Port Area

[thefourth]

So I'm new to the scene and looking to learn some things, messed around with Torres and sketchup some. In some of the setups I've seen I ask myself what's the reasoning for such a HUGE port sometimes? I plugged my specs into Torres for my subs, then I saw some videos of people with the same subs as me just with a port probably 2x bigger than mine. What's the rule of thumb when calculating port area? What instances do you need to have a port so big and why?

[mw02civic]

I usually shoot for 14-16 sqin of port for every cuft the box is.

[thefourth]

I've heard 12-16 inch of port per cube. So in what case do you need the port so large? So that means the enclosure would have to be larger too correct? What's the reasoning for making your enclosure larger than the specs call for?

[mw02civic]

I'm no expert but that's what id say. The larger the box the larger the port. Hopefully someone with more experience will chime in.

[ChevyBoy95]

Dont forget, some subwoofer like different port area's, some prefer 16 per sq in, some prefer 12 per sq in. The more you experiment and build boxes, the more you will learn about how you can change a port to get a certain sound or frequency range without following 12-16 to the T.

[thefourth]

Could you give me an example of what type of drivers that like 14-16 per cube?

[CleanSierra]

Tuning an enclosure is a good rule of thumb to have that range, as said, but more accurately, port area should be done for the Xmax, cone area and desired tuning frequency.

My fourth order will have around 28-30 inches per foot.

The lower you tune, the less port per foot you need as well.

[CleanSierra]

Can't really recommend a generic port area per foot for any sub. It's all build specific.

[thefourth]

Tuning an enclosure is a good rule of thumb to have that range, as said, but more accurately, port area should be done for the Xmax, cone area and desired tuning frequency.

My fourth order will have around 28-30 inches per foot.

The lower you tune, the less port per foot you need as well.

What I'm assuming is bigger ports for lots of cone area/or drivers that have a high x-max point?

So if tuning it low like 30hz you'd use less port per foot and tuning maybe 38hz more port per cu ft?

[CleanSierra]

Both concepts you just referred to are correct in your thinking and understanding. A sub that doesn't have monster xmax does not need huge amounts of port because it isn't going to displace as much air as a sub with a higher xmax.