well i just got my stereo setup done and i am quite annoyed with the sound. although it is perfect for sound quality (just the right sound with bass) i kinda wanted there to be more bass. i started out with a 4 port box but after i tweaked everything on the amp up to my amazement u could barely hear the subs in the trunk. by the way i have a 800 watt digital audio amp and two audiobahn 12" subs (600 watts a piece). well we put port cover on two of the ports and that helped a bunch but it still wasnt was it should be so i was told to take some cotton and stuff it behind the subs. well at first it made it worse but after taking some out it did make a bit of a difference. anyway we keep making small changes but nothing seems to work all that well. basically im am wanting ideas to try'n get more bass or i guess just tell me i need a diff box because that is what i am thinking.

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As cool as band-pass boxes look (and I have to keep myself from looking at them at all cause I'll try to convince myself into buying on even tho I know I'll be unhappy with it) they suffer the problem that they limit the frequencies (thus the name band-pass) and they tend be good for boomy (depending on the length and number of ports) music. The box I had was missing the cardboard tube extentions and so there were 4 four inch ports that were like 2 1/2" long..... the box really loved 50hz and below..... would really start moving the air around your head.
I've noticed with sub boxes that they do better when they're pushed to the extreme rear of the trunk facing towards the lights, this seems to get the most output. In my 02 intrepid when I switched from a single 12 to a dual 12 and moved the box to the right below the rear deck I lost alot of output and it only seemed to be a bit punchier...... the upside was I gained full access to the trunk so it was a trade off I was willing to live with.


Either way I'd say you need to wrap that box to match your color scheme and toss some neons, strobes and a lil mirror action into the box and make that box glow...... maybe a smoke machine would be fun to have pumping smoke out the ports.......

 

well, a sealed box will have pretty even, accurate bass (sounds great with rock music if you ask me)

Now a ported box has much more bass potential, BUT only around the right frequency, meaning basically once you hit the right frequency, you will have much more bass, but once you miss the frequency, you may end up with less (sounds great with rap music, since rap typically has alot of bass in it)

A bandpass box, (the best looking in my oppinion, lol) is the most difficult to get right, because they tend to vary per sub and a mistake in the number, length and depth of ports could hurt your bass gains. BUT a proper bandpass box for your subs sound great.
Well, i dont know if i answered any of your questions completly but i hope this helps

(my personal recomendation, i know your going for looks, but for the bass you want, i say go for a ported box, and add neons and such for looks, that way you get the design, and you get the bass gain)

 

From my personal experience, i recomend a ported box for trucks with open trunk, and sealed box for cars with a closed trunk. I had a ported box for my car, and it just sounds like the bass is stuck in the trunk and not getting inside the car, but with the sealed box, you "feel" all the bass inside the car.

 

if your going to keep it i would cover the box blue as well, make it all match

 

how big are those ports? the look kind of, well, huge

 

The ONLY way ( in my opinion) to get a bandpass enclosure right is to make it correctly to the subs specs. It looks like you have a pre-fab enclosure, which will be set up for "general use" not for any specific subwoofer. depending on how much space you want to keep in the trunk is going to steer you in the right direction as to which enclosure to go with.. Ported enclosures tend to be a LOT larger than sealed. but you CAN get a lot more bass out of them if you build the correct size, and the correct port. That being said, as was mentioned before, ported tend to have a much more targeted frequency range ( mine is tuned at 30Hz, LOUD as hell at 30Hz, but I have NO high bass) the enclosure I have for my 15' is 3 cubic ft. which is the SMALLEST recommended for my sub for a ported enclosure(Optimum is 6 Cu Ft) the sealed enclosure size is roughly half for my 15' I will be building a simple rectangular sealed enclosure soon to take the place of my ported enclosure to save space in the hatch. ( did not mean to threadjack qabout what I am doing, sorry)

Anyhow.. if you want the MOST bass ( notice I did not say BEST bass) go ported, if space is not an issue, generally best sound over the widest freq range will be sealed

Just my 2 cents. Only been doing this since 1990, and this is my experience over 7 different vehicles, with at least 3 different audio set-ups in each (other than my civic, but it will be changing soon)

Harold