subwoofer box size

[mann]

Hey

I have almost read every thread on subs and boxes on this forum but i cant seem to find anything about the subwoofer box dimensions.

Now does anyone know the exact size of what the subwoofer box has to be??

Pictures would help also

cheers in advance

Nico

[olcoolone]

It depends on what sub you are going to use, type of music you want it to perform best for and available space.

Rule of thumb is a ported box is larger then a sealed box, sealed boxes give a more linear curve and a kinder and controls the sub better with less chance of destroying the sub when it becomes unloaded as in a ported box.

The bigger you go in speaker size the more muddy the bass becomes, it's better to run two 8 inch subs then one 10....... two 10 inch subs them one 12 and so on.

You can change the box size artificially be filling the box with dacron, dacron slows down the air speed lowering the pressure wave inside the box.....making the speaker think it's in a bigger box.....you can get upto a 30% increase.

Box shape doesn't affect the overall size but if you use a box design with all square sides you can introduce a phasing problem....the speaker can be running in phase and the standing wave of the back of the speaker can be 180 deg. out of phase lowering the overall output.

[nathanvlturbo]

i think he is talking about what size the box needs to be so it can still fit behind the back seat of a dual cab,

i would like to know this also,

has anyone made one to fit a 12'' slim sub

[olcoolone]

More important is what sub to use, working out box size for a given area is simple.....take measurements for the maximum available room, turn it into cubic litres or feet and then choose a sub that suits the boxes volume and dimensions.

[07 Hiluxury]

i've made a sub box & i'm running 2 X 10" slimline subs & it also houses my 2 amps now i'll stress i didn't measure the box's internal volume i just made it to fit the available space with a divider in the middle.

the only problem i hade was i didn't leave enough room around the child restraint anchor points so i had to trim the box to suit.





hope this helps, good luck with the build.

Cheers
Andrew

[Marshwa]

Awesome stuff andrew, cheers for the pics and drawings. hope mine will look the same if i every get round to it haha

[Sr5luxy]

heres my set up, took these photos for marshwa a couple weeks ago, ive got the kicker CVT 12" slimline sub





amp mounted under the front passenger seat.

[nathanvlturbo]

i got a pioneer slimline 12'' sub and box, i also mounted the amp under passenger side seat, had to remove back seat completly to get the sub and box in

[mann]

cheers for the pics boys

ended up with a 10" pioneer 1200watt and mounted the amp on the back wall

fk a 10 pumps so hard.... radar detector jumps off its bracket ahaha

[john253a]

Ive done the sums and just ordered a complete kicker setup and when it get here ill have the hard time of fitting it all in.

2 sets qs650.2 (splits for all 4 doors)
2x cvt84 (8" 4ohm sub under rear seats)
1x cvt122 (12" 2ohm behind rear seat in middle)
2x zx400.1 (400rms @ 2ohm d class amps for subs)
1x zx650.4 (120rms x 4 @4ohm for splits)
1x 1.5 farad capacitor
100ft 0 gauge cable for power
20ft 2 gauge cable for power
150ft 12 gauge for speakers
2x 0-2 gauge distribution blocks
2x battery to 0 gauge terminals

I have already received my speaker adaptors from us and tweeter mounts for front door.
Just waiting on rest to arrive from us.

Then the fun begins

[wideawake]

heres my set up, took these photos for marshwa a couple weeks ago, ive got the kicker CVT 12" slimline sub
amp mounted under the front passenger seat.

Sr5luxy,
nice work there...

Do you happen to have the dimensions of the box?

Edit:
Ignore that... found it here - http://www.sonicelectronix.com/item_875 ... VT102.html

Now I need to make a mock-up on Sketch-up to see if I can fit one of those JL 13TW5 or an Alpine SWR-T12.

[john253a]

If i were you idd go the jl 13tw5 as it requires a 22lts sealed with 5-600rms @3ohm, were as the swr-12 requires a 19 ltrs sealed or 28ltrs vented box with 5-600rms @4ohm.

If you look at other costs ie amps, cables + alternator upgrade, the jl is the cheaper option.

Take the alpine, the amp recommend is the 1000w d class amp(MRP-M1000) it makes 600rms @4ohm (1000rms @2ohm) and with d class amp having an efficiency 80% @20%power and 90% @80%power it will take 1250w or 90-105amps(12-14v) to produce this power at an input volume level of 20% (not much left over to run other stuff )

Were as you take the jl, the amp recommend is a 500rms d class amp(v2 500/1v2) it makes 500rms @3ohm, and uses 625w or 45-52amp to produce this power at an input level of 20% (close to std listening volume).

Then you also have to add up, 2 gauge power cable + alternator upgrade v's only 4 gauge cable for jl

Also don't always listen to some of the salesman at the audio shop, go direct to the manufacturer for recommendations, as the will try to sell you anything and it may not suit you requirements. ie a 4 channel amp to run front or rear + sub.
Don't do this as all 4 channel amp are class a/b and power efficiency 25% @20%power and 50% @80%power.
If you want to only use 1 amp get a 3 or 5 channel as they are a/b & d in one.

So my recommendations would be the jl set up as no mods are required for this install + they are also a great sounding sub.
The only other option if you want the alpine is to not run it at full potential and use a smaller amp (mrp-m500) 300rms @4ohm

[wideawake]

Thanks for the input John. Valuable information there.

