subwoofer advice

[Malykaii]

So I have a cheap 10inch sub and box out of my former cherokee. Problem is it won't fit the way I need it to in my rig. Only boxes that fit are 8inch. Now I know most ebay sellers make their own boxes and can moderately customize to need. So...

 

Should I get a box rated for an 8inch with a hole cut for a 10 or just suck it up and buy an 8inch speaker to match?

 

Everything I Google mentions optimal box size is needed to achieve volume and "thump". I listen to music at conversation volume and its usually things like reggae and jazz, so I just want to hear the bass line better inside the car, not outside. Thanks.

[ESTurbo4]

8" Speakers have very punchy mid bass, at least any of the ones I've had or heard. They don't seem to produce the low thump especially in a small box. You might try getting a speaker ring for the 10's and just mounting your speaker free air, using the trunk as your box so to speak.

[Malykaii]

Free air sounds ok? Maybe grabbing the little 8inch box with a custom 10inch hole, and adding a even might work then. Just using the box simply as a free in air holder, not so much a box.

 

Forgot to mention this is for my suv, hence nothing to mount to like in a starion as you suggested.

[IntercooledFlatty]

i have a 8" in my 4 door ram. it's in a box ( about the width of the console ) on the hump in the back. it kicks for an 8. i run a 5 channel amp and listen mostly to METAL 6x9's in the doors

[jszucs]

an 8" even a high quality 8" DVC is not going to give you the low low down punch. So if you wanted to feel the double base drum in a metallica song it's not really going to get there. It will fill in the missing mid base, enhance vocals and allow you to tune the system to not have as much base comming though the other speakers as they start to distort or rattle stuff. So in that regard it's good.

 

For me I would mount 8" speakers in the doors. I would stick with the 10" So I'm in the same boat actually. I took a 10" sub out my last car and put in my new car. Right now back is just layed in back hatch. For future I'm going to mold a fiber box to the drivers back wall so that it's stelth and I have 100% use of hatch. I would highly recomend this option.

 

I would NOT mount the sub as free air unless the sub is a free air sub and I didn't even find them anymore. Free air subs are also sloppy because they don't have the negative resistance of the box air volume to keep the sound waves they form tight.

 

As far as boxes and size. Every sub has a demand of size it needs to "best" perform. Some like ported, some like sealed, some like bandpass. If it's a sealed sub stick to sealed and make sure it's 100% sealed. Also if your on the small size of box put some polly fill inside the box. This will tighten up the base even more by contorling the air inside even more.

[IntercooledFlatty]

you want BASS ? contact Burton

[jszucs]

you want BASS ? contact Burton

 

True that. But with the new kid he has bowed out of allot of stuff he was doing on the side.

[nomad]

I buy old SAS bazooka tubes ( non powered), toss out the stock speaker and put what ever 10" I want in them.

Bought the last one on eBay for $20 plus shipping. I like the ported box sound.

Done this for 4 cars now.

They fit great in the conquest. Running a Rockford s2 for the last few years and been happy with it.

I been on the look out for a deal on a JL 10w7, but not real high on the priority list.

 

[jinx]

Car audio forums loaded with subwoofer info if u wanted to sort thru it

u can get solid low end from a small driver, HAS to be in the right enclosure tho.

A "box" is not a 'box'. Makes all the difference in the world. Do not overlook it

From way back as a hobby, I'd use driver parameters, crunch numbers then build boxes (of various types)

Astonishing results.... just as the calculations promised.

Bose 901s was the audiophile highwater mark like forever.... comprised of what? nine five inch drivers - lol

[jszucs]

^ was that the bose that was on a strand with like a loud speaker type shaped box and what looked like the bee hive grouping of smal speakers? I was alwasy impressed with what they did with such small speakers. While it is true they did amazing things with the small speakers, the tec has come a long way, and most of what can be done with a small speaker is all about the box. Think of the box like the way you "tune" a sub.

[Malykaii]

So what I'm getting here is this... a well setup 8 will actually put out decent results, however a 10 is more optimal, but only if well set up.

 

So I did some measuring, and I can have a custom box made and if it had thinner 5/8 wood I can get .47 cubic feet air space. That is optimal for an 8, so no brainer?

 

But I found they make shallow mount 10s and one pioneer model states optimal space is .35 thru .6 and that would be perfect. Or would a full size 8 still be better.

[mstieg]

You can also stuff your box with sound dampening insulation. It's made for this purpose and will reduce the amount of air needed inside the box - making smaller box possible.

 

I've always preferred sealed box w/ subs for good punch and longer lasting hard rock lows like TOOL. Per above, every sub states what cubic air is needed.

[jszucs]

The 10 is really where it's at. The 10 can not perform really low, like the feel only range. But can perfrom MUCH better then an 8 in the hearing low range. 8's are for mids and in doors and you should adjust the slope of the signal given to an 8 accordingly to not allow it to drop into the really low ranges. A 10 will go lower still and would be the start of the low end base. There are lots of subs out there, that require low air volumes. IIRC JL's use to require low airspace. Alpines use to require low air space and lower power requirements too. It's also been a long time since I was in the game and I know allot has changed.

[Xtreme Industries]

if you need just a little more volume, you can mount a sub with the magnet out of the box. I have run dual 12 and quad 10's in my last car. they both were great. 8's might be a little small but it will give you a better range than what you are getting without any sub at all. it may be easier to balance the system as well. not sure how far you are going with your set up but you would probably be happy with either if you are not blasting your music. if you are blasting, put earplugs in your ears, I lost a whole lot of hearing because I never used ear plugs, I loved the feeling of the bass and would cruise around with my stereo blastin. it was capable of 142 db sound level with a quality balances system so I blame myself for being young and stupid.

[MikeMeyerhoff]

Image Dynamics has always had good 8s for small boxes. They just release a very shallow sound quality line, IDQS 8" has <3" mounting depth.