Q Subwoofer Enclosures
Fact is, a subwoofer is one of the single best upgrades that you can make to your audio system. No matter your musical tastes, a subwoofer will definitely increase your enjoyment of listening to music behind the wheel of your vehicle. So, why is that? Simple . . . let’s explain . . .
Your hearing has ten octaves* of range – from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz. Most factory audio systems are designed so that they do not properly reproduce the lowest two octaves of music. If you’ve ever heard a really good home audio system, then you know exactly what we’re talking about. Maybe your living room is appointed with the latest and greatest in home theater equipment. If so, then you already understand the value of a subwoofer.
Now, before you attempt to put the subwoofer from your home theater in the trunk of your car (you’re gonna’ need a really long extension cord), you should know that there are hundreds of choices when it comes to automotive subwoofers. The most popular automotive sizes are those that are 10″ to 12″ in diameter.
Any subwoofer will require a properly matched enclosure in order to work properly in your vehicle . . . and that’s where Q-Logic comes in! A subwoofer (or two) PLUS a properly matched enclosure is a subwoofer system.
Q-Enclosures – The Basics
So, the proposition of borrowing your neighbor’s table saw and making a bunch of sawdust in your clean garage isn’t appealing to you . . . no worries, we’ve got you covered. You see, we’ve done this for years . . . and trust us when we tell you that we’ve learned a great deal in the process!
So . . . isn’t an “enclosure” really six pieces of wood glued together in the shape of a box with some rug glued on it? Well . . . sort of. You see, by nature of its operation, a subwoofer generates a great deal of pressure within an enclosure. A properly designed enclosure should allow the subwoofer to do its job, without any undesirable side effects like resonating panels, added noises, or allowing this pressure to escape through the joints of the enclosure itself – any of these problems will cause the output of the subwoofer system to be compromised. Finally, we believe the enclosure should actually accommodate the subwoofer you select – any subwoofer! More on this later . . .
Built to Last!
All Q-Enclosures are built via the finest manufacturing methods to ensure that they stand the test of time. First and foremost, EVERY Q-Enclosure is made from scratch in Stillwater, Oklahoma – that’s right, we’re a staunch proponent of MADE IN USA! To ensure that the Q-Enclosure you purchase meets our incredibly high quality standards, we use the latest in CNC based manufacturing processes.
Our actual assembly process has a lot in common with making fine cabinetry. In addition, we use the only the best materials in the manufacturing process.
Medium Density Fiberboard
Q-Enclosures are all made from Medium Density Fiberboard (MDF) and not cheap flooring laminate, plywood, or particle board like so many others. MDF is widely recognized for its superiority in construction of speaker enclosures and that’s why we use it. In addition, MDF is more impervious to damage from liquids – a great thing if you ever accidentally spill your Big Gulp near your enclosure.
MDF isn’t cheap, and this is one of the reasons that Q-Enclosures cost a few dollars more than our competition. Rest assured, we get a pretty good deal on MDF given how much of it we purchase, so we pass that deal on to you.
Q-Enclosures are constructed with 5/8″ thick MDF, with the exception of the baffle* the subwoofer mounts to. We use 3/4″ thick MDF for the baffle* to provide an extremely rigid surface to mount the subwoofer. This provides just the right combination of weight and strength!
Miter Joint Construction
Early on, we recognized the importance of making enclosures that would not only stay together, but would also survive the harsh handling they’re subjected to as they travel all across the country to our dealers and customers. To that end, we’ve gone out of our way to ensure that our enclosures are rock solid!
The first way we attack this problem is at the joints themselves. You see, a butt-joint offers a finite amount of surface area to hold glue – not nearly enough in our experience. Every Q-Enclosure we sell employs miter joints at the seams!
Notice the difference in the gluing area between the two joints. Miter joints offer 50% more gluing area and this is why we use them exclusively. To further strengthen these joints, we’ve developed a glue specifically for use with MDF. This glue bonds better with MDF than anything we know of!
Dado Groove Construction
As if miter joints weren’t enough, we’ve gone even a step further to ensure Q-Enclosures stand the test of time. No different from finely crafted furniture, Q-Enclosures all use dado groove construction to attach the side panels to the enclosures. The benefits of this are twofold:
- Strength – dado groove joints are far superior to butt-joints and they won’t work loose over time. During the manufacturing process, our MDF glue is injected into the groove so it has triple the contact area that a butt joint offers, which further increases the strength of the joints.
- Air Tight Seal – A properly constructed enclosure should not allow any of the pressure within the enclosure escape from the joints themselves. The net result of that is reduced output caused by cancellation* and this is not desirable!
