Originally posted by illusion
NOT TRUE... A Larger sealed box will give a much warmer, true sound. Look up the SQ specs on many subs, the bigger the better(within reason) You are trying to tune the resonant frequency of your box to the sub. Smaller is NOT better.
Also it depends on what you are looking for. If you're looking for SPL(which I was) a large tuned box is you key. If you're looking for a very warm sound in your car, a large sealed box is for you. If you are worried about size, then go small, but be forwarned, while midbass extension is great in small sealed boxes, they won't cover the entire gammut of "bass"
Im not arguing that a bigger box isnt smoother sounding, i was just noting that i saw pics here, there, somewhere - i was just noting that some people have grossly huge boxes for their single 10 or whatever....and the reality is that if they went to a smaller box with the same amp, they would get a cleaner sound with tighter bass because the speaker wouldnt have to push as much air.
Each speaker is made to work well in a certain enclosure, whether it be big, small, sealed, bandpass, whatever...and the manufacturer allows you to tune your sound by giving you about a .5-.75cbft range of air space for that speaker, going outside of this will just create inefficiancy and distortion, no matter what sub, no matter how many watts your pushing.
Also, polyfill is for removing any resonance from the box, not for "increasing apparent size of the box"...if you have a 1cbft box, your always going to have a 1cbft box....all polyfill does is act as a dampener, which is a good thing on any sized sealed box.