Question about Bass Boost & Remote Bass Control on Kicker Amp

[philwsailz]

.77 cu ft should be okay for you. That is within 20% of recommended volume. It will play a tiny bit lower, although you probably will not hear it, and the total Q will be slightly lower than in the .66 box, but again, you will not be able to notice it.

When you go to build the custom box, consider a void-free 3/4" 13-ply plywood instead of any material manufactured from dust and resin, i.e. do not use MDF or particle board.

The acoustic benefits that are real for MDF are more for the higher frequency midrange and "tweeter" frequencies found in full-range home cabinets. This is due to two things. MDF is a very damped material, i.e. it doesn't "ring" like other wood materials. Additionally, its damping and resonance are uniform from board to board, and therefore the use of MDF in home cabinets results in repeatable predictable results when compared with hard woods or other solid materials, which can have varying densities and resonances.

The wavelengths associated with subwoofer enclosures are too long to develop any standing waves or resonances that can be attributed to the material alone, so a high-quality plywood is fine acoustically. It has the added benefit of being dimensionally stable with varying humidity levels.

No matter how well you coat an MDF enclosure, (Sorry Razz) it will eventally be compromised somehow. The "crack in the armor" will allow water to get in, and the MDF material will swell. From here it is a downhill battle as the swelling will cause more cracking of whatever protective coating you put on, and more cracking will cause more moisture intrusion.... It is a vicious cycle once it has begun. I restore wooden boats occasionally as a hobby and can attest to the good behavior plywood can have under water. You will never catch me using MDF in a boat for anything.

Finally, car audio companies use MDF for their subwoofers because it is cheap, it is easily milled, and it is a material that "folks around speakers" have been familiar with for a very long time. To me those are not good reasons to use it in a boat.

Keep us posted!

Phil
Kicker