OK, a forum for "Critter's pet subject"

For a long time it has been my observation that on the subject of BASS, there has been a lot of "hardware-driven" enquiry.
As in "I got/I want X subwoofer, what's the best enclosure?" etc

Which is ar$e-about.....IMO.

Being the sophisticated bunch that we are.....the topic being Enclosure Design, it's well time to be thinking more along the lines of "I want to get this result, what means are there to achieve it?"

It is the same for SQ or SPL, it is all about results.

Fact is, there is a bunch of first class sub-woofers on the market, all with particular characteristics, some that suit different applications beter than others, which is "the point" of it all.

Do you want loooow, tight, fat, smooth.
Driver selection together with the box you can afford the space for has a LOT to do with the success of your bass project.
Use an appropriate enclosure with the right woofer and you are cooking.

Thereby hangs another tail. IMO....it is NOT SO that [sealed = "SQ", ported = "something else"] A well-considered ported enclosure is certainly an SQ option with the right driver (but not the wrong one) although it IS more difficult to get right.

Again IMO, sealed boxes are for wimps
ie find a driver that ports well.....

Just thought I'd get some discussion going with that.

That is a very fair call i must admit...

As every car is different and we hammer this home, that what works for one car may not work for another.

The same goes for the equipment. Due to frequencies and loading and power doing one thing.

Different speakers with different characteristics will do another, some will not perform as well, and it is highly possible that in some vehicles the most unlikely of woofer might outshine other more prodominant speakers... simply because it works better at a particular frequency and volume of box/port size.

For SPL it can be all about finding that sweet spot. we talk about adding x power or woofers and getting xdB gain... Get EVERYING (box, port, woofer, amp, current) spot on and you could gain 3-6dB withouth altering your power at all.

Good point old man critter

But i think more and more people (as they have been on CAA longer) know what sound they are after and then choose the subs and box to suit...

The main sort of things i will be taking into consideration for my next install are:

Budget - always has to come first

How loud does it go? - I like LOUD... going from a sedan (VL) to a hatch (mirage) was amazing in the new volume i could get in the hatch so for my next car which will be a sedan i want to keep that same "volume".

Power - Will i need to buy a new amp or do i have enough power already? No use me have a DD9515 if i only have 500wrms to play with.

What sort of sound am i after? - I like deep bass, how ever i still like it to be punchy when needed. I find that from the subs i have listened to, a 15" suits my needs best...

In my belief, u can get punchier bass from a small sealed box. This is one reason why i went for the sealed. However Critters box is very tight bass for a ported imo. (Critter moit, your car is very tight )

Another reason was that it was easier to make Since i was very new to car audio and box design i thought it was much easier to just wack a few pieces of wood together than having to tune etc (back then i didn't even know what it meant!).

If ported boxes were as easy to make as sealed, more people would make them...