Anyway to make a big sub box a small one?

**Jmaak** · 02-07-2008 06:35 PM

I recently bought a Diyma 12" reference sub and a premade enclosure off of amazon. My problem is this, the box is 3 cubic feet (18.5 x 18.5 x 14.8 inches) ...
So is there anyway i can make this big box smaller, without using a saw? thanks

**lowandslow** · 02-07-2008 06:53 PM

Put something inside the box to take up space. Preferably a solid substance that you can affix to the MDF.

Basically the more stuff you occupy the inside of the box with the less air space is usuable by the sub.

As for external size.... no

Matt

**peta8368** · 02-07-2008 08:10 PM

home depot sells those foams that expand and solidify. Maybe you can try those?

Peter

**Phrost** · 02-07-2008 09:48 PM

Build a new box. Anything you do to an existing box without ripping it apart and resealing will make it sound like shit.

**gsxtasee** · 02-08-2008 09:48 AM

you'll need lots more (clean) power and can put this membrane-like material inside (forgot what its called) that will make the driver think it is in a bigger airspace and have similar response to the big box only in about half the size. I've seen it used in a box barely big enough to cover the magnet nd sounded pretty decent for a trunk mounted speaker.

**Lewie06A4** · 02-08-2008 10:21 AM

Yeah what you put inside is similar to insulation i think. It's just like a big cotton ball. What it does is it allows you to run a sub that needs more airspace, in a smaller box.

How much wattage are you looking to pump through that sub?

**ringmaster2.0** · 02-08-2008 10:31 AM

In my experience, I have found that generally as gsx stated you will need a lot more clean power, however, by using a smaller enclosure(interior dinensions) than that recommended for the subwoofers, you will have a "cleaner sounding" subwoofer. There should be less reverberation due to the fact that you generally will not be stretching out the voicecoils. Have you ever noticed the extra reverberation that occurs with a subwoofer box that is vented? That is because of the lack of interior pressure on the subwoofer. The smaller size box will force you to have to put extra power into the sub to move it against it's interior pressure but it will allow you to have more adjustability with the gains on the amplifier as long as you are not severely underpowered. Make sure to read over the spec sheets for your subwoofers very carefully to see the recommended enclosure size for your particular subwoofers. FYI, I had a 1997 jeep wrangler in which i custom built a sub enclosue that fit behind the rear seat made entirely of fiberglass and that housed two 12 inch kicker solobaric 25h anniversary edtitions powered by a kicker amplifier. However i wired the subs in parallel in order to drop the impedence down to 2 ohms. It more than powered the 2 solobarics in an undersized enclosure. Make sure your amplifier is 2 ohm stable therefore you can take advantage of the power.

**Lewie06A4** · 02-08-2008 10:40 AM

Looking online, and depending on which sub you got, most of em barely need 1 cubic foot of interior space. And there's a lot of people puttin that sub in a .5-.7 cubic foot box.

Yeah i always ran my subs completely sealed. Loved the crisp, accurate sound it gave.

**Jmaak** · 02-08-2008 03:27 PM

I was supposed to power it with my hifonics amp (450 Wrms @ 4ohms) but it seems that diyma is out of stock...

**Sanjman** · 02-08-2008 04:26 PM

cut it with a saw... cut as small as you want your box... but don't cut it too shallow where your sub doesn't fit anymore. Then, you trim the extra piece and you nail it back together. voila.

this is very ghetto