Performance Optimized · Datasheet

Performance Optimized Down Fire Ported 12" Enclosure | Prodigy NB2-12 Single 12" Ported enclosure

Net volume
1.36 Cubic Feet
Tuning
33.5 Hz
Max mounting depth
6.750 Inches (Prodigy Spec)
Cutout
11.200 Inches (Prodigy 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: 1.36 cu ft net vented at 33.5 Hz. F3 33.4 Hz anechoic, 1.47 dB passband ripple
  • Driver: Prodigy NB2-12 D4, 400 W RMS, 14.0 mm Xmax at 70% BL, 28.37 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 FitmentProdigy NB2-12 D4
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)1.36 Cubic Feet
Port TypeL-Wrap Slot | One Folded Wall | Single Faceted 90 Degree Bend
Port Tuning (Fb)33.5 Hz
Port Channel3.25 x 6.25 Inches (20.3 Square Inches)
Port Path Length28.18 Inches (Centreline)
Port Mouth Area26.5 Square Inches (3.00 Inch Corner Chamfer)
Port Air Velocity11.9 m/s At Tuning (17.0 m/s Chuff Threshold)
Predicted F333.4 Hz (Anechoic)
Passband Ripple1.47 dB (Anechoic)
Subsonic Filter26 Hz High-Pass, 24 dB/Octave - REQUIRED On A Vented Enclosure
Driver Fs28.37 Hz
Driver Qts0.457
Driver Qes0.522
Driver Vas55.392 Liters / 1.956 Cubic Feet
Driver Sd522.6 Square Centimeters
Driver Mms216.27 g
Driver BL21.27
Driver Re6.2 Ohm
Driver Xmax14mm (One-Way at 70% BL)
Excursion Design BasisDerated To 11.9mm For Alignment - Prodigy Publishes At 70% BL
Driver Displacement0.13 Cubic Feet (Published by Prodigy)
Driver Power Handling400 Watts RMS
Driver Overall Diameter12.500 Inches (Prodigy Spec)
Mounting Depth Required6.750 Inches (Prodigy Spec)
Cutout Diameter11.200 Inches (Prodigy Spec)
Woofer Ring13.500 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
Terminal CupProline X ABS/Carbon Fiber Composite | Side Mounted | 12g OFC Pre-Wired
DampingNone - Ships Dry. Polyfill Detunes A Ported Enclosure
Recommended Power280-400 Watts RMS (Prodigy Rated: 400W RMS)
Carpet FinishPlush Black
Bundle OptionsEnclosure Only (Bring Your Own Prodigy NB2-12)
Warranty1-Year Limited (Enclosure)
ManufacturedTullahoma, Tennessee, USA

Performance in this enclosure

Net airspace
1.36
cu ft
Tuning
33.5
Hz · Fb
Half power
33.4
Hz · F3, anechoic
Xmax at
2167
W RMS · 26 Hz subsonic
With NO filter
348
W RMS · unfiltered
Port
11.9
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 = 54.3
SEALED 0–50 TRANSITION 50–100 PORTED 100–150 0 50 100 150 EBP 54.3
NB2-12 D4 · EBP 54.3
Between 50 and 100 a driver takes either load, and the choice becomes one of priorities rather than of physics. The NB2-12 D4 reads 54.3. Ported buys output and low-end reach around tuning; sealed buys a shallower rolloff below it. This cabinet takes the first trade.

02What the box does to it

1.36 cu ft net against a 55.4 L Vas, vented at 33.5 Hz.

Fb = 33.5 Hz  ·  F3 = 33.4 Hz  ·  passband ripple 1.47 dB
20 30 50 70 100 150 200 +6 +0 −6 −12 −18 −24 FREQUENCY · Hz LEVEL · dB −3 dB Fb 33.5
NB2-12 D4 · Fb 33.5 Hz, F3 33.4 Hz
Anechoic, before any cabin gain, with the 26 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, 1.36 cu ft net vented at 33.5 Hz, against the 1.25 cu ft sealed Down Fire we build for this driver (PO 12-S DF NB2).

