Do I need to install small boxes behind my cocktail cab's 6x9 speakers?

[rackoon]

Any one out there know if I need to build some small boxes around the back ofthe 6x9s that I am going to install in my half built cocktail cabinet?

    Its been 15 years since I have installed speakers in anything. I remember that when I was a teenager we use to build boxes under our cars 6x9 back speakers. I cant remember why. Infact of all the cab pics I have seen, none had boxes around them yet, none of them have 6x9s driven by a 300 watt amp ether.

Any one got any advice on this?

[Luckydevil]

I'd just throw together a small wood box to test one out. Depending on the speaker it may or may not make that much of a difference.

[OSCAR]

The real purpose behind enclosing a speaker is so that you have the proper air volume on the backside of the cone to achieve the optimal response from the speaker based on it's Vas, Fs, and Qts specs.

By enclosing a speaker, what you are really doing is increasing it's Q value.  So the smaller the enclosure, the higher the Q.  If the enclosure is too small (and the Q too high), you lose considerable low-bass response  and get a boomy mid-bass.  As you increase the volume of the enclosure, you extend the low bass, but at a lower SPL compared to the midrange.  Optimally, you shoot for a Q of around .7 for optimum bass response.  But unless you know the Qts of your speaker and build the correct size enclosure to achieve a Q of .7, you are just shooting in the dark.

For most arcade applications a free-air woofer will work just fine.  But if you are an audiophile geek and have the specs and proper charts that dictate the volume of the enclosure for your speaker, then you can achieve much better response.  Even then, you are still dealing mostly with beeps, voices, explosions, etc on the video games, and the river can't rise above it's source...

[rackoon]

Thanks for the input guys. I sappose that I will just use my speakers open air and add boxes later if I feel that the sound is bad.

[cscon115]

Thanks OscarControls!

I will use your info when I build my Jukebox. I was wondering the same thing with my speakers (BOXED OR OPEN). I think I am going to "Shoot in the dark" and try to box the speakers in my cabinet. I will try to make a box about the size of a shoebox for my 6.5 rounds. I have noticed prebuilt boxes about this size for sale at the car stereo store where all the young whipper snappers hang out instead of getting a job or walking to school. 

I would also like you to know that you make the best Tempest spinner in the world - it beats the original hands down!


Dan