Why do subs need to be eclosed?

[temuchan 10+ year member]

Could someone tell me the technical reason of why you need to put subs in a box/enclosure? does it make them louder?

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[Cravingbass123]

cuz when they are out of an enclosure, the back throw of the driver cancels out what is being fed to the woofer in the forward direction, so with the woofer in a box, the cone thrusting back into the motor is thus eliminated to vibrate the surronding air, which is why we hear bass when you put it in a box and when its out of the box all you basically hear is mechanical noise since the forward throw of the woofer is cancelled out with the negative back throw of the woofer.

ive been asked this before and had to think about it.

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

Could someone tell me the technical reason of why you need to put subs in a box/enclosure? does it make them louder?

For a couple basic reasons. One is to isolate the front and rear sound waves emitted from the speaker so as to avoid cancellation. Second is that most speakers are designed to rely on the enclosure's 'air cushion' as part of its suspension system, to keep the cone under control. A third less fundamental reason is as a tool to use the rear waves to reinforce the front waves, thereby increasing efficiency (vented systems).
Some would argue a speaker does not always require an enclosure, such as infinite baffle or sealed-back speakers. The IB situation still requires a baffle to isolate front/rear waves, and a sealed-back speaker simply uses the frame to do the same.

 

[azbass 5,000+ posts]

magic happens inside the box,

 

[Trey803 5,000+ posts]

the knOHMS have to live somewhere

 

[jaboran 10+ year member]

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/satan.gif.9c6a335ed7aeeed3ee273e573f1fcaac.gif

 

[WhoSayWho? 5,000+ posts]

For a couple basic reasons. One is to isolate the front and rear sound waves emitted from the speaker so as to avoid cancellation. Second is that most speakers are designed to rely on the enclosure's 'air cushion' as part of its suspension system, to keep the cone under control. A third less fundamental reason is as a tool to use the rear waves to reinforce the front waves, thereby increasing efficiency (vented systems).
Some would argue a speaker does not always require an enclosure, such as infinite baffle or sealed-back speakers. The IB situation still requires a baffle to isolate front/rear waves, and a sealed-back speaker simply uses the frame to do the same.

Meh, this guy knows nothing. He didn't even respond to a pm from me. I am now going to killz him.

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

cuz when they are out of an enclosure, the back throw of the driver cancels out what is being fed to the woofer in the forward direction, so with the woofer in a box, the cone thrusting back into the motor is thus eliminated to vibrate the surronding air, which is why we hear bass when you put it in a box and when its out of the box all you basically hear is mechanical noise since the forward throw of the woofer is cancelled out with the negative back throw of the woofer.

You are mistaken in part. The forward and rearward motions of the cone do not equate to front or rear sound waves. It takes one full motion of the cone (from centered, to extened one way fully, to extened the other way fully, back to centered) to make one full waveform.

 

[Haunz 10+ year member]

A sub or driver doesn't necassarilly need to be in an enclosure //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/fyi.gif.9f1f679348da7204ce960cfc74bca8e0.gif An IB setup does not enclose a driver; and dipole setups are possible...

But, to answer your question the reason why you usually put a speaker in a box is to seperate the rear wave from the back wave.. the will tend to cancel eachother out, otherwise..

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

Meh, this guy knows nothing. He didn't even respond to a pm from me. I am now going to killz him.

Did you really pm me? lol I just looked, I dont see it. If I forgot to reply and somehow erased it, sorry. PM me again if you want and i'll be sure to respond.

 

[WhoSayWho? 5,000+ posts]

Did you really? I just looked, I dont see it. If I forgot to reply and somehow erased it, sorry. PM me again if you want and i'll be sure to respond.

Hah, okay.

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

this is the dumbest fail of a thread i have ever seen.
Would someone really even try to use a sub without an enclosure? Probably not, so why ask this dumb ass question?

This is actually a great question. You might be surprised how many people around here couldn't answer such a fundamental question.

 

[rc10mike 10+ year member]

The first rule is, you do not ask questions.

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

The second rule is you never speak about rule number 1.

 

[GMCJimmyslt2000 10+ year member]

this is the dumbest fail of a thread i have ever seen.
Would someone really even try to use a sub without an enclosure? Probably not, so why ask this dumb ass question?

comin from u..ha