Stay sealed or go ported?

[Menace89]

Right now I have 2 10" Rockford R2's in a 1.6cu.ft. sealed box and it sounds decent, but the lower notes are not what I was hoping for. So I bought 2 10" DC Lvl2's since I have everything torn apart to redo the vinyl on the amp racks.

Now my dilemma is....should I take up some space in the box to make it the recommended sealed volume or make it smaller than recomended for a ported box? Rebuilding is NOT and option btw. The box is as big as I can get with the way I have my amp racks built.

Ive done some calculating for a port and I can add one to the outside of the box on the back firing sideways, but I won't be able to get the length I need.

A 16sq.in. per cu.ft. port (25.6sq.in. in my case - 16x1.6cu.ft. box = 25.6sq.in.) would work perfect at 33.5hz, but if I go by the xmax of a lvl2, the calculator says I need at least 60 inches of port area.

Now, I CAN do 2 ports at 2.75x11 which will give me 30.5" of total length, but the calculator says that will be tuned to 50hz and thats no good.

Any thoughts?

Box dimensions (Outside): 29.5x16x9.5

Box dimensions (Inside): 28x14.5x8 = 1.88cu.ft.

Displacement (Subs and brace): 0.28cu.ft.

Max port size: 2.75x11.5

Port size (@16sq.in. per cu.ft): 2.5x10.5

Port size (@60sq.in. per cu.ft.): 2x - 2.75x11

Sidenote:

The lvl2's will be severly underpowered. Im only running 1 Rockford Prime 500.1 so each sub is only seeing 250rms

[Aj11]

with the major under powering i would go vented. it will make your box much more efficient. and if you like the sound of sealed try and tune your box as low as possible. like 25hz you will hit the lows nicely and still get that solid slap like in a sealed box, I'll try and work on your space problem to.

[Aj11]

3 inch port 11inches long will give you 28hz. if you flare the port for better sound add a inch to the length, also Can you invert the subs? your magnets take up allot of space. if you invert themyour subs will relax. also try some poly fill ( pillow stuffing) it will slow your waves down and "trick" your subs into thinking there in a bigger box. its like $5 worth of materials and helped me allot

[FUKAZ28]

with the major under powering i would go vented. it will make your box much more efficient. and if you like the sound of sealed try and tune your box as low as possible. like 25hz you will hit the lows nicely and still get that solid slap like in a sealed box, I'll try and work on your space problem to.

I know this is not my thread, but could you help me understand what you mean by "try to tune your box as low as possible?"

[will77530]

infinite baffle with a passive radiator with a loaded horn port, <----what real men use

[Menace89]

Unfortunately, I cant invert the subs because of the way I designed it. I have a wall with a plexiglass window 2.5 inches in front of the subs so that I could eliminate as much pressure getting to the trunk lid and rattling it. So 1.6cu.ft. is the biggest the box will be.

Do you think Ill be okay with only 16.4sq.in. of port per cu.ft.? Because the length can only be as long as the box since I cant move my box forward any.

So I was thinking a 2.5"x10.5" port thats 29.5" in length which would give me 33.7hz

[bbeljefe]

If you're grossly under powering them you won't be reaching xmax with them so the smaller vent area won't be an issue. But if you ever put a ton of power on them in that box, they'll not do well.

[Guest]

wait if you have plexiglass in front of the woofers, where is all the pressure going? you make it sound like you have one of those Dual brand bandpasses

[Guest]

16sqin per cube is MORE than plenty. but more doesn't always equal better. keep that in mind.

if anything, you can call or email dc to see what they recommend

[Menace89]

wait if you have plexiglass in front of the woofers, where is all the pressure going? you make it sound like you have one of those Dual brand bandpasses

The plexiglass is on a separate panel I made to go in front of the box thats sealed with great stuff to the sides and top of my trunk which acts likes the back of my trunk but the pressure doesnt get to the trunk lid to rattle it