Sub box recommendations please

[jaybird]

Hello all,
I have a infinity kappa 100w.br 10" driver with parameters:
Fs= 26
Vas= 2.578(ft^3)
Qms= 7.39
Qes= 0.30
Qts= 0.29
Pmax= 225w
Re= 3ohm
Xmax= 8.13 mm
Le= 1.36
Sensitivity= 90.8 (dB@1w@1m)

I have 50wrms x 2 @4ohms to run this one sub. I'm not sure if I would like the sound of a ported sub in a Nissan Pathfinder but I'm affraid that I don't have enough power to run it sealed.

Any recommendations are welcome and thanks

[clayton]

Is your amp bridgeable? If so bridge it mono to your 1 sub & you will get 100w to it. A sealed box will give you better sq than a ported will.

[SupraGuy]

A sealed box will give you better sq than a ported will.

Not necessarily. A properly designed ported box actually produces lower levels of distortion than a sealed box. However a sealed box is easier to build, and is less critical that measurements and volumes be exact. It will also be smaller (Which is the primary reason why I use sealed boxes in my car. -- I wanted to keep some cargo space!)

JL Audio's website has some good information on the relative merrits and drawbacks of various enclosure designs. Excellent reading.

As to power, I'm currently running a pair of 10" drivers with a low efficiency (<87 dB/W @1m) from a 60W X2 amplifier (Alpine V12 MRV-F300 30WX4 bridged to 2 channels) and it's plenty loud. The last audio competition that I was in, I hit 129dB SPL. Not spectacular, but the car is set up for SQ, not SPL. I never turn it up that loud for myself while I'm actually in the car.

A simple sealed box of appropriate size ought to work fine, especially with a bridged amp. If you have the room for it, a ported box will also do fine, but be careful with the dimensions and port size/length, remember to take into account the displacement of the speaker itself. A poorly built ported enclosure will not sound good. On the other hand, as long as you're CLOSE, a sealed enclosure is hard to screw up too badly.

It all depends on what you want out of the end result.

[jaybird]

Thanks for your input. Sealed it is. I was wondering what alignment to build. Should I go for something in the middle like 0.5 ft^3 or go bigger (.75 ft^3) because of my power situation. I like rock music but I listen to a variety of music. I'm affraid to build too small (.25 ft^3) of an enclousure because of my power situation.
What do you all think?