Important ported enclosure question

[danometal 1]

At this juncture, I don't have a particular subwoofer in mind. I would just like to inquire whether I can build a ported enclosure larger than recommended to obtain a lower tuning. If so, what level of increase could potentially harm the driver?

Thank you.

[KU40 173]

You don't have to build a box larger to lower the tuning frequency. You just have to make the port longer.

As for harming the driver, the box itself will never harm the driver. Only the power applied will. If you build a box larger than recommended the power handling will decrease.

[danometal 1]

You don't have to build a box larger to lower the tuning frequency. You just have to make the port longer.

As for harming the driver, the box itself will never harm the driver. Only the power applied will. If you build a box larger than recommended the power handling will decrease.

Thank you for the response. However, I am aware of the port length application.

* Lower power handling noted

The problem lies in the conundrum wherein the port length to obtain a super low tuning (20-25 hertz) is long enough to force my plans to increase the enclosure size to compensate for this length, unless I lessen the planned port width.

That leads to a subsequent question. Relatively speaking, would decreasing a slot port width from 3 inches to 2 inches be inadequate for a 15" driver?

[jcarter1885 995]

You don't have to build a box larger to lower the tuning frequency. You just have to make the port longer.

As for harming the driver, the box itself will never harm the driver. Only the power applied will. If you build a box larger than recommended the power handling will decrease.

Thank you for the response. However, I am aware of the port length application.

* Lower power handling noted

The problem lies in the conundrum wherein the port length to obtain a super low tuning (20-25 hertz) is long enough to force my plans to increase the enclosure size to compensate for this length, unless I lessen the planned port width.

That leads to a subsequent question. Relatively speaking, would decreasing a slot port width from 3 inches to 2 inches be inadequate for a 15" driver?

Please do not go below 27Hz for Port Tuning and that depends on what subs you will use. Port width can be as wide as you want but you want to stay within the recommend port area (12-16in^2 per cube of internal volume), but 2 inches may be a little too narrow.

How bout this list your goals and what you want from your next ported enclsosure and we can go from there.

[danometal 1]

You don't have to build a box larger to lower the tuning frequency. You just have to make the port longer.

As for harming the driver, the box itself will never harm the driver. Only the power applied will. If you build a box larger than recommended the power handling will decrease.

Thank you for the response. However, I am aware of the port length application.

* Lower power handling noted

The problem lies in the conundrum wherein the port length to obtain a super low tuning (20-25 hertz) is long enough to force my plans to increase the enclosure size to compensate for this length, unless I lessen the planned port width.

That leads to a subsequent question. Relatively speaking, would decreasing a slot port width from 3 inches to 2 inches be inadequate for a 15" driver?

Please do not go below 27Hz for Port Tuning and that depends on what subs you will use. Port width can be as wide as you want but you want to stay within the recommend port area (12-16in^2 per cube of internal volume), but 2 inches may be a little too narrow.

How bout this list your goals and what you want from your next ported enclsosure and we can go from there.

Cool.

My goals are, in order of highest to lowest priority:

Sound quality, low frequency response, SPL

I'm curious as to why tuning should be 27 hertz or above. If I went with a slightly higher tuning, it would work, as my rockford p1000.1bd has the subsonic filter at 28 hertz if I turn it on. I'm not going to ask the redundant question of ported vs. sealed. It appears ported is recommended moreso.

Anyway, I plan to use a single 15" driver, whether, Icon, FI Q, or SSD. Depending on money I may go with IDmax, but most likely not.

[jcarter1885 995]

You don't have to build a box larger to lower the tuning frequency. You just have to make the port longer.

As for harming the driver, the box itself will never harm the driver. Only the power applied will. If you build a box larger than recommended the power handling will decrease.

Thank you for the response. However, I am aware of the port length application.

* Lower power handling noted

The problem lies in the conundrum wherein the port length to obtain a super low tuning (20-25 hertz) is long enough to force my plans to increase the enclosure size to compensate for this length, unless I lessen the planned port width.

That leads to a subsequent question. Relatively speaking, would decreasing a slot port width from 3 inches to 2 inches be inadequate for a 15" driver?

