asb2106

Currently waiting on customer to pick out some vinyl so I can finish the truck box, but in the mean time I decided to get started on my next box for the kia. The quad SA8s were decent in the kia, I dotn like the layout and the way it goes in the trunk however, So Im making a new box. Infact Im going to add the 2 refurbs Ive got on the way to the mix to do 6 sa8s in the kia. So my question, how much port area should i use for 6 of these, Im going to tune to 34hz approx, maybe a few less, and Im gonna build the box at 3 cubes. probably gonna get going on it tonight as long as I can figure out the port area. Some calculators Ive tried put the port area much higher than I find comfortable, so Im hoping I can get some good info here, thanks!!

outer dimensions were 38 wide, 22 deep, and 15.5 high. Port is 36.5 x 1.65 x 21" to tune it to 33 hz. Subs face trunk, the port faces down, travels along the "back" of the box, and turns in. some 200 watt subs and a 500 watt 2 ohm amp and your in business i guess! haha

Some tweaking with the headunit and amp has resulted in even better results than what Ive had. Ive got these 6 woofers moving!! With certain songs, Im seeing almost an inch of flex in the roof, and my windsheild is flexing quite a bit as well!. HOLY SMOKES, I never thought I could accomplish that on a single RF 1000 amp. I guess its the air that it moves thats really giving me the feel of some SERIOUS BASS! We did this SUPER budget install this weekend, a Kenwood 8105D with 2 RF P1 15" subs. Super cheapo setup, but we decided to see how we could do on a box, we ended up with 5.2 cubes and 60 sq inches of port, and this SLAMS too!! I cant belive the air this thing moves. simply amazed at the bass it put out. and the customer was dancing in place with the biggest possible grin from ear to ear with what he spent. It was quite enjoyable to watch. (Like no joke, this jeep seriously flexes the roof a full inch, i know not hard on a cherokee - but we paid < 250 bucks!)

Must be me then. I believe I hear a difference when different cone sizes are present, I have no proof of this, and I'm sure your right. So I don't want to argue. But thanks for your input on the matter.

Double post

I cant port lower.. that's the largest enclosure I can fit in there, its playing the notes, they sound good, but an 8" driver just doesn't produce the lows the same as a 15... This setup is the loudest I've had to date, and I think its cause of the fantastic box build. I couldn't be happier with it. There's NOTHING wrong with the box or porting. M5, and Honda, no audiblr port noise at all, I don't want anymore port volume really I think I found a perfect size for these woofers. Just a question M5 BUT when did I fault the driver? I faulted the size of the driver, yes, but i think the only one to blame there is me for buying 8s.. your quote completely missed (and I wonder if you even kept reading) but I clearly stated it gets just as low, it just isn't the same.. But this leads me back again. I started by saying I love it, and mention little things that I found about it. And all everyone reads is the small negatives that have no bearing on my feelings (and everyone else's that's heard it THAT LOVES IT!). It's perfect, it sounds great, gets low, sounds great, and makes me breakfast. Couldn't be happier.

.. just a little.:elol:

Got the box done, ended up going with 56 sq in of port, 3.1 cubes net, tuned to 35 hz. LOVING IT TO DEATH!! I ran the 6 subs in a series parrell, and the multimeter is putting the load at 1.1-1.2 ohms for the 6. Running them all off 1 RF1000BD. Its different bass tho, it cant grab those LOW LOWs like a bigger woofer can, one song for instance is rick ross, aston martin music. That song made some smooth and loud lows with my SoloX, and got real deep and loud. With the 8s, its as loud, and low, but its just not the same. Now apply that to the other 99.92% of my music and it actually helps it out. It keeps the music cleaner, and able to be amped up a hair more without loosing the clean quality sound. I really love the sound, and the beats from one small amp too. Im hoping to hold alittle wow factor cramming 6 woofers in the trunk of a kia spectra

Have you had those 8's in any other boxes to compare? I ask because you said you've had other 8's that struggled. quite a few now, but I think Ive got them down Didnt love it the first time around, but since then Ive liked it much more ever since. I like the boxes with .5-.6 cubes per sub, with about 16 sq in per cube Holy smokes another one Ive got going (check the port area thread in like 10 mins) is up and running with 6 8's in a 3.1 cube box thats SLAMMING on 1000 watts. serious business being done with these 8's, and Im loving them to death. Just waiting for the next customer build to order some more(and probably grab more for me )

Got some refurb SA-8s coming next week from Mike for some builds, and here's the first. Its going in a 99 Silvy, made to fit over the center hump under the rear seat. And we did not have to raise the seat at all! The box nets 1.1 cubes, tuned ~ 38hz. https://picasaweb.google.com/ASB2106/NathanS2xSa8# Some of the better pics..

