Before deciding on a particular type of enclosure to use, you must first
determine the amount of space you have available. This is a very important step to ensure you have
the appropriate volume needed to provide proper performance of the
subwoofer. For example, if you wish to build an enclosure for a 15"
and you only have one cubic foot space available, it would be better
 to use a 10" because the volume is not large enough to
allow the 15" to perform properly. The small enclosure would
restrict the performance of the 15" not allowing it properly reproduce low
frequencies.
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Sealed
Enclosure:
- Advantages: Easy to build,
smaller enclosure size, lean tight sounding bass, better power
handling vs. ported design and Linear low bass
extension.
- Disadvantage: Less
efficient as compared to ported design.
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Ported Enclosure (Bass
Reflex):
- Advantages: More output at
the tuning frequency as compared to the same woofer in a sealed
enclosure, higher efficiency.
- Disadvantage: Larger
enclosure size, Calculating enclosure and port dimensions more
difficult,easy to blow woofer if power handling limit is
exceeded.
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Bandpass Enclosure
(4th Order):
- Advantages: Bandpass can be
designed to play loud or low depending on your needs, by design
produce a limited band with, the woofer cone does not move as
much other designs reducing the chance of added
distortion.
- Disadvantage: Bandpass
boxes have a tendency to sound boomy not tight, typically these
enclosures don't sound as good reproducing Music requiring great
detail such as Jazz or Classical music.
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It is recommended to build your
enclosure from 3/4” thick MDF (medium density fiberboard). Make sure the
enclosure is sealed air tight.
1.) To calculate box volume,
measure the outside Width x Height x Depth of the enclosure. Example 12” x
14” x 9” = 1512”.
2.) Next you must convert cubic inches into cubic
feet. To do this, you must divide the cubic inch total by 1728”. Example
1512 1728 = .875 Cubic feet
1.) To calculate the internal
(net) volume of the above box you must first multiply the thickness of the
wood you are using by Two (2). Example 3/4” x 2 = 1.5”.
2.)
Next subtract 1.5 from each of the outside measurements of the
box.
Width
Height
Depth
12-1.5=10.5 14 -1.5 =
12.5 9 -1.5 =
7.5
3.) Multiply the new totals (H x W x
D) Example: 10.5 x 12.5 x 7.5 =
984.375
4.) Next you must convert cubic inches into cubic feet. To
do this, you must divide the cubic inch total by 1728” Example 984.375
1728 = .5696 Cubic feet.
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