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Help decide: Side or Down firing Sub


minnmarker

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I've got a sealed 12" sub (in QBOMB box) driven by 300 Watt RMS amp and plan to put it under the dash. Should I point it horizontally towards the hull or downward?

Back in 2013 'Bu Savant wrote:

Sidefiring is a great trade-off for a sealed 10", sealed 12" or bass-reflex 10". You want a great deal of distance between the output of the woofer & port and the adjacent surface, which is the hull. A minimum of 5" for a 10 and a minimum of 6" for a 12.

Downfiring is typically sealed. Yes, you can take advantage of boundary loading and the expansive sole but if the woofer is too close to the sole, you reduce the radiating surface area along the path and actually reduce some of the gains that downloading would offer. A open field environment is very different from the enclosed & sealed cabin of a vehicle, which is extremely forgiving. No forgiveness in open air. The rule for an average excursion downfiring woofer would be for it to be elevated 2.625" from the peak of the surround to the sole for a 10-inch sub, and 3.125" of clearance from the peak of the surround to the sole for a 12-inch sub.

I've got enough room to do either with the clearances 'Bu Savant mentions.

My question is what has anyone's experience been?

Does one position result in rattling the dash or other components of the boat?

If I use either I suppose I'll have to leave the kick plate off?

Thanks!

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I've heard and tried countless examples of both approaches.

You can maintain the cover façade in either case. If side-firing you should have ample open surface area over the top. If down-firing you would alter the façade so that it is adequately elevated off the sole as to not be an obstruction to the flow.

Typically with side-firing you will have far more open space in front of the sub driver. That's better for sound quality and tonal construction.

With down-firing the woofer will couple more with the sole, and excite the sole, and transfer more tactile energy throughout the cockpit floor. Understand that anything or any surface that vibrates is not going to be in-phase with the woofer. And different frequencies will behave differently. So not as musically accurate on one hand but some like the effect on the other hand.

The type of music you listen to may also impact your preference. Listeners of Rap and Hip Hop, etc. may not be as critical because of how the bass is produced. Listeners of music with real bass instruments by real studio artists are more likely to be particular about bass SQ.

There's no right or wrong necessarily, just personal preferences.

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I personally prefer that it fires back toward the driver due to a more accurate and tighter bass response. I tried having mine side fire, but I hated how muddy the sound got. Yes, the virbrations went up throughout the boat, but not in a good musical way.

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I personally prefer that it fires back toward the driver due to a more accurate and tighter bass response. I tried having mine side fire, but I hated how muddy the sound got. Yes, the virbrations went up throughout the boat, but not in a good musical way.

That's my boat and I'm definitely not a Rap fan! Was hoping for a BEST way but will try side, down, and back. I have a downward firing 600 watt in my home theater system that sounds great but that's a very different environment. Same for upward firing against the back window in the car.

Did you cut a hole in the kick panel, make a new one, leave it off?

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This is a boat folks. Build a home studio controlled space home theater if you want to judge that stuff.

I agree with this. If we are in the boat, 95% of the time, the engines running and there's plenty of wind & engine noise. Not really necessary to get perfect audio reproduced. We don't do the party cove thing.

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The OP raises a legit question.

In an effort to obtain a little more lower end output form the same woofer, box and power, side-firing and down-firing techniques are commonly used. Each sounds different just as direct-radiating sounds different.

The OP already has the sealed enclosure and so he's committed to that.

Certainly the SQ aspects diminish when underway with wind, engine and especially hull noise that serves to mask the bass qualities.

But there can be big differences at rest, at a slow speed, and within the cockpit. Keep in mind that while the open boat is very different from a home or car environment, and has its own challenges, the open boat has one advantage in that there are no reflections and no standing waves from the room or space boundaries. You get one initial radiation with no trailing reflections. So I can definitely work within a boat to get good SQ, different from home or car, but good none the less.

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