question about fourth orders

[LsChevy]

Is there a legitimate reason why a lot of people don't care for 4th orders? I mean if you have the space it should should be best way to go. I never heard one in person but I've been seeing impressive numbers

[Triticum Agricolam]

I assume when you say "4th order" you mean 4th order band pass, ported boxes are 4th order enclosure as well.

Generally speaking, here are the problems with 4th order band pass boxes:

1. In the same amount of space a 4th order takes up you most likely could run a ported box with 2x the cone area and be louder and not have any of the below limitations.

2. Band pass boxes trade bandwidth for efficiency, to get the efficiency high enough to beat a ported box you are now limited to a much smaller frequency range

3. The box hides the warning sounds your subs will give you if you push them too hard, makes it really easy to kill a sub.

4. A lot of subs are designed to go in a ported box, this means many of them won't work well in a 4th order band pass.

5. Band pass boxes are much more difficult to design and build, they are also not tolerant of mistakes, you might be rebuilding several times before you get it right.

ETA:

Lets talk a bit about what exactly a 4th order band pass box does. The port acts as a low pass filter, it blocks out frequencies much above where it is tuned. This can be good for providing a cleaner sound, but most folks around here aren't really worried about that. Around tuning it provides a boost in output, this is why folks like band pass boxes, more efficient (over a limited range). Much below tuning the port unloads and its like the ported section is not even there, you basically have a sealed box at that point.

Compared to a sealed box, a 4th order band pass has some nice things to offer. Compared to a ported box though, not so much IMHO. The times when I would use a band pass box is when I NEED to push all the sound through a port (blow through, firewalled trunks, etc) or when the subs being used are not appropriate for a ported box and your only other option is sealed.

[RooTxBeeR]

That guy right their hit the nail on the head. If your looking for a weekend project, just build a simple ported box. You want to have some fun, take your time, and rebuild, retune. Then go 4th order. Also, some people who understand them like them because you can do big numbers on low power when designed properly. But again, that takes lots of time and fine tuning.

[LsChevy]

If I go ported or 4th I'm going to let someone else design it for me to be on the safe side

[Triticum Agricolam]

If I go ported or 4th I'm going to let someone else design it for me to be on the safe side

If you go with a 4th order BP make sure you have a good conversation with whoever you have design it. Bandpass boxes are pretty flexible designs, they can have excellent sound quality and they can be very efficient, but they can't do both at the same time very well. You want to make sure your designer understand exactly what you want the box to do.

[LsChevy]

I'm going with the guy over at ram designs...he seems to a lot of experience with them

[LsChevy]

Is there any other designer that's good at 4th orders?

[MrSkippyJ]

any particular reason you are fixed on using a 4th order BP and also don't know much about them? Are you simply wanting to make the install more difficult?

[ToNasty]

Is there any other designer that's good at 4th orders?

Raptorman