Please do not go below 27Hz for Port Tuning and that depends on what subs you will use. Port width can be as wide as you want but you want to stay within the recommend port area (12-16in^2 per cube of internal volume), but 2 inches may be a little too narrow.

How bout this list your goals and what you want from your next ported enclsosure and we can go from there.

Cool.

My goals are, in order of highest to lowest priority:

Sound quality, low frequency response, SPL

I'm curious as to why tuning should be 27 hertz or above. If I went with a slightly higher tuning, it would work, as my rockford p1000.1bd has the subsonic filter at 28 hertz if I turn it on. I'm not going to ask the redundant question of ported vs. sealed. It appears ported is recommended moreso.

Anyway, I plan to use a single 15" driver, whether, Icon, FI Q, or SSD. Depending on money I may go with IDmax, but most likely not.

Well the Q wants tuning 28Hz and above, Icon wants tuning 27Hz and above and the SSD wants tuning at 33Hz. So tuning below 27Hz wouldnt help you anyway since the company's dont even recommend that low tuning, then your box will kinda become a one hit wonder and music usually doesnt go that low unless you listen to a lot of chopped and screwed music or cd made by a pipe organ. With that set sonic filter you want to tune above 28hz, if you tune below it then the feature will be useless.

[danometal 1]

You don't have to build a box larger to lower the tuning frequency. You just have to make the port longer.

As for harming the driver, the box itself will never harm the driver. Only the power applied will. If you build a box larger than recommended the power handling will decrease.

Thank you for the response. However, I am aware of the port length application.

* Lower power handling noted

The problem lies in the conundrum wherein the port length to obtain a super low tuning (20-25 hertz) is long enough to force my plans to increase the enclosure size to compensate for this length, unless I lessen the planned port width.

That leads to a subsequent question. Relatively speaking, would decreasing a slot port width from 3 inches to 2 inches be inadequate for a 15" driver?

Please do not go below 27Hz for Port Tuning and that depends on what subs you will use. Port width can be as wide as you want but you want to stay within the recommend port area (12-16in^2 per cube of internal volume), but 2 inches may be a little too narrow.

How bout this list your goals and what you want from your next ported enclsosure and we can go from there.

Cool.

My goals are, in order of highest to lowest priority:

Sound quality, low frequency response, SPL

I'm curious as to why tuning should be 27 hertz or above. If I went with a slightly higher tuning, it would work, as my rockford p1000.1bd has the subsonic filter at 28 hertz if I turn it on. I'm not going to ask the redundant question of ported vs. sealed. It appears ported is recommended moreso.

Anyway, I plan to use a single 15" driver, whether, Icon, FI Q, or SSD. Depending on money I may go with IDmax, but most likely not.

Well the Q wants tuning 28Hz and above, Icon wants tuning 27Hz and above and the SSD wants tuning at 33Hz. So tuning below 27Hz wouldnt help you anyway since the company's dont even recommend that low tuning, then your box will kinda become a one hit wonder and music usually doesnt go that low unless you listen to a lot of chopped and screwed music or cd made by a pipe organ. With that set sonic filter you want to tune above 28hz, if you tune below it then the feature will be useless.

Excellent. Thank you!!

Which would you recommend for this application, the Q or the Icon? They seem to be quite similar.

Also, does the suggestion to not tune so low have something to do with cabin gain, or is that more based on driver design?

[jcarter1885 995]

Everything plays into affect, but you missed what I said music does not trypically go that low so you wont be gaining anything from tuning that low (you will be losing a lot of output). It is a waste of a box and equipment because it wont benefit anything.

Either sub will do and get the job done, whichever you buy you will be happy with.

[danometal 1]

Everything plays into affect, but you missed what I said music does not trypically go that low so you wont be gaining anything from tuning that low (you will be losing a lot of output). It is a waste of a box and equipment because it wont benefit anything.

Either sub will do and get the job done, whichever you buy you will be happy with.

Thanks!!

[jcarter1885 995]

Yeah no problem at all.

[KU40 173]

You don't have to build a box larger to lower the tuning frequency. You just have to make the port longer.

As for harming the driver, the box itself will never harm the driver. Only the power applied will. If you build a box larger than recommended the power handling will decrease.

