+1...just don't get your pants pulled down over it, some guys charge $200+ just for a box!RSXFMCJWR said:
What amp to power Kicker 12" L7
- Thread starter Satyr
- Start date
RSXFMCJWR said:
no offense..but that's not very good advice. If you can use a hand saw or a circular saw then you can make just as good of a box (probably better) than a shop would...at least in my experiences....I've known a few people that are installers at shops..and I wouldn't let them wire up a pair of components in my car. Building boxes is fairly easy. Building the right box for the application is another story and may require the author of this thread to build several boxes...it just depends what he wants...if he's going to compete in SPL/SQ competitions then he may want to make several boxes....but if he's just building for his own use then he'll be able to do enough research to build a box that will fit his needs. Why pay a shop $400-$600 bux to build a box that would only cost $50-$75 if he built it himself?
Build the box yourself. In my experiences the audio shops don't do a very good job..and the ones that do charge an obscene amount of money. Most shops will just try to sell you some pre-fab'd box anyways.
boostaholic said:+1...just don't get your pants pulled down over it, some guys charge $200+ just for a box!
$200 is on the very cheap side for a custom box made by a shop.
Hence the "+". A girl I know spent 1500 on a prefab sealed box, cheap ass 8ga wiring, 12" type r, clarion touch screen pile of shit deck and some crap speakers...not even installed! I have never paid anyone to build me anything or intall anything but thats just me. I figure its cheaper even if you screw it up once then paying someone for work you don't even know is proper. If you aren't comfortable doing it then find a buddy who is, at least you can pay him and not some asshole who rips people off for a living :shrug:holtsch said:
boostaholic said:
why recommend a shop to do the work then? I agree about doing the work yourself. At least you know it's done right...even if you've never done a box before. It's not rocket science. Cut the wood, space the screws out about every 4 inches, use construction grade liquid nails on the seams, and hten silicone the seams. Not much more to it than that.
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An actual prefab kicker box is made well tho like this one
I built my own box when I had my WS6. It held one L7 the silver face one and it was a sealed box. I powered it with a 1200.1. It was extremely loud. Building you own box is easy. Costs about 50 bucks for all the materials. I built mine out of wood and screws. I sealed the box with caulk and then carpeted it. I would not free air the L7 subs. I tried that once and the sound it put out was horrible. They just arent amde to be a free air type sub.
If he isn't comfortable doing it then a shop might be the only option :shrug: I have no idea of his woodshop abilities so maybe he would be better off just buying a decent one off ebay, I would recommend an ebay box over a shop building one tho.holtsch said:
I've never bought one so I wouldn't know. However it does look nice...as does the sealed box he posted earlier...which I recommended. Those boxes and a pre-fab box a shop would sell are more than likely not the same and if they are you can expect a 200% markup.
His best bet would be to call up Jeremy at Kicker and have him design a box for him if he's not familiar with designing boxes himself. I built a net 2.88 cf box for each of my 12" L7's with 36" square port for each tuned to 35hz. It was plenty loud, however it wasn't as clean as I would've liked....then again...I was comparing it to Mark Eldridge.
His best bet would be to call up Jeremy at Kicker and have him design a box for him if he's not familiar with designing boxes himself. I built a net 2.88 cf box for each of my 12" L7's with 36" square port for each tuned to 35hz. It was plenty loud, however it wasn't as clean as I would've liked....then again...I was comparing it to Mark Eldridge.
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At least some of the ones on ebay are real mdf and are siliconed 1/2way decent, more than I can say for some of the prefabs and shop mades I have seen (1/2" particle board and terminal cups that aren't even secure :nonono: )holtsch said:
boostaholic said:
agreed. I've seen more than my share of "custom" boxes made out of particle board by shops. Even though it's been shown that there's not much of a difference in SQ..I'd never accept anything made out of particle board. MDF is much better for the long run.
But the point is: He said that he wasn't sure how to get the port to produce the sound he wanted. If he has never built a ported box before then he is best not to just "experiment". An experienced audio guru would be able to give the box a port job that would be exactly what he needs sound-wise. So he can build the box himself, but have a pro port it.
And as for the price of custom boxes...You guys are getting raped! Alot of shops around here(good ones that make awsome boxes) make custom boxes for $100-$150. A freind of mine had a custom fiberglass enclosure for 2 15s made for $250, very high quality too.
And as for the price of custom boxes...You guys are getting raped! Alot of shops around here(good ones that make awsome boxes) make custom boxes for $100-$150. A freind of mine had a custom fiberglass enclosure for 2 15s made for $250, very high quality too.
if your friend had a fiberglass box made for 250 I'd say the place he had build him the box made absolutely no money or a lot of corners were cut. Do you have any idea the amount of time it takes to make a custom fiberglass enclosure like the author of this thread was looking at? You'd have 20 hours in it easily by the time you figure in joining everything together, sanding down the fiberglass several times...putting more fiberglass on..sanding down again..repeat, etc.
Do your research and you won't have to experiment with the port. Give me the dimensions of your box and I'll tell you how big your port should be and how deep it should be...the depth will depend on how low or high you want it tuned...assuming you keep the port length and width the same
Do your research and you won't have to experiment with the port. Give me the dimensions of your box and I'll tell you how big your port should be and how deep it should be...the depth will depend on how low or high you want it tuned...assuming you keep the port length and width the same
Well, I have to have the box fit into my tire well, so it will only be at the max 12 inches high. I can make it pretty wide (about 20 inches if need be) to accomodate for the lack of height. Mind you, I am not into competing, nor do I even have the ability to usually tell the difference between a great sub setup and something that is less that great, since I am a novice and all.
I'm just looking for some good tips to help me out a long the way.
I'm just looking for some good tips to help me out a long the way.
what's the length of the box? Since the depth is only 12", if you want a ported box you'll probably have to make a turn with the port. It's not that hard...just some more work. But since you just want something better than stock, I think either a sealed or ported would be fine. Sealed will be much easier to build...as far as time goes. Ported will get louder. The sound quality will depend on how well you build the box...whether it's sealed or ported.
Have you decided on an amp yet?
It is possible to cram a ported box into a 12" deep x 20+ wide space but it will take some work. I think a ported box between the shock towers would look nice, you can use an mdf faceplate that covers the whole back to smooth it out, maybe recess the amp 3/4" onto the top of the enclosure as well :shrug: If you gave us some dimensions and some pictures I'm sure someone on here or on the audio forums could cook up some plans on a cad program or even a basic cut list and schematic :beer:
http://ls1gto.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62035
Dimensions are roughly as follows (WxHxD)
25"x23"x12"
Dimensions are roughly as follows (WxHxD)
25"x23"x12"
Maybe a 10 but not a 12 comfortably, not unless you want to raise the floor a few inches :shrug: It will look good sealed. L7's like alot of air when they're sealed, mine sounded way better when I jumped up a cube in a sealed box and having a false floor will allow you to come up with some nice amp mounting possibilities :thumbsup: Remember you can always change the box if you don't like the way it sounds, or build a basic ported and a basic sealed to see which one you prefer.Satyr said:
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