So I have somewhat of an odd question maybe. I'm pondering building a sealed box for a kicker S10L7 for my car. It's currently in a ported box and I'm wanting to go smaller, plus I miss the sound of a sealed box. Question is, as long as I can seal the sub to the edges of the box is there any reason I have to have a front baffle if I make the box size so the speaker just drops in snug and seals the box? I've built several boxes and always built them with a baffle just because it's traditional I guess. Way I look at it is everyone always wants as stiff a baffle as possible. What's more stiff than a board on edge? Is there some other reason not to do it though, cause it seems I never see it done. Thanks for any help!
Hi "jgrooms272"
I'm not quite sure what you mean when you say, "...is there any reason I have to have a front baffle..."
All a "baffle" means by definition is, A partition that completely separates the speaker's front wave from it's back wave, and a means to mount the driver. Do you mean that you want to remove a "lip" from the front of the box and "affix" the driver to the existing front panel? A picture of the box would be very helpful. In any case, there shouldn't be a problem if I'm understanding you correctly. You do, however, need to calculate the inner box volume, after your proposed modifications, to determine how the driver will behave (perform) in it's new "sealed" environment.
Generally speaking though, a "vented" box is USUALLY a bit larger than it's sealed box counterpart...(generally speaking), so shaving a nominal amount from it's dimensions may be of no adverse consequence. Chances are, Kicker has already built a sealed enclosure for that driver if...it's Qts is high enough, so you could check their sealed box dimensions to determine if that driver would be suitable for your project. The Qts value to look for on the spec sheet would be around .50 or higher; any lower than that could mean that this driver was designed for a "bass reflex" alignment only. Once again, my comments here are extremely generalized, and may not apply to your situation!
Don't know if this will be helpful to you, but I recently modified the subs in my suv and posted it on a different forum; here's the link:
Doubling the cone surface area and adding 1.5 lbs/ cuft poly-fill...WOW!!!!!!
Hope this is helpful
happy building! rigtec, cheers
I'm not quite sure what you mean when you say, "...is there any reason I have to have a front baffle..."
All a "baffle" means by definition is, A partition that completely separates the speaker's front wave from it's back wave, and a means to mount the driver. Do you mean that you want to remove a "lip" from the front of the box and "affix" the driver to the existing front panel? A picture of the box would be very helpful. In any case, there shouldn't be a problem if I'm understanding you correctly. You do, however, need to calculate the inner box volume, after your proposed modifications, to determine how the driver will behave (perform) in it's new "sealed" environment.
Generally speaking though, a "vented" box is USUALLY a bit larger than it's sealed box counterpart...(generally speaking), so shaving a nominal amount from it's dimensions may be of no adverse consequence. Chances are, Kicker has already built a sealed enclosure for that driver if...it's Qts is high enough, so you could check their sealed box dimensions to determine if that driver would be suitable for your project. The Qts value to look for on the spec sheet would be around .50 or higher; any lower than that could mean that this driver was designed for a "bass reflex" alignment only. Once again, my comments here are extremely generalized, and may not apply to your situation!
Don't know if this will be helpful to you, but I recently modified the subs in my suv and posted it on a different forum; here's the link:
Doubling the cone surface area and adding 1.5 lbs/ cuft poly-fill...WOW!!!!!!
Hope this is helpful
happy building! rigtec, cheers
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Hi "jgrooms272",
Sorry for my misunderstanding your post before. I just read it again and I think that I caught what you were proposing to do. You want to build a "sealed" enclosure, but because the driver is square, you want to mount it "directly" to the front frame of the box (no front panel) to save space; just the bottom, top, and two sides, is that it??
"Why Not?!!"
If speaker cabinets were tubular, there'd be no practical reason to use a conventional baffle, just a flange plate with holes to mount the driver...that's it! I see no reason why there'd be a problem with the design. Just be sure that the S10L7 will work properly in an I.B., And please let us know how you made out..."with pictures this time"! rigtec,
Hi onform,
I never really thought about it, but those of us who utilize "conventional" round drivers don't have the option to do without the baffle; maybe it's time for me to take a "good look" at Kicker products.
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