Thank you for the response. However, I am aware of the port length application.

* Lower power handling noted

The problem lies in the conundrum wherein the port length to obtain a super low tuning (20-25 hertz) is long enough to force my plans to increase the enclosure size to compensate for this length, unless I lessen the planned port width.

That leads to a subsequent question. Relatively speaking, would decreasing a slot port width from 3 inches to 2 inches be inadequate for a 15" driver?

Please do not go below 27Hz for Port Tuning and that depends on what subs you will use. Port width can be as wide as you want but you want to stay within the recommend port area (12-16in^2 per cube of internal volume), but 2 inches may be a little too narrow.

How bout this list your goals and what you want from your next ported enclsosure and we can go from there.

Cool.

My goals are, in order of highest to lowest priority:

Sound quality, low frequency response, SPL

I'm curious as to why tuning should be 27 hertz or above. If I went with a slightly higher tuning, it would work, as my rockford p1000.1bd has the subsonic filter at 28 hertz if I turn it on. I'm not going to ask the redundant question of ported vs. sealed. It appears ported is recommended moreso.

Anyway, I plan to use a single 15" driver, whether, Icon, FI Q, or SSD. Depending on money I may go with IDmax, but most likely not.

Well the Q wants tuning 28Hz and above, Icon wants tuning 27Hz and above and the SSD wants tuning at 33Hz. So tuning below 27Hz wouldnt help you anyway since the company's dont even recommend that low tuning, then your box will kinda become a one hit wonder and music usually doesnt go that low unless you listen to a lot of chopped and screwed music or cd made by a pipe organ. With that set sonic filter you want to tune above 28hz, if you tune below it then the feature will be useless.

mm, not so fast. Lowering box tuning will not make the setup a one note wonder. Raising the frequency will, not lowering it. Lowering tuning frequency expands the frequency response range of the driver and makes it more flat. The lower the tuning frequency is, the more the ported box behaves like a sealed box.

I'm not sure how you got the findings that say that any of those drivers "want" a tuning frequency above what you listed. We could plug any of those subs into a HT application with the tuning frequency at 15 hz and they would be brilliant.

[danometal 1]

You don't have to build a box larger to lower the tuning frequency. You just have to make the port longer.

As for harming the driver, the box itself will never harm the driver. Only the power applied will. If you build a box larger than recommended the power handling will decrease.

Thank you for the response. However, I am aware of the port length application.

* Lower power handling noted

The problem lies in the conundrum wherein the port length to obtain a super low tuning (20-25 hertz) is long enough to force my plans to increase the enclosure size to compensate for this length, unless I lessen the planned port width.

That leads to a subsequent question. Relatively speaking, would decreasing a slot port width from 3 inches to 2 inches be inadequate for a 15" driver?

Please do not go below 27Hz for Port Tuning and that depends on what subs you will use. Port width can be as wide as you want but you want to stay within the recommend port area (12-16in^2 per cube of internal volume), but 2 inches may be a little too narrow.

How bout this list your goals and what you want from your next ported enclsosure and we can go from there.

Cool.

My goals are, in order of highest to lowest priority:

Sound quality, low frequency response, SPL

I'm curious as to why tuning should be 27 hertz or above. If I went with a slightly higher tuning, it would work, as my rockford p1000.1bd has the subsonic filter at 28 hertz if I turn it on. I'm not going to ask the redundant question of ported vs. sealed. It appears ported is recommended moreso.

Anyway, I plan to use a single 15" driver, whether, Icon, FI Q, or SSD. Depending on money I may go with IDmax, but most likely not.

Well the Q wants tuning 28Hz and above, Icon wants tuning 27Hz and above and the SSD wants tuning at 33Hz. So tuning below 27Hz wouldnt help you anyway since the company's dont even recommend that low tuning, then your box will kinda become a one hit wonder and music usually doesnt go that low unless you listen to a lot of chopped and screwed music or cd made by a pipe organ. With that set sonic filter you want to tune above 28hz, if you tune below it then the feature will be useless.

mm, not so fast. Lowering box tuning will not make the setup a one note wonder. Raising the frequency will, not lowering it. Lowering tuning frequency expands the frequency response range of the driver and makes it more flat. The lower the tuning frequency is, the more the ported box behaves like a sealed box.

