What would happen if I put a old Kicker F10 (free air/ported) 10" driver in a sealed enclosure? Right now it is replacing the driver in a bazooka tube, but I was thinking about getting the QLogic 10" custom fitted 4 runner enclosure...

 

No damage will result. it will just sound bad. Free air subs are designed to be in big boxes, wich the Qlogic boxes are not. It's old though, so you could replace it after you get your box.

 

Free air speakers have a much stiffer suspension (because they're for free-air) A sealed box behind them futher limits their movement. Wes is right, will sound blechhy.
A sealed speaker in an infinite baffle (free air) will give you a damaged speaker.


Get a new speaker.

In fact, for what youre doing you ought to just get the JL audio stealth box with a 10" in it, plug and play,

Before you buy, do a search here about the QLogic box. consensus is that it isnt all that grand according to the responders posting.

 

I read those posts - no one really said what was so horrible about it. I think one guy said there was a rattle? My buddy and I were thinking of bracing it or throwing some fiberglass in it for strength. Yeah - yeah - I know - I'll have to check into the price of the JL Stealth box. I heard it is expensive and the color match is not right on. Plus the Q box doesn't have carpet all over it...

I keep seeing that now adays manufacturers say you can put their ported speakers in a sealed box...I guess it might sound burpy. It sounds great in the bazooka tube, but it would always be in the way and it would be TOO easy for someone (besides me) to remove.

 

Some speakers work in both ported and sealed, but you wont find an infinate baffle speaker that works in a small sealed box. An infinate baffle is really a big box with very little compression in the box compared to a sealed setup. Thats why the suspension is stiffer.

I have thought about fiberglassing the inside of the qlogic. I dont see any reason why it wouldn't work, but I also haven't seen how good the mounting surface is on them. I am sure it would work pretty well if you matched up the airspace after you fiberglassed it with the proper woofer. I don't need much bass (I acually am a huge fan of the 6w0 woofer), so it would probably fit me pretty well.

Wes

 

Wes nailed it, Free-Air is NOT the same as a ported/sealed speaker.

Keep in mind that anything you do to the Qlogic box (bracing etc) is going to eat up interior volume of the box itself.

Be sure to pick a speaker that matches the ending interior-volume of the box. Thats where the JL Audio stealthbox is nice. Theyve done that work for you. The speaker matches the box, If you dont like the carpet on it, pull it off and recover it. Vinyl is surprisingly easy to work with, just go to the Auto Upholsterer or fabric shoppe and pick it off the shelf.

You could always build your own as well.