Just like car stereo head units, I expect to go thru more than a handful of phases of bass per vehicle. I prefer working with fiberglass because for the weight, it's much stronger than MDF, it's fairly cheap, and you can shape it to absolutely anything you want! The picture above is my first box, housing a 12" 
Power DVC. Fairly beefy subwoofer that handles 2000 RMS watts, for those of you who gullable enough to go by/buy those numbers.
At the time, it was one of the beefiest 12" subs I could find. I had a few choices with amplifiers, but I ended up running this with an 
XTR-800 because that was the only amp I had that would power this sub, and that would fit in the place I wanted to put it. Had to step up to a 4" port since I didn't anticipate the amp powering this sub so well. This sub sounded absolutely PERFECT when powered by an 800 watt Orion monster amp. One day out of the blue, the Orion decided to infinitely blow fuses... Bad.. Bad.. Orion. So I upgraded to a Fosgate 1500 watt beast. Without getting into the mathematics, the sub needed slightly more airspace and a larger port in order to resonate as low as I liked... so thus was the genesis for Box 2.
I've always been a fan of Fosgate's high end stuffs, and I've been using them since the early 90's. Fosgate discontinued their "Power DVC" line of subwoofers, and replaced it with a less powerful line of subwoofers that didn't really impress me. I woke up one morning deciding I needed a change. I've been reading good things about this company called 
. They had this monster subwoofer who's specs put my Power DVC to shame. Since I know my new amp was probably too strong for my sub, I started researching their AWT subs. These things are no joke! As "perfect" as my Power DVC was, the AWT sounded like I had 3 Power DVCs, plus I got it to resonate around 25hz! Gotta expect that from going from a 30+ lb sub to a 50+ lb sub. I wouldn't doubt if my system hits over 150 dbs, and it isn't only from the bass.
Now my latest stage of aural orgasm brings me to this MONSTER from [PIONEER]. Unlike the weak 50+ lbs from Audiobahn, this BEAST weighs in at a whopping 70+ lbs. That is not a typo... over SEVENTY LBS!!! I pride myself in hittin' the weights religiously, but I find it pretty challenging to handle this sub. Imagine trying to set this in the speaker box... all 70 lbs of manlyhood on your fingertips... OUCH! I'm not exagerating... I've had at least 5 blackened finger tips from setting this sub in. Sometimes us guys just have to make the sacrafice! The ancient whimpy Audiobahn AWT-12X only handled a measly insignificant 4000 watts, which by today's standards isn't even enough to explode a Super Big Gulp sitting on the roof when the bass hits. This new Pioneer sub handles 5000 watts, which if used properly, can make your neighbors cat not only bald, but start speaking spanish! This thing hits HARD!! Has your 400 lb girlfriend ever jumped on your chest? If she hasn't yet, when the bass kicks in is probably how it feels. Why did I upgrade? Probably the same reason I always do... because the sun rose that morning!
Okay if you hadn't noticed, I upgraded the upper tier amps from Orions to Fosgates. So now I'm running all Rockford Fosgate amps. I also cleaned up the trim pieces with the matching plexiglass around the sub. Looks pretty clean, even by my picky standards.
If you're interested in fiberglass work, 
is how I did some of mine. I'd very highly recommend it if you like to be different. What's great about it is that you're in total control of how the result will look and sound.
if you have any questions. Happy RAV'n!
