ImBob

Don't know what dowel rod is (I'm a noob), but I'll look into that. Thanks! Edit : We talking wooden dowel rod?

I wasn't sure if it needed a double baffle with the bracing, but I guess it makes sense to go ahead and do it just in case. I thought the window brace may be an airflow obstruction too, just didn't know if that would matter in a sub box. The + does seem like it'd be less obstructive though. Thanks for the opinions guys!

Box for an 18" BL. 44.5" wide, 21.5" tall, and 20" deep. Port is 4.5" wide and 20" tall. Port length is 30" for about 30 hz tune and ~6.7ft^3 after displacements. I've never built a ported box and never had a sub that heavy. I've seen people do "window" bracing like I drew here...think this 2" wide bracing be adequate? The sub will fire up and port back in my Explorer (read that is a general rule to go by), but I can turn the box for rear firing the sub and firing the port up if that works better. Thanks for any thoughts!

1. How old are you? 36 2. When did you get into car audio? 14, a year before I could drive...had to be properly prepared. 3. How did you first get into car audio? Went to local audio shop, spent my life savings there lol. 4. Whats your favorite color? Bland ole blue 5. Male or female? M 6. Your first Car? 88 Celica 8. How did you find out about this site? CAF I think, but maybe DIYMA 9. What was your first system? All Alpine. Tape deck, speakers, 2 12's sealed, 3 amps...all eventually stolen. 11. Were do you live? TN 12. Whats you favorite car audio brand? Guess I don't have one. Have had luck with Alpine, Pioneer, Kicker, ID, MB Quart, Clarion, Dayton. About to try whatever sub/amp combo this site leads me to. Hopefully it'll be the fav. 15. Who is our hero in the car audio industry? Albert Alpine. Ok, that's made up. Read good things about several guys, but no audio heroes. 16. Whats your dream system? Pioneer DEX-P99RS, Hybrid Audio 3 way system, Zapco or Sundown amps, 2 18" Zcons...till the next dream 17. Whats your dream car? Saleen S7 Twin Turbo 18. Whats the fastest car you have driven/ridden in? My old 89 Mustang GT with a turbo'd stroker motor with about 750 hp. 19. Were do you buy most of your car audio products? Where the best online deal is. 20. What is your job? Electrician without a job 21. Whats your favorite saying? Whatever I come up with that day 24. Whats your favorite brand of cars? Ford 25. What do you like better, cars, vans, trucks, or suv's? Cars...the fast ones. But I'll take the SUV to the grocery store. And both will have bump. 29. Whats is the most recent thing you have purchased? 2 Tidal Audio 12's 31. Who do you think is the most knowledgeable person on SSA? Well I can tell you who is the least... 32. What is your personal best on the TL? and with what equipment? Never tried. My buddy just hit 142 with 3 SA8's, I'm shooting for that or more. 33. SQ or SPL? why? ""SQL""? I want what sounds good to my ears, and sometimes I want it really loud

18's or go home, lol That's kinda my thinking lol. Owned 15's, but never anything bigger. Space is the only issue.

Congrats! Sounds like enough to blow your head off lol. My buddy just ordered a 15" BL today with cooling, flatwind, and hyperpole I think. I'll likely be ordering the same or an 18 soon.

It won't matter because the people with 4 15's with only 200 inches of port cramed in a wall in a 4 door sedan will run their head about not hear any port noise. But you and I know the differance between hearing port noise and the correlation between port COMPRESSION and decreased spl, increased coil temperatures, and higher group delays. It just blows my mind that people spends thousands and thousands of dollars on equipment and won't spend 40 bucks on a book to learn how to apply the equipment. Random noob entering the thread to try to explain the ignorance of a noob. I've read a bit lately about port area for subs, and if you are a complete noob, the info can be confusing (and/or just straight up contradictory). First you have to determine what info and from where seems trustworthy, and there's several reasons why that first step alone can be very frustrating. Next you may read the same thing over and over again, like this example - 12-16 in^2 of port area per foot. But after lots of searching and just when you think you know enough, you may find one obscure post saying something like "port area has nothing to do with box volume"...wait, what?!?! It's not just 12-16 in^2 per ft??? Not only did I (and I'm sure many others) read that on many forums before I started searching here, I also read it in a sticky here : BL 15 – Ported box we recommend using 2.8-4 cubic feet @ 28-37Hz. Again use 12-16 square inches of vent area per cubic foot of volume. Most people probably don't know of that $40 book or even just the need for it, and maybe some knowing of it would think these types of forums would be ample Cliffs Notes for it. Ok so I guess I'm done rambling, just wanted to explain the frustrations some of the noobs have in trying to "get it right". Thanks to all who are spreading good info!

