3/4" vs 1/2" MDF for sub box.

[george graves]

Hell, if flex isn't a concern, why not build them of cardboard, or even 1/8", right?

Or paper, or aluminum foil? :)

I use to run sound for an AV company. I never got to see inside of our speaker boxes, but we'd bring in our dual 15" long throw, pro-audio subs, that could fill a 4000 seat venue from front to back with chest thumbing sound (we'd use about 4 of those boxes - each were about 4' x 3' x 3') were made out of 3/4" ply. And we were dumping 1000's of watts into them.

It's just odd to me that a tiny little single car-audio sub would require anything thicker.

[StereoInstaller1]

Yeah, but SQ in such a large venue is not terribly important... and if I built PA speakers like that (and I have) I would do 2 layers of 1" on the front and single layers elsewhere, with heavy bracing. It would be a discernable difference.

[rav320uk]

Proper proffessional boxes over here are made from "Birch Ply", not cheap.
But the main over here is 3/4" or 18mm, no one makes them fron 1/2" or 15mm due to material failure.

[Mtriple]

I've used 1/2" plenty of times in the past for single driver enclosures that require little airspace (<.75 cubic ft) and are custom fit into areas that just dont give you the luxury of working with 3/4". Under seats, behind seats, trunk corners etc. and I've always glassed the inside of the box for added rigidity.

When it comes time to the stereo in the E30, I'm leaning towards a custom fit enclosure that will fit in the rear footwell behind the passenger seat. This will be made with 1/2" mdf and fiberglass for a 10 inch woofer.

[george graves]

Thanks for the advice Luke (and others). After thinking about it I went with the 3/4". After I picked up the sub a few times and seeing how heavy it was, it seemed 3/4" would be best.

Alpine SWR-1243D Type R 12in = 27 lbs. My intuition is that bouncing around in a car with stiff suspension, 1/2" won't really be up for the job.