I'm not sure how you got the findings that say that any of those drivers "want" a tuning frequency above what you listed. We could plug any of those subs into a HT application with the tuning frequency at 15 hz and they would be brilliant.

Oh wow. That changes everything. I understand the intensity of the driver's midbass will lessen with the lower tune, but that's completely within the parameters of my sound goals. My Rockford amp begins making notes at 20 hertz, and I would really like to have the full, flat range therein.

Honestly, I was strongly considering a sealed box due to its flat response, but it seems unanimous within experienced installers that ported is preferable in a mobile setup. I would love to know if in fact the woofers I listed are capable car subs tuned to 20 hertz. That would be the dealmaker for me.

[antonmiller 8]

there is no reason to tune to 20 hz. music does not go that low generally, a 28 hz tuning would be great for music. and since your subsonic filer kicks in at 28 hz it is perfect. Is there any other reason to tune your box to 20 hz other than the fact that your amp can produce sound at 20 hz?

[danometal 1]

there is no reason to tune to 20 hz. music does not go that low generally, a 28 hz tuning would be great for music. and since your subsonic filer kicks in at 28 hz it is perfect. Is there any other reason to tune your box to 20 hz other than the fact that your amp can produce sound at 20 hz?

I have music that goes down that low. Currently, I have 2 Kenwood shallow mount 12s in my single cab truck. They sound decent, but they don't do much under 30 hertz. I will be getting a Saturn L200, and I don't really want to put the shallows in the trunk, plus I want to get the super low response I'm currently missing. I'm hoping to be able to tune low and leave the SSF turned off.

[///M5 2,833]

there is no reason to tune to 20 hz. music does not go that low generally, a 28 hz tuning would be great for music. and since your subsonic filer kicks in at 28 hz it is perfect. Is there any other reason to tune your box to 20 hz other than the fact that your amp can produce sound at 20 hz?

I have music that goes down that low. Currently, I have 2 Kenwood shallow mount 12s in my single cab truck. They sound decent, but they don't do much under 30 hertz. I will be getting a Saturn L200, and I don't really want to put the shallows in the trunk, plus I want to get the super low response I'm currently missing. I'm hoping to be able to tune low and leave the SSF turned off.

Those Kenwoods are probably 12dB+ down at 30Hz, I think your perception of Hz is off...by a lot. I'd actually wager that you can't even hear 20Hz, it is pretty much at the low limit for human hearing and most people don't reach that far.

[danometal 1]

there is no reason to tune to 20 hz. music does not go that low generally, a 28 hz tuning would be great for music. and since your subsonic filer kicks in at 28 hz it is perfect. Is there any other reason to tune your box to 20 hz other than the fact that your amp can produce sound at 20 hz?

I have music that goes down that low. Currently, I have 2 Kenwood shallow mount 12s in my single cab truck. They sound decent, but they don't do much under 30 hertz. I will be getting a Saturn L200, and I don't really want to put the shallows in the trunk, plus I want to get the super low response I'm currently missing. I'm hoping to be able to tune low and leave the SSF turned off.

Those Kenwoods are probably 12dB+ down at 30Hz, I think your perception of Hz is off...by a lot. I'd actually wager that you can't even hear 20Hz, it is pretty much at the low limit for human hearing and most people don't reach that far.

Actually, I have a test cd that plays 20 -99 hertz. I can actually hear the 20 on the Kenwoods, just not as loud as 27 +. I have done some research outside of this forum which also suggests a 20 hertz tune in a car would muddy up the sound. I'll proabably just give up this particular ambition of 20 hertz response and go with your advice to tune a FI or Icon to around 28-29 and let it rip with the filter on.

Also, I shouldn't have any trouble building the box to exact specs (without going larger as I have previously inquired) considering the shorter required port length.

What slot port width would you suggest with the height of the port opening being 15"-16" tall? (with a 15" FI Q or Icon)

Thanks for all the good advice, man!!

[///M5 2,833]

Are you sure you hear the sub and not the environment? Possible, just not everyone can.

As for the port, what size Icon and what size box?

