sitting closer to .6 or so. You can stuff the box with polyfill (you can find it in the craft section at walmart) if you want to make it sound more like a larger box would. I would suggest doing that as well, it often helps make things sound less peaky.

 

[BoomTaco64]

personally, i have never built boxes to the spec of what the manufacturer states as i believe that they are somewhat conservative with their box specs. sure you can go bigger and could get a better response but at the cost of possible damage to the speaker. working with small space is ok as you can always add a little polyfil to the enclosure to make it seem bigger to the subs. work with the space you have and try to get to the airspace you need. supports should not be needed with such a small enclosure size and using 3/4" mdf.

 

[bubbagumper6 5,000+ posts]

I normally throw the speaker parameters into WinISD and model a few different enclosure sizes & tuning frequencies before I decide...

 

[BoomTaco64]

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/iagree.gif.15d6c075ee8d3913ba26866d06993068.gif i have never ended up using the speaker companies spec box after doing so...

 

[Louisiana_CRX 5,000+ posts]

Most people are using either 1" MDF or HDF ...or 1" Birch for enclosures these days...I prefer Pecan wood myself ....

 

[Jeffdachef 5,000+ posts]

the most you'll need is just a double baffle and 45s on the corner but thats mainly if you want to look fancy. As long as the box is well constructed you are fine for a pair of 10s. If you don't have a lot of power on tap, go the biggest you can. If you plan on overpowering then .5 cubic feet after displacement is fine.

 

[LongThrow]

I was always told by my friends who had system way before I got into car audio is it have ATLEAST 5/8 MDF

 

[LongThrow]

I was always told by my friends who had system way before I got into car audio is it have ATLEAST 5/8 MDF

 

[LongThrow]

I was always told by my friends who had system way before I got into car audio is to have ATLEAST 5/8 MDF

 

[Popwarhomie 5,000+ posts]

3/4" mdf will be fine. I ran my 2 hdc3 10"s with an AQ3500 in 3.2 cubes 3/4" mdf no bracing and it held up great. No flexing with a single baffle.

My 2 18" wall was 3/4 mdf and double baffle. Had to brace it good to keep the front baffle from flexing.