Box shape

[clab333 0]

Building a new box for 1 15". Was gunna make it an abnormal shape as opposed to the everyday cube. I've heard that less parallel sides results in less standing waves, but I don't think it would be too noticeable in car audio. Anyway my point is wanting opinion on the ideal shape of a box. Also plan to port it. Thanks.

[altoncustomtech 773]

Building a new box for 1 15". Was gunna make it an abnormal shape as opposed to the everyday cube. I've heard that less parallel sides results in less standing waves, but I don't think it would be too noticeable in car audio. Anyway my point is wanting opinion on the ideal shape of a box. Also plan to port it. Thanks.

There is a "Golden Rule" for box dimensions where if you give one dimension as say 14" you multiply that by .618 (8.652") and 1.618 (22.652") for the other two dimensions and is supposed to be some ideal ratio. I've built boxes in that fashion before and in any other shape and can't honestly say I ever noticed a difference, at least not with subwoofers. On something like a 2 or 3 way home speaker system with a woofer that goes up much higher than we run our subs to it could possibly make more of a difference. Otherwise, in my limited experience there's no issue with the shape of an enclosure as long as it doesn't interfere with air movement through the port and things of that nature. With a subwoofer the wave length is so long at these low frequencies that standing waves just aren't an issue. Again, with a regular woofer setup where it may/will play frequencies much higher standing waves definitely become an issue.

[clab333 0]

Would it be a benefit to help the air flow of the port. Like add angles causing a smoother flow of air from the driver to and throughout the vent?

[altoncustomtech 773]

Absolutely. It's not required though, there's plenty of everyday enclosures out there (including mine) that don't use angles to smooth the air flow. It's seen more often in competition installs. Not that a daily setup wouldn't benefit from it, but without a good table saw and some patience it would be quite a bit of work to do. Not to mention it's more work to account for the changes in space in the enclosure when all the angles are added.

[clab333 0]

Is there anything you've ever heard of or done to a box that's uncommon and maybe out of the ordinary that increases sq? I'm aiming for sq I don't care about spl so much lol. Just wantin to try and discover new things pretty much.

[altoncustomtech 773]

Again, in my limited experience there's nothing special that I'm aware of. The basics are the most important thing that comes to mind. Be sure to build the enclosure as accurately as possible and as close to the specs as you can get. Use the best build practices with bracing and such where it should be. One little trick that can help for experimenting is to build the enclosure a bit larger than it needs to be, then add wood blocks to reduce the internal volume to get the sound you're wanting. Works for both ported and sealed enclosures, though it will lower the tuning a little on a ported enclosure a few hertz isn't really even noticeable.