
Performance Optimized · Datasheet
Performance Optimized Down Fire Ported 8" Enclosure | Prodigy NB2-8 Single 8" Ported enclosure
- Net volume
- 1.08 Cubic Feet
- Tuning
- 33.0 Hz
- Max mounting depth
- 5.000 Inches (Prodigy Spec)
- Cutout
- 7.188 Inches (Prodigy Spec)
- External dimensions
- 31 Inches W × 7.75 Inches H × 13.50 Inches D
- Front baffle
- Down Firing - Driver Fires Toward Floor
- Alignment: 1.08 cu ft net vented at 33.0 Hz. F3 27.8 Hz anechoic, 4.34 dB passband ripple
- Driver: Prodigy NB2-8 D4, 300 W RMS, 14.0 mm Xmax at 70% BL, 37.34 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 13.50" 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 | Prodigy NB2-8 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 | 13.50 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) | 1.24 Cubic Feet |
| Internal Volume (Net After Displacement) | 1.08 Cubic Feet |
| Port Type | L-Wrap Slot | One Folded Wall | Single Faceted 90 Degree Bend |
| Port Tuning (Fb) | 33.0 Hz |
| Port Channel | 2.50 x 6.25 Inches (15.6 Square Inches) |
| Port Path Length | 28.82 Inches (Centreline) |
| Port Mouth Area | 22.1 Square Inches (2.50 Inch Corner Chamfer) |
| Port Air Velocity | 13.3 m/s At Tuning (17.0 m/s Chuff Threshold) |
| Predicted F3 | 27.8 Hz (Anechoic) |
| Passband Ripple | 4.34 dB (Anechoic) |
| Subsonic Filter | 26 Hz High-Pass, 24 dB/Octave - REQUIRED On A Vented Enclosure |
| Driver Fs | 37.34 Hz |
| Driver Qts | 0.448 |
| Driver Qes / Qms | 0.515 / 3.417 |
| Driver Vas | 6.955 Liters / 0.246 Cubic Feet |
| Driver Sd | 202.9 Square Centimeters |
| Driver Mms | 117.44 g |
| Driver BL | 17.88 |
| Driver Re | 6.1 Ohm |
| Driver Xmax | 14mm (One-Way at 70% BL) |
| Excursion Design Basis | Derated To 11.9mm For Alignment - Prodigy Publishes At 70% BL |
| Driver Displacement | 0.07 Cubic Feet (Published by Prodigy) |
| Driver Sensitivity | 83.7 dB |
| Driver Power Handling | 300 Watts RMS |
| Driver Overall Diameter | 8.500 Inches (Prodigy Spec) |
| Mounting Depth Required | 5.000 Inches (Prodigy Spec) |
| Cutout Diameter | 7.188 Inches (Prodigy Spec) |
| Woofer Ring | 9.500 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 | 210-300 Watts RMS (Prodigy Rated: 300W RMS) |
| Carpet Finish | Plush Black |
| Bundle Options | Enclosure Only (Bring Your Own Prodigy NB2-8) |
| 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
1.08 cu ft net against a 7.0 L Vas, vented at 33.0 Hz.
03Ported vs Sealed
No sealed comparison is shown for this driver.
04The 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 Prodigy's published 14.0 mm. The two traces are the same cabinet with the subsonic filter switched on and switched off.
Installer's take
27.8 Hz anechoic out of an eight. That is deeper than the thinPRO12, deeper than the Arc X2V2, deeper than anything else I cut a ported box for. I did not expect it either, and I checked it twice before shipping the design.
It works because 6.96 litres of Vas is a very stiff suspension. When the driver barely notices the box, the box stops being the limiting factor and the port can be sized for airflow instead of being traded against volume. Add a 0.448 Qts, which is low enough to vent aggressively, and 1.08 cubic feet at 33.0 Hz falls out.
Now the part you need to read before you buy it. 8.6 dB of in-car spread is the widest number in this entire range, and the anechoic ripple at 4.34 dB is second only to the IDMAX10. This is not a flat cabinet. If you want flat in an eight, the IDQ8 is 1.09 dB of ripple and I would point you there without hesitation. What the IDQ8 will not do is 27.8 Hz.
Prodigy quote Xmax on a 70 percent BL basis, which is optimistic, so the alignment is built against a derated 11.9 mm rather than the printed 14. The port ends up at 15.6 square inches running 51 percent of its turbulence limit and 13.3 metres per second at the mouth, comfortably under the 17 where a slot starts to chuff.
One data note, because it is the honest thing to say: the Fs implied by Prodigy's own Mms and Cms runs 14 percent above the 37.3 Hz they print. Their motor figures are unreliable across the whole line, so this design leans on the alignment set and the physical dimensions and treats the motor data as indicative. The excursion check runs on the pessimistic route.
300 W RMS and it does not want more. Dual 4 ohm: 2 ohms parallel or 8 series. Subsonic at 26 Hz, and on this one it is not optional. Ships dry.
Questions
Why is this enclosure tuned to 33.0 Hz?
Two things make it possible. The NB2-8 has 6.96 litres of Vas, so the suspension is stiff enough that the box barely participates in the alignment and the port can be sized for the job rather than as a compromise. And a 0.448 Qts is low enough to vent hard. Tuned to 33.0 Hz in a 13.50 inch cabinet, that combination puts the half-power point below every other cabinet in this line. 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 9.5 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 28.82 inches of centreline path for 33.0 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 4.34 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 NB2-8 at 71 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 NB2-8 at 300 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 71 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?
Not one we can show you. We do not build a sealed enclosure for the Prodigy NB2-8 and Prodigy publish no sealed volume for it, so the Performance Graphs tab carries no ported-versus-sealed chart: the only sealed box left to plot would be this cabinet stuffed and sealed, which nobody would build, and a comparison against it would tell you nothing you could buy. What a vented box gives up is the region below tuning, where the cone unloads and the 26 Hz subsonic filter takes over; around 33.0 Hz the vent carries the load and cone travel drops to its minimum, which no sealed alignment can do.
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 28.82 inches of centreline path and 15.6 square inches of channel, exiting a 22.1 square inch mouth. Air leaves at 13.3 metres per second at tuning against a 17.0 threshold, and the channel runs at 51 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 9.500 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 2.83 inches clear of the cutout edge and 1.68 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 NB2-8 included?
No. This is an enclosure only, cut and folded for the Prodigy NB2-8 specifically. The 7.188 inch cutout, the 5.000 inch mounting depth allowance and the 1.08 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 8 inch hole in it. Bring your own driver.
Other Performance Optimized models
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- PowerBass XL-844 Dual 8" Sealed
- Alpine S2-W8 Single 8" Ported
- Arc Audio ARC 8 Single 8" Ported
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