Jbird61801 Posted April 12, 2020 Report Share Posted April 12, 2020 I did a search and found a bunch of threads asking about sub up/port back, sub back/port back, etc. But nothing regarding sub facing forward and ports backwards. I know its common in home audio, but that's a whole different animal than car audio. Anyway, I'm designing a ported box for a single SSA Icon 15" sub. Fairly basic rectangular design with dual 3" aeroports. 3.5cuft tuned to 30ish Hz. Vehicle is a 2013 Passat. I've spent some socially distant time to almost completely sound deaden the trunk. So is it a bad idea to do sub front/port back? I want to design it this way mainly for aesthetics. Not necessarily trying to squeeze out every DB possible. I just don't want to end up with some weird wave cancelation where it doesn't sound good or loud at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1point21gigawatts Posted April 12, 2020 Report Share Posted April 12, 2020 For an aero port set up I vote sub up, ports forward for better air flow. But for slot port I would vote sub and port back and face it towards the hatch and then towards the cabin to find out what sound I liked better because if the positioning. You can do the same turn around with the sub up, ports forward design as well, making it sub up, ports back. Never do sub forward, port back or vise versa. Think about it, you’re using aero ports and the air coming out of the subwoofers vent is going to pass straight through the port with hardly no bouncing around, so to say. That may work for a home theater system because of the way bass needs to be in vocal and real life movie situations or whatever but for music that craves certain notes, that idea isn’t ideal for a car audio set up. And that air flow bouncing around is crucial to the bass. It’s a bad air flow, thus crappy bass. It will produce poor sound quality and spl. I’ve never heard of a subwoofer set up with sub forward and port back in car audio or home entertainment. Don’t do it. Since you’re running Aeros do sub on the top in the middle and ports forward, 1 on each side located toward the bottom an inch from the bottom board and each an inch from the side boards. Make sure the aero ports are flared on both sides because aeros without flares have to be the diameter of the aero away from any wall or board. So if they are just regular pvc like cylinders then they need to be 3 inches away from any wall or board for optimal sound. “How can we help you?” “And don’t forget to tell them that the customer isn’t always right.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1point21gigawatts Posted April 12, 2020 Report Share Posted April 12, 2020 The ssa icons are bad ass subs too. So kudos on that. Nice! 👍 “How can we help you?” “And don’t forget to tell them that the customer isn’t always right.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jbird61801 Posted April 12, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2020 45 minutes ago, 121gigawatts said: For an aero port set up I vote sub up, ports forward for better air flow. But for slot port I would vote sub and port forward and face it towards the hatch and then towards the cabin to find out what sound I liked better because if the positioning. You can do the same turn around with the sub up, ports forward design as well, making it sub up, ports back. Never do sub forward, port back or vise versa. Think about it, you’re using aero ports and the air coming out of the subwoofers vent is going to pass straight through the port with hardly no bouncing around, so to say. That may work for a home theater system because of the way bass needs to be in vocal and real life movie situations or whatever but for music that craves certain notes, that idea isn’t ideal for a car audio set up. And that air flow bouncing around is crucial to the bass. It’s a bad air flow, thus crappy bass. It will produce poor sound quality and spl. I’ve never heard of a subwoofer syrup with sub forward and port back in car audio or home entertainment. Don’t do it. Since you’re running Aeros do sub on the top in the middle and ports forward, 1 on each side located toward the bottom an inch from the bottom board and each an inch from the side boards. Make sure the aero ports are flared on both sides because aeros without flares have to be the diameter of the aero away from any wall or board. So if they are just regular pvc like cylinders then they need to be 3 inches away from any wall or board for optimal sound. Thanks for the reply. Definitely looking forward to rattling my eyeballs with the icon. I bought it just based on good reviews and good price point. Should be fun. I did research and design a couple boxes with sub up, but the box would have to be really deep. I guess besides aesthetics I'm trying to keep my trunk usable as well. With ports facing the back seats won't the velocity just get canceled out? What about sub forward, ports sideways? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1point21gigawatts Posted April 12, 2020 Report Share Posted April 12, 2020 You’re welcome! And technically it doesn’t have to be that deep. All a subwoofer asks for is to be the diameter of the pole vent on the bottom of the magnet away from the board. That’s all the breathing and clearance a subwoofer needs. So if the vent hole on the bottom of the subwoofer magnet is 1” then it just has to have 1” clearance away from the board. Kinda the same science as an aero port with no flares like I listed above. Sub forward with one 6” flared aero port on the side would be what I would do. The only reason I recommend the design above was on the basis of you already having 2 3” aero ports. I was gonna say just get a 6” aero port and do sub forward, port driver side. Get a sky high car audio port or a precision port or a big ass port. Here’s a link for the precision ports website aero port calculator that works for any aero port with both ends flared and make sure when you type in the diameter of the port you type in the exact diameter. So if it’s 6” then the real diameter will be listed on the ports description and be about 5.9”. http://www.psp-inc.com/tools2.html “How can we help you?” “And don’t forget to tell them that the customer isn’t always right.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1point21gigawatts Posted April 12, 2020 Report Share Posted April 12, 2020 http://www.psp-inc.com/tools2.html “How can we help you?” “And don’t forget to tell them that the customer isn’t always right.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1point21gigawatts Posted April 12, 2020 Report Share Posted April 12, 2020 Here’s the link to buy a good port for cheap. Same website. http://www.psp-inc.com/ “How can we help you?” “And don’t forget to tell them that the customer isn’t always right.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jbird61801 Posted April 12, 2020 Author Report Share Posted April 12, 2020 1 hour ago, 121gigawatts said: You’re welcome! And technically it doesn’t have to be that deep. All a subwoofer asks for is to be the diameter of the pole vent on the bottom of the magnet away from the board. That’s all the breathing and clearance a subwoofer needs. So if the vent hole on the bottom of the subwoofer magnet is 1” then it just has to have 1” clearance away from the board. Kinda the same science as an aero port with no flares like I listed above. Sub forward with one 6” flared aero port on the side would be what I would do. The only reason I recommend the design above was on the basis of you already having 2 3” aero ports. I was gonna say just get a 6” aero port and do sub forward, port driver side. Get a sky high car audio port or a precision port or a big ass port. Here’s a link for the precision ports website aero port calculator that works for any aero port with both ends flared and make sure when you type in the diameter of the port you type in the exact diameter. So if it’s 6” then the real diameter will be listed on the ports description and be about 5.9”. http://www.psp-inc.com/tools2.html I got the icon because it is supposed to be fairly accurate and musical. Would it be less musical and more boomy with a large port? Also, how much clearance would you give the port from the trunk wall? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1point21gigawatts Posted April 12, 2020 Report Share Posted April 12, 2020 That 6” aero would be perfect. Aeros are musical and a 6” aero isn’t big. It’s average size. Same science with placement of enclosure too. If the port is 6” then it has to be 6” away from the trunk wall or hatch or whatever. You can get away with “4 of clearance if need be. But NO LESS. Preferably 6” of clearance. “How can we help you?” “And don’t forget to tell them that the customer isn’t always right.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1point21gigawatts Posted April 12, 2020 Report Share Posted April 12, 2020 And aero on the side is always accurate and musical. But note that any enclosure can sound like shit if measurements and frequencies are wrong and not in correct specifications to the subwoofer itself. “How can we help you?” “And don’t forget to tell them that the customer isn’t always right.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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