Subwoofer Enclosure for 23 LSV

[Brent Wall]

I've been working on a sealed subwoofer enclosure for my new 23 LSV. I like the more precise sound of a sealed enclosure and I want to maintain the factory location of the driver’s side kick panel. Here is what I came up with.

This box is constructed with 3/16” plywood. It uses a new design concept called “vibratory resonance”. Since the sides are the box are thin, they vibrate as the subwoofer pushes air against them.

Edited April 20, 2013 by Brent Wall

[Brent Wall]

OK. If you thought I was serious in my previous post shame on you for thinking I was that dumb. The box shown is my “test fit” box. The actual box is being built with 3/4" Baltic birch plywood and coated with bed liner. I had to be a little creative with the box shape to achieve the target volume of 1.2 Sq. Ft. Here’s the actual design:

The box sits 1.5” above the floor so that it does not obstruct the hoses coming out of the floor and allows any moisture on the floor to dry. All joints will be glued and screwed together from the inside with reinforcement blocks (so that all screws enter the face of the plywood rather than the edge).

Edited June 22, 2013 by Brent Wall

[Brent Wall]

I don't know how much the bed liner would be to seal the box, but I did something like that on my last box so I didn't have to carpet it and it worked like crap. This year I built two new boxes and a battery box and sealed them all for 35 dollars with one gallon of fiberglass resin. Plus the resin will help you seal the box since your using plywood which is not the best idea for boxes.

Can you be more specific about the failure of bed liner as a coating material? Was it professionally applied?

What material do you suggest instead of Baltic birch plywood?

[my malibu]

Can you be more specific about the failure of bed liner as a coating material? Was it professionally applied?

What material do you suggest instead of Baltic birch plywood?

bed liner will seal but is mainly for waterproofing. Caulking or even better fiberglass resin in the inside of the box will seal the best and add strength.

Assuming the hole is for the heater tube and not a port

Baltic birch plywood is what I used . But HDP can be used but is less resistance to water damage.

Edited April 20, 2013 by my malibu

[my malibu]

Ran a seal box for the last year and just switched to a ported one. The out put is greater and if tuned right you can get a flat response from a ported box. But the ported one is much greater in volume.

[old skool malibu]

Looks good. I will have a similar style box in my VTX for my Exile Big 12 but I am going to angle the sub towards the floor slightly.

[noquams]

I appreciate your posting this. I notice the mock up has a port yet the design does not. Are you going to port this sub? What brand are you going to use. From the specs my guess is a JL. If you will have a port what size will it be?

I have a 2012 LSV and despite the fact that Malibu has improved the sub box it still is not up to the level I want. I am also curious if you have a heater in your boat I chose to add one and suspect that any box I build will need to be different because of that.

Cheers,

[Vcardkiller1]

I used a epoxy paint and after a few months it started to flake off. I did not sand the MDF first so it probably was not the best surface to adhere to. I had no problem with it sealing the MDF. I used fiberglass resin this year on two boxes and it sealed it awesome, but it didn't matter since they are both ported. I put feet on the bottom of all my boxes that go in the boat. It will help the carpet below the box breath. MDF is the choice for sub boxes because it is so dense. The last thing you want is a plywood box blowing up into pieces in your boat.

The box last year.

Edited April 22, 2013 by Vcardkiller1

[MLA]

Reading through the sub enclosure issues listed here in this thread, and they seem to be more from design and execution flaws and not from choice of material. Heres a few tips:

1) Plywood is an absolute great choice, but you need to choose the right ply. Go with a void-free hardwood thats not bonded with a water-based adhesive.

2) .75" minimum for the enclosure and 1" or more on the baffle board of you are going with a large/heavy sub or one thats getting driven with a lot of power.

3) A waterproofing coating is not how the box is sealed. Its just used to seal the wood so its water tight, and not seal the box. Joints should be glued and screwed and then sealed with a caulking.