I've heard as a general rule to have at least 12in^2 of port per cubic ft. Is this solely to keep port noise down? Reason I ask is because a box size I've tinkered around with for my next build has 8.5-10in^2, yet in Winisd Pro it shows to only have a port velocity of about 60 ft/s. I've heard anything under 100ft/s is fine. Am I missing something? Facts wrong maybe?

Those amps look sweet! I like those eq options. I am an eq whore though lol

<<< Another Fox body Mustang nut. Putting a TFS h/c/i 306 in my 88 this week hopefully (and then a real sub to replace my old JL 10). I'm curious how you think you may have to ditch the rear seat for a bigger box? One of my boxes was 4.5ft^3, and it could have been bigger. I'm also curious to what you think of your low end with that box.

My dad said it's always better to be a smart ass than a dumb ass I can has brownies?!?!

Hey Aaron! Nice site ya got here Nah anyone with an 18" Xcon has to be someone Right now my '04 Explorer only has the factory 8" in the back...I'm the "no one" at the moment lol. I do have 2 Tidal Audio 12's for it that I'll make a ported box for, but I'm not sure how long that will keep me happy for while reading through this forum and getting ideas.

lol good one. Maybe I should wear that outfit for the next box build Cool! I remember the first two rules...but can't talk about that. Well I have had a few systems since then I've mostly had "decent" cheap stuff, but I think I'll get a good diea from these forums about what I want for my next, more serious build. Thanks for the welcomes!

From what I'm reading, I think he fits in the BL category. I may be more of a Q category type, but he'll have his BL (if he gets that) before I get my next sub. Then it'll be my turn to be indecisive about what I want lol We're thinking 15" just for added cone area. He thought fully optioned would be the way to go, but apparently some of the options are not best for a daily used sub. He likes the Type R, just feels he needs something better for pushing the sub hard. I think he could use a bit more low end, but that's just my perception. He hasn't complained about low end so I guess it's not a big point of emphasis for picking a new sub, it'd just be nice to dig low. Isn't the Zcon top of the line? I know price wise the Icon was similar to the BL I think, but they may be totally different subs for all I know. He may be willing to spend a bit more though, so we can check out SSA options.

Thanks for the warm fuzzies guys! lol uhm...is this a riddle? I suck at those

So my buddy has the newest version of the 12" Type R that he wants to upgrade. Here's the details, and hopefully I can give enough info. He has an ONX1.1500. He also has EQ'ing at 30, 45, 60, and I think 80hz. We'll make a ported box, but it'll need to be on the smaller side, maybe 3-3.5ft^3 net. His Type R is tuned to 33hz at ~1.5ft^3 net, I know that's not the only way to judge things, but he may want to go a bit lower on tuning frequency, maybe 28-30hz (this is in a 2000 Explorer btw, and any port frequency opinions for this sub are definitely appreciated). This dude needs a tough sub, he can be hard on stuff He wants loud, and if he goes on a trip, he may play the sub loud for a long period of time. We'll set the gains with a DMM the best we can (may have some questions about that at some point). Does a 15" BL sound like a good upgrade? Looks like there is no "technical" page on FI's site now to fully explain the options. I'm a bit confused by the options. Looks like he needs the "daily" option. "Hyperpole" sounds good. "Cooling" sounds good, but it says it's a 0 dollar option, really? "Flatwind" is prone to "peaking"? Not sure what that means unless it has something to do with a peaky response? "Internal Lead" is more of an SPL option? Thanks guys!

I'm kinda in the same boat. I haven't paid much attention to car audio in a few years. Now me and a few of my friends have gotten that bug again. Knowledge is power they say, so this place seems like a great place to get up to date knowledge. Anyway good luck getting back into the game!

...and I fall under the noob, newb, nub category...but I got my first system about 20 years ago I haven't been really that dedicated to this hobby, so I have plenty of ignorance. But this place seems like it's full of knowledge, and I have questions, so let's party!

I finally registered, but I don't know how many years I've known about this board. I'm sure I was directed here from another forum. I finally have specific questions, so here I be