
Performance Optimized · Datasheet
Performance Optimized Down Fire Ported 12" Enclosure | Kicker Comp GOLD12 Single 12" Ported enclosure
- Net volume
- 1.54 Cubic Feet
- Tuning
- 35.0 Hz
- Max mounting depth
- 5.750 Inches (Kicker Spec)
- Cutout
- 11.000 Inches (Kicker Spec)
- External dimensions
- 31 Inches W × 7.75 Inches H × 18.00 Inches D
- Front baffle
- Down Firing - Driver Fires Toward Floor
- Alignment: 1.54 cu ft net vented at 35.0 Hz. F3 37.2 Hz anechoic, 2.23 dB passband ripple
- Driver: Kicker Comp GOLD12 D4, 500 W RMS, 17.5 mm Xmax at 70% BL, 37.05 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 18.00" D x 7.75" H measured in down fire position, 9.50" tall installed on its feet, square corners, ships dry
Technical specifications
| Series | Proline X Performance Optimized Down Fire |
|---|---|
| Driver-Specific Fitment | Kicker Comp GOLD12 D4 (Dual 4 Ohm) |
| Enclosure Type | Ported | Down Fire Geometry | Floor-Coupled |
| Baffle Configuration | Down Firing - Driver Fires Toward Floor |
| External Width | 31 Inches |
| External Depth | 18.00 Inches |
| External Height | 7.75 Inches (Cabinet Only) |
| Feet | Included - 1.75 Inch Standoff, Required For Down Fire Operation |
| Installed Height | 9.50 Inches (7.75 Cabinet Plus 1.75 Feet) - MEASURE AGAINST THIS, NOT THE CABINET HEIGHT |
| Dimension Reference | All External Dimensions Measured In Down Fire Position |
| Internal Volume (Gross) | 1.70 Cubic Feet |
| Internal Volume (Net After Displacement) | 1.54 Cubic Feet |
| Port Type | L-Wrap Slot | One Folded Wall | Single Faceted 90 Degree Bend |
| Port Tuning (Fb) | 35.0 Hz |
| Port Channel | 4.00 x 6.25 Inches (25.0 Square Inches) |
| Port Path Length | 27.71 Inches (Centreline) |
| Port Mouth Area | 22.1 Square Inches (2.50 Inch Corner Chamfer) |
| Port Air Velocity | 16.7 m/s At Tuning (17.0 m/s Chuff Threshold) |
| Predicted F3 | 37.2 Hz (Anechoic) |
| Passband Ripple | 2.23 dB (Anechoic) |
| Subsonic Filter | 28 Hz High-Pass, 24 dB/Octave - REQUIRED On A Vented Enclosure |
| Driver Fs | 37.05 Hz |
| Driver Qts | 0.704 |
| Driver Qes / Qms | 0.756 / 10.050 |
| Driver Vas | 42.240 Liters / 1.492 Cubic Feet |
| Driver Sd | 506.7 Square Centimeters |
| Driver Mms | 159.10 g |
| Driver BL | 18.51 |
| Driver Re | 7.0 Ohm |
| Driver Xmax | 18mm (One-Way at 70% BL) |
| Excursion Design Basis | Derated To 14.9mm For Alignment - Kicker Publishes At 70% BL |
| Driver Displacement | 0.05 Cubic Feet (Published by Kicker) |
| Driver Sensitivity | 86.6 dB |
| Driver Power Handling | 500 Watts RMS |
| Driver Overall Diameter | 12.500 Inches (Kicker Spec) |
| Mounting Depth Required | 5.750 Inches (Kicker Spec) |
| Cutout Diameter | 11.000 Inches (Kicker Spec) |
| Woofer Ring | 13.500 Inch OD, Bonded Under The Baffle In A Machined Recess |
| Material | Langboard Elite 3/4" MDF |
| Construction | ShopSabre CNC / Windowed Brace Between Cutout And Port Terminus |
| Joinery | V-Groove and Dado (CNC-Cut) |
| Front Baffle Construction | Double-Layer 1.5" MDF | Outer Layer Flush Recess, Driver Mounts To Inner Layer |
| Corner Profile | Square (Down Fire Series Standard) |
| Mounting Hardware | 8 x #8-32 Hurricane Nuts Fitted (16 Positions Cut For Driver Orientation) | Stainless Steel Machine Screws Included |
| Voice Coil Configuration | Dual 4 Ohm |
| Terminal Cup | Proline X ABS/Carbon Fiber Composite | Side Mounted | 12g OFC Pre-Wired |
| Damping | None - Ships Dry. Polyfill Detunes A Ported Enclosure |
| Recommended Power | 350-500 Watts RMS (Kicker Rated: 500W RMS) |
| Carpet Finish | Plush Black |
| Bundle Options | Enclosure Only (Bring Your Own Kicker Comp GOLD12) |
| Warranty | 1-Year Limited (Enclosure) |
| Manufactured | Tullahoma, Tennessee, USA |
Performance in this enclosure
01Is this driver right for a ported box?
