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I have a 01 2door black civic. I just bought a new Alpine amp and subs. I got an Alpine MRD-M501 (550watts RMS) and two 10's. I was just wondering if anyone could give me a recommendation on what kind of box I should get. I was looking into getting a box with a window on the front, but I really dont have any idea what would work best. I want some good sound. My friend said that when he used to have his box in his 2door civic it sounded alot louder than it does now. So I am thinking that its a good car for a stereo build-up.

Bottom line is I just wanted to hear people's opinions on what kind of boxes they have used in their civics and what works best?

 
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I think that the best box is the one that best accomplishes what you want a box to do.

for example, if you are looking for the best transient response physically possible, a sealed box will probbaly be the way to go.

if you want something hidden away, sealed will fit better in the spare tire well than ported. although porting is definitely possible, ludlam will tell you.

if you want to maximize low frequency extension, a dual chambered ported box will be the way to go.

if you want a good mix between ease of construction and low freuqncy extension, a regular ported box would be nice.

if you want to eliminate distortion easily from your car at the sacrifice of accoustic transparrancy and transient response, bandpass would work wonderfully well. (as well as protect your speakers from outside physical abuse)

what works best? well, if you like bass test tone music, a sealed pair of 10's wont work nearly as well as those same 10's ported!

what works best? well, that 1950's jazz music you love might not work nearly as well ported as it might sealed, with the same spekaers!

My recomendation to determine what works best for your car, is to think about what kind of music you will be playing on this. Dont say "everything", because noone listens to everything! focus down. most people who say "everything" for example, listen to music with either heavy synthetic bass, heavily EQ'ed and compressed bass guitar, or both. Once youve narrowed down the style or instrumentation, you can focus down on a frequency response. might determine its 150-250ish for kickdrums, or 70-120 for bass guitar, or 20-100 Hz for bass test music.

the next step is to relate that to what you want in a box. for example, an entry level pair of 12's I usually figure dont play much below 40 Hz at medium volumes, and 50 Hz at high volumes. If I had chosed bass test music, I would go ported for sure. maybe DCTT to enhance the range in both directions. depends how much volume I am willing to sacrifice for range.

maybe I determined that kickdrums are what I wanted to maximize. well, at 150-250 (just what I picked, and not neccesarily reflecting real life) thats not a range in the realm of subwoofers! so I would want to then start looking at 6.5's instead and focus on a different range for sub-bass.

once youve determined a passband of frequencies related to your musical tastes, you can pick a box with more than just a fuzzy idea it'll be best, youll have scientific backing and the knowledge that you FOR SURE picked the right type of box!

 
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just get wild

 
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I think I want something that will work well with Rap/ Hiphop. Sounds like from what you said, I should go with a ported box. Maybe I will do some dynomax in the doors and stuff to make it even better.

I also was thinking of doing some blue lighting with a nice window box. That way when you open the trunk the whole thing lights up and stuff. Thanks for the input...

 
Rep Power: 338

for rap and hiphop, make sure you are covered in the 40-90ish Hz range, so even a sealed box might do it for you, if its on a big side (like if it says use in a sealed enclosure, .5-1 cubic foot, id err on the side of 1 cube).

if you do decide to go ported, that sounds like a good idea to me! again, id port on the high side, especially with 10's, on the order of 38-43 Hz tuning.

and if you do decide ot tune so high, you may wish to set the subsonic filter on your amp if you have one, to protect the subwoofers.