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  1. #1
    Forum Regular koop's Avatar
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    Driver size vs. box size

    Below is a question I posed to the folks at Parts Express which I was hoping to get mulitple opinions on, especially from some outside of the company organization.



    The location I need to place the subwoofer is big enough to hold the 10" Titanic. The dimensions for the space are 16x16x29. It is not big enough to hold the 12", unfortunately. Does it make sense to

    a) buy the 10" as is
    b) buy the 10" components (per your recommendation for driver and amps)and make a bigger box
    c) buy the 12" components (per your recommendation for driver and amps) and make a smaller box

    Which option would afford me the best sound for mainly music listening?





    I should note that I am still a year or two away from building my dream set up which it seems should be started with the main towers and then work around those. Big towers have no WAF in our current 13'x15' LR. It seems I get good bang for the buck with a DIY sub which may not be needed or match a future set up and could then integrated in the secondary upstairs system. I should also note that I like lots of bass sometimes(ie. Beastie Boys) as long as its clean (ie Pete Fountain or Flamenco).

    I invite even the most critical of replies, if you hat these subs, let me know. Thanks in advance for all responses.

  2. #2
    Forum Regular N. Abstentia's Avatar
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    I don't understand why you say the 12" won't fit..you've got over 4 cubic feet to work with. That's about what an 18" driver would call for! 4 cubic feet is waaay to big for a 10, unless you're planning on putting 3-4 of them in that space.

  3. #3
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    I think you could get good results from your 12 with about 3 cubic feet. If you go smaller like some manufacturers are making you will need upwards of 750 to 1200 watts.

  4. #4
    Forum Regular koop's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by N. Abstentia
    I don't understand why you say the 12" won't fit..you've got over 4 cubic feet to work with. That's about what an 18" driver would call for! 4 cubic feet is waaay to big for a 10, unless you're planning on putting 3-4 of them in that space.

    I apologize, I was not clear in my original post. The complete 12" driver kit comes with a cabinet that is 17"x17"x17". That size box will not fit under our existing end table. If I build my own custom box the 12" driver fits no problem. Since this is not an auditionable item I am throwing myself at the feet of audiophiles who would better know the inherent sound characteristics of different size drivers and boxes. Hope this helps, thanks for the response!

  5. #5
    DIY Dude poneal's Avatar
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    I have personally built a sub from the dayton mkII 12" titanic driver. I built my own box (16x16x16) of a sealed enclosure design. I used a 20 year old kenwood integrated amp (100wpc) to drive the sub. Now some will tell you that you need a minimum of 250 wpc with that driver--well im here to tell you that you dont unless you like your neighbors calling the cops on you. At a reference level of 75db, the sub only requires 1 watt of power (according to the kenwood meters) to drive it. Sure there are some peaks that make it up to 50wpc for a microsecond or so, but I have had no problems driving this sub. How does it sound? GREAT. It not only sounds great with music, but movies as well. I'll never go back to ported enclosures again. The best thing is that I have only invested $267.00. That includes driver, t-nuts, chrome feet, paint, wood, nails, glue, stuffing, grill cloth, etc. And yes, I can say that my sub sounds better than any $800 dollar sub I have auditioned. Just remember that the height and width must be of a certain size to accomodate the 12" driver. In other words, you gotta have enough wood to screw the driver to the box. I wouldn't go any smaller than 15x15 for width and height.

  6. #6
    Forum Regular koop's Avatar
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    Below is the reponse from the folks at parts express to my initial question:

    I would personally use the 10 inch Titanic as is. Making the box bigger will degrade the
    sound quality since a large portion of a subwoofers sound quality stems from the relationship
    between the woofer and the airspace it works in.


    Does this sound correct to everyone? As a novice, I thought the bigger the box better. I am also still wondering if a 10" driver is inherently more musical then a 12".

  7. #7
    DIY Dude poneal's Avatar
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    That sounds correct. And no the bigger the box does not mean the better. You need to find an online (freeby) sealed box calculator and plug in the numbers and it will tell you what size in cubic feet your box should be to accomodate that driver. Since you sound really new ill provide a link to a calculator--since im in a good mood :-).

    http://www.loudspeakers101.com/SealQtc.htm

    Now go to partsexpress, look up the driver specs., and plug the numbers in. It's not really that difficult. Remember this is for a sealed box. By the way, the drivers that come from partsexpress have this as an enclosure. It will give you recommendations for sealed and ported.

    It seems like you distrust PartsExpress. I can say that have bought over $250 worth of merchandise from them and have had no problems and fast delivery. An excellent company as far as im concerned.

  8. #8
    Forum Regular gonefishin's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by koop
    Below is the reponse from the folks at parts express to my initial question:

    I would personally use the 10 inch Titanic as is. Making the box bigger will degrade the
    sound quality since a large portion of a subwoofers sound quality stems from the relationship
    between the woofer and the airspace it works in.


    Does this sound correct to everyone? As a novice, I thought the bigger the box better. I am also still wondering if a 10" driver is inherently more musical then a 12".
    Instead of thinking about this as Driver size Vs Box. Try to think of it as matching a specific driver to its ideal box. Some drivers like to have a very large enclosure, while others like to work with the resistance of a small box. It depends on the driver your using.

    All drivers do not like the same thing. What you need to do, is look at the Thiele-Small Parameters...which PartsExpress has already done for you. not a bad deal,is it?


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