[jcarter1885 995]

You don't have to build a box larger to lower the tuning frequency. You just have to make the port longer.

As for harming the driver, the box itself will never harm the driver. Only the power applied will. If you build a box larger than recommended the power handling will decrease.

Thank you for the response. However, I am aware of the port length application.

* Lower power handling noted

The problem lies in the conundrum wherein the port length to obtain a super low tuning (20-25 hertz) is long enough to force my plans to increase the enclosure size to compensate for this length, unless I lessen the planned port width.

That leads to a subsequent question. Relatively speaking, would decreasing a slot port width from 3 inches to 2 inches be inadequate for a 15" driver?

Please do not go below 27Hz for Port Tuning and that depends on what subs you will use. Port width can be as wide as you want but you want to stay within the recommend port area (12-16in^2 per cube of internal volume), but 2 inches may be a little too narrow.

How bout this list your goals and what you want from your next ported enclsosure and we can go from there.

Cool.

My goals are, in order of highest to lowest priority:

Sound quality, low frequency response, SPL

I'm curious as to why tuning should be 27 hertz or above. If I went with a slightly higher tuning, it would work, as my rockford p1000.1bd has the subsonic filter at 28 hertz if I turn it on. I'm not going to ask the redundant question of ported vs. sealed. It appears ported is recommended moreso.

Anyway, I plan to use a single 15" driver, whether, Icon, FI Q, or SSD. Depending on money I may go with IDmax, but most likely not.

Well the Q wants tuning 28Hz and above, Icon wants tuning 27Hz and above and the SSD wants tuning at 33Hz. So tuning below 27Hz wouldnt help you anyway since the company's dont even recommend that low tuning, then your box will kinda become a one hit wonder and music usually doesnt go that low unless you listen to a lot of chopped and screwed music or cd made by a pipe organ. With that set sonic filter you want to tune above 28hz, if you tune below it then the feature will be useless.

mm, not so fast. Lowering box tuning will not make the setup a one note wonder. Raising the frequency will, not lowering it. Lowering tuning frequency expands the frequency response range of the driver and makes it more flat. The lower the tuning frequency is, the more the ported box behaves like a sealed box.

I'm not sure how you got the findings that say that any of those drivers "want" a tuning frequency above what you listed. We could plug any of those subs into a HT application with the tuning frequency at 15 hz and they would be brilliant.

Well I was speaking in a car environment they would want a lower tuning, know Im a little bit confused. I remember when we had this discussion about my ported enclosure I had for my CVX's tuned to 26Hz, everyone was telling me it was a waste and why tune it so low. I know that a sub could be put in a Home Theater application and shine, but for a car whats the lowest tuning that should be used or is there if any. Everyone was saying its absurd, blah blah blah and now you say its fine.

[danometal 1]

Are you sure you hear the sub and not the environment? Possible, just not everyone can.

As for the port, what size Icon and what size box?

I was thinking a single 15" in 4 cubes.

Do they make preamp subsonic filters? Just curious.

[jcarter1885 995]

Are you sure you hear the sub and not the environment? Possible, just not everyone can.

As for the port, what size Icon and what size box?

I was thinking a single 15" in 4 cubes.

Do they make preamp subsonic filters? Just curious.

Yeah actually they do make preamp sub sonic filters.

[danometal 1]

Are you sure you hear the sub and not the environment? Possible, just not everyone can.

As for the port, what size Icon and what size box?

I was thinking a single 15" in 4 cubes.

Do they make preamp subsonic filters? Just curious.

Yeah actually they do make preamp sub sonic filters.

Nice. I may use one and compromise between the 2 discussed frequency ranges, and go 25 hertz. That would be sweet.

[KU40 173]

You don't have to build a box larger to lower the tuning frequency. You just have to make the port longer.

As for harming the driver, the box itself will never harm the driver. Only the power applied will. If you build a box larger than recommended the power handling will decrease.

Thank you for the response. However, I am aware of the port length application.

* Lower power handling noted

The problem lies in the conundrum wherein the port length to obtain a super low tuning (20-25 hertz) is long enough to force my plans to increase the enclosure size to compensate for this length, unless I lessen the planned port width.

