The Perfect Subwoofer Box

We often hear talk (specially in car audio) about certain boxes being RIGHT for certain woofers. Many folks talk like a given woofer wont even play at all if the box size is not exactly perfect!

What is perfect?

Manufacturers often recommend a certain box for their speakers.

Computer box programs can PICK the box size (or tuning) that works best(?) with the woofer if you input the Thiele/Small parameters.

Is the box size the manufacturer recommends perfect? How can it possibly be perfect when they don't even know what kind of car your installing the box into? We all know the car will change the sound (this is called transfer function)! How can they possibly choose the perfect box size? Many times the speaker manufacturers recommendation is chosen not for perfect sound but for an average that might work well in the average car. Many times they might recommend the box that's easiest to build for beginners or small (since many folks like woofs that work in small boxes) or sealed instead of vented because it is less likely for you to blow your speaker in a small sealed box than a large vented box! (if you blow your speaker (a) they might have to replace it. (b) the company might get a reputation for lousy speakers if they blow a lot) Sure, the manufacturers recommendation will probably sound great! But perfect??? Is the manufacturers recommended box size really right for you?

Is the box size provided by computer programs perfect? Again, how can it be unless they take into account the transfer function of the car??? I don't know of a current popular program that does! Most computer programs will calculate a box for you with the lowest response and with the least ripple. In car audio, this many times IS NOT the best! Sometimes (specially in SPL competitions) the ripple the computer program tries to avoid might actually be an SPL or bass boost! Or for an SQ car, a slight ripple (inaudible, an may likely be made up for by the cars transfer function) might get you much deeper bass... Is the computers recommendation the perfect box? Is the computer programs recommended box right for you?

How bout the difference in CUSTOM made boxes vs PREFAB boxes?

Most real car audio enthusiasts would never consider a PREFAB box, we all know the custom built boxes are far superior sounding... BUT ARE THEY REALLY?

From my experience there is a great amount of BADLY BUILT custom boxes being built! Built so badly in fact that for many cases a prefab box would be miles better!

A prefab box could be better than a badly built custom box! I have heard some darned good systems with prefab boxes and some very poor systems with custom built boxes.. It's important if your gonna pay high dollar for an installer to build you a custom box that the installer be good at building boxes or you might just as well have spent your money on a pre-fab and spent the left over money on something else.

PLUS, since we mentioned installers, how many really have any background in speaker design? Many claim to be experts, but in the real world most installers just build the so called custom boxes with no AUDIO PHYSICS in mind. So for a custom box, its important the installer be not only a carpenter but also an expert at loudspeaker box design... Or a pre-fab box might be the better choice! ;-)

And, in reality, there is no PERFECT box, and to really custom build a box to perform as good as possible in a given vehicle it requires huge stacks of expensive test equipment, lots of woodworking tools and saws, and building, testing then rebuilding and retesting, and rebuilding and retesting again and again and again until no more good is achieved. This is done only by a few crazy competition gurus or a few nutty hobbyists, certainly NOT for the average car audio guy, or even the average installer...

So, I think it would be safe to say most so called perfect boxes are no where near perfect, they can all be improved on. And even if they were perfect, putting them in a car will change them, even the direction the box fires in the car can have an effect!

And it makes me laugh when I hear a fellow say something like " the manufacturer recommends 1.5cu ft for this speaker, it wont work in 1.25cu ft!"

Sure it will!
If that's all the space you have,
build it,
play it,
enjoy it!

There are so many variables involved there is a chance the NON-PERFECT box might even sound better than the so called perfect one! Try it ;-)

Enjoy!