best box for audiobahn subs?

Printed From: the12volt.com
Forum Name: Car Audio
Forum Discription: Car Stereos, Amplifiers, Crossovers, Processors, Speakers, Subwoofers, etc.
URL: https://www.the12volt.com/installbay/forum_posts.asp?tid=29342
Printed Date: July 04, 2025 at 6:57 AM

Topic: best box for audiobahn subs?

Posted By: alex75
Subject: best box for audiobahn subs?
Date Posted: March 30, 2004 at 5:30 PM

-hey thanks for the wiring info, i'm now running my 2 audiobahn aw1051q parallel in 2 ohm stereo mode-what a difference. what is the best kind of box for these 2 subs? right now they are in a L-shaped bandpass box w/ the subs facing eachother and has a plexi window (it was purchased on e-bay). it sounds good but i think it could sound better. any suggestions for the best box?

Replies:

Posted By: flashalex
Date Posted: March 30, 2004 at 5:42 PM

I have two Audiobahn AW1200Qs in a similar bandpass box and its really loud. If you are looking for better sound quality then you may want to looking in to getting a sealed box but if I were you I would just save your money and keep the box you have.

Posted By: flashalex
Date Posted: March 30, 2004 at 5:43 PM

Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: March 30, 2004 at 5:51 PM

Those woofers might not last too long in a bandpass enclosure (unless it happens to be the perfect size for them) but it is the best way to maximuze their SPL output. If you want good SQ and a long life and still have the ability to pound, put each one in a 1.5 CUFT sealed enclosure. They will be much happier.

Posted By: Ravendarat
Date Posted: March 30, 2004 at 7:26 PM

Best box for Audiobahn subs? The ones they came in, so you can return them. Im just joking, but I couldnt resist because I just got done reading about 97neons problems. I would tend to agree with Dyohn, the sealed enclosure would work well. You could also make a ported enclosure about 2 cubic feet per driver with ports that are 3"x 10" long. That would probally give you the more output than the sealed enclose and a wider frequency response when compared to your bandpass design. The only downside is that it wont play quite as wide of range as the sealed enclose will. Your call

Posted By: flashalex
Date Posted: March 30, 2004 at 7:33 PM

What do u mean by last to long were you talking about my subwoofers or his or both?

Posted By: alex75
Date Posted: March 30, 2004 at 8:21 PM

Thanks for all the info-much appreciated! The Audiobahn manual indicates that a sealed box should be between .53 and 1.06 cu ft. A ported enclosure should be .88 cu ft. How closely should I adhere to this? What's the difference in SQ between a smaller or bigger bow within those perameters? By the way I drive a Nissan Altima with a trunk. If I put the subs in a sealed box, what is the best wiring configuration? I was thinking of wiring the subs parallel then series to eachother for a 4 ohm mono bridged load (my amp is only 2 ohm stereo stable. All input appreciated!

Posted By: nxtbesthing
Date Posted: March 30, 2004 at 9:39 PM

I would put each in a 1.5 cubic ft. enclosure with a port that is 3"x6.75". That should get them bangin. Or if you really like it loud and nasty put each in a 2.5 cubic ft. enclosure with a port that is 4"x6.8"

Anything can be done it just takes a big hammer, a saw, and a big set of balls

Posted By: DYohn
Date Posted: March 30, 2004 at 11:12 PM

Audiobahn subs are quickly gaining a reputation for being short lived. I know of at least six setups in the past few weeks (not including the saga of 97Neon detailed on this forum) where Audiobahn subs in perfectly built enclosures powered by well-set-up amps within their rated power band have FRIED for no apparent reason. I will no longer recomend to any customers that they install these. I think people are being fooled by the vaguely German sounding name that these must be high-quality subs when in fact they don't seem to be. They sound good and can really pump the SPL, but they are overpriced and if they fry after a few weeks of normal use, then they are expensive boat anchors in my opinion. There are much better choices in their price range.

Posted By: jbjohn22jb
Date Posted: March 31, 2004 at 12:58 AM

I can't respond to the ported side of this question. But as far as sealed goes, yes, sealed is the way to go. I had mine in a box that was maybe 1-1.25 cu ft in both chambers, I just built a new box giving them each 2.0 cu ft. Difference is noticable for the better. I haven't heard alot of positive things for the Audiobahns in ported enclosures though. Not neccessarily bad, just that the subs didn't perform well. Thanks for posting about the ones on Ebay, I almost bought that box (or one like it) a month ago. Glad I didn't.

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"I'm only doin' this for ya because I heard that Buffalo Bob guy shoved a road flare up yer bunghole...."
Kenwwod 315s
2 Audiobahn AWI25IT
1 Audiobahn A275HCT
1 Tsunami 1.0
1 Legacy 3.0

Posted By: FullForce
Date Posted: March 31, 2004 at 1:03 AM

Now I am gonna have to chime in here. I dont know what to say about the bad experiences of these subs but I have used them a ton and had very minimal problems. One problem was the 06 and 08 series subs. They would hit the back plate and break spiders and cones. They redesigned them to fix this. Now there is 1 series of subs that I have always told my customers in the past and will continue to tell is THE best sub for the money. That line is the 00 series, example AW1000, AW1200, AW1500. The 10, 12, and 15" models are 600, 700, and 800 watts RMS respectively and I promise that they will take much more in the correct box. I have not had 1 single 00 series sub to blow in the 3 years I have been selling and installing them. Keep in mind that I install everything I sell and I always use ported boxes for these subs, which helps with the power handling. Also, I have used nothing less than a Audiobahn A1300HC to drive the subs. I just did a firebird with 2 AW1200T subs and 2 Coustic 801DB amps. Those are some bad a$$ amps. The subs were getting thrown like they were hooked to an electric chair but no bottoming out and still hit hard. There is always some nut out there who doesnt know what a sub sounds like when its distorting.