It is certainly more expensive to manufacture enclosures the Q-Logic way, but we feel that the results are worth the effort! Incidentally, so do our dealers and customers.
Patented Qxs Ring
Unlike every other pre-made enclosure on the market, Q-Enclosures have a unique feature – the Qxs Ring – that allows you to bolt in the subwoofer of your choice without having to worry about it fitting in the hole! You see, there really aren’t any standards when it comes to subwoofer sizing – so one manufacturer’s 10″ subwoofer may require a different size hole than another manufacturer’s 10″ subwoofer – and they often do. Furthermore, subwoofers that have cast aluminum baskets traditionally require larger holes than those with stamped steel baskets.
Since there really isn’t a way to predict what kind of subwoofer you’re going to put in a pre-made enclosure, most enclosure companies provide a hole that will accommodate the most common sizes. If your subwoofer requires a larger hole, it’s up to you to enlarge it – and we already agreed not to make any sawdust . . . Even worse is if your subwoofer requires a smaller hole . . . this can make it next to possible to mount the subwoofer in the center of the hole so that it has an air-tight seal!
As pictured above, the Qxs ring solves this problem. As it that wasn’t enough, it also solves three more problems:
1. The Qxs ring provides an excellent seal between the subwoofer and the mounting baffle*!
2. The Qxs ring ensures that your subwoofers are mounted in the center of the holes – allowing you to sink screws into wood . . . all of them!
3. The Qxs ring is indexed to make it easy to line up any subwoofer perfectly. They’re indexed for subwoofers with 4, 6, 8, or even 12 mounting holes!
Interchangeable Baffles
Speaking of baffles . . . Q-Enclosures mounting baffles are interchangeable so that they can accommodate every conceivable brand of subwoofer on the market! A good thing if you purchased square subwoofers at first, then later decided to change to traditional round subwoofers. With any other enclosure, you’ll be upgrading (read: wasting perfectly good money) that too.
Recessed Spring Loaded Terminals
All Q-Enclosures have recessed spring loaded terminal cups. This allows you to use bare wire, pins, or even banana jacks to make your connection. Unlike a binding post, that can work its way loose in a moving vehicle, these will maintain your connections for years to come. In addition, the connections themselves are recessed into the cups so that there is no danger of the terminals coming in contact with a nearby metal surface – perfect for our pick-up truck enclosures!
Included Accessories
Q-Enclosures come out of the box (☺) with all of the required accessories you’ll need to install your subwoofers. In addition to the Qxs rings, you get the following:
- Twisted pair speaker wire -
- MDF specific screws, 8 per subwoofer
- Batting
Bass Performance Match or BPM
Q-Logic specializes in doing the research & development so you don’t have to. Over the years, we’ve learned a great deal about matching subwoofers and enclosures to achieve the desired results and we’ve created the Bass Performance Match system so that you can readily determine which enclosure suits your needs. Other companies offer a “one size fits all” solution . . . which is akin to choosing the universal master cylinder rebuild kit at the auto parts store – you know, the one that says Fits ’83 Corvette and Up . . . yeah – good luck. We’d rather sell you an enclosure that we know works with your woofer(s) and BPM allows us to do that!
The Bass Performance Match system allows Q-Logic to help our customers choose the right enclosure the first time. For simplicity, we offer five different types of enclosures:
- Type1 – Small Sealed
- Type2 – Large Sealed / Medium Vented
- Type3 – Large Vented
- Type4 – BandPass
- Type5 – Extra Large Vented / SPL
Subwoofer FAQs
How do I Know Which Type of Enclosure is Right for Me?
Following are detailed explanations of each of the different types of enclosures and the products that we offer within those types. Here are some general rules of thumb:
- Sealed enclosures are the most accurate – they are universally preferred by audiophiles for their accuracy and accommodate the widest variety of subwoofers of all enclosure types. Sealed enclosures will take more amplifier power when compared to vented enclosures to achieve the same output (see the sidebar on SPL). Sealed enclosures are perfect if your music preference is “tight” bass and you listen to Jazz, Classic Rock, or Classical music. We offer single and dual woofer sealed enclosures in our Type 1 and Type 2 families.
- Vented enclosures trade some accuracy for output. In addition, they are typically larger than a sealed enclosure for the same subwoofer. Not all subwoofers are designed to work in vented enclosures, so you should verify this with the manufacturer of the subwoofer(s) you intend to purchase before choosing a vented enclosure. Vented enclosures are perfect if your music preference is a more “full” bass and you listen to Rock & Roll, Heavy Metal, Hip Hop, Rap, or Country & Western music. We offer single and dual woofer vented enclosures in our Type 2, Type 3, and Type 5 families.