I'll tell him to stop by tonight, I got some of them from the install last night. They just look awful. Flash makes a car look filthy, and this is far from a show car.. barely a clean one.. so they don't look anything special

At this boxes ability to handle the lows. Very happy and the customer is super happy. Running on a rf 1000bd 2010 with bout half gain, quarter bass boost and at about 45 Hz tops. It could handle higher too, but it matches real nicely with his setup there. Pics and vids coming tomorrow

I'm on the mobile phone, so i will be brief.. much to my relief the box sounds spectacular! Absolutely crisp and clean, it doesn't get violent at all. Other boxes ive had 8s would struggle with certain songs, requiring me to turn down the gain a hair, where this box held strong. I'm amzed

from my experiences that Ive had so far with the 8's (and all the info Ive been absording on the issue), Ive found that i like the ports alittle bigger than that even. Ive made 3 different boxes for these sundowns, trying to acheive the right sound for my setup, and the cleaniest and "loudest sounding" bass came when i ran a pair in 1.1 cubes with 18 sq inches of port tuned to 36. I really wanted to tune lower even, but with the size of the boxes and the port required, I just couldnt get it any lower. The first box I made was 1.2 cubes with 16 sq in of port, and it sounded good. Infact i would have kept it if I had liked how it fit in my car.. but Im glad it didnt, cause after shrinking the box alittle and upping the port it changed quite a bit of the acoustics (but that also could be credited to tuning to 36 instead of 34) Because of that, Im hopeful that I will have good luck tuning my next box to 36, and using 56 sq inches of port for 6 of the subs, with just a hair over 3 cubes of net space. Theres alot of good info, but its mainly all mixed into the arguement. Really what I took from it all, is every driver / box / amp / electrical setup is going to require things to change in the port, and that is also based on your preferences. (i know, sounds basically like your back where you started, but with some basics from sundown, and here I just start building, and it I dont like it, I change it up!) I dont have anything to share on the 12s but once you start playing with some boxes, please keep us posted I have a build for some 12s in the works right now

Skip all other posts and read this one Im not trying to sound like a smart ass here, (IM REALLY NOT! I KNOW NOTHING COMPARED TO Y'ALL AND YOUR SUGGESTIONS AND COMMENTS ARE VERY HELPFUL TO ME) but of coarse its based on amp power and driver config, ive never argued that infact I dont think even ibanter or whomever has either. Hes saying box size needs to be part of the equation. And to a certain degree hes right, cause your box needs to be a certain size to maintain the specifics of the port, and driver that your looking to use. So im taking everything into consideration, and not just one post. Like Ive said in others, I dont come here for one peice of advise, I want to know what everyone thinks, what everyone recommends, and maybe even suggestions, those are nice. When its all said and done some of the specific comments might not have anything to back them up, but to some degree the principles they speak of should be noted. Im not defending or crossing anyone here, and Im grateful for info from everyone here Unless you just post a link to someones post saying this is the only one to read - cause its not how I choose to do my research. All the opinions here matter, thats how it helps me come to my conclusions, and without conflicting ideas the point of asking is gone. AND im changing the design to a single port between 50-55 inches of port area. Id like to go up to 60 but if I do it just throws off the space i need with the added length required.

Hehe thats good :-) ill do some vertical 2 in dowel and ihave added (edit typing error. On cell) .23, poles are actually 1 5/16.

Heres a design i put together, simple but im hopeful it will work out nicely extrenal dimensions are 37 wide, 18 deep, and 14.5 high. figuring basically .7 cubes in speaker displacement. Tuning to 34hz. running 2 ports, each port is 2.5" x 16.5", @ 25.5 inches each. leaving me 3 cubes net volume. Any potential problems I might see with this setup?

