like he^ said, just a 5gal bucket aint gunna cut it for sound quality or highoutput, u gotta reinforce the bottom n sides cause as thin as they are there gunna vibrate n f up the resonate notes played n sound like pure shit, wut ied do is help him build a good 5gal bucket encloser n den build a sub box n show him that u can make a box out of anything just doesnt mean that it will be as loud as ported/sealed nor will have the sq with the bucket, cause by the time u get done reinforceing n braceing the bucket the $5 bet aint gunna look like shit compared to the price of makein it n givein the stuff needed u'll loose so much airspace that when finished it wont hit right, but for a sealed u can put dynomat around the bucket n a layer or 2 on the bottom n try some polyfill for the inside, n for ported still insolate the outsides a bit n den put a port in the middle of the bucket on the bottom n see if that helps, but to tell the truth ied rather go wit a sealed/ported box n say the hell with it, but another thing is for fun try one of those 5gal water jugs that go ona watercooler, put the sub in the top, insolate the outsides n see if dat works, i might try it myself later, i dnt kno if my opinon helps but worth a shot,the end result is gunna show ur buddy that a sealed/ported box built right is no comparson to the bucket, end of story