Performance Optimized · Datasheet

Performance Optimized Down Fire Ported 10" Enclosure | Kicker CompC10 DVC Single 10" Ported enclosure

Net volume
1.46 Cubic Feet
Tuning
34.0 Hz
Max mounting depth
5.188 Inches (Kicker Spec)
Cutout
9.188 Inches (Kicker Spec)
External dimensions
31 Inches W × 7.75 Inches H × 17.00 Inches D
Front baffle
Down Firing - Driver Fires Toward Floor
Buy at Audio Intensity
  • Alignment: 1.46 cu ft net vented at 34.0 Hz. F3 34.5 Hz anechoic, 2.72 dB passband ripple
  • Driver: Kicker CompC10 DVC 4 Ohm, 250 W RMS, 13.2 mm Xmax at 70% BL, 33.95 Hz Fs
  • Build: Proline X V-groove and dado joinery, L-wrap slot port with a faceted 90 degree bend, double-layer 1.5" baffle, side-mounted terminal cup
  • Cabinet: 31" W x 17.00" D x 7.75" H measured in down fire position, 9.50" tall installed on its feet, square corners, ships dry

Technical specifications

SeriesProline X Performance Optimized Down Fire
Driver-Specific FitmentKicker CompC10 DVC 4 Ohm (Dual 4 Ohm)
Enclosure TypePorted | Down Fire Geometry | Floor-Coupled
Baffle ConfigurationDown Firing - Driver Fires Toward Floor
External Width31 Inches
External Depth17.00 Inches
External Height7.75 Inches (Cabinet Only)
FeetIncluded - 1.75 Inch Standoff, Required For Down Fire Operation
Installed Height9.50 Inches (7.75 Cabinet Plus 1.75 Feet) - MEASURE AGAINST THIS, NOT THE CABINET HEIGHT
Dimension ReferenceAll External Dimensions Measured In Down Fire Position
Internal Volume (Gross)1.60 Cubic Feet
Internal Volume (Net After Displacement)1.46 Cubic Feet
Port TypeL-Wrap Slot | One Folded Wall | Single Faceted 90 Degree Bend
Port Tuning (Fb)34.0 Hz
Port Channel3.75 x 6.25 Inches (23.4 Square Inches)
Port Path Length29.52 Inches (Centreline)
Port Mouth Area26.5 Square Inches (3.00 Inch Corner Chamfer)
Port Air Velocity9.3 m/s At Tuning (17.0 m/s Chuff Threshold)
Predicted F334.5 Hz (Anechoic)
Passband Ripple2.72 dB (Anechoic)
Subsonic Filter27 Hz High-Pass, 24 dB/Octave - REQUIRED On A Vented Enclosure
Driver Fs33.95 Hz
Driver Qts0.696
Driver Qes / Qms0.773 / 7.144
Driver Vas41.797 Liters / 1.476 Cubic Feet (Derived From Sd And Cms)
Driver Sd359.7 Square Centimeters
Driver Mms97.02 g
Driver BL14.13
Driver Re7.5 Ohm
Driver Xmax13mm (One-Way at 70% BL)
Excursion Design BasisDerated To 11.2mm For Alignment - Kicker Publishes At 70% BL
Driver Displacement0.03 Cubic Feet (Published by Kicker)
Driver Sensitivity85.2 dB
Driver Power Handling250 Watts RMS
Driver Overall Diameter10.688 Inches (Kicker Spec)
Mounting Depth Required5.188 Inches (Kicker Spec)
Cutout Diameter9.188 Inches (Kicker Spec)
Woofer Ring11.625 Inch OD, Bonded Under The Baffle In A Machined Recess
MaterialLangboard Elite 3/4" MDF
ConstructionShopSabre CNC / Windowed Brace Between Cutout And Port Terminus
JoineryV-Groove and Dado (CNC-Cut)
Front Baffle ConstructionDouble-Layer 1.5" MDF | Outer Layer Flush Recess, Driver Mounts To Inner Layer
Corner ProfileSquare (Down Fire Series Standard)
Mounting Hardware8 x #8-32 Hurricane Nuts Fitted (16 Positions Cut For Driver Orientation) | Stainless Steel Machine Screws Included
Voice Coil ConfigurationDual 4 Ohm
Terminal CupProline X ABS/Carbon Fiber Composite | Side Mounted | 12g OFC Pre-Wired
DampingNone - Ships Dry. Polyfill Detunes A Ported Enclosure
Recommended Power175-250 Watts RMS (Kicker Rated: 250W RMS)
Carpet FinishPlush Black
Bundle OptionsEnclosure Only (Bring Your Own Kicker CompC10 DVC)
Warranty1-Year Limited (Enclosure)
ManufacturedTullahoma, Tennessee, USA