I have already purchased the 13TW5 and currently drawing some box plans in Sketchup. Eventhough its a 2.54inch mount woofer, it needs an extra inch on top for the rubber surround and excursion. And with 13.5" space between the bottom and the middle bracing, plus MDF thickness, this box is sure hard to draw... hahaha

Anybody that has successfully installed the 13TW5 want to share their box plans?

Thanks.

[john253a]

Just a quick update, got the speakers and subs in, done the tuning and all sounds good.
I found that with the tweeter mounts available on eBay for front doors, they don't fit all tweeters, mine are 30mm and i couldn't fit them in.
Also the speaker adaptors on eBay needed to be modified, i had to cut the inside ring to the same size as top mounting hole to fit speaker in, then i had to seal up holes on side.

Also after ordering amp i found that i couldn't fit 3 amps and a sub behind rear seat, so i had to sacrifice some power to speakers and use a zx700.5 instead of zx650.4 and zx400.1
But all in all very happy with sound quality and look, as from inside and side of car nothing can be seen but the head unit, all look stock until i turn it up

Here are some pics of install.

[axeten]

Thanks for the input John. Valuable information there.

I have already purchased the 13TW5 and currently drawing some box plans in Sketchup. Eventhough its a 2.54inch mount woofer, it needs an extra inch on top for the rubber surround and excursion. And with 13.5" space between the bottom and the middle bracing, plus MDF thickness, this box is sure hard to draw... hahaha

Anybody that has successfully installed the 13TW5 want to share their box plans?

Thanks.

I have this sub with an Alpine PDX-M6 mono and a PDX-F4 4 chan either side. Mine only just squeezes in after building it up to 0.8 cubic foot and i had to trim a little off the seat foam from the back and also install a bracket around the sub that sticks out from the box to stop the steel bar on the seat hitting the surround.....
Will be building another box soo to try since i have some MDF left and i can put the amps under the seat.

[axeten]

John

You should be dynamat'ing the entire door panels under the clear plastic where the actual speaker mounts to aswell to stop any resonations.

Also put a sheet of egg carton foam behind the rear of the speaker (inside the door) to catch any stray rear directed freqencies. This will improve your mid range a fair bit.

If you go all out like some (and me) you can seal every hole (large and small) on the door panel with perspex/glue and then dynamat the lot. This will be a huge help for bass output from the fronts

[john253a]

Ive dynamated the intire inner of the doors (may not be clear in pic) and double layered behind the speaker + added a 10x10" pad under speaker adaptor and was considering removing moister layer and fitting dynamat to door but I since decided to fit the dynamat to inner door trim, to aid in future repairs.
When adding egg crate did it make a large difference?

[Saf]

Hi all, new member here, as an audio installer, i did about 20-25 systems in the hilux. The space is VERY accomodating for a pick-up truck
The only downside as you go bigger with the box is that you lose the height the bottom of the seat would be able to go up. If all you need is a couple inches to access tools etc in the compartments below the seat, here are the MAXIMUM box specs i use -its a typical wedge box with a notch across the back-
bottom depth - 7"
top depth - 3"
width - 38"
height - 21"
notch across back is from 14" to 16.5" up and i usually just cut a strip (2.5" high) of the back board, and back it up on the inside with another piece of mdf to seal off, so if u use 5/8" mdf, the notch will be that depth- which is enough to clear the rib on the rear panel of the hilux. i'll try to get a pic up if anyone needs clarification.
total net volume -somewhere from 1.5cu.ft. to 1.6cu. ft. depending on how maxed out you go
Subs i've used-
Pioneer flat (don't like the sound)
2 elemental designs sq10's ported - sounds GREAT!
4 elemental designs sq10's sealed!!!
1 jl audio 13tw5 (although 2 should fit)
jl audio 8w3
soon to attempt - treo engineering ssp10 or ssp12

NOTE: 1. if subwoofer could be flush mounted in box, do this and ALWAYS use a grill to protect subwoofer, rubbing on seat can rupture suspension AND also cause voice-coil to burn if speaker isn't moving enough to cool properly.

2. depending on speaker used and size of box, if seat gives trouble to hook back into place, you will have to "adjust" the hooks on back panel (original position-slightly upwards of horizontal) by bending them down slightly to almost horizontal, which gives enough space for seat to go into place.

amplifiers usually go below the front seats - 4 channel under one side and mono for sub(s) under the other.

feel free to ask any questions concerning a/v installation.

[NeKeleC]

I agree with Saf the box i built for my TRD is pretty much as he has said and works wonders, I have box filled with dacron with 2 x kicker slim line 12" subs beig run from a Kicker ZR240 bridged and a soundstream lil wonder 4 channel running the soundstream splits in all doors and it kicks hard. As mentioned by Saf the box only allows for the seat to come up about 6 inches but enough to get jack and tools out of storage!

[axeten]

Ive dynamated the intire inner of the doors (may not be clear in pic) and double layered behind the speaker + added a 10x10" pad under speaker adaptor and was considering removing moister layer and fitting dynamat to door but I since decided to fit the dynamat to inner door trim, to aid in future repairs.
When adding egg crate did it make a large difference?

I didnt listen without the egg crate there but its pretty common in the stereo game and people say there is a big difference.....