The most stupid car audio rumors

[skittlesRgood]

If you don't know how to work with wood, have proper tools, never done it before...etc. Then yes, this is completely true. Some places don't even sell MDF, and fewer places even build custom boxes with experience with reasonable price. I'm sure that depends where you live, but years ago i asked a local wood shop who specializes in furniture and after i explained my design and explained what a box sub was *sigh...they wanted $300 for a dual 12 ported. So down to lowes i went and got Birch ply, closest they had to MDF and after the glue, screws..etc. i spent nearly $100. so screw anyones idea that custom is always better.

Considering some of the really crappy,fugly, butt jointed boxes i have seen people make complete with tons of filler smeared through cracks, poor carpet cutting or no carpeted, then yes, Prefab is definitly better for them. A look on youtube shows how many poor box builders there are out there. As long as the size box and tuning matches the sub and its 3/4 mdf, typically prefabs are fine. Some brands build better boxes than others.

Most people in general arnt audio perfectionists and likely get a prefab not just for looks but cause they can't build or afford new tools or even have a garage. Who wants to build one in their 3rd story apartment or custom build when you can get a miter joint/dado groove 3/4 Atrend box at a local shop for $40 and add your own bracing?

ok noob, slow down. just because you CANT build a box, doesnt mean a prefab is better. it just means you cant build a box. and i believe there are no crappy box builders, there are just people at different stages of learning. we all sucked at one point. you cant find me a prefab box where its designed to give me low impedance rise at 40hz for my subs and power, in my car. its too specific and a custom box must be made.

that shop gave you a fair price for them. $100 in materials, $200 for labor and wear and tear on tools. i had a cabinetry shop look at my box and said they would charge 500-600 to build it. remember, these guys have to pay rent on the shop and a house to live in.

[BTL FTW]

Repeat after me:

"Port area is NOT related to box volume, port area is not related to box volume. . ."

It can be used as a decent approximation, but true required port area is NOT related to box volume.

Sorry. . .

then what is?

[MrSkippyJ]

I got into an argument (on youtube) with someone about hooking a speaker up to a wall. They said something about, that is what you get for putting AC through a speaker. I asked them what they thought an amplifier put through a speaker and of course they said DC. Then they told me to hook a DMM up to an amp and see if it reads anything.

[bkolfo4]

L x W x H is related to box volume.

[TeamHT]

Lol @ ^

The question was what is related to port area

[dugee81]

Lol a friend once told me that DVC subs are better because each coil can play different note.. Giving more SQ because it can play a wider range of frequencies. ?? Uhhhm

[kirill007]

L x W x H is related to box volume.

LOL

Lol @ ^

The question was what is related to port area

The amount of air a subwoofer can displace, and others criteria.

Lol a friend once told me that DVC subs are better because each coil can play different note.. Giving more SQ because it can play a wider range of frequencies. ?? Uhhhm

THis really made me laugh.

[qu1cks1lver56]

"my buddy had 2 15's in his truck and blew out the back window"

i hear that ALL the time.

[bkolfo4]

Lol @ ^

The question was what is related to port area

How about Vd (not box volume, but Sd of the driver x Xmax) and tuning frequency?

I have posted a couple of examples before. . .

If I buy an 18" crap woofer with 6mm of Xmax and connect it to a 100 watt amp in 6 cuft tuned to 35 Hz, does it need the same port area as a SMD 18" on 6000 watts in 6 cuft tuned to 35 Hz?? Heck no, but by everyone's logic of based on box size, you would need the same port area for both setups. While it will not hurt to have extra port area on the weaker setup, it is not required for proper operation of the port.

How about a BTL 18 example. . .They recommend 5-10 cuft with 12-16" of port area per cube. Build a 5 cuft box with 12 inches of port per cube and you have a 60 sqin port. I am not going to tell you that you cannot get decent results from that, but I am going to tell you that port will not be operating as it should if it was designed correctly. Even at 16 sqin per cuft, or 90 sqin, you have a much better port, but in reality that port still is not operating as a correctly designed port should.

You would be surprised how many setups could be much louder with correctly designed boxes. Another thing that always makes me laugh is when I see "you do not want that much port area for a daily box, only if you are going to use it for SPL". So you are saying I want a port that is not actually working correctly because I am going to play music. . .

Here is a little reading for those of you stuck on this terrible audio rumor:

http://www.carstereo.com/help2/Articles.cfm?id=21

[dcyphure]

ok noob, slow down. just because you CANT build a box, doesnt mean a prefab is better. it just means you cant build a box. and i believe there are no crappy box builders, there are just people at different stages of learning. we all sucked at one point. you cant find me a prefab box where its designed to give me low impedance rise at 40hz for my subs and power, in my car. its too specific and a custom box must be made.

that shop gave you a fair price for them. $100 in materials, $200 for labor and wear and tear on tools. i had a cabinetry shop look at my box and said they would charge 500-600 to build it. remember, these guys have to pay rent on the shop and a house to live in.

didnt say i can't build a box nor that i was a noob either.PLEASE READ AND COMPREHEND ALL POSTS. i'll dumb my post down... Whether a prefab is better or not soley depends on IF you can actually build one better yourself. if you can't then OBVIOUSLY a prefab is better for you. Perhaps you missed that obvious point.

but imo $300 for a rectangular box with no carpeting is stupid money. Now if it was custom molded to fit in a specific area of my vehicle or had some shiny or complex layout, then yeah its a good deal. didnt mean to offend like it was a religion or something. I only pointed out the reasons why some choose prefab...maybe its lazyness, who cares. like dyeagain says, its just a box, not furniture. lol i wanna sig that.

most prefabs are tuned higher than 45+ hz, and i think i've seen better built boxes on here that are clean builds, not everyone has to wrap their boxes especially if it's for competing purposes, they don't really care, daily driver is a diff story. Regardless, your outlook on some peoples craftsmenship is a little ridiculous. It's sub boxes....not furniture

apparently you're not aware that i'm reffering to the general consumer, not competitors or the audiophile crowd. there are some brands who make boxes ported with 32 and 31 hz tuning btw...( eighty bucks at my local shop). Some brands like Q-logic do tune higher cause well too many general people want it loud, but its 40hz btw, although i'm sure a small few real cheap brands tune higher. but like its reaalll hard to make a slot port a bit longer lol. SO whats your complaint about prefab sealed then?

As for craftsmanship, an ugly box in a nice new car is ghetto. go on youtube, nothing like a W7 subs in a spray painted, filler smeared, butt jointed box in a brand new vehicle..but its not furniture right? lol why the heck anyone cares who buys a prefab or not i'll never know, but technically it can be better for some people for a variety of reasons i mentioned, feel free to go back and read them.

anyway...back to topic. the main things i hear is mostly referring to under rated amps or peak watts. Most annoying is those who say they blew out their windows before it was so loud. though dunno why anyone wants a daily with bass 10x's louder than their highs anyway to a point where all you hear is bass.