Subwoofer enclosure Tuning Frequency question?

Question

Hey all, I have 2 12'' Kicker CompVX 2 ohm subwoofers wired up to a Kicker zx1500.1, and am now in need of a good vented box.

My main concern is retaining as high of sound quality I can get while not sacrificing the loudness that a vented box provides over most sealed boxes.

What tuning frequency would be the best to have to achieve this? If I can come by a good pre-fab box with this tuning frequency and around 2 ft^3 per subwoofer should I go ahead and pick it up? Thanks in advance to any who answer!

Answer 1

A prefab box is usually the most practical box to use.  it gets the job done for $75-150 and is usually very well made.  Most ported boxes should sound great at 60 to 80 Hz.  

If you like the deep low bass that are really what kickers are best known for go 60 Hz.  If you want more tone in the sound, go 70-80 Hz.

good luck

Answer 2

60-70Hz!?!?  That is waaay to high of tuning for a sub in a ported enclosure.  

The best tuning frequency will change depending on the sub that you have.  Some subs work better with higher tuning frequencies while others work better with lower ones.  

If you are looking for a good mix or SQ and SPL then a low tuned enclosure is what you will want.  Something with a tuning frequency around 30-35Hz would probably be ideal.

Finding a prefab enclosure with that low of tuning but that also has the correct volume is going to be hard.  I would suggest at the very least going to a car audio shop and having them make you a custom enclosure designed to fit you sub.  That will give you the best sound from your sub and also will have the sound you are looking for.

If you are looking for SQ then a larger volume enclosure is not what you should be looking for.  Larger ported enclosures will tend to be boomier.

The difference between 2.25ft^3 and 2.5ft^3 is small enough that you would be fine with that size enclosure.  

Good Luck!!!

Edit: One last thing, if your sealed enclosure sound messy right now then there are a couple of possibly issues.  First could be the size of the enclosure.  Larger sealed enclosures will have better SQ then smaller sealed enclosures.  So if you are on the small end of what Kicker suggests that could be one possible reason.  Another reason could be that you have the gain turned too high.  This will cause clipping which is harmful to your subs.  Clipping is a form of distortion which is another possible problem.  Use the link below to set your gain right.

http://mobile.jlaudio.com/support_pages....