Advantages:
- Properly built, the sub box can be very efficient
- Low frequency response can be tuned and is boosted at the extreme low end
- Enclosure design mutes out frequencies above the tuning range
Disadvantages:
- This design is extremely sensitive to changes in any box parameters
- Construction can be difficult
- Some speakers are unsuitable for this design
If you have a design from the speaker manufacturer or the software available here, and are confident that the subwoofer drivers you've chosen will work, you must next consider the construction. Will you be able to build the box, with its complex porting, to the degree of accuracy required by this design?
It isn't complicated if the right tools are available, and the bass response with the correct driver is earth shaking. Professional car audio competitors often use this type of subwoofer enclosure in systems designed for low end sound pressure levels.
Be cautious however - these designs sound terrible and can even destroy subwoofers if even minor fluctuations in box volumes and port dimensions are introduced. Still, if it is within your ability to build a band-bass enclosure for your subwoofer, selecting a driver and enclosure combination of this type will give you the most low end output of any of the designs covered here.
