I know this sounds like a stupid question but is it possible to just drill a hole in an enclosed box to make it ported? My closed box isnt moving enough air and it sounds like crap and my friend suggest that i just drill a hole?

I think there is science behind where they put the hole but my friend suggest otherwise thought i would ask here

Thanks

 

it's more than "just a hole"...you can't simply drill a hole to port a sealed box. one, the port actually goes deep into the box...a "channel" or "tube" if you may. also, a ported box is generally larger than a sealed box, so porting a pre-existing sealed box may not give you the proper airspace to work properly. there's a lot more that goes into designing a ported enclosure then to simply drilling a hole.

good thing you asked though...your sub would have sounded like crap and may risk the chance of even ruining your sub.

how big is your box right now?

 

Alright that makes sense

my box measures 16x13x12-14 the back slopes so it looks like this
_
I_\

if that makes any sense?
the I is my sub facing <--

 

Ascendant to the rescue!!!!

 

Don't mess with it.

The box is specifically designed to have a certain length and a certain volume, based on the particular subwoofer you have in it. Just drilling holes is more apt to worsen things than improve things. Ports are a long tube - sometimes, it helps if they are flared. They also need to be put in the correct orientation, and be a specific length. Your box is designed to be sealed, so it won't necessarily be the correct size for a ported application based on the excursion and area of your subwoofer. There is in fact a specific science behind the placement of the port, the length of the port, the diameter of the port, the flaring of the port (wider on one end or another), and implementing it incorrectly is usually worse than leaving it alone.

IMO, a better bet would be to do some further research at DIY car audio websites, and see if there is maybe a guide to custom-fabricating a ported enclosure that might give you better performance over your current configuration.

 

the sub's excursion have little to do with box dimensions, air volume, or port tuning.

 

The more excursion, the more air that the sub moves. It's a very precise science, and I'm not claiming to be an expert on it, but I've researched it a bit. There are a lot of factors, and just drilling a hole will not improve your bass response.

 

nalc is quite correct. I've built a few ported enclosures with the help of software that you can find on the net. You have to know what you're doing; it involves knowing the characteristics of the speaker unit, the volume of the enclosure, the lowest required frequency at -3dB, and so on. Drilling holes is a real waste of time.

 

i too have built quite a few enclosures. i guess what i'm trying to get across is that excursion isn't the determining factor (maybe with older conventional subwoofers). but presently...there are tons of drivers that doesn't have a monsterous xmax (digital design subs for example) that gets insanely loud. motor strength is more important than xmax in certain applications IMO.