My 10" sub (powered by JL audio 500/5 amp) is hitting hard (according to my standards), but I am wondering...am I cheating the sub out of its full potential? I am not an audio expert, so I don't know if the box below is too small for the sub.





I am thinking about upgrading to this:







Anybody know the difference in sound I will get? Does a bigger box mean bigger/louder/deeper sound? Help! I don't really want to upgrade boxes if I won't hear a BIG difference in sound quality/loudness.

 

 

What's the stats on the sub? How much RMS power does it need to be 'happy?'

and what's the ideal volume it needs?

 

how much airspace is in your current box also?

 

I wish I knew. The sub was given to me, and the box was custom built.

 

haha. can't really help you if you don't know the specs to the sub.

 

oh, generally...does bigger box mean bigger sound? from what you can see does it look like the box is too small?

 

Too hard to tell. You really need to find out the specs on the sub. It looks like a memphis one of some kind. Some subs need tiny boxes, others need bigger ones. . .it really all depends. If the box is on the "smaller" side of the required volume range, you'll need more power to drive it. If it's on the "larger" side of the range, you'll need less power. I can't remember the sound difference. Google it.

 

from the looks of it...that box is fine. if u want a little more bass u could make a ported box but then that will take up more room since ported boxes need to be considerably bigger than sealed boxes.

 

A semi easy way to see if a larger box will sound better is to pull the sub and stuff the box with polyfill and see if it sounds better. If it does, then leave it, if not, then leave it anyways. IMO, larger boxes sound better as long as it doesn't become overly large.

 

IMO the current box is enough for a low power 10" subwoofer. The most important thing to remember is if you like how it sounds, then there isn't a problem.

A low powered, low excursion 10" woofer will not get very loud in the first place. That doesn't mean it wont sound nice though. Not everyone is after a SPL install.

If you move it to a bigger box then you will have more excursion with the same amount of power, but the quality will suffer. If you have an itch for louder bass you need to move up to something larger (or port the box), but since you say you feel it is hitting hard as it is, just leave it alone and enjoy your system.

 

Is that a MA sub, if so no, the sub is cheating you

 

Hahahaha...Nah, its Memphis, either Mclass or Power Reference. By looks of the pic? the box is approx. 24x14x6, that will give you about 1.15 cbft of air space (probably 0.8 cbft cus the box is sloped) I say you are fine with that box.