Alright, so within the next month I'm going to be ordering a 12" Fi Q, as well as building a new box for it. I was looking at the specs and it looks more like a sealed box type sub, but was wondering if porting it low, around 27-28 htz, would give me more low end and volume, or if it would just end up doing more harm than good compared to a sealed box. I'm looking for a nice response down to the mid-low 20htz range. Just looking for some opinions.
wysiwyg wrote:i would say they bang, they don't really pound so much. but if
you want to bump, then they will bump and hit real hard and a lot good. 
LOL
Are you doing a home theater for the sub? You can do some gnarly hair tricks if the box is tuned low. If this is for your car, go with a mid 30's tuning.
i've been a mobile electronics installer for years now and i'll tell you from experience that a sealed box will always play lower than ported and will also handle more power and play tighter. it really boils down to your preference of music and the sound YOU like. personally i only use sealed boxes for all these reasons and then some but if you need more specifics dont hesitate to ask.WM
Wade Messer wrote:i've been a mobile electronics installer for years now and i'll tell you from experience that a sealed box will always play lower than ported and will also handle more power and play tighter. it really boils down to your preference of music and the sound YOU like. personally i only use sealed boxes for all these reasons and then some but if you need more specifics dont hesitate to ask.WM
I respectfully disagree with you on that part.
As do I and about the more power and play tighter. Maybe if it was 1984 that would hold true.
I personally prefer a sealed box. To me it sounds like cleaner than a ported box. (Less muddy)
I run an audiobahn AW1200Q powered by an MA Audio HK1998 and mine sounds pretty good to me.
have you thought about bandpass box? mine sounds great
have you ever built a bandpass box?
i dont want to jack this thread, but i was throwing around the idea of using a truck sub box in the trunk to save space and still be able to have room in the trunk for, well, anything. How big of a difference is it btwn a truck box and a normal sealed box? If the sound quality is much better in a normal box, i dont want to sacrifice sound quality for space
Lanman31337 - Cavfire wrote:have you ever built a bandpass box?
if your talking to me yes i have why?
The Q likes a ported box...you should go to the Fi forums for this
Da Boss (ts) wrote:i dont want to jack this thread, but i was throwing around the idea of using a truck sub box in the trunk to save space and still be able to have room in the trunk for, well, anything. How big of a difference is it btwn a truck box and a normal sealed box? If the sound quality is much better in a normal box, i dont want to sacrifice sound quality for space
whats a trunk box..did you mean ported?? Sometimes the difference of ported to sealed can be as much as 5decibles. But too many variables to list. Sealed box generally sounds better due to the flatter response
Rosario wrote:The Q likes a ported box...you should go to the Fi forums for this
straight from Crutchfield-
Enclosure Compatibility
Recommended Sealed Box Volume: Audiobahn recommends a sealed enclosure with an internal volume of 0.718 cu/ft to 1.63 cu/ft.
Recommended Ported Box Volume: Audiobahn recommends a ported enclosure with an internal volume of 2.064 cu/ft and one 4" diameter x 12.3" long port.
http://www.crutchfield.com/App/Product/Item/Main.aspx?i=037AW1200Q&search=AW1200Q&tp=111&tab=detailed_info
sealed or ported is purely a personal choice, and I don't compete so I don't care about being louder, its loud enough for me either way.
even if the 1200Q does perform better in a ported box, which I don't doubt, is irrelevant to me because I prefer a sealed box.
Also trunk space is a premium to me, thats why i swapped out my two MTX thunder 6000's for the one 1200Q.
Ported box means bigger box and therefore less trunk space
also ... Fi forums ... is that on here or somewhere else? never heard of it
stephen steele wrote:Lanman31337 - Cavfire wrote:have you ever built a bandpass box?
if your talking to me yes i have why?
Not everyone has built a bandpass box, they're not simple to make
Bilbert - he's talking about an FI audio sub, not an Audiobahn sub.
Whoops, sorry bout that. never seen any of their stuff. I guess I have some learning to do
Rosario... I apologize for my harshness
Rosario wrote:The Q likes a ported box...you should go to the Fi forums for this
Best idea yet. This is the only forum I don't hate...believe it or not.
I'll go scope it out over there. Thanks for everyone else's opinions.
Lanman...Reasons for going in the mid 30's instead of high 20's? More Db's and you don't think I'll lose much bottom end response going that route?
wysiwyg wrote:i would say they bang, they don't really pound so much. but if
you want to bump, then they will bump and hit real hard and a lot good.
LOL
Sometimes ported that low doesn't sound good musically. You're not going to lose a ton of bottom end at all. Mid 30's are great for music, high 20's are great for getting the low low's and hair tricks, high 30's low 40's are your spl monsters, but don't sound good on music. I have mine tuned to 36, the low low's (25 hz - 35 hz) make yer eyeballs rattle) and musically sounds fantastic.
Lanman31337 - Cavfire wrote:Sometimes ported that low doesn't sound good musically. You're not going to lose a ton of bottom end at all. Mid 30's are great for music, high 20's are great for getting the low low's and hair tricks, high 30's low 40's are your spl monsters, but don't sound good on music. I have mine tuned to 36, the low low's (25 hz - 35 hz) make yer eyeballs rattle) and musically sounds fantastic.
Thats a pretty good explanation in tuning, good for beginners.
Lanman31337 - Cavfire wrote:Sometimes ported that low doesn't sound good musically. You're not going to lose a ton of bottom end at all. Mid 30's are great for music, high 20's are great for getting the low low's and hair tricks, high 30's low 40's are your spl monsters, but don't sound good on music. I have mine tuned to 36, the low low's (25 hz - 35 hz) make yer eyeballs rattle) and musically sounds fantastic.
Well I don't got four opti's in an 8 cube box.
I'll go for around a 32-35 tune then. Because yeah that's what I want to gain, 25-30~ range... My SPL sub's don't hit it too well. 11mm xmax and a high FS might have something to do with it huh.. I'll give it a try when my sub comes in tho. I'll let ya know how it goes. Another month tho
Boy I miss bass. How about lendin me one of the opti's til then.
wysiwyg wrote:i would say they bang, they don't really pound so much. but if
you want to bump, then they will bump and hit real hard and a lot good.
LOL
well me personally, as i also have been installing for a while, i like sealed boxes as well. I think they give a cleaner sound.....its all up to you tho...
It really depends on the individual install. I've had JL 12W6s in both sealed and low-tuned ported enclosures, and honestly I could get them to hit much lower in the low-tuned (sub-25Hz) boxes. And if you experiment enough, you can get flat response out of a ported box (if tuned low) and retain most/all of the accuracy of sealed. On the other hand, you can really kill low-end and accuracy with a poorly designed ported box. Experimentation is the key.
It's hard to compare home theater installs with car audio installs when it comes to tuning. Two very different acoustical environments.
Like illdwes said, it's all up to you, and what you want out of your system. Most people seem to recommend ported boxes for the Q, and I see nothing wrong with tuning it to the mid-20s to keep response fairly flat down low. Most new music doesn't seem to have much below 30Hz, so there is an argument for tuning higher.
GAM (The Kilted One) wrote: if you think you're that much better than them because you're "correct" I hope your progeny don't turn out as screwed up as yourself.
Wait we are talking home theater??
Guess I need to pay attention more. Im searching now, but there is a Home Theater forum also run by FI. Youll find a wealth of info there. Also if you havent ordered yet check out the forums(either one) and talk to scott or NDmustang about this build
