does anyone know what type of subwoofer box is best in a boat? i was thinking ported would be the way to go but the guy at the local shop who is known to be one of the best in town told me that sealed is the way to go in a boat?? my buddy has 4 10" jl marine free air speakers that are drilled in under the rear seat, we thought about building a box for them but was told that it wouldnt help and would actually hurt the speakers to do that?? he is now thinking 2 12" kicker l7s but unsure on the box, i have 1 10" jl W7 but i am not sure it will do much in a sealed box??? we are both way confused on this one!

we need music! loud music !!!

Sealed...

A box will not work with the free air speakers your buddy currenly has. If starting from scratch, buy speakers designed for a sealed box. Beats the hell out of free airs.

so is ported out of the question? are we better off going under the rear seats or in the cuddy cabin?

sealed box with the sub firing down into the floor...you need to have the sub where it can build preassure off another surface.

Sealed, coat box interior and exterior with water proof resin. Box needs to fire down at floor or at something fiberglass, like cockpit wall. You will need to put MAX watts into the speakers, so you need a great amp.

Subs in cabin sound great in cabin and that all.

exactly....

also if you go to a stereo shop that doesnt frequently do boats, just ask them what type of encloser they'd use for a convertable....it kinda works on the same principle

A properly designed ported box with a woofer designed for ported enclosures will give you more output with less excursion. Typically you can use less power for the same SPL.

You need to know the Thiele-Small parameters, they should come with the driver, you then can design a enclosure for it. As for free air woofers over a sealed box, that depends more on the driver, if you truly have a baffle between the front and rear waves both work very well. I would think 4 10" free air woofers under the seat are not seeing enough air volume.

I'll post some links tonight, I have to get to work right now.

Slinky is correct, convertibles are the same as our open boats, you need to move allot of air. That means surface area or excursion. Cars get by with less because of the press mode created inside the cabins.

Exactly!!. A ported box in a boat gives better 'boom's' than a sealed box which offers more tight bass.

I have a single 12" ported in a box with a 500watt JL amp and the sound is amazing.

My box is also portable. I have enough cable to move the box around if I want to. It also allows me to remove from boat if I want to especially when in Winter storage.

If they can build you a transmision line box that is the best but the problem there is size. They tend to be very large. Ported will get you about 3-6db more output over sealed. Free air is easy and takes little space and ussually requires a few more speakers.

Do not put your free airs in a box they will sound bad.