Performance in this enclosure

Net airspace
1.46
cu ft
Tuning
34.0
Hz · Fb
Half power
34.5
Hz · F3, anechoic
Xmax at
736
W RMS · 27 Hz subsonic
With NO filter
104
W RMS · unfiltered
Port
9.3
m/s at the mouth

01Is this driver right for a ported box?

Efficiency bandwidth product places the motor before anything else is decided.

EBP = Fs ÷ Qes = 43.9
SEALED 0–50 TRANSITION 50–100 PORTED 100–150 0 50 100 150 EBP 43.9
Kicker CompC10 (CWCD104) · EBP 43.9
Under 50 the raw number leans sealed. The Kicker CompC10 (CWCD104) reads 43.9, so this is a ported build against the grain of its own EBP: it works because the alignment is tuned for in-car response rather than for an anechoic curve, and because the cabinet holds port area and volume the driver can actually use.

02What the box does to it

1.46 cu ft net against a 41.8 L Vas, vented at 34.0 Hz.

Fb = 34.0 Hz  ·  F3 = 34.5 Hz  ·  passband ripple 2.72 dB
20 30 50 70 100 150 200 +6 +0 −6 −12 −18 −24 FREQUENCY · Hz LEVEL · dB −3 dB Fb 34.0
Kicker CompC10 (CWCD104) · Fb 34.0 Hz, F3 34.5 Hz
Anechoic, before any cabin gain, with the 27 Hz subsonic filter already applied. The vent takes over below 34 Hz and the cone stops doing the work there, which is what holds travel down at the bottom of the passband.

03Perceived Ported vs Sealed

This cabinet, 1.46 cu ft net vented at 34.0 Hz, against Kicker's minimum sealed box, 1.00 cu ft (1.00 printed, 0.97 net after the woofer).

Ported Fb 34.0 Hz  ·  the 0.97 cu ft sealed box runs Qtc 1.11, Fc 54 Hz
20 30 50 70 100 150 200 +6 +0 −6 −12 −18 −24 FREQUENCY · Hz LEVEL · dB +4.6 dB at 27 Hz
Ported · this cabinet, 1.46 cu ft, Fb 34.0 HzKicker's minimum sealed, 0.97 cu ft net, Qtc 1.11
Shaded blue is where the ported alignment is louder for the same power, orange where the sealed one is. The sealed curve is Kicker's minimum sealed box, 1.00 cu ft (1.00 printed, 0.97 net after the woofer), not this cabinet with the port blocked: two different boxes, because that is the choice a buyer actually has. Across 25 to 60 Hz the vent is worth 4.6 dB at its widest and 3.8 dB on average. This is the anechoic picture, which is not what you hear in a car.

04Real World Ported vs Sealed

The same two boxes with cabin gain applied, 45 Hz corner, 18 dB ceiling.

