Box size
Box size can play a big part on how it sounds. A small sealed box will give a tight punchy sound where a larger ported box will dish out low frequency bass. Think about your music taste and choose your box accordingly. Hard fast bass will be good from a sealed box, heavy slower bass needs a bigger ported box.<
Most of the boxes you'll come across are of the standard flat-topped wedge variety, though there are plenty of other shapes out there. A bandpass box is normally large and square, with the sub mounted on an internal dividing wall. This design is good for really low sub bass and is often 'tuned' to excel at certain low bass frequencies. Another sub design you see is where the subs are mounted externally on the box with their cages facing out. There's nothing much to be gained from this, apart from the showing of your sub's cage if it's sexy.
King of sub box material is our old friend MDF. You'll find most boxes are made from either 1/2 or 3/4in material. These are fastened together with screws and glue, with the edges being lapjointed. Some box builders then seal the insides with silicone sealant. Box covering is normally black or grey carpet.
