Hi all,

My friend recently got a sub and wants a custom box made for his car with the port tuned to 32hz. He seems to be having major issues in the GTA finding a place that can do that. He says he is getting all kind of stupid answers like "you tune the amp, not the box" "how do you tune a port" along with prices of $500 for a single 2.5 cubic feet box.

Any help is appreciated here as a good reputable shop would be nice. He lives in the Vaughn area also if that helps.

Thanks

 

WOW! Definitely don't have a shop that tells you that build a box for you.

Why not build it yourself? I've built 3 MDF boxes, and a fibreglass enclosure now, and it's not that bad. Just very time consuming to do well. The last one I built I tuned to about 38Hz, for a 15" JBL GTi, with a IIRC 5" diameter port, about 7-8" long, internally braced/stiffened, with a slanted front face, and about 3.75 ft^3 net volume. Most time consuming box I ever built, and if purchased, would have definitely been $500 ish.

Albeit, $500 is a little high, but a "custom" 2.5 cubic foot box is gonna cost you at least $300-350, so a shop asking for up to $500 isn't THAT ridiculous. If you want a super cheap box (under $250) odds are it won't be "custom" and will simply be a mass produced box, either from a shop, or from a manufacturer.

What sub do you plan on putting into the enclosure?

 

lol, seriously? And retailers wonder why people buy on the damned internet? What are these retailers bringing to the table? Where is there professional expertise? I am constantly disappointed with how many shops don't have the skills to design and build a custom box. It's disgusting.

I don't know your area so can't help you there but good luck in your search.

 

He can't build it himself because he doesn't know how to come up with the calculations as he wants a weird port and I no longer live near GTA.

Is there a program I can use to figure that stuff out for me? I didn't think it would be so hard to get a box. He is willing to pay too, just not $500

Also, $500 for 2.5 box is insane!!!!!!

 

Part of that $500 is the fact that you are paying for someone's knowledge/experience on top of the labour and materials. The materials make up a relatively small portion of the cost of a "custom" box typically. Especially if it's a shop, and buys the material in bulk. A lot of the cost is going into their time/labour/experience, and even recoup for things like overhead, and investment in tools. That's why the size is not the be all and end all of pricing out the final cost for a custom box. For example, I'm pretty sure the difference in cost for a 2.5 ft^3 box and 3.5 ft^3 isn't that much if both are "custom".

"Weird ports", unusual components, parameters, etc, and not something generic is probably why the shop shot high and quoted $500. They want their cut too. But for all I know, maybe they were just hoping you/he'd go away because they don't want the project, and have other smaller but with higher return jobs. Wouldn't be the first time.

For example, a local shop in Toronto is selling me an Alpine INA-W910 for ~$900 (which I think is a good price, especially in Canada). New, they are a licensed Alpine distributor, etc, etc. But if I were to get them to build me a custom box, I'd be surprised if they'd do it for less than $350. I don't think they are "ripping me off". I also know what it costs, so I'm going to build my own. But I also have access to an anechoic chamber. So I don't just calculate my theoretical specifications, I get in there, and then verify, and then adjust. Table saws, routers, experience with fibreglass, experience build speaker enclosures in general, etc.

I agree that $500 is too much, but I highly doubt he'll find a shop to do it for less than $350 in Toronto. If he's willing to not be picky, he should be able to get a quality box for $150-250 in Toronto. It just won't be custom.

If you think it's that ridiculous, you/he should be able to find multiple shops to be able to do it at what you consider reasonable.

Good luck either way.