what exactly is q? and what parameters should you aim for ? the most common q to aim for is 0.7.......what if it is less or more. does this affect bass loudness to some degree? thanks for the help. everyone here is great!

 

Hmm, well to try to put it simply, the Q describes the amount of gain the box will have, relative to the rolloff. A Q of 0.7 generally results in a box with decent low end extension and decent output. A happy medium in a moderate size enclosure.

Moving up to a Q of 1.0 by making the enclosure smaller will increase output, cause a hump in the upper bass, and roll off the low end more. This can be a 'fun' sound but you'll miss the deepest notes.

Moving down to a Q of 0.5 by making the enclosure bigger will ultimately play deeper, but at the tradeoff of output. In the popular range of sound it will sound 'light'.