Wayne Parham Messages: 18786 Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)
The (Helmholtz) box tuning is relatively easy. The Delta 12LF works well in boxes from 3.0ft3 to 6.0ft3 tuned to 30Hz, and can be used in boxes a little larger, up to about 8.0ft3, albeit with slightly lower tuning, from 25Hz to 28Hz. Just about any loudspeaker modeling program (i.e. BoxPlot) can help you calculate this.
The thing to be concerned about is internal standing waves, which will cause ripples in response through the midbass and midrange frequencies. This is where careful midwoofer and port placement helps, and also the right use of damping material inside. I've found it is important to put a sheet of insulation spanning the cross-section in addition to the sheets that line the sides.
As long as the drivers are baffle-mounted, I'd stick with the π crossover and put the woofer and tweeter in the same place relative to each other. This will ensure the forward lobe is clean and properly positioned.