Polk Audio dX8 - Manual (Page 5)

wood glue in combination with wood screws for the strongest joint. We also suggest that
you use one screw about every three inches along the seams of your enclosure. Assemble
the enclosure as shown in the above diagram but leave one side off. We suggest that you
leave off the baffle board, this will allow you to seal your enclosure more easily, and an
air-tight seal is crucial! The best way to insure an air tight seal is to seal the inside of your
enclosure with quality silicone caulk. This also includes sealing around your input termi-
nal cup, and if you are using a ported enclosure, around your port. It is not advised to use
silicone around your subwoofer when mounting it to the baffle. Instead, we recommend
using the foam gasket weather stripping supplied with your dX subwoofer. When mounting
your subwoofer to the baffle board, pre-drill your mounting holes. This will make the
mounting of your subwoofer easier and will help prevent damage to your subwoofer from
a slip of the drill. When securing your subwoofer to the enclosure we recommend using
bolts and tee-nuts, but if you prefer, you can use wood screws. Whichever you use make
sure they are at least 1.25" long. This will insure a good grip into the wood.
One last thing you could do to your enclosure before installing it, is stuff it. The
primary reason for stuffing an enclosure is to “trick” the woofer into thinking that the
enclosure is larger than it actually is. You would want to do this if you build your box
smaller than the recommended size. By stuffing the box you can build the box as much
as 10% smaller than recommended, and achieve the same net result as the full size
unstuffed box. The easiest way to do this is to use dacron pillow stuffing. It can be bought
from craft stores fairly inexpensively. The rule of thumb for “stuffing” your enclosure is
1 pound of dacron per cubic foot. When putting the Dacron into your enclosure, do not
pack it in, rather place it evenly around the inside the enclosure. When stuffing a ported
enclosure it is important not to obstruct the port or the vent on the back of the sub
with Dacron.
Although your new dX subwoofers were designed to work in a wide variety of enclosures
and configurations, we have included only the most popular ones. For more enclosures and
configurations, please contact your local authorized Polk Audio dealer. We hope that this
manual has helped to take the mystery out of designing an enclosure for your new Polk
Audio dX Subwoofers.
(Refer to insert for recommended enclosure design)
What If I Need Help?
Good luck to you, and enjoy your new Polk dX Subwoofers. If you need assistance or have
any questions, call 1-800-377-7655 between 9am and 6pm, Monday through Friday Eastern
Standard Time.
Premium Performance Loudspeakers 9
dX Series
8 Premium Performance Loudspeakers
dX Series
By looking at the chart at the end of the technical sheet, you find that this usable
volume is slightly more than double the recommended volume for a single dX10, in
either a sealed or vented enclosure. Assuming that you will be using a pair of woofers,
this will work out well.
If you are using a single subwoofer, you can cut your width in half. Since we will
be using a pair of dX10 subwoofers, for our sample enclosure, we now need to determine
the center divider displacement. This can be figured out by multiplying the height x depth
x thickness of the divider (in our enclosure the thickness of the divider will be the same
as the rest of our enclosure, 3/4") and subtracting that number from the total usable
cubic inches.
You now have all the dimensions you need to begin cutting out your wood. The
illustration on page 7 shows a diagram of the enclosure with all the panel sizes that
need to be cut.
After you have cut all of the wood, it’s time to start assembling your enclosure. Before
you assemble your enclosure there are a few things we recommend doing. You will need
to cut out the hole for your Dynamic Balance
® subwoofer and your terminal cup, and
pre-drill the holes for your screws. The terminal cup is a connector that allows you to
plug and unplug the wires from your amplifier into the enclosure. You may want to have
a buddy help you with assembly, since it’s hard to hold the pieces together and assemble
them at the same time. When building your subwoofer enclosure we suggest that you use
Affix foam gasket
sections the back of
the basket rim as
shown.
Gasket must be
applied if install
requires a top-mount