Need advice for sub enclosure design

[crash813]

Guys, got a question that's probably rather simply but I've never really thought about it or worried about it. I just need some advice when modeling sub enclosures. I've never really favored bass heavy applications. I've ran my current system subless for over a year now without much complaint. All of my previous setups were always sealed with recommended specs and then toyed with eq, slopes, etc. This time I'm playing with vented enclosures.

Driver is set at a single 10" (DLS W310B) but space is open from .90 to 1.6.

Can I get some suggestions on the modeling and what to look for and what to avoid? Since its such a small band and I never worried about, I'm afraid of making a really bad design choice and then having to build another one.

My main concern right now is do I want a peaky (45 - 80) band with almost nothing after 40/35 or a flatter (down 5 or 6 db in the above peak) but giving me a little more in the 25 - 35 range.

I listen to mainly rock, jazz, etc....no rap, hip hop, house

Would I miss anything running the peaky response? Remember, its a small driver so output is limited as it is.

I appreciate any advice.........
-Tommy

[crash813]

I'll try a get a few shots of responses that I've modeled so far.

[crash813]

Here's the 3 I've been looking at. All modeled at 1.2 cu ft. (35 Hz yellow, 40 Hz green, 48 Hz red)

Right now, I'm leaning towards green just because its a compromise.

http://www.crash813.net/other/g35/dls.JPG

[jking29]

What exactly are you looking for soundwise? Are you just looking for output or do you want it sound good? If you want it to stay musical I would not go above 35hz. I remember building a box for a Kicker cvr10, because I had it laying around, and wanted to get as much output as I could get for a winter beater. The box I ended up building was 1.75ft and tuned to 41hz. It got loud as hell for what it was, but sounded like shit. The sound was completely bloated and was more of a one note wonder type of set up. Really the only type of music I could ever get it to sound good on was music with synth bass such as NIN. For all the other type of different music I listen to which is from Dizzie Gilespie to White Zombie...it sounded like ass.

[crash813]

Main concern is SQ, but I would like it to keep up with the rest of the system. Granted, I probably don't require as much bass as most.

Anybody else?

[Whiterabbit]

you arent gonna like my advice.

when you toss the box in the car your fancy plots are gonna fly out the window.

I recommend planning on building at minimum two boxes. a test box to determine the volume you want. The second the "real thing".

Sometimes this is an iterative process.

[crash813]

No Problem WhiteRabbit........I take all advice, good or bad news.

I'm thinking of just building it and then making the port easily adjustable to try several tunings. Just trying to get an idea of where to start.

[a$$hole]

I would tune it from 33Hz-38Hz !

You say you have run without a sub.

You've listed the music you like.

You will get a decent output and a decent sound, make the box bigger and the port smaller [ ideally ].

Qualifications-none [ oh, what is a subwoofer, like a Irish Wolfhound or sumptin ].

a lot of guys want there advice from the people who have done the most [ whoever makes boxes for the commercial selling ]. the ones with carpet that sell for $19.00 on ebay.

[jking29]

a lot of guys want there advice from the people who have done the most [ whoever makes boxes for the commercial selling ]. the ones with carpet that sell for $19.00 on ebay.

I may be new to this forum but not to car audio. I have been playing around in car audio for about 25 years. During that time I have done 50+ installs for my own cars as well as others. I have never used a pre-fab box and never will. I am as DIY as it gets. During that time I have done a lot of things wrong and have learned from it. I do, however, have a good grasp on what works and what doesn't because of the mistakes I made along the way. To me that is the ultimate form of learning. The example I gave was my only attempt at tuning a box above 35hz. I modeled the sub in winISD to try and wring as much sound out of it as possible. It succeeded enormously on that end, however it failed miserably on anything you could call SQ. I built an enclosure for a friend using the same model of sub that was 1.5ft tuned to 32hz and you would not believe it was the same sub. I have currently just started a new project for a daily beater. I am trying to do a 4 way active system for $350...complete. I fully believe install is more important than equipment. It won't have t/a , but I do believe it will still sound very good. My goal is 80% of the performance for 10% of the price. Did I mention I was a cheap bastard?:D