A couple of subs in the market give the you the choice of either a box or free air, and for something different i wouldnt mind running a free air for a change. Im looking for some insight on how free air subs sound as opposed to boxed one. Does the whole boot act as an enclosure for the free air? Is the bass punchier, slower, deeper, softer, boomier with free air? thanks

"Does the whole boot act as an enclosure for the free air?"

Yes, as for how they sound, can't comment.

Many years ago I used to run a Fee Air Pioneer 12" in my old VC Valiant and it sounded great (for a Pioneer Sub) with low and tight Bass. The boot does indeed act as the chamber and free air subs differ from boxed subs in that they have stiffer suspension. It's VERY important that you have no leakage between the front and rear of the subby or you'll get some cancellation of the sound waves which will reult in less bass. It's much more hit and miss with a Free Air sub, but VERY good results can be achieved so go for it !!

Cheerio

As has been detailed in CAA many times, infinite baffle (not free-air) are designed with higher self compliance to control cone motion instead of having the fixed air spring of a box.

They are inherently inferior to boxed systems and rarely sound as good as even an average sealed or ported system. Since 99% of woofers only need compact sealed enclosure, and choosing a 'free-air' woofer effectively limits your choice of models to a handful - why compromise?

Go with a boxed woofer unless the car dictates you can't.

id tend to agree, though i have heard IB subs that sounded nice and punchy.

but whats interesting is that almost all full-range speakers used in car audio are accepted as IB - even though we know from home audio experience that boxed is better if only dashboards and car doors were more accomodating.

ive heard some nice setups with hertz air mille's runnign free air, i wouldnt completely rule it out.

While it can be aid that creating decent results with IB woofers is not impossible, unless the installation demands it there's virtually no reason NOT to use a enclosure. Limiting yourself to IB means only having a choise of about 2% of available woofers for a start. Who wants to be limited in such a way unless they have to?

Why not consider an aperiodic alignment? Infinite baffle but with superb transient response and no box. (if you use the membrane on the front of the woofer)

*coughbull$hitcough*

Infinite baffle is a first order alignment and so can provide superior transient res[onse to higher order alignments like selaed proted or Banfpass etc.

I have run 3 different IB set ups and often had ppl tell me, sometimes quite experienced ppl in car audio field, how IB couldnt sound good etc. Id give them a listen and they quickly changed their tune.

The reality is their is no technical reason why IB isnt able to sound as good as any other sub set up, but they typically take more work to get right than making a sealed box, and for this reason alone are not the way to go for most ppl. If you are prepared to do the hard yards to get them installed properly, the results can be awesome.

Anyway they often get bagged because ppl have never heard them done correctly and so assume that they cant be done correctly, but thats simply untrue. Most ppl havent heard AP set ups or HLCD set ups, but they doesnt mean they should not be attempted or wont work well, it just means they are not common. Good IB set ups are the same, they are rare.

I ran IB subs and put 8s in my floors not because I wanted to do things differently, but because my car meant that was hte best way to go at the time. If i had listened to ppl who had opinions but no real idea, I would have not attempted these methods. Having 8s in the floors is now considered by many in US competitin as the optimum way to use them, but when I did it no one was using that method. Bottom line is popularity/fashion has little to do with why a method is good or bad
peace
Cyberpunky

how are the 8's in the floor mounted?
i've seen it, but never remembered to ask you if the pod its mounted in was sealed or vented somewhere?
If sealed, what kind of size enclosure?

What is inside the pod to dampen them?

They are mounted in a FG and MDF sealed box. The boxes are lined with deflex panels, The boxes are far smaller than optimum size if getting down to 20Hz was goal but as they are midbass drivers the smaller box is not an issue.
peace
Cyberpunky