I have 3 JL 12 w3 subs dual 4 ohm. I recently purchased a custom box for my camaro for these subs, it is an open chamber enclosure with 3 cubic ft. of space. I just sold it and bought a 1999 Chevy Tahoe. I want to get a different box because I now have more space and that is my problem. Would a bigger sealed box benifit me as far as more volume and maintaining the same sound quality. Would a ported box kill my s.q. What would you guys do? I don't want to blow another 300 bucks for a spec box if it wouldn't benifit me. The amp I am running is a soundstream rubicon 10.2, big 1000 watt amp.
For a sealed box, you'd want something has 3.375 cu. ft. of internal volume; for a ported box, you'd want one with 5.25 cu. ft. of internal volume, and 3 ports that are 4" in diameter and 16.2" long. According to JL, a triple sub enclosure just requires 3 times the amount of internal volume and 3 times as many ports, so that's how I came up with the above figures.
They don't really mention which type of enclosure will sound "better", but then again that's always a pretty subjective thing anyways. They do say this at the very beginning of the manual though:
Both types of enclosures will give you excellent sound quality and
low-frequency extension. The sealed enclosure is a better choice if space is extremely tight, but the ported
enclosure will produce 3dB more output at the same power if you have the extra space to work with.
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Ethan
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"Patience, persistence, and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success"
Donate to the12volt.comWill a ported box kill my sound quality? I know it will be louder but it doesn't matter if it sounds like a fart. I could sacrifice some s.q. for spl but not too much. Will a larger sealed box than I already have sound the same or different?
It's really hard to give a definite answer cuz as you know there's so many variables and what sounds good in one vehicle can sound like poo in another vehicle. I think a ported box built to JL's recommended specifications would not suffer much of a SQ hit at all, or else they would have noted that in the manual. It might go a little deeper too, but once again that's hard to say for sure.
I don't know how much (if any) of a difference a slightly larger sealed box would sound compared to your 3 cu. ft. box. If it'll cost you $300 to get a new box then I'd say just stuff some poly-fill in your existing box and it'll act like it's pretty darn close to a 3.375 cu. ft. box; and it'll cost a whole lot less obviously.
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Ethan
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"Patience, persistence, and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success"
Donate to the12volt.comthanks for your help. The guy at the stereo shop said that the ported box would lose a lot of s.q. but the spl would make me dump in my pants. I think I will give the big ported box a shot because I have never had one before and I want to try something new. My box is already stuffed with polyfill but my system sounds like it is being held back by a small box. Thanks again, Mike
true a ported box will pound harder and actually can be more efficient then a sealed if tuned correctly. If you are worried about port whistle you can go with square ports that cut down on this, and i have a friend who had 2 JL12w3's in his Geo in a sealed then had them in a ported in his blazer and he didn't lose very much sq but they beat harder and deeper, but he hasn't got them hooked up to a SPL mic to see the difference yet.