What's a component sub and why would I want one?

A component sub is simply a speaker that's designed to reproduce bass once it's installed in a compatible enclosure. Think about the impact of a movie soundtrack in a big theater or even in your own home HDTV setup. A component sub can add the same kind of power to the music in your car. And a car sub is not all about the boom that you hear on a street corner (although that's cool too) - you can pair a component sub with your choice of enclosure to get bass just the way you like it, from tight and punchy to fat and loose. And once you experience music in your car with a well-tuned subwoofer, you'll never go back.

Our take on the Rockford Fosgate T2D412

by Jo Greene

Rockford Fosgate's herculean sub

Power T2 subwoofers combine durable materials with built-like-a-tank engineering so you can rock steady over the long haul. These potent subs are designed for use with Power Series amps, handling huge amounts of power to give you performance that's as good as it gets.

Colossal magnet, epic performance

Back view of the Rockford Fosgate T2D412

The T2D412 12" subwoofer uses an anodized aluminum cone with a high-excursion rubber surround for accurate, powerful bass. The huge 292-ounce magnet structure teams up with 4" voice coils for power handling up to 1,200 watts RMS or 2,400 watts peak. Whether you're a competitor or just a fan of great bass, you'll appreciate the extensive venting in the cast aluminum frame that keeps the woofer cool even during heavy use.

This subwoofer works in a sealed or ported enclosure. The dual 4-ohm voice coils allow you to wire your system to draw maximum power from your mono amp or to safely hook up multiple subs.

Note: If you are wiring this DVC sub for lower impedance, make sure that your amp is compatible.

See more info on this item

Highlights:

12" subwoofer with dual 4-ohm voice coils
adonized aluminum woofer cone with rubber surround
cast aluminum basket
power range: 500-1,200 watts RMS (600 watts per coil)
peak power handling: 2,400 watts
frequency response: 20-250 Hz
sensitivity: 83.1 dB
top mount depth: 9"
sealed box volume: 1.0 cubic feet
ported box volume: 2.0 cubic feet
warranty: 1 year
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Hands-on research from the Crutchfield Labs (what are the Labs?)

Features and specs chart | What’s in the box? | In-depth notes

Features and Specs


Size Loading...	12 -inch
Impedance Loading...	4 ohms
Cone Material Loading...	Anodized Aluminum
Surround Material Loading...	Santoprene Rubber
Ideal Sealed Box Volume (cubic feet) Loading...	1
Ideal Ported Box Volume (cubic feet) Loading...	2
Port diameter (inches) Loading...	3
Port length (inches) Loading...	14
Free-Air Loading...	No
Dual Voice Coil Loading...	Yes
Sensitivity Loading...	83.1 dB at 1 watt
Frequency Response Loading...	20 - 250 Hz
RMS Power Range (Watts) Loading...	500-1200
Peak Power Handling (Watts) Loading...	2400
Top Mount Depth (inches) Loading...	9
Bottom Mount Depth (inches) Loading...	9 7/16
Cutout Diameter or Length (inches) Loading...	10 13/16
Vas (liters) Loading...	13.6
Fs (Hz) Loading...	40
Qts Loading...	0.59
Xmax (millimeters) Loading...	19
Parts Warranty Loading...	1 Year
Labor Warranty Loading...	1 Year

Product Research

What's in the box?

Download owner's manual

One 12" woofer
1 Metal trim ring
Twelve 1-1/4" Allen head wood screws
4mm Allen bit
4 Self-adhesive foam gasket sections
Installation and Operation manual

Our Product Research Team

At Crutchfield, you'll get detailed, accurate information that's hard to find elsewhere. That's because we have our own in-house Product Research team — they open the box, verify contents, check the owner's manual, and record dimensions, features and specs. We stay on top of new products and technologies to help people make informed choices.

Features
Enclosure Compatibility

Features

Dual 4-ohm Voice Coils: The woofer features dual 4-ohm voice coils, offering wiring flexibility. When the voice coils are wired in parallel, the woofer presents a 2-ohm mono load; when the voice coils are wired in series, the woofer presents an 8-ohm mono load.

Woofer: The anodized aluminum woofer cone is lightweight and extremely strong, giving the woofer very high power handling, low distortion, and superior bass response. The dustcap is also anodized aluminum.

Parabolic Triangular Cone Geometry: By bonding an aluminum parabolic dust cap of equivalent size to the cone body, a balanced triangular structure is created. This system reduces piston flex and eliminates cone distortion.

IDHS: An Inductive Damping Heat Sink (IDHS) secures directly to the top of the magnet structure to improve system efficiency by reducing both distortion and back EMF (Electo-magnetic force). The IDHS also radiates heat to reduce voice coil temperature.

Stitched Tinsel Leads: The multipoint periodic technique of stitching the tinsel lead wires reduces the effective mass of each tinsel lead and spreads the stress and strain over a greater area, significantly improving the reliability and performance of the subwoofer. These stitched tinsel leads withstand extreme duty cycles, fatigue, and high current that is critical to a robust design.

Anodized Aluminum Voice Coil Former: Aluminum voice coil formers offer superior heat dissipation over other commonly used materials. The hard-anodized finish increases the former strength. These two factors combine to improve the overall power handling characteristics of the subwoofer.

Cast Aluminum Basket: The two-piece die-cast aluminum "basket in a bucket" design adds rigidity and eliminates multiple acoustic resonances. Additionally, the large aluminum mass helps reduce voice coil former temperature and increase power handling.

Triple Stacked Magnet Motor Assembly: The stacked magnet assembly is used to create a powerful linear motor with increased excursion capability for superior bass output.

Terminals: The custom isolated compression terminals are spring loaded and will accept pin connectors and bare wire up to 8-gauge.

Concealing Ring: The metal concealing ring can be installed to hide the mounting screws, giving the subwoofer a finished look.

Enclosure Compatibility

Vented Enclosure: RockfordFosgate recommends mounting the woofer in a vented enclosure with an ideal internal volume of 2.0 ft³. Three 3" diameter x 14" long ports are recommended.

Sealed Enclosure: If a sealed enclosure is used, RockfordFosgate recommends 1.0 ft³.

High Output Enclosure: Dimensions are also given for a high output slot loaded enclosure; 3.12 ft³ with a 3" x 13.75" x 25.75" slot port, resulting in a tuning frequency of 40 Hz.