Box or Cylinder Sub (which is more musical??) (1 Viewer)

[Miles Abbey]

If two sub enclosures contained identical components (amp/driver), which would sound more musical? Assuming they have the same air volume and use the same diameter port? Also assuming they both are exactly the same in structural integrity?

 

[Brian Bunge]

Miles,

They would sound identical. There's nothing about shape that makes one sub more musical than another. The cylinder doesn't require bracing like the box does, but if constructed properly there should be no difference in sound.

Brian

 

[Tom Vodhanel]

I agree, any potential differences based in theory would be completely overwhelmed by something like turning your head an inch...or slumping down in the chair a couple of inches...

Now,if you added a nice 6-12dB highpass filter to one unit at 30hz---I bet it would picked as the more musical unit more often than not in a blind test.

TV

 

[Jack Gilvey]

Also assuming they both are exactly the same in structural integrity?

Assuming this means "effectively non-resonant over a sub's bandwidth", they'd sound the same. It's easier/cheaper to get a tube to be non-resonant, though, hence their popularity among DIY-ers.

 

[John Kotches]

Jack,
Not to mention their (cylindrical subs) lighter weight (in general) makes them popular to those of us with bad backs
Regards,

 

[Brian Bunge]

John,
I'm still young and my back is fine so for now I'll stick with boxes made from MDF. At $20/sheet I imagine it'll be cheaper than most sizes of sonotube. Especially considering some places will only sell them in 12' sections!
Brian