Flatness across 25–60 Hz: ported 1.5 dB spread, the 0.97 cu ft sealed box 3.7 dB
20 30 50 70 100 150 200 +6 +0 −6 −12 −18 −24 FREQUENCY · Hz LEVEL · dB +4.6 dB at 27 Hz
Ported, in-car · 1.5 dB spreadKicker's minimum sealed, 0.97 cu ft net, in-car · 3.7 dB spread
Cabin gain lifts both boxes by the same amount, so the gap between them does not change: what changes is the shape each one ends up with. A car pressurises below roughly 45 Hz, which fills in the sealed box's shallower rolloff and over-drives it where the ported box is already flat. Across 25 to 60 Hz, the band kick and bass fundamentals occupy, this alignment holds 1.5 dB of spread against 3.7 dB for Kicker's minimum sealed box, 1.00 cu ft (1.00 printed, 0.97 net after the woofer). Flatter is the whole point of tuning this high. The two alignments converge at the bottom of the band rather than crossing cleanly, so there is no meaningful subsonic advantage either way here. Cabin gain here is a house assumption, not a measurement of your vehicle.

05The watts that reach Xmax (in this enclosure)

Travel scales with the square root of power, so there is one wattage that puts the cone exactly on Kicker's published 13.2 mm. The two traces are the same cabinet with the subsonic filter switched on and switched off.

PXmax = 736 W with a 27 Hz subsonic  ·  104 W with none  →  the filter is worth 7.1×
20 30 50 70 100 150 200 0 4 8 12 16 FREQUENCY · Hz CONE TRAVEL · mm PAST LINEAR TRAVEL · Xmax 13.2 mm design limit 11.2 mm · 70% BL derated 736 W reaches Xmax here
736 W · subsonic at 27 Hz, 24 dB/oct104 W · no subsonic filterXmax 13.2 mm one-way, published
Each trace touches the limit and no further, because each is drawn at the exact power that puts the cone on 13.2 mm. With a 27 Hz subsonic that takes 736 W, reached first at 24 Hz. Take the filter away and the same cabinet reaches 13.2 mm on 104 W — the filter is worth 7.1× the safe power. A vent unloads the cone below tuning, so there is nothing holding it once the box stops loading: on a sealed build a subsonic filter is an improvement, here it is required equipment. The unfiltered trace is still rising where this chart stops at 20 Hz, so treat 104 W as a bound rather than a floor. Every wattage on this page is a MECHANICAL limit, not an electrical one. It is the power at which the cone runs out of linear travel in this cabinet, and nothing more. What the voice coil can dissipate as heat is a separate ceiling set by the driver, not by the box — Kicker rate this one at 250 W RMS, and that is the number that binds first here: heat stops you before travel does, so treat 250 W as the ceiling and the travel figures above as headroom. Final wired impedance, amplifier output and how long you hold the level are all electrical questions this graph does not answer. The dashed line at 11.2 mm is the figure the cabinet was actually designed against: Kicker publish this Xmax on a 70% BL basis, and we derate it before sizing the port so the alignment carries margin against an optimistic spec rather than sitting right on it.

Installer's take

This is the cabinet that makes the case for reading the in-car number instead of the anechoic one. F3 34.5 Hz is the worst of twenty-six tens. In-car spread 1.50 dB is the third best. If you shop on the first figure you will never buy this driver, and if you shop on the second it is one of the three best tens here.

The reason is that cabin gain is not a bonus applied evenly. It is a rising slope below about 45 Hz, and it rewards a driver whose own response is falling at the same rate. A deep-reaching driver gets the same lift on top of an already-flat bottom end and ends up with a hump. This one does not have a bottom end to lift, so it ends up flat.

The port is loafing at 9.3 metres per second, barely half the chuff threshold. That is a consequence of 250 watts rather than a design choice, and it means this is the quietest ported ten in the range at the mouth. If port noise has bitten you before, that is worth something.

Do not overpower it. 250 watts RMS is the number and the excursion check agrees with it. This is a music box, not a competition box.

One note on the specification table, because we would rather you heard it from us. The Vas figure is marked derived. Kicker publish 1.62 for this driver, a number in cubic feet printed under a litres heading and wrong read either way. We use 41.8 litres calculated from Kicker's own cone area and compliance -- the same identity that reproduces their published Vas on 112 of their other 115 drivers to within half a percent. It is a repair of a data-entry error, not an estimate, and it is what this cabinet is sized against.

Dual 4 ohm: 2 ohms parallel or 8 ohms series. Subsonic at 27 Hz. Ships dry.