Thats the one I started with actually, which started this thread.. if Im not mistaken the xmax of the sa8 driver is 16.5mm using that, with 6 drivers, and 30-34hz measurements its putting port size around 10"" or 80 sq inches. Im currently using 17 sq inches per pair so it just sounded kinda high to me. Ill trust that number and put one together. Ill report my findings. **Just got shipment update this morning, the next 4 sa8s are on the way.

so either this link was an accident, or it was some sort of joke!? idk, either way Im just looking for some help and instruction on what others would recommend I do. I come and ask because Ive came across a few people on here, who know ALOT, and quite a few of them have seen this thread, all your info is greatly appreciated, it really is. But can I ask for alittle more assistance in this matter? Heres the exact specs of what Im going with, 3 cubes, I can go down in size, or up as much to 4 if recommended. (4 would be my gross maximum and its pushing it, but i doubt Ill need that much) *Im starting on a small amp for all 6 subs, A RF 1000BD for all 6, going to run at 1.33ohms for the set. With intentions of stepping up to a 1500D or something similar in the future, potentially adjust ohm load as well (and when that change takes place, a new box isnt a big deal - so if your determining based on my amp size preference, lets use the 1000bd as a guide) *Electrical is as stated in my sig, power and grounds are taken care of under the hood, and I got a spair batt in the trunk, no alt yet. and hopefully it wont be needed with only the one rf1000. *Subs are d4's *using 10 gauge speaker wire *0 gauge under the hood to a distro, then running 4 gauge to the amps. *Subs and port would be pointing upwards with what I have in mind, if someone could recommend something else I should try, that might sound better, Im all for it *Car is a Kia Spectra5 hatchback *maximum dimensions in the trunk for the enclosure, is 37 wide, 18 deep, 14.5 high. and that 14.5 is the maximum, so if the subs are facing upwards, 12 is the max. just looking for some basic layout ideas, something different from what im used to, something that might benefit me more, anything really **and mainly how much port area i should use

Then take that model, and forget everything it says. They aren't at all accurate, period. Box volume has everything to do with port area. If your volume is too small it will choke the port, if it's too big it won't resonate. There is no blanket answer for every sub, because there are other factors that determine what is too little or too much port for a given sub. You can only go by a "general idea" to get you started if you aren't super familiar with the sub. Yes, this is true. You require more port area for more displacement, this goes for more subs or just plain more excursion from a given size. But, there's another factor also, motor force. How much motor force and how linear it is through stroke makes a big difference too. Example, if you had a high throw suspension with an underhung coil, it could move a lot, but it wouldn't be doing it much on it's own power as it would be inertia. So, after the bottom of the coil goes past the top plate, there's no more "umph" left. If the coil is always well in the gap or there is something like XBL^2 going on, there will be motor force still working through full stroke, which will work better on a larger port. Yikes, this all makes sense, absolutely , but is a few levels ahead of my knowledge, so Im very thankful that Youve found my threads! Would you have any recommendations of a design model I could go with? Something to get me started on? Should i just do a basic 3cube up firing slot port design? Ive never reached outside of the boxes youve seen me post here, Id be able to build more complex, but really what would benefit me is out of my design abilities right now. Basically I dont know of a box design that I am safe saying would be good..(outside of what Ive done and am happy with)

Ok Im sorry for the way that came out.. in my current setup in a hatchback Im very pleased with what I hear, and I have yet to hear it in the truck, so my opinion is based soley on that. I guess it really depends on the guys tastes, if he dont like it Im sure we will try something else, but were kinda hopeful that this works, cause aesthetically hes very pleased with it so far. **This isnt my build, this is my customers, so we had to come to some comprises on fitment, looks and sound. And ultimately its his, and if he likes it Im happy

gotcha Ive liked my subwoofers for many years now, but really just started getting behind the acoustics and performance of the audio since joining here. so my newb status, is very correct But Im willing to learn and I have the tools to get the job done right, so lay the knowledge on me!! haha before i joined here, all my boxes were sealed, mainly because i did not understand the design principles and what you benefit from and what hurts you. I still know very little, but enough to be safe.

Confined area being anything other than open air "free space". A lot of people downplay the importance of certain modeled or predicted performance characteristics because the modeling programs can only model performance in basically open air without any close boundaries. This is true for certain performance characteristics such as frequency response. Others are going to be consistent for the most part regardless of the air space the system is playing in. any recommendations for me to try? This will be in quite the open air environment, all subs and port will be facing up, and its a hatchback with an open area to the entire car.

This. The amount of air potentially displaced by the woofer(s) in a given install is the main factor. this is what I thought. I thought the xmax was an important factor as well .. but I'm quite new to ported enclosures, so I'm gonna ask a lot of questions and get a lot of opinions... then I go from there and see with first hand experiencence.

I've been putting the sa8s in pairs and running then on one cube with 16-18 sq inches with great success. That with running 800 watts per pair. I just am curious on 6 initially I'm only gonna run a single 1000 watt for them, but I'm working on getting a 1500d or maybe bigger for them. So I'm considering keeping the port around 36-40 sq inches.. I got an email in with Jacob, I'm curious to see what he has to say.