Choosing An Enclosure
Skar Audio knows the importance of finding/building a great enclosure to unleash the power of your subwoofer, so we proudly display all our recommendations for our subwoofers and their enclosure specifications on each product’s page.
In addition, Skar Audio is proud to offer a variety of prefabricated enclosures for those individuals who are looking for an enclosure for their subwoofers. You can check out our prefabricated selection HERE.
When choosing your enclosure, it is important to consider a few specifications that will help you determine a great fit for your subwoofer:
- Gross/Net Airspace of the Enclosure
If your enclosure is too small or too large in terms of volume, the performance of your subwoofer can suffer. It is important when assessing volume that you consider any displacement in the enclosure including port, bracing, and subwoofer displacement. These all take away from the gross airspace of the enclosure.
- Mounting Depth of the Enclosure
The subwoofer needs to be able to create a tight seal when being mounted, so if the subwoofer cannot sit flush to the surface when mounted, it will be tough to create a proper seal.
- Cut-Out Diameter
The cut-out diameter is the size of the hole in which the subwoofer will be mounted. If the cut-out diameter is too small, the basket of the subwoofer will not allow the sub to sit flush and create a tight seal. If the cut-out diameter is too large, the mounting holes may not provide enough room to securely affix to the enclosure.
- Style of Enclosure
Style of the enclosure is a highly debated topic among the audiophile community. Based upon feedback from our customers, we have found the selection of the style of the enclosure is highly subjective and based upon the end goal.
With that said, the two most popular styles are Sealed and Ported (also known as Vented)
For most subwoofers, choosing a sealed enclosure will allow you to use less airspace making your enclosure more space-friendly within your vehicle. Also, sealed enclosures tend to give a more accurate, punchy sounding style of bass.
Ported enclosures are a bit more labor-intensive as far as selection. When considering a ported enclosure, you typically are going to be needing more airspace than a sealed enclosure for the same subwoofer as you have to consider displacement for the port(s). Additionally, the size and length of the port determine a tuning of the enclosure. An improperly tuned enclosure when paired with a subwoofer and decrease the overall effectiveness and performance of the subwoofer.