4) large walls should be reinforced with some braces. Lack of bracing and using too thin of a material or a not so ideal material, will lead to any box blowing apart, regardless of whether its MDF or Plywood.

5) ALL sub enclosures should be sealed tight, regardless of it being a sealed or ported. Any leaks will effect the performance of either box type.

[Brent Wall]

I appreciate your posting this. I notice the mock up has a port yet the design does not. Are you going to port this sub? What brand are you going to use. From the specs my guess is a JL. If you will have a port what size will it be?

I have a 2012 LSV and despite the fact that Malibu has improved the sub box it still is not up to the level I want. I am also curious if you have a heater in your boat I chose to add one and suspect that any box I build will need to be different because of that.

Cheers,

Yes, the test fit box has a port but the final design is sealed. I was considering a ported design but I was not able to make the box deep enough to achieve the volume for a ported box. I'm planning to use a Wet Sounds XS-12. I used this sub in my 2008 VLX in a sealed box and was very pleased with the performance. With enough power, it hits hard and tight.

I also have a 2012 LSV with the factory sub and enclosure. I was very disappointed with the factory audio on the 2012 boat, particularly the sub and tower speakers, so I ordered the 2013 boat with minimal factory audio (sound pack 1) and plan to install a complete Wet Sounds system. Here is my system configuration:

4 sets of XS-650s powered by a Sinister SD6 (Channels 3 - 6)

1 XS-12 powered by a Sinister SD6 (Channels 1 - 2, Bridged)

2 pairs of Rev 10s powered by a Sinister SD2

Feedback welcome!

[atomicrider13]

Brent (or anyone who can help),

I am trying to build a box similar to yours... my problem is that I do not have access to my boat for another 1.5 months and have time/ resources to start on one in the mean time. Do you know the dimensions for the "kick panel front" as I cannot find these anywhere... BTW I am really digging the fact that you have the actual box off the floor while keeping the stock look, good idea! Anyways not to steal your ideas but if you could hook me up with the dimensions of the face what would be great and ill work from there!

Thanks!

[noquams]

Brent,

I went with 4 Rev 10's powered by two JL HD600.4 amps I replaced the two RF amps that ran the sub and interior with a JL HD900.5. At this point I have the factory sub and enclosure and know I will need to build a box and add a more substantial bass.

Do you mind sharing how deep the box is? Do you have a heater in yours? I have a heater and suspect if yours does not I will have to build a different one.

Cheers,

Chris

[Brent Wall]

Brent,

I went with 4 Rev 10's powered by two JL HD600.4 amps I replaced the two RF amps that ran the sub and interior with a JL HD900.5. At this point I have the factory sub and enclosure and know I will need to build a box and add a more substantial bass.

Do you mind sharing how deep the box is? Do you have a heater in yours? I have a heater and suspect if yours does not I will have to build a different one.

Cheers,

Chris

The inside depth is 7 3/4" so the total depth counting the front kick panel and back panel is 9 1/8" (7 3/4" + 11/16" + 11/16", the actual thickness of 3/4" baltic birch plywood is 11/16"). At this depth the internal volume is 1.196 Sq. Ft. This is adjusted for all of the internal corner blocking.

As noted in my original post, the bottom of the box is 1.5" above the floor of the boat. This provides plenty of clearance for the hoses and such coming from the opening in the floor but there was no consideration for a heater.

Edited June 22, 2013 by Brent Wall

[Brent Wall]

Brent (or anyone who can help),

I am trying to build a box similar to yours... my problem is that I do not have access to my boat for another 1.5 months and have time/ resources to start on one in the mean time. Do you know the dimensions for the "kick panel front" as I cannot find these anywhere... BTW I am really digging the fact that you have the actual box off the floor while keeping the stock look, good idea! Anyways not to steal your ideas but if you could hook me up with the dimensions of the face what would be great and ill work from there!

Thanks!

You're not stealing my ideas. I posted my design to save other 23 LSV owners the trouble of making a lot of measurements and a test fit box.