Questions

Why is this enclosure tuned to 34.0 Hz?

A vehicle cabin adds roughly 12 dB per octave of gain below about 45 Hz. A driver that rolls off early into that rise ends up flatter than one that reaches deep and then gets lifted further. The CompC 10 rolls off exactly where the cabin starts lifting, and 1.46 cubic feet at 34.0 Hz puts the two slopes against each other almost perfectly. Tuning is chosen for in-car response rather than for an anechoic curve: a vehicle adds roughly 12 dB per octave below about 45 Hz, so a box tuned very low reinforces a region the cabin is already reinforcing and leaves 40 to 60 Hz thin. In this cabinet that lands at 1.5 dB of in-car spread across 25 to 60 Hz, which is where kick and bass fundamentals live.

Does this enclosure ship with polyfill?

No, and on this build in particular do not add any. Every sealed Proline X enclosure ships with polyfill pre-installed; a ported one must not, because damping material changes the effective volume the port is tuned against. The port on this cabinet is cut to 29.52 inches of centreline path for 34.0 Hz. Stuff it and you move the tuning without shortening the port, which gives you a mistuned box rather than a bigger-sounding one. The 2.72 dB passband you are paying for depends on it staying dry.

Do I need a subsonic filter?

Yes, at 27 Hz, 24 dB per octave. Below tuning a vented box stops loading the cone and excursion runs away toward DC. With the filter in place this cabinet puts the Kicker CompC10 DVC at 69 percent of its usable travel at full rated power; without it there is no meaningful number to quote, because the excursion curve does not converge. On a sealed build a subsonic filter is an improvement. Here it is required equipment.

How much power can I run?

Kicker rate the CompC10 DVC at 250 W RMS and that is the thermal ceiling. The figures on the Performance Graphs tab are a different quantity: they are mechanical limits, the power at which the cone reaches the end of its linear travel in this specific cabinet. Here the cone sits at 69 percent of usable travel at the driver's own rating, so heat is what stops you, not travel. Final wired impedance and amplifier output are separate questions again.

Would a sealed box be better for me?

The two alignments converge at the bottom of the band on this driver rather than crossing cleanly, so there is no meaningful subsonic advantage either way. Above 25 Hz the vent is the louder of the two for the same power. The Performance Graphs tab plots this cabinet, 1.46 cubic feet vented at 34.0 Hz, against Kicker's minimum sealed box, 1.00 cu ft (1.00 printed, 0.97 net after the woofer), so you can judge it yourself.

What is the L-wrap port and why does it matter?

It is a slot port formed by one folded wall: a leg down the long side of the cabinet past the woofer ring, one faceted 90 degree bend, and a leg across the end opening through a chamfered corner. On this cabinet that is 29.52 inches of centreline path and 23.4 square inches of channel, exiting a 26.5 square inch mouth. Air leaves at 9.3 metres per second at tuning against a 17.0 threshold, and the channel runs at 28 percent of its turbulence limit. One wall and one bend rather than a serpentine's three means less wall area inside the box, fewer joints to leak, and one place for flow to separate instead of three.

How is this enclosure built?

V-groove and dado joinery in 0.75 inch Langboard Elite MDF with a double-layer 1.5 inch baffle. The driver mounts to a 11.625 inch ring bonded under the baffle in a machined recess, carrying eight #8-32 hurricane nuts so it threads into steel rather than MDF. A windowed brace sits 3.10 inches clear of the cutout edge and 1.88 inches clear of the port terminus; the window is not weight saving, a solid panel there would split the cavity and make the box a bandpass. Walls seat into dados in both the lid and the baffle. Square corners, plush black carpet, side-mounted terminal cup.

Is the CompC10 DVC included?

No. This is an enclosure only, cut and folded for the Kicker CompC10 DVC specifically. The 9.188 inch cutout, the 5.188 inch mounting depth allowance and the 1.46 cubic foot alignment all come from Kicker's published parameters for this exact driver, and the port is sized against its Xmax and power rating. It is not a universal box with a 10 inch hole in it. Bring your own driver.

Other Performance Optimized models