- BandPass enclosures are for those that desire the most output possible from their subwoofer(s) and are not concerned about accuracy. If your music preferences lean to House Music, Electronica, or Rap, a BandPass enclosure may be right for you! We offer single and dual woofer BandPass enclosures in our Type 4 family.
Both sealed and vented enclosures are a good choice if your musical preferences cover a wide spectrum, as they both are capable of this. A BandPass enclosure would not make a good choice in this case.
Note: We do encourage the use of a subsonic filter* when using a BandPass or vented enclosure in a high powered applications! In the simplest of terms, a subsonic filter will protect your subwoofer(s) from damage in the event that you play music with bass information below the tuning point of the enclosure. Many subwoofer amplifiers have them on-board today . . . so you might not even have to spend any more money than you originally planned.
For a more detailed explanation of the acoustical differences between sealed, vented, and band-pass enclosures, CLICK HERE!
One Subwoofer or Two?
This is an excellent question – we’re glad that you asked! Believe it or not, the answer to this question has nothing to do with your musical preference. Rather, it depends on the level you prefer to listen to your audio system. If you typically listen to your audio system at moderate levels with the windows up and the A/C on, then you can get by with a single subwoofer. If you do a lot of driving with the windows down or prefer to listen at ear-bleeding levels (we do both!), then you’re a candidate for a pair of subwoofers. Believe it or not, there are many advantages to using a pair of subwoofers:
- Two subwoofers can create the same level of loudness given a certain level of amplifier power as a single subwoofer with TWICE the amplifier power!
o Let’s say that you had a pair of XYZ subwoofers in a sealed enclosure that made 110 dB of Sound Pressure Level (SPL) with 250 watts of amplifier power (125 watts per woofer). In order for a single XYZ subwoofer in a sealed enclosure to make the same amount of SPL, it would require 500 watts of power – FOUR times the amplifier power as one of the subwoofers in the dual subwoofer system!
o This is the main advantage when rocking out in your automobile – having a pair of subwoofers ensures that you’re a whole lot less likely to damage them!
- Dual subwoofer systems have an additional output advantage when the subwoofers are mounted within close proximity to one another – as they are with double woofer Q-Enclosures. This advantage is a phenomenon called “mutual coupling*”. The result of mutual coupling is that the output of these two subwoofers working together is greater than the combined output of the same two subwoofers mounted in individual enclosures that were not in close proximity to one another. We at Q-Logic are a big fan of anything that we can get for FREE, so we really like mutual coupling!
If nothing else, choosing a dual subwoofer system allows you to have the ability to play your audio system at LOUD to VERY LOUD levels without fear of damaging your subwoofers.
Q-Enclosures – The Specifics
Type 1 Enclosures – Small Sealed
Type 1 Enclosures are the smallest that we offer. These compact enclosures work excellent with the subwoofers of today, are perfect for those that want to give up as little room as possible and prefer a more natural (or flat) response.
All Type 1 Enclosures include the following in addition to the enclosure itself:
- Qxs Mounting Ring(s)
- Twisted pair speaker wire
- MDF specific screws, 8 per subwoofer
- PolyFil – Polyester Fiber Fill
- Step-by-step instructions
We offer single and dual woofer Type 1 Enclosures for car, SUV, and truck applications. To see if we offer a Type 1 Enclosure to fit your needs CLICK HERE.
Type 2 Enclosures – Large Sealed / Medium Vented
Type 2 Enclosures are slightly larger in volume and are perfect if the subwoofers you’ve got your eye on call for a slightly larger sealed enclosure than what we offer in Type 1. In addition, they’re perfect for older subwoofers that naturally call for a larger sealed enclosure. Finally, some Type 2 enclosures can be converted to vented enclosures – when vented, we consider them to be medium sized (see below).
All Type 2 Enclosures include the following in addition to the enclosure itself:
- Qxs Mounting Ring(s)
- Twisted pair speaker wire
- MDF specific screws, 8 per subwoofer
- PolyFil – Polyester Fiber Fill
- Step-by-step instructions
Some Type 2 enclosures can be converted to vented enclosures – when vented, we consider them to be medium sized. These “convertible” enclosures can be converted quickly from large sealed to medium vented by removing 4 screws! This allows you to quickly determine which sound you prefer.
Type 2 vented enclosures have an in-car tuning frequency of 38 Hz, so they’re perfect for those of you with small power amplifiers. Given their relatively high tuning frequency, they will not necessarily be ideal for Hip Hop or Country Western Music – Type 3 Enclosures serve these types of music better.
To get the maximum output, Type 2 Enclosures use a large slot vent. When compared to a smaller round vent, these huge slot vents have a considerable output advantage!
