Subwoofer Box Bracing is NONSENSE!

So you only have to brace enough to get the resonant of the box outside the bandwidth of the subs? As in above 120hz for most subwoofer applications?

I am now pleased that I just eyeball everything 99% of the time.

You're a g

Thank you for this video Justin!
I'm getting ready to build 4 boxes starting tomorrow and learning this about braces will save me a lot of time!

Unicorn Spit pre-stain at 50% water dilution, 2 times and sand between... then apply a final coat. This gets depth into the grain and reduces streaking.

Cover with lacquer/clear epoxy to make it POP, necessary otherwise it looks like chalk paint.

I've been building speaker cabs for 30 years now. Part of that time I work for JBL, I assure you the corner brace 45° effectiveness is negligible to any frequency below 500Hz. The turbulence that people speak of is only applicable inside ports but if someone does something good and something bad and the copycats don't understand what the bad part is then it just gets propagated as gospel by the sheeple. Sound isn't about what looks good it's about what sounds good. Ok now let's get technical It's not enough to put a brace in just anywhere, even if you brace it well you may have just raised the panels resistant frequency to the next octave which still provides only a 50% reduction in cancellation. The intention is to raise the resonance frequency by several orders like 1/16 or 1/32. The waters start getting muddy from here of splitting hairs of audio file SQ or just rock hard for SPL.
Hoffman will tell you ya can't have it all.

This is y we use mdf...if you need less resonance.. even tho mdf already fights this pretty good...switch to hdf

Another trick you can use is making a skeleton for the inner walls to break up resonance. Or, thicker material…..

A braced vs braceless box video would be a great idea! Theres also stuff called "No Rez" I see offered by kit speaker company GR Research thats also apparently helpful.

Danke!

U should build this enclosure with no braces do a port score across the bandwidth from 25-75hz then add the braces and see how it affects the enclosure

I was always told was the 45s were for the air flow to have less resistance…I’ve never have have heard it as a brace

I like your thinking 🤔. 👍😎

45s are definitely pointless. The claims about airflow improvement in the port have been debunked over and over

The brace reduces/breaks up the db sapping flex or that is the way I have heard it. 45s are definitely pointless. The claims about airflow improvement in the port have been debunked over and over

Yes, I would like to see a test of the various different brace styles to test how it affects resonance. I suspect a combination of double thick walls and staggered braces would be the best. But I also suspect the difference between both together and either by themselves will not be that noticeable unless you are using huge subs and a lot of power.

I've tried to tell people this for a long time and they don't listen. Unless you're pushing major power, no need to overbuild the box.

There is a super detailed piece on bracing over on the audioholics website called "loudspeaker cabinet bracing: a detailed look on Do's and Dont's".

I would love to see some practical tests. Thanks for your content!

i wouldn't put a corner 45 in for strength, but in some cases, i might for breaking up or directing sound reflections. its probably going to be a limited use case thing where i'm actually seeing an issue that would require it. most boxes are fine without them.

Im too drunk for a more coherent comment thatn this. I apologize. God i fucking love you. Your big brains are so fucking cool...

Giving away secrets of the best builders' secrets 😮

I love your logic bro!! Ppl preach to me that 45s are necessary BUT never 45 the entire box. 👨🏾‍🔬🔊

You should get a strain gauge and really prove the point.

53% humidity? Childs Play….

😂 this makes me feel so much better about never measuring where the braces go

My thoughts exactly

Do you nails or screw at the joints of the box?

I would like to see a test done to see if two separate boxes have more box rise than one single box with two woofers

I honestly thought bracing was to reduce panel flex in the box... the baffle mostly. And a few dowels always seemed like the best go to. Didn't consider resonance, good stuff.

Hows does that same resonance work when you double up the wood on all the sides even if you were using thinner wood panels.

Just build a perfectly spherical enclosure. No right angles, no need for bracing because spheres are strong, all the things people claim these braces help with. I've actually wanted to, with fiberglass, go see what it sounds like.

