Who's John Wheeler?

[matt scarlett 10+ year member]

I don't mean to be disrespectful of anyone but I found this thread, and those commenting didn't have much time for 'wheeler'

http://www.caraudio.com/forums/enclosure-design-construction-help/237401-new-flaired-port-design-3-5cubues%4035hz.html

Now from a total newbie POV (not even built my first car sub box but i've built a few home audio speaker back in the day) it wasn't the worst box i'd seen, or am i wrong?

I here something about dipping wood in a pool. Now considering that I've never even kerfed before or even built a sub for my car before, every timber merchant i've spoken to have suggested 'steaming' the wood then bending it. Am i wrong to take their advice then?

For me its' not about knowing what's the right advice, but sifting out all the bull, but I'm not here to teach people how to **** eggs, not even this 'Wheeler' person (just trying to humble myself in front of people who are where i want to be)!

Advie and help needed

I'm been trying to do my homework on box building and to be quite honest I read a lot of conflicting views and i'm still a bit lost, so I guess it'll be a steep learning curve.

One of the best looking boxes I've seen in terms of 'the design and thinking behind the enclosure' is Thumper (again no disrespect to other box builders). I know of PWK, via youtube and i've come across the likes of 'team toxic bass' and 'Ram Designs'. Whose advice should I listen to?

Thing is where I am (UK), there's not much happening in terms of limitations of brands available It's all Vibe, Fli, Edge, Poineer (if you're lucky) and the like.You say the name Morel, JL Audio, Focal, Digital Designs, Diamond Audio, CDT etc where i live, and you'll get an open mouth and a blank stare. I want people to experience better/differnet brands than your average teenage Halfords shopper would experience ... hence i want to get into box building .. for my part.

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[Kangaroux 5,000+ posts]

For most wood you can steam it and then bend it, but MDF is composed of paper fibers just compressed and glued together. If you get any kind of moisture on it it justs expands and breaks

 

[hispls 5,000+ posts]

The key element is knowing how accoustics inside a car's cabin function. There's a saying in the diy home theater crowd that the dominant factor of how a speaker system will sound is the room you put it in.

Personally I've been using sono-tube for my flares and roundovers lately with good results. No wrong way to build a box provided it is structurally sound when you're done. In theory you could build it out of cardboard or doll-houses and add 3/4" of fiberglass and it would function well enough.... dunno if I'd soak anything in the pool, or even steam bend really.

Knowing which direction to fire ports and woofers, and what type of woofer works best for what goals in what alignment is largely (unles you're well educated in accoustics and fluid dynamics) a matter of trial and error. No substitute for creating a lot of sawdust.

People who have really good sounding or super loud (on the meter) boxes generally don't get there first try. I've done well over a dozen in the last year and a half and only hit on one that really impressed me, and that was a complete accident on my part!

 

[matt scarlett 10+ year member]

The key element is knowing how accoustics inside a car's cabin function. There's a saying in the diy home theater crowd that the dominant factor of how a speaker system will sound is the room you put it in.
Personally I've been using sono-tube for my flares and roundovers lately with good results. No wrong way to build a box provided it is structurally sound when you're done. In theory you could build it out of cardboard or doll-houses and add 3/4" of fiberglass and it would function well enough.... dunno if I'd soak anything in the pool, or even steam bend really.

Knowing which direction to fire ports and woofers, and what type of woofer works best for what goals in what alignment is largely (unles you're well educated in accoustics and fluid dynamics) a matter of trial and error. No substitute for creating a lot of sawdust.

People who have really good sounding or super loud (on the meter) boxes generally don't get there first try. I've done well over a dozen in the last year and a half and only hit on one that really impressed me, and that was a complete accident on my part!

half of me wants to get into box building 'cause I've been bitten by the car audio bug, the other because I think there's better out there than what's available locally . It's like back in the day when I wanted a pair of headphones, all there was were £20 technics or £15 Panasonic headphones, so when I first heard a pair of Sennheiser's ... wow! it's the same with car audio. Most of my friends are running Vibes (UK brand) not that Vibe are bad per se, but when they tried my DD subs they really knew what's going on!

i guess i need to start building then. i guess i was looking for perfection first time out.

 

[i2ain2thunder 10+ year member]

We all want perfection the first time....it never happens, thats really the suckiest part of car audio. The only way to get it right is to experiment....most of the time anyway. Some people get pretty lucky and have awesome results the first time around. Following everyon's advice is nothing more than a good starting point. Getting a system others on here recommend, building one to recommended specs, buying recommended gear will just garauntee that you won't hate the sound. Getting a sound you are impressed by takes time and experimentation, but if you start on the right foot thats a big +

 

[i2ain2thunder 10+ year member]

dbl pst