Can Too Much Air Space In A Sealed Enclosure Be bad??

Question

ok, i know that like if a speaker reccomends 1.0 cubic feet and ur box is 3.0 cubic feet i know that will be bad, but what is the norm to get the best sound, like say if my speaker required 1.0 cubic feet and the box i have has got 1.63 cubic feet will that be real bad for the speaker?? is it best to have a box that is exactly what they reccomend what type of leadway do you have give or take how many cubic feet say between .20 +/- cubic feet and ur still in the green?? reason i ask is cuz the speakers i am getting require 1.82 cubic feet, the box i plan on building (30x14x20) will have 2.43
i suppose it would be easier just to make it 16 deep but i still would like to know what type of margin i have for error thanks

Answer 1

I have built many boxes in my day. If I were you I would build it to spec. A sealed enclosure is more forgiving to building flaws than a ported or bandpass box, up to 10% +/-. Generally a sub will give the tolerance for the speaker though. My subs can go in a .45 to .90, which is a large tolerance. I would look up the exact specs to your sub and go from there. When building, don't forget to caulk the seams on the inside of the box to make the box air tight. Good Luck!

Answer 2

The box you plan on building will be fine, just insulate the inside heavily.

Answer 3

Well, it won't totally kill the sound, but each speaker's resonances are unique to that speaker and presumably, your manufacturer has identified the optimum enclosure for that speaker:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speaker_enclosure

Answer 4

you will lose some if not most of the sound in the box.

Answer 5

long answer short. it just wont sound right, or reach its full potential in a box 3x bigger then recomended.