Subwoofer Port -- To Plug or Not Plug

[B-rad351]

I’m going to upgrade the B/O subwoofer in my ‘24 Badlands 4dr. I will pack the dampening material inside the factory subwoofer box and want to know your opinions if the port should be plugged or left open? I’ll be installing an 8” DS18 sub with a 120 watt RMS dedicated amp.

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[23OBX2.7]

IMO it's a total waste of money because that enclosure is tuned for low power and has very low density, plus it's already getting around 120W RMS. Trust me I tried...incl addicting two layers of sound deadening to interior and exterior.

There is no cheap way to get excellent value upgrading B&O unless find used amp w integrated LOC or cheap no name brand on Amazon / eBay and used Branded loaded enclosure ( tuned & broken in)

The is a loaded and amplified 8" JL enclosure with integrated LOC at diymobileaudio can probably get for $30-350 shipped, that will put out serious bass.

 

[B-rad351]

IMO it's a total waste of money because that enclosure is tuned for low power and has very low density, plus it's already getting around 120W RMS. Trust me I tried...incl addicting two layers of sound deadening to interior and exterior.

There is no cheap way to get excellent value upgrading B&O unless find used amp w integrated LOC or cheap no name brand on Amazon / eBay and used Branded loaded enclosure ( tuned & broken in)

The is a loaded and amplified 8" JL enclosure with integrated LOC at diymobileaudio can probably get for $30-350 shipped, that will put out serious bass.

Thanks for your reply

 

[23OBX2.7]

Thanks for your reply

Happy to help. I flushed $300 down the toilet experimenting to find threshold that improved any of the B &O beyond placebo.

Coming from Mustang with $5K+ DIY system I can tell you with certainty the B&O is excellent with upgraded like for like woofers, coax many of which you find on diymobileaudio heavily discounted plus a sub amp with integrated LOC and branded loaded and or amplified enclosure.

It's so good that I wont even use my $1200 Audison 8 channel DSP amp have from Mustang.

Your' definitely on the right track to upgrade sub first it's transformative along with sound deadening and absorbing everywhere. Some Audison APK4" or equivalent brand for dash coax would be high value next step. Anything else you can get cheap next in line.

 

[Brian_B]

If you do anything with the stock enclosure, I recommend sealing the port.

 

[jaeggernaut]

not trying to hi-jack the convo, but this got me thinking about my own bass journey...

i have an unused (unpowered) sub box that i was thinking of adding to the exsiting factory B&O system. can i somehow simply split the power going to the factory sub with some speaker wire? or do i need to set up it's own independent amp and split the low end signal somehow?

(if you couldn't guess, i have no expertise in car audio).

 

[Fast Eddie]

I’m going to upgrade the B/O subwoofer in my ‘24 Badlands 4dr. I will pack the dampening material inside the factory subwoofer box and want to know your opinions if the port should be plugged or left open? I’ll be installing an 8” DS18 sub with a 120 watt RMS dedicated amp.

In my 2025 B&O system I installed a Kicker DVC 8" sub and forgot to plug the port. The bass was substantially better in every way. While I had the panel off for another reason I decided to plug it but now I find that it was better unplugged. I guess mileage may vary...

 

[swamp2]

I upgraded the stock enclosure with a better and larger driver, replaced/upgraded the factory sub amp and sealed the enclosure. The sealing is likely the smallest contributor, nonetheless, I went from miserable bass to very good.

 

[B-rad351]

Happy to help. I flushed $300 down the toilet experimenting to find threshold that improved any of the B &O beyond placebo.

Coming from Mustang with $5K+ DIY system I can tell you with certainty the B&O is excellent with upgraded like for like woofers, coax many of which you find on diymobileaudio heavily discounted plus a sub amp with integrated LOC and branded loaded and or amplified enclosure.

It's so good that I wont even use my $1200 Audison 8 channel DSP amp have from Mustang.

Your' definitely on the right track to upgrade sub first it's transformative along with sound deadening and absorbing everywhere. Some Audison APK4" or equivalent brand for dash coax would be high value next step. Anything else you can get cheap next in line.

Understood. Great info, thanks!

 

[B-rad351]

In my 2025 B&O system I installed a Kicker DVC 8" sub and forgot to plug the port. The bass was substantially better in every way. While I had the panel off for another reason I decided to plug it but now I find that it was better unplugged. I guess mileage may vary...

Wow, okay. Thanks for sharing!

 

[B-rad351]

I upgraded the stock enclosure with a better and larger driver, replaced/upgraded the factory sub amp and sealed the enclosure. The sealing is likely the smallest contributor, nonetheless, I went from miserable bass to very good.

That sounds like what I’m looking to do. I don’t have to have bone shattering bass, just a nice improvement. What size driver did you use? Wattage going to it? Thanks for sharing.

 

[swamp2]

That sounds like what I’m looking to do. I don’t have to have bone shattering bass, just a nice improvement. What size driver did you use? Wattage going to it? Thanks for sharing.

8", fit great. In gory detail here.

 

[B-rad351]

8", fit great. In gory detail here.

Great, thanks!

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