If you care about true sound and maximizing your subwoofer's performance, it would serve you well to take a few moments to educate yourself on the basics of speaker box construction techniques. Right now, I want to talk about some simple ideas on reducing "flex" in your custom speakerbox.
In order to minimize "flex," we first need to look at the quality of materials and why it is important. Acoustically speaking, wood is the best material to use in constructing speaker boxes for total overall sub bass reproduction. However, different qualities of wood exist and ¾" to 1" MDF (Medium Density Fiberboard) is the best. Thickness and density of wood is important in battling "flex."
Flex is when the walls of the speaker box vibrate from high decibel sound waves generated from the subwoofer. This is not good because the flex of the walls are constantly changing the internal volume of the speaker enclosure. It also is detrimental to the longevity of the speakerbox as the movement of walls turns out to be extremely hard on the enclosure joints.
Why is controlling flex so important? Two main reasons are vital in the long run.
#1 your subwoofer performs safely and most efficiently at a manufacture's recommended air space. That air space acts as a "spring" to keep the sub's cone "pushing/pulling" motion, moving in a clean controlled manner. When the "spring" doesn't match the recommendations for the woofer, which is a result when the walls of the speaker box are flexing, the sub is in danger of blowing.
#2 is to protect and maintain the air tight seal of the joints in the speaker box. In a nut shell, flex weakens joints that eventually give way to air leaks. Air leaks weaken the "spring" that a solid air tight speaker box provides. And a weakened "spring" will cause the subwoofer to attempt to perform outside of the parameters it was designed. Damage to the sub is inevitable.
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