I bought my car with subs already in it and I wondered which model the subs were, so I got a sub out and there was some poly stuffing in it, my question is does it help any? What does it do, does it hurt the sound any, if so i'll take it out, if it doesnt do anything or is just pointless i'll leave it in. Thanks

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93 Z28 Patriot Red A4

 

from what I was told, polyfill is used when a box is too small for the sub. It slows the waves down within the box. I actually hit harder after I put 75% polyfill in my box.

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1997 Camaro Z-28 SS #0728

Flowmaster, Hooker Header tips, BMR strut tower brace, lower control arm and relocation bracket, Optima Yellow Top battery, Granatelli lowering springs, KYB AGX shocks, Lakewood panhard rod, Bear bump steer, 17 x 9.5 Z06 rims

Audio/Video:
Head Unit ----- Pioneer AVX-P7000CD
Master Unit --- Pioneer AVM-P9000R
DVD Player ---- Pioneer XDV-P9

Front --- Focal Polykevlar 165K2 w/ TN-51 tweeters
Rear ---- Focal Polykevlar 165K2
Sub ----- Lightning Audio 10.2.4
Amp ----- Phoenix Gold XS6600

My SS homepage
CAR AUDIO PLANET
Georgia F-Body Association

 

Poly-fill is used to make the enclosure seem larger to the subwoofer than it actually is. Personally I don't hear much of a difference between stuffed and unstuffed enclosures.

 

Me neither. User preference I guess.



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Steve
4th Gen F-Bod sub boxes
www.subthump.com

 

Cool, as long as it's not affecting the sound in a bad way, i'll just leave it in, thanks for the info guys.

 

I tried polyfill in my JL Vantage stealthbox (Infinity Perfect 10) and I could tell the difference. It was not as loud, but it sounded deeper, more extended. It also helped smooth out the resonance sounds in the upper bass. You might lose a few db's but you'll gain a little in sound quality.

I also sprayed the inside of the box with sound deadener. This made a dramatic difference in the loudness; I lost a few more db's, but I gained a little more SQ. Now, it hits nice and hard and even. It pulled the bass back up front and made the sub sound more integrated. I have a Paradigm Servo 15 in my home theater setup (15", 400W), and this is the closest that I've heard a car stereo sound like a real home systemm.

The sub still moves in and out like it did before, but I won't be causing peoples windows on their houses to vibrate when I drive by.

So, when you add polyfill, you will loose a couple of db's in loudness, but you will gain depth and smoothness.

Here's another thing to try: stuff the rear quater panel area behind the speakers with polyfill. Leave a small 'bowl' shapped area behind the speaker open. I used half a 20oz bag I picked up at Walmarts for $2. I also stuffed the polyfill in the lower part of the area behind the door strike. I tried this with my CDT rear fill speakers and it added more midbass & lower bass and the midrange and highs cleaned up. Also got rid of some resonances. Give it a try.

 

Brian,

Thx for the tip with the PolyFill into the 1/4s. I'm in the middle of an install right now on my car, and I filled that whole cavity up last nite, Similar to how you did. The speakers sound TOTALLY different now. It also helps that I'm powering them off of an amp, but I tried it both ways, and the Polyfill defenetly makes a differance.

Mike

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1997 Formula WS-6, 1 of 473

Mods: P&P MAF, Pro-5.0, SLP LT4 Clutch, 200 Amp Alt, TB Bypass, !AIR, !CAGS, 160 therm, CSI WP, PS Cooler, GMS STB, Cutout, TCI LineLock, ES Swaybar/Trans/TA Bushings, 5%R/20%S Tint, Painted Calipers, Custom Clear Tail Lights/Corners

http://camaroz28.cardomain.com/id/97formulaws6

 

so where could one find some of this stuff??

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Stump
2000 M6 "Arrest Me Red" Camaro SS

 

You can get it at any fabric or crafts store. It's used as pillow stuffing.

 

Even wal-mart carries it. Just don't pay crutchfield's rediculous price Lol.

 

Like someone said before poly fill is used as a bandaid for building the box to small. JL uses it in their boxes to make their woofers more stable and accept more power. You can put 100 watts to one their boxes and then add more power amd tell or no difference. Its also used to kill standing waves inside your box.

 

Yes that is very true, but in the case for the 1/4's how can the box be too small, there is no box...

Mike

 

Using polyfil in a smaller box to fool the woofer into thinking it's in a larger box is NOT the only reason to use it. The primary reason I used it in the 1/4's was to cut down on the transmission of the sound into the body panels from the back-wave energy of the speaker. Essentially, it cuts down the hollow resonance sound of using the speakers in an empty metal enclosure. You don't want the back wave of energy to just bounce around and transfer itself directly into the car body. The polyfil helps to slow down and disapate the energy before it hits the metal 1/4 panel. It also gives the speaker SOME (not alot) back pressure (like a sealed box does) which helps smooth out mid-bass peaks; adding to better sound quality. You only want to hear the energy wave of sound created by the cone of the speaker, not what harmonic resonance and vibrations that your car creates from the backwave.

Another idea is to use eggcrate closed-foam glued to the 1/4 behind the speaker to absorb the backwave. You could probably glue it the backside of the door skin, inside the door for the same effect.

I got my polyfil at Walmarts for $2. They had two different bags, the blue/green bag has a denser fiber than the stuff in the red/yellow/white bag. I prefer the stuff in the green/blue bag.

 

Out of curiosity, I checked my crutchfield catalog this morning and it's $8.00 a bag... plus shipping.