Posted By: alex75
Date Posted: March 31, 2004 at 9:41 AM

Muchas Gracias for the responses guys! What is the overall opinion on My subs, Audioobahn aw1051q's? In response to jbjohn, you said you put your subs in a box giving each 2 CUFT, but what line of Audiobahns do you have? Could someoneout there tell me how to determine if my bandpass box is the right size?

Posted By: FullForce
Date Posted: April 01, 2004 at 12:29 AM

the 1051 is the lowest grade sub that audiobahn makes ... that doesnt mean its not a good sub .... i have tried a pair of 1051 and a pair of 1251 subs bandpass and they sounded like ass

best thing you can do is put them in a good ported box .... try a 1.25 cube per speaker with a 3 inch port 8 - 10 inches long depending on the kind of music you like .... this guy that works with me is still bumping his 4 year old 1051's in the bported box i built and he listens to rap so they get a workout

Posted By: jbjohn22jb
Date Posted: April 01, 2004 at 1:00 AM

I have Audiobahhn model number AWI25IT. I had minimal space in the original box, so i built a new box giving them the most allowable space for each chamber. If you got to Audiobahn.com , they give you all the specs you need. Just click under "tech support", and then under "woofer / box parameters" click 2002, and then click "2002 box parameters. That will give you the allowable cu ft you need for your subs. You can also go to "calculators" and that will tell you how much cu ft you would have with your specific dimensions of your box. Let me know if you need anything else.

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"I'm only doin' this for ya because I heard that Buffalo Bob guy shoved a road flare up yer bunghole...."
Kenwwod 315s
2 Audiobahn AWI25IT
1 Audiobahn A275HCT
1 Tsunami 1.0
1 Legacy 3.0

Posted By: alex75
Date Posted: April 01, 2004 at 9:34 AM

Thanks, how do your 1251's sound in the new box? I started to build a new box last night giving each sub 1.o6 cuft., which is the exact maximun reccomended size according to the Audiobahn manual. I'm doing a plain ole' sealed box-seems to be what the majority of people reccomend. FullForce says I should give each sub 1.25 cuft in a ported box. The spec. sheet says .88 cuft. for a ported. What would the difference be if the subs are in a bigger box than reccomended? I know that they require less power in a bigger box but won't I be sacrificing SQ?

Posted By: audiobahn10s
Date Posted: April 01, 2004 at 6:18 PM

i have 2 aw1000x subwoofers and use to have them in a .75 per chamber sealed box, they got really deep but not real real loud in a trunk, in a hatch i bet they would light up a storm, now i got 3.5 cubic foot slot ported box and its rumbles, ive beaten a kove 12, hx2 2 and lost to 2 powerbass 12s in some soundoffs, not real spl ones tho, the ported box rumbles off my profile, its almost to loud to sit in it with it way up, in a hatch i bet they would do a good spl score, ported is pretty nice with audiobahn!!

Posted By: FullForce
Date Posted: April 02, 2004 at 1:56 AM

the 1000 series subs are made for smaller boxes than the 1051's so dont bother trying to compare them ... the 1000 subs are a whole different animal, like a lion

alex, if you want some good advice throw the spec sheet that came with your subs in the trash where it belongs and follow the specs on the audiobahn website which will tell you to use a 1.5 cube box with a 3" port 6.5" long .... notice that their box is bigger than the one i recommended which is why their port doesnt have to be as long ... either box will sound good and the subs will live as long as you dont ride around with them being driven into distortion

Posted By: speedwayaudio1
Date Posted: April 02, 2004 at 2:28 AM

my audio distributor told me that he saw the audiobahn demo car at the spring break nationals, and the system went smokey smokey right there on the floor. go figure. and people say my Boss products are bad.

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Big Dave

Posted By: Clean Install
Date Posted: April 02, 2004 at 2:29 AM

what demo vehicle was it?

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If we learn from each success and
each failure, then we can improve ourselves

Posted By: superstreet786
Date Posted: April 02, 2004 at 4:49 AM

haha thats a great way to sell products... let em smoke in front of hundreds of people in your demo car :)

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---- 1996 Chevy S10 ----
1 Lightning Audio S2.600.2 Amp
2 Lightning Audio 12" Subs
1 Lightning Audio 1 Farad Cap

Posted By: speedwayaudio1
Date Posted: April 02, 2004 at 4:51 AM

I don't know he did not say, he just said it started frying and the guys working the booth started freakin.

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Big Dave

Posted By: alex75
Date Posted: April 02, 2004 at 10:57 AM

Thanks for ALL the advice-now I just have to decide if i want a sealed or ported box. I have a trunk, my seats don't flip down but I put the backseat armrest down whick makes a 6"x10" opening. What would sound better??? From my experience (I'm no expert but have been doing our thing for 9 years) a sealed box sounds better in a trunk for SQ, but a ported box is louder and hits lower. Is there any truth to this? My last 3 or 4 systems have all had sealed boxes so I kinda' forget what anything else sounds like.

Posted By: FullForce
Date Posted: April 02, 2004 at 11:03 PM

the ported box is louder and will play lower because you can tune it down low where as all you can do for a sealed box is make the box bigger but you can only go so big before you start loosing serious spl and woofer control