That leads to a subsequent question. Relatively speaking, would decreasing a slot port width from 3 inches to 2 inches be inadequate for a 15" driver?

Please do not go below 27Hz for Port Tuning and that depends on what subs you will use. Port width can be as wide as you want but you want to stay within the recommend port area (12-16in^2 per cube of internal volume), but 2 inches may be a little too narrow.

How bout this list your goals and what you want from your next ported enclsosure and we can go from there.

Cool.

My goals are, in order of highest to lowest priority:

Sound quality, low frequency response, SPL

I'm curious as to why tuning should be 27 hertz or above. If I went with a slightly higher tuning, it would work, as my rockford p1000.1bd has the subsonic filter at 28 hertz if I turn it on. I'm not going to ask the redundant question of ported vs. sealed. It appears ported is recommended moreso.

Anyway, I plan to use a single 15" driver, whether, Icon, FI Q, or SSD. Depending on money I may go with IDmax, but most likely not.

Well the Q wants tuning 28Hz and above, Icon wants tuning 27Hz and above and the SSD wants tuning at 33Hz. So tuning below 27Hz wouldnt help you anyway since the company's dont even recommend that low tuning, then your box will kinda become a one hit wonder and music usually doesnt go that low unless you listen to a lot of chopped and screwed music or cd made by a pipe organ. With that set sonic filter you want to tune above 28hz, if you tune below it then the feature will be useless.

mm, not so fast. Lowering box tuning will not make the setup a one note wonder. Raising the frequency will, not lowering it. Lowering tuning frequency expands the frequency response range of the driver and makes it more flat. The lower the tuning frequency is, the more the ported box behaves like a sealed box.

I'm not sure how you got the findings that say that any of those drivers "want" a tuning frequency above what you listed. We could plug any of those subs into a HT application with the tuning frequency at 15 hz and they would be brilliant.

Well I was speaking in a car environment they would want a lower tuning, know Im a little bit confused. I remember when we had this discussion about my ported enclosure I had for my CVX's tuned to 26Hz, everyone was telling me it was a waste and why tune it so low. I know that a sub could be put in a Home Theater application and shine, but for a car whats the lowest tuning that should be used or is there if any. Everyone was saying its absurd, blah blah blah and now you say its fine.

Well it's sort of a pro vs. con thing. The problem is that generally people who want a ported box want it for the greater efficiency and thus be louder. Well, music generally does not go below 30 hz. Therefore, if you want to maximize the SPL of the system, you tune to there or slightly greater. But porting in the 30s gives an exaggerated response in the 30-50 range. If you model any sub you can see that. Tuning lower reduces that exaggeration, yet still gives an efficiency boost over sealed. Just not as great of one as a box tuned higher.

As for yours vs. this topic, perhaps you had different goals. The OP of this topic wanted firstly SQ (which I took as a flat FR), and low frequency response (which I took as sub-35 hz or so). I don't remember or maybe didn't see your topic, but I just assume you had different goals in mind which led to the higher suggested tuning frequency.

[jcarter1885 995]

KU40 sent you a pm, didnt want to thread jack.

[///M5 2,833]

Are you sure you hear the sub and not the environment? Possible, just not everyone can.

As for the port, what size Icon and what size box?

I was thinking a single 15" in 4 cubes.

Do they make preamp subsonic filters? Just curious.

Yeah actually they do make preamp sub sonic filters.

Nice. I may use one and compromise between the 2 discussed frequency ranges, and go 25 hertz. That would be sweet.

Really still too low. There will be NO benefit of tuning that low. Really below 28 in a car will NOT help your response in general.

[KU40 173]

Are you sure you hear the sub and not the environment? Possible, just not everyone can.

As for the port, what size Icon and what size box?

I was thinking a single 15" in 4 cubes.

Do they make preamp subsonic filters? Just curious.

Yeah actually they do make preamp sub sonic filters.

Nice. I may use one and compromise between the 2 discussed frequency ranges, and go 25 hertz. That would be sweet.

Really still too low. There will be NO benefit of tuning that low. Really below 28 in a car will NOT help your response in general.

I understand that most music doesn't go that low, but a tuning frequency that low would even out the frequency response hump. So it has to be beneficial for somebody looking for that, no?