# Cabinet enclosure tuning VS. woofer (FS)



## Brewski (Jan 8, 2010)

I have a general question on enclosure tunings that I'm not certain if their's a general rule or mathmatical formula that could be applied to it. My assumption is you would not want to have the enclosure for the woofer be tuned to the woofer's resonate frequency. I've looked at some speaker kits and designs that have the cabinets tunings above and below the resonate frequency which made me think there wasn't a hard fast rule about tuning below the woofer's FS.

In general do builders here map out a responce in winISD or unibox and then look for the most flat curve for the drivers they've selected? If the ideal curve happens to be at a speaker's FS do you tune the cabinet to the FS frequency or change driver or cabinet volumes etc?

Thanks for the insight
Jay


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## dyohn (Apr 17, 2008)

Yes, the correct approach is to model the driver's performance and experiment with different alignments to determine the optimal enclosure type, size and tuning. Flat response is not always what the designer is after, by the way.


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## Brewski (Jan 8, 2010)

Should having the cabinet and the driver's Fs in the same frequency be avoided and if so how far above or below should a person tune the cabinet to +/- x Hz?


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## lsiberian (Mar 24, 2009)

Classic Loudspeaker design employs Tuning above Fs. However this may not always apply especially with a very rugged woofer. 

The reasons for this typically included flatter response, higher spl and greater protection from over excursion or even high distortion excursion. This is typical and as always there are variations and different approaches/schools of thought. Tuning slightly above FS maybe within 2hz is proven to be an excellent design in many projects. Your best bet is usually to follow manufacturer suggestion or an experienced designers/builders suggestions. Remember there is more than one side to every issue and plenty of disagreements. I know guys that use concrete in their cabinets and I know folks that don't have anything but a wood box with driver in it. Ultimately great sound is a matter of personal preference. This is why you get totally different sound tracks in different nations.


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