I have a nice Aline Sub and Kenwood Amp in the trunk. Amp is attached to Sub. Anyways, this sub box is just to big for my trunk. If I ever get a flat I will have to unhook it all just to get spare tire panel open. I want to get a box that will fit under speaker deck. It may require a smaller sub, not sure as I will have to measure. SO my question is, what does ported mean and is there any other lingo I need to know I am not a tech/stereo guy. I am going to measure it all out tomorrow and see just what size I need.

 

Jerry:
What size is your sub?
Is it a single sub or do you have to subs?
I have dual 12's in my monte..That cleanly fits between the wheel wells.
with plenty of room for accessing my spare...
I dont believe my box is ported...That being said...My amps are also mounted to my sub box.... So Ported or unported is a question I have often asked myself....
Yet, I do have a control for the amount of sub I want to use during any song that I feel needs more or less sub....Maybe this eliminates the need for a ported sub box... I too like you arent very Tech/stereo savy...But when I want it to hit hard...It will vibrate your eyeballs, hair and even give you a massage thru the seat...
Certainly when I see you at the nationals I will give you a personal demo if you wish....

One other thing:
My complete system was Instahled by MTX representatives that were at the stereo shop with there demo vehicle that day. (mickey shores). When I deceided to get a pure MTX system, They overheard what I wanted and volunteered to do the complete instahl...
Maybe its just the way MTX runs there systems...Portless?
Hope this helps you about ported or not ported...
I added some pics for a reference for you...
Not the best pic of my subs location..However, You can clearly see how nicely it fit under the rear windowdeck as well as the speakers in the rear deck... and also shows how deep it fits to the rear seat with the amps mounted to the sub box.
Hope this helps...

 

Porting to my understanding is whether or not the box has a hole in it.

 

I only have one and I would have to guess it is about a 12". Not sure if it has an opening or not. If it wasn't 10 freaking degrees I would go out and look. I wouldn't mind having a setup like yours David. I was actually just in your garage looking at your pics right before I posted the original thread. I may just go out and snap a quick pic and measure. You guys drive me insane....

 

Exactly, let's it breathe, mine is not, with 2x12" Alpine S Types, but they sound awesome!! The box they are in fit almost custom made into the area between the wheelwells, and mounted the Kenwood amp on the back of rear passenger seat. Made a custom bracket on the side of the box for the capacitor, all fits great, and still can get to spare!

Here is a brief on each of the different style enclosures, or 'boxes'!!

The most common and versatile type of enclosure is sealed. This style enclosure is ideal for any application where space is going to be an issue. In some cases a sealed recommendation for subwoofer box will be half of what the ported recommendation is. They also have the advantage over ported and band pass enclosures in terms of overall sound clarity. A sealed subwoofer box will deliver a tight, clean and accurate bass response and have a flat frequency response curve. In general a sealed box will be for listeners looking for sound quality driven system that is clean across the entire frequency band.


Next up are ported or vented enclosures, “ported” & “vented” are synonymous, it just means the enclosure has a hole in it to let air escape. You know that guy you can hear from 2 blocks away? Well he is likely running ported box. This style enclosure will likely be about twice the size of a similar sealed box since the airspace inside the chamber is much larger. Ported enclosures are tuned to a certain frequency range which is determined by the port length, width and diameter. The port can be in several configurations such as rounded or a slot which is narrower and taller. Each subwoofer will have a specific frequency they are designed to run at for maximum output. Depending on what you plan to use the enclosure for it can be tuned to various frequency ranges by modifying the port.

In general most competition SPL vehicles tune to high frequencies around 45Hz or higher. This setup would be designed for absolute maximum output but sacrificing a great deal of sound quality. A ported box tuned 25Hz will still allow your system to hit the ultra low bass notes while still keeping sealed like sound quality. The disadvantage is the enclosure will then have a fairly flat frequency range. And then the most common frequency range found usually in pre-built ported / vented enclosures is around 33 – 35Hz. At this frequency the enclosure will still deliver much more bass output than a sealed box but at the same type with still retain most of the sound quality. In other words you will get the best of both worlds with a ported box run at about 33Hz.

And last but not least are Bandpass enclosures. These are a hybrid box version and combine the features of a sealed and ported sub box into one enclosure. They are generally the hardest to build and design but offer some unique advantages. Bandpass enclosures are all about efficiency. How they work is a subwoofer or subwoofers in some cases are mounted inside a dual chambered box. One chamber is sealed and the other is ported / vented. The sound waves travel from the sealed subwoofer chamber though and out the port. This allows for a much deeper sounding bass and will be tuned to a narrow frequency band which creates a very aggressive sound. Not all subwoofers will work in bandpass enclosure so make sure you research or check the manual first.

 

Jerry your right!
Its way to friggn cold to be outside for sure!


Warhorse..thanks for the explanation of difference between ported and unported!

Just curious what the capacitor is for?

Im pushn some significant power and It doesnt seem to need any additional backup/help....Despite haveing a high output alternator and 750CCa battery..

 

Thanks Warhorse, good explanation. It appears mine is a ported box and a 10" sub. I will def have to do something, maybe get a new box and one more sub and fill in the space under there. I suppose I am capable of making my own box when it gets warmer. Here is a couple shots. The box it is in is only about 1/2 inch too tall to fit in there. I could probably make some adjustments to it and just keep a single Sub but 2 would look nicer and sound better most likely.

 

I started also with a single.10".

But I was greedy and wanted MORE!
Thats when I deceided to get the MTX system...
Back in 1999 It "was" the state of the art System to have...

Here it is 14 yrs later...It still sounds like it did Back when it was instahled!
I guess I made a decent choice?

 

No problem, hope it was helpful?!

The capacitor, in short is just a storage device for when the system needs power during a low. Not really needed as much if you have heavy wiring already and all that, which being professionally installed, most likely yours won't need it! Most difference is if you run your system with the car off, then it kicks in, when the car is running it isn't needed as much, mine usually runs around 14 or so. Nothing wrong with a single either, got just one 10" in my '65 Impala SS trunk with only a 375 amp, but it kicks hell good with that big-*** trunk!!

 

I will have to check on my Amp tomorrow and see what it is. All I know is its a Kenwood. Stereo is a Pioneer cd/dvd/Nav system touchscreen.