I made my front kick panel by tracing the one from the factory, adjusting for the carpet covering and straightening out the lines. I subsequently made adjustments to the width of the clearance notches at the top left and right of the panel. I don't have a drawing of it at this point but I will finish it up in the next day or so and post it.

Keep in mind that my kick panel is for a 2013 23 LSV. I know it also fits in my 2012 23 LSV and I suspect it will fit in 2011 and 2010 boats as well. However, presuming you still have an 07 LSV, I'm not sure if it fits your boat.

[Wake23LSV]

Anyone know what volume is for the stock sub box?

[Brent Wall]

Anyone know what volume is for the stock sub box?

Here is a drawing of the factory sub box that I got from Malibu.

I calculated the volume of the box to be 0.876 Sq. Ft. This is the bit less than the 1.0 Sq. Ft. recommended by Rockford Fosgate for the M212S4B subwoofer that Malibu uses. Also, as has been noted many times on this forum, the factory built box is not sealed very well.

Edited May 25, 2013 by Brent Wall

[Wake23LSV]

Thanks for the info!!

[Wake23LSV]

Brent, Thanks for all your info regarding your sub box. I have just upgraded my amps and now realize just how bad the stock box is! I am going to build your box and install it with a better JL woofer asap! Again, thanks for doing all the hard work so the rest of us can reproduce what you've come up with. I'll post my results when I get it installed.

Bill

[Wake23LSV]

1 more question: Is the speaker hole in your box design in the same location as the stock panel hole? I ask because I want to have a solid box made and simply attach it to the back of the stock panel and mount the woofer back in the same location so I don't need to re-carpet the front of the new box. Thanks in advance!

[FastFreddy]

Here is a drawing of the factory sub box that I got from Malibu.

Malibu Subwoofer Enclosure, Option 2 A.jpg

I calculated the volume of the box to be 0.876 Sq. Ft. This is the bit less than the 1.0 Sq. Ft. recommended by Rockford Fosgate for the M212S4B subwoofer that Malibu uses. Also, as has been noted many times on this forum, the factory built box is not sealed very well.

Not only is it not sealed well but it falls apart due to the poor design. The one I got from someone who was selling his had the front panel (~3/8 thickness HDPE) half falling off since the staples could not hold into the rounded corners. The rounded corners were made by cutting multiple lines into the MDF then bending the MDF. This leaves very little if any materials for the staples to stick into.

The sub box could not last very long due to the very poor design. Who would put such a junk box in such a nice boat?

[lapapermaker]

Brent Wall, the front panel looks great. You got a template or drawing of that for simpletons to plagiarise?

[Brent Wall]

1 more question: Is the speaker hole in your box design in the same location as the stock panel hole? I ask because I want to have a solid box made and simply attach it to the back of the stock panel and mount the woofer back in the same location so I don't need to re-carpet the front of the new box. Thanks in advance!

The speaker hole is close to the same location as the stock panel but I can't say that's it's exactly in the same place. This was not a design criteria since I was remaking the front panel out of baltic birch as well. I traced the factory panel to get correct angles on the right but there was very little latitude in the placement of the speaker hole in the panel once the box was attached to the back of the panel. The bottom of the hole can't be lower than 3" from the panel bottom without interfering with the internal bracing in the box and top of the hole can't be higher than 14" without interfering with the top left cutout corner.

[wakedaddy17]

[wakedaddy17]

I'll get a better pic of my sub enclosure when I pick it up this week

[Brent Wall]

Brent Wall, the front panel looks great. You got a template or drawing of that for simpletons to plagiarise?

I made my front panel by tracing the factory panel and making a few modification but I haven't taken the time to create a drawing of it. The angle on the right is really the only critical angle since it matches the hull of the boat. I cut this angle first while leaving the overall width a little wide. I test fit it and adjusted for the carpeting wrapped around the edge.

Edited June 27, 2013 by Brent Wall