So you got your hands on the latest and greatest car subwoofer made. You are anxious to install it in your car, but you don’t have the proper enclosure for it. Your first instinct is a quick visit to the local big-box electronics store (if you have one nearby, of course) to purchase an enclosure off the shelf for a reasonable price. However, how likely is it that the mass-produced enclosure was made specifically for your new subwoofer (i.e. proper type, air space, tuning frequency, etc.)? Well, you guessed it, not a chance. In fact, your new subwoofer is not going to perform anywhere near what it was designed to do if it is not mated to the proper box. So, your next option is to visit the nearest specialized car audio shop. But, funds are somewhat tight, and you are a true do-it-yourselfer. After all, you are quite comfortable working with your hands, and you have accumulated a few power tools over the years. So why not tackle a new project and build a custom enclosure on your own? You will have a box that is specific to your subwoofer, and built to your liking. Best of all, you can save some money and learn some new tricks along the way.

For this article, we will be building a custom enclosure for a Kicker Solo X 10” subwoofer. It will be housed in a slot-vented 4.9 cubic foot enclosure tuned to 45 Hz. The specifications were obtained from Kicker, leaving little speculation about the outcome of the sound we will obtain. The goal of this setup is roof-bulging bass, so the amplifier of choice is a Kicker ZX2500.1.

See the gallery for the steps (with captions) in building an enclosure.




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