Efficiency bandwidth product places the motor before anything else is decided.
02What the box does to it
1.54 cu ft net against a 42.2 L Vas, vented at 35.0 Hz.
03Perceived Ported vs Sealed
This cabinet, 1.54 cu ft net vented at 35.0 Hz, against Kicker's minimum sealed box, 1.00 cu ft (1.00 printed, 0.95 net after the woofer).
04Real World Ported vs Sealed
The same two boxes with cabin gain applied, 45 Hz corner, 18 dB ceiling.
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 17.5 mm. The two traces are the same cabinet with the subsonic filter switched on and switched off.
Installer's take
Measure your space before you order this one. 31 by 18 by 7.75 inches is the deepest cabinet in the range and there is no smaller version of it, because the driver genuinely needs the air.
The reason is the motor. Bl 18.5 is the strongest of any Kicker driver here and the suspension is stiff to match at 42.2 litres of Vas. That combination is easy to make flat and hard to make small. Squeeze it and you get a peak at tuning; give it 1.54 cubic feet and you get 2.23 dB of passband ripple and a driver that controls beautifully at low volume.
Be clear-eyed about the bottom end. F3 is 37.2 Hz, the highest of the twenty-six twelves in this programme. This driver plays kick and bass guitar with real authority and it does not play 30 Hz synth notes. If that is what you want, the CompVR 12 tunes to 30.5 and reaches 33.6.
The port is at 16.7 metres per second, the highest in the line and just inside the 17 where a slot starts to chuff. That is a designed margin, not an accident, but it means this cabinet has no headroom for more power than the 500 watts the driver is rated for.
Kicker's own vented minimum is 1.75 cubic feet. This is 1.54, twelve percent under, because the chassis will not go further.
Dual 4 ohm: 2 ohms parallel or 8 ohms series. Subsonic at 28 Hz. Ships dry.
Questions
Why is this enclosure tuned to 35.0 Hz?
1.54 cubic feet net, tuned to 35.0 Hz, produces 2.23 dB of anechoic ripple and 2.30 dB of in-car spread. Bl 18.5 is the strongest motor of any Kicker driver in this programme, and it is what keeps the passband under control in a box this large. The airspace is not indulgence; a smaller cabinet puts a peak at tuning that this motor cannot damp away. 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 2.3 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 27.71 inches of centreline path for 35.0 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 2.23 dB passband you are paying for depends on it staying dry.
Do I need a subsonic filter?
Yes, at 28 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 Comp GOLD12 at 54 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 Comp GOLD12 at 500 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 54 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, 1.54 cubic feet vented at 35.0 Hz, against Kicker's minimum sealed box, 1.00 cu ft (1.00 printed, 0.95 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 27.71 inches of centreline path and 25.0 square inches of channel, exiting a 22.1 square inch mouth. Air leaves at 16.7 metres per second at tuning against a 17.0 threshold, and the channel runs at 37 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 13.500 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 3.57 inches clear of the cutout edge and 2.32 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 Comp GOLD12 included?
No. This is an enclosure only, cut and folded for the Kicker Comp GOLD12 specifically. The 11.000 inch cutout, the 5.750 inch mounting depth allowance and the 1.54 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 12 inch hole in it. Bring your own driver.
Other Performance Optimized models
- Alpine R2-W12 Dual 12" Sealed
- Alpine RSW12 Dual 12" Sealed
- Alpine S2-W12 Dual 12" Sealed
- Arc Audio 10" Arc Series Dual 12" Sealed
- Arc Audio 12" Arc Series Dual 12" Sealed
- Audiofrog GB12 Dual 12" Sealed
- Dual Kicker Solo X 12" Subwoofers Dual 12" Sealed
- Hertz Mille Pro MPS 300 Dual 12" Sealed