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| Cheap subwoofer box |
If you have just purchased an subwoofer that is great, you will now be able to add that missing low end from your factory system. Bass is fun to listen to and also you can feel the bass, which adds more excitement to the music you listen to. The subwoofer enclosure is the most important factor that determines how your bass sounds and of course the sound quality from it.
You can have the most expensive subwoofer in the world, but if you have an poor box for it, then it will not perform to its best ability. This is why you usually see many cheap budget car audio systems out perform high end JL audio systems because its all about the box. The box is what makes 80% of the sound. Most people that have just got into car audio, assume that an subwoofer box can be any shape or size. In fact, that is not correct. An subwoofer enclosure has to be built to specification of the speaker you are using. When you purchase an car subwoofer, inside the box there will be an separate specification sheet that informs you which enclosures you can built and the correct internal volume required. Internal volume in simple terms is how much air space is inside the subwoofer box. If an large subwoofer has not enough space inside the subwoofer box, it will not play well.
In the car audio world, sealed and ported are the two most popular types of subwoofer enclosures. Sealed is easier to built, as you don't have to make complex calculations to work out port tuning. However, internal volume is still important on making an sealed subwoofer box. An sealed box has to be air tight to give an nice accurate bass response. Any small air leaks can hinder performance and also cause chuffing and unwanted noise. Sealed boxes are for people that want to keep the bass inside the car, they are after an flat response all the way from 80Hz to 20Hz. The trade off with sealed boxes is they don't peak at certain frequency, so overall if you are wanting loud bass from your car subwoofer, ported enclosures are the way to go. Sealed give an tight punchy bass sound, it also gets very deep if the box is large enough. You can really feel the bass with an sealed enclosure.
Ported on the other hand good for making the loudest bass from your car subwoofer. With ported though, they require more air space inside to perform. So an ported box will take up more space from your trunk. If you're limited on space, an sealed box is an good alternative. With ported, you get the choice to have your own dedicated tuning based on what type of music you listen to. You can make the bass sound deeper or loud and boomy. Ported boxes tend to play there best around the tuning frequency. Anything above or under will play but not with authority. If you listen to a lot of rap then tuning the port low around 30 to 33 Hz is recommended. You can increase port tuning by increasing or decreasing the port length.
Prefab boxes are also another option and is the cheapest type of enclosure. Nobody knows the tuning and also to most is considered just an shape. They are often made from chipboard wood and not MDF so overtime they will tear apart if you have an subwoofer with an strong magnet and high power RMS rating. Also prefab subwoofer enclosures are made cheaply, they are not glued and screwed together, they are stapled together in some factory using an nail gun. Lets be honest, everybody has had an prefab subwoofer box at some point in there car audio journey.
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