Quick ? Buddy i had noticed a harmony box its a HA-BV1X15E and if u notice on the inside of the box at the end of the port theres a small 45 degree angled piece never seen it before was wondering if you had or is there anything to gain from it thanks bud appreciate your videos

yeah, rattled enought of pre-made boxes apart that didnt have braces and no screws to use them in my builds anyway. Also when doing 45's, i just feel that they make more sence for noise of airflow and less flow reducing for the port(s)..

All my years in car audio the corner 45s are for air flow not brace. I actually never heard of a corner 45 as a brace. But even still I never heard a difference in sound from corner 45 with or with out

could you do a video on the differences of sound between 2 subs that share a ported box, vs 2 subs that share a box that is divided, and having its own port each. I have never built boxes that the woofers share as i believed the sound waves from behind the cone would interfere with each other, coming out of the port.

I build a crap ton of boxes and always put as much bracing as i can, and 45s. my goal is build it like a tank so it never comes back to me to get fixed. i have had ZERO returns for box failure after 10 plus years.

Panel resonance is a myth

You know, only place I have seen forty five bracing on all side of the box, It's usually a subwoofer enclosure meant for home audio. Not all of them come like this and some even the Front speakers will also have the forty five bracing on all sides. Just a fyi

Bass waves like to collect in the corners and travel UP (this is why horizontal 45's aren't used). Corner 45's are good for stopping standing wave formation in the corners of your enclosure. If you look up "bass traps" you will find the audio science behind bass and corners. Bass traps are used in full scale rooms inside of your house for example, but the logic still applies to a speaker box or your car.

braces are easy and cheap and should be used always. no benefit to not.

now can you talk about longevity of the box. how to make it last longer before it starts coming apart.

It is true that the bracing changes the resonance to a higher frequency which is good, because they are the ones that matter the least in a box for low frequencies, that is why in HI-FI speakers they are used to eliminate the resonance that can affect the low mids and mids🔈🔈🔈🔉🔉🔉🔉🔊🔊🔊🔊🔊🔊

People believe there is some kind of river of air flowing around in their enclosure or something. Not so. Press on a balloon and the pressure goes up equally inside the entire balloon. Move a woofer cone and the pressure goes up/down equally inside the enclosure. "Oh, but why is there air coming out the port!?!!?!" Because the port resonates. It is the entire purpose of it..
Yeah so 45s are dumb. Well that's not entirely true. IF you can't cut a straight line for shit, or you like to drop your enclosure onto hard surfaces from any kind of height, then they are helpful. Learn to use a saw and then...not so much.
Shelf braces however, are legit, and the only style I tend to use.

This guy out here spitn. But hard to refute logic, good video!

I've never personally had to deal with resonances. I've always focused on reducing box flex.

When you dump a lot of power into a piston you can definitely flex the enclosure in and out. It's basically pressurizing and rarifying the air inside the enclosure. The largest panels tend to have the highest flex. Any flex is basically robbing you of output.

A simple cross brace, like a 2 inch dowel rod, seems to be the most effective as well as taking up the least air volume.

A panel 12" by 12" I'd leave alone.
A panel 18" x 18" I would consider adding a cross brace.
A panel 24" x 24" I would definitely add a cross brace.
This is based on a panel 3/4" thick.

When I wrap my knuckles on the enclosure I want to hear a high frequency, like if it were a rock. 👍

I like the last series of videos posted a lot! The woofer cone displacement comparison video is really good.

In the "Advanced Speaker Systems" book by Ray Alden, he discusses the golden ratio as it relates to cabinet dimensions panel resonance, but bracing is not heavily discussed. The comment section here is great, too.

I like this video and just recently braced my last enclosure that has a Kicker 50th Anniversary Gold 10". I figured 400w RMS warranted its bracing even though it's a cube. lol

i personally use dowels to tie the panels together, works well and take s up very little displacement in the enclosure.

i have just made a small 27 liter, bookshelf subwoofer box for an Epique E150HE-44 with passive radiators. but in my rush to get it done i had forgotten to add any bracing at all. but now after watching this i can relax a little