Sealed Enclosure - Subwoofer Placement on Baffle?

TLDR: If you were building a small, low-profile, sealed enclosure to go in the back of a hatchback, would you mount the subwoofer on the baffle in the position of (A), (B), or (C)?


If you're a reader and would like more context...


Hi, everyone... first-time poster here. I've learned a lot from the forum thus far (thank you!), so I thought you'd be the perfect audience for this little 'experiment.'


I have an two 8-inch drivers (Dayton Audio DCS205-4), each in its own sealed enclosure in the rear of a Toyota Yaris hatchback. They're long and slender (no jokes, please!) enclosures (17.50" x 7.50" x 4.25" internally for a net air space of ~0.30 ft^3)--just wide enough to accommodate the driver, which is mounted dead-center on the baffle (picture A).


And they sound great... no real complaints (other than they're not pounding my brains out like my four 12s from back in the day).


But I'm getting ready to finish out the interior, which would 'set in stone' the design, and I can't help but wonder if mounting the subwoofer either slightly off-center (picture B) or fully to the back of the enclosure and vehicle (picture C) would be give me better bass. (I created these images with my rudimentary skills in Microsoft Paint!).


I guess I COULD create two new baffles for a real-life experiment, but I thought the Forum might have some insights or ideas before I use more wood, glue, and time on the matter.


So, here are my questions to you, my 'superior officers' in the hobby:


(1) I've heard that 'standing waves' in a box of this size 'ain't a thing.' Is that true? Would going with (B) or (C) alleviate that concern and result in better bass?


(2) Can you imagine ANY difference in the sound, either based on the dynamics of the chamber or the driver's proximity to 'wall' of the back hatch [picture (C) would place the driver all the way at the rear of the vehicle]?


(3) If you moved the driver to the far back of the enclosure (picture C), would you add a brace around the center of the enclosure?

(4) I've not added any kind of acoustic treatment to the interior of the box (Poly-fil, fiberglass insulation, Dacron, etc.). Would your decision to go with (A), (B), or (C) affect if or how you applied such a treatment?



I think that's it (about time, right??). Thanks for reading. If you have a take on this, I would LOVE to hear what you think and why.


Cheers!



🙂
 

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  • Dayton Audio Classic 8 in Enclosure (C).jpg
    Dayton Audio Classic 8 in Enclosure (C).jpg
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Greets!

Sealed is a 1/2 WL 'open cylinder' resonator, so ~13543/2/17.5 = ~387 Hz, well above the subs' pass band, ergo the driver will 'feel' a ~uniform particle density, i.e. placement makes no difference.

Ditto any 1/2 WL eigenmodes [reflections].

Due to its shallow depth, your box only needs a brace along its axis to double as a driver support.

Again, due to its high resonance Vs BW it in theory needs no internal damping, but may need some if the alignment is under-damped [technically too small for the driver's specs].
 
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