Ported Fb 33.5 Hz  ·  the 1.25 cu ft sealed box runs Qtc 0.73, Fc 45 Hz
20 30 50 70 100 150 200 +6 +0 −6 −12 −18 −24 FREQUENCY · Hz LEVEL · dB +3.9 dB at 42 Hz
Ported · this cabinet, 1.36 cu ft, Fb 33.5 HzSealed Down Fire we build, 1.25 cu ft, Qtc 0.73
Shaded blue is where the ported alignment is louder for the same power, orange where the sealed one is. The sealed curve is the 1.25 cu ft sealed Down Fire we build for this driver (PO 12-S DF NB2), 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 3.9 dB at its widest and 2.9 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 2.0 dB spread, the 1.25 cu ft sealed box 2.3 dB
20 30 50 70 100 150 200 +6 +0 −6 −12 −18 −24 FREQUENCY · Hz LEVEL · dB +3.9 dB at 42 Hz
Ported, in-car · 2.0 dB spreadSealed Down Fire we build, 1.25 cu ft, in-car · 2.3 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 2.0 dB of spread against 2.3 dB for the 1.25 cu ft sealed Down Fire we build for this driver (PO 12-S DF NB2). Flatter is the whole point of tuning this high. Note where the curves cross. Below about 23 Hz the sealed alignment becomes the louder of the two and stays louder all the way down, by up to 2.0 dB: a sealed box rolls off gently into the subsonic region where a vented one falls away steeply once it is below tuning and the vent stops contributing. If the content you are chasing lives below 23 Hz, a sealed alignment reaches further down than this one does. 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 NB2-12's published 14.0 mm. The two traces are the same cabinet with the subsonic filter switched on and switched off.

PXmax = 2167 W with a 26 Hz subsonic  ·  348 W with none  →  the filter is worth 6.2×
20 30 50 70 100 150 200 0 4 8 12 16 FREQUENCY · Hz CONE TRAVEL · mm PAST LINEAR TRAVEL · Xmax 14.0 mm design limit 11.9 mm · 70% BL derated 2167 W reaches Xmax here
2167 W · subsonic at 26 Hz, 24 dB/oct348 W · no subsonic filterXmax 14.0 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 14.0 mm. With a 26 Hz subsonic that takes 2167 W, reached first at 24 Hz. Take the filter away and the same cabinet reaches 14.0 mm on 348 W — the filter is worth 6.2× 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 348 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 — NB2-12 rate this one at 400 W RMS, and that is the number that binds first here: heat stops you before travel does, so treat 400 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 11.9 mm is the figure the cabinet was actually designed against: NB2-12 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

28.37 Hz free-air on a 400 watt twelve is unusual. Most drivers at this price resonate in the mid thirties, and the ones that do not are usually asking twice the money. Put that together with 55.4 litres of Vas and you have a motor that genuinely wants a vent rather than one that merely tolerates one.

So this is the second lowest tuned twelve we build ported, at 32.5 Hz, behindonly the Arc X2V2, and it does not cost anything to get there. 1.5 dB of in-car spread across 25 to 60 Hz is the second flattest result in the range, behind only the Arc X2V2. Nothing about the alignment is stretched.

What I like most is the port. 13.7 metres per second at the mouth is comfortable rather than quiet. The threshold where a slot port starts to make its own noise is around 17, and plenty of ported boxes at this size sit close to it because the builder wanted a tuning the cabinet could not really support. This one has margin.

The driver is deep at 6.75 inches, and on a smaller target volume that would have forced the cabinet taller than the family allows. It does not here, because 1.41 cubic feet needs more internal height than the motor does. The airspace sets the box and the driver fits inside it, which is the right way round.

Dual 4 ohm, 2 ohms parallel or 8 ohms series. Prodigy rate it 400 W RMS and that is your ceiling. Subsonic at 26 Hz. No polyfill.

Questions

Why is this enclosure tuned to 33.5 Hz?

Low Fs with high Vas is the textbook ported combination, and the result here is the second flattest in-car response we get out of a twelve: 1.5 dB of spread across 25 to 60 Hz. The mouth moves 13.7 metres per second at tuning, under the 17 where aslot starts to chuff but not by the margin the Arc X2V2 keeps, so the flatcurve is bought with a working port rather than a loafing one. 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 2.0 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 28.18 inches of centreline path for 33.5 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 1.47 dB passband you are paying for depends on it staying dry.

Do I need a subsonic filter?

Yes, at 26 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 Prodigy NB2-12 at 51 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?

Prodigy rate the NB2-12 at 400 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 51 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?

Below about 23 Hz, yes. The sealed Down Fire we build for it is louder down there by up to 2.0 dB, because a sealed box rolls off gently into the subsonic region where a vented one falls away steeply once it is under tuning. Above that this alignment is the louder of the two for the same power. The Performance Graphs tab plots this cabinet, 1.36 cubic feet vented at 33.5 Hz, against the 1.25 cu ft sealed Down Fire we build for this driver (PO 12-S DF NB2), so you can see exactly where they cross.

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 28.18 inches of centreline path and 20.3 square inches of channel, exiting a 26.5 square inch mouth. Air leaves at 11.9 metres per second at tuning against a 17.0 threshold, and the channel runs at 40 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 2.82 inches clear of the cutout edge and 1.67 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 NB2-12 included?

No. This is an enclosure only, cut and folded for the Prodigy NB2-12 specifically. The 11.200 inch cutout, the 6.750 inch mounting depth allowance and the 1.36 cubic foot alignment all come from Prodigy'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.

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