All Type 2 Vented Enclosures include the following in addition to the enclosure itself:
- Port Plug (to convert to sealed)
- Qxs Mounting Ring(s)
- Twisted pair speaker wire
- MDF specific screws, 8 per subwoofer
- PolyFil – Polyester Fiber Fill
- Step-by-step instructions
We offer single and dual woofer Type 2 Enclosures for car, SUV, and truck applications. To see if we offer a Type 2 Enclosure to fit your needs CLICK HERE.
Type 3 Enclosures – Large Vented
Type 3 Enclosures are perfect for those that are willing to sacrifice a little extra cargo room to get additional output! Type 3 Enclosures have an in-car tuning frequency of 34 Hz, so they’re ideal for those of you with a wide range of musical tastes.
To get the maximum output, Type 3 Enclosures use a large slot vent. When compared to a smaller round vent, these huge slot vents have a considerable output advantage!
All Type 3 Enclosures include the following in addition to the enclosure itself:
- Qxs Mounting Ring(s)
- Twisted pair speaker wire
- MDF specific screws, 8 per subwoofer
- PolyFil – Polyester Fiber Fill
- Step-by-step instructions
We offer single and dual woofer Type 3 Enclosures for car, and SUV applications. To see if we offer a Type 3 Enclosure to fit your needs CLICK HERE.
Type 4 Enclosures – BandPass
Type 4 Enclosures are popular for those that prefer a “bumped” or “boosted” response in their bass. BandPass enclosure have always found favor with those that listen to House Music, Electronica, and Rap where the bass energy is high from 40Hz to 60Hz. When compared to our Type 3 Enclosures, Type 4 Enclosures deliver an output that is rolled off sharply at the bottom end, peaky in the middle, and rolled off sharply on the top end.
Some Do’s and Don’t's with Type 4 Enclosures:
- Don’t expect the last word in accuracy . . . or much in the way of accuracy at all!
- Do expect teeth-rattling output!
- Don’t expect extreme low bass reproduction – like the fundamental from the 32 foot pipe of a pipe organ – this is filtered out by nature of the enclosure’s design . . .
- Do expect extremely high output levels with even modest subwoofer power amplifiers!
- Don’t exceed the manufacturer’s rated power levels of your subwoofer(s) when using a Type 4 Enclosure!
- Do consider use of a sub-sonic filter* as this protects your woofer(s) from damage . . .
Not all manufacturers recommend that their subwoofers are installed in BandPass enclosures. So, we recommend that you verify this before choosing a Type 4 enclosure! If in doubt, pick up the phone and call us @ 800-762-0351 – one of our technical experts will be glad to help!
Type 4 Enclosures have the subwoofer(s) mounted within the cabinet. A ½” thick plexi-glass window offers a birds’ eye view of your subwoofer(s) as well as the equivalent strength of ¾” thick MDF!
insert qb-210
For ease of mounting, the plexi-glass window comes un-installed. Just wire and mount your subwoofer(s), then mount the window for that great finished look!
All Type 4 Enclosures include the following in addition to the enclosure itself:
- Qx or Qxs Mounting Ring(s)
- Twisted pair speaker wire
- MDF specific screws – 8 per woofer
- PolyFil – Polyester Fiber Fill
- Step-by-step instructions
- Tuning Chart – makes tuning the vent a snap!
We offer single and dual woofer Type 4 Enclosures for car and SUV applications. To see if we offer a Type 4 Enclosure to fit your needs CLICK HERE.
Type 5 Enclosures – Extra Large Vented
OK, you desire the most output you can get from a vented enclosure and:
- You’re not concerned about losing a little luggage space
- You’d like people to hear you coming 5 minutes before you show up
- Your music collection includes lots of titles with the word “bass” in them
Congratulations – you’re a Type 5 customer!
To get the incredible output Type 5 Enclosures are famous for, we doubled up on the ports. That’s right, two incredibly large slot vents sit on either side of the woofer for the maximum in SLAMM! With an in-car tuning of 34 Hz, Type 5 enclosures will maximize the performance of any subwoofer loaded in them!
[Insert Photo]
Type 5 Enclosures deliver BIG output, even when compared to our own Type 3 and Type 2 enclosures!
[Insert frequency response graph comparing Type 2, Type 3, and Type 5]
All Type 5 Enclosures include the following in addition to the enclosure itself:
- Qxs Mounting Ring(s)
- Twisted pair speaker wire
- (8) MDF specific screws
- PolyFil – Polyester Fiber Fill
- Step-by-step instructions
We offer single woofer Type 5 Enclosures for car and SUV applications To see if we offer a Type 5 Enclosure to fit your needs CLICK HERE.
