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 Focal Access 30 A1 DB

by Dominic Devito

Focal Access subs emphasize faithful delivery of your music's fundamental frequencies. They feature all-weather woven glass-fiber cones with butyl rubber surrounds for outstanding strength, durability, and musical accuracy. Tough 4-layer voice coils with self-regulated cooling ensure reliable power handling.

The Access 30 A1 DB 12" sub handles up to 250 watts RMS, and features a massive magnet for powerful, reliable output. Focal designs this DVC sub to work best in sealed enclosures for tight, spot-on bass response that brings out the full impact of your music's low end. The dual 4-ohm voice coils let you get maximum power from your mono amplifier, or build a multi-sub setup. The included gasket provides a clean look to your installation and eliminates air leaks from your enclosure which can lead to unwanted distortion.

Note: If you are wiring this DVC sub for lower impedance, make sure that your amp is compatible. Most 2-channel car amplifiers are stable down to 2 ohms in standard mode, or 4 ohms in bridged operation. Most mono amps are stable down to 2 ohms.

See more info on this item

Highlights:

12" subwoofer with dual 4-ohm voice coils
woven glass-fiber cone with butyl rubber surround
non-resonant ABS/fiberglass basket
power range: 50-250 watts RMS
peak power handling: 500 watts
frequency response: 25-500 Hz
sensitivity: 86.7 dB
top-mount depth: 6-1/8"
sealed box volume: 0.88-1.77
warranty: 1 year
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Priced per speaker

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...	Woven glass-fiber
Surround Material Loading...	Butyl rubber
Ideal Sealed Box Volume (cubic feet) Loading...	1.412
Ideal Ported Box Volume (cubic feet) Loading...	N/A
Port diameter (inches) Loading...	N/A
Port length (inches) Loading...	N/A
Free-Air Loading...	No
Dual Voice Coil Loading...	Yes
Sensitivity Loading...	91 dB at 2.83 watts 86.7 dB at 1 watt
Frequency Response Loading...	25 - 500 Hz
RMS Power Range (Watts) Loading...	50-250
Peak Power Handling (Watts) Loading...	500
Top Mount Depth (inches) Loading...	6 1/8
Bottom Mount Depth (inches) Loading...	N/A
Cutout Diameter or Length (inches) Loading...	10 13/16
Vas (liters) Loading...	52.5
Fs (Hz) Loading...	36.84
Qts Loading...	0.62
Xmax (millimeters) Loading...	5.5
Parts Warranty Loading...	1 Year
Labor Warranty Loading...	1 Year

Product Research

What's in the box?

Download owner's manual

12" DVC 4-ohm woofer
8 Mounting screws
User Manual (Eng/Fre)

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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

Woven Glass Fiber Cone: The FOCAL Access 30A1DB features a 12" a braided and watertight, all-weather, woven glass fiber cone for dynamic bass response between 25-500Hz.

Butyl Surround: The FOCAL Access 30A1DB features a butyl rubber surround to promote long life and durability.

2.5" Voice-Coil: The Access 30A1DB woofer features a 4-layer, 2.5" voice-coil for higher power handling capabilities up to 250 watt (RMS) and 500 watt (Peak).

Dual 4-ohm Voice Coils: This woofer features dual 4-ohm voice coils that offer flexibility in wiring. When the voice coils are wired in parallel with each other, the woofer presents a 2-ohm mono load. When the voice coils are wired in series with each other, the woofer presents an 8-ohm mono load. In addition, each coil may be connected to a different amplifier channel and each channel will see a 4-ohm load.

Voice Coil Cooling System: The Access 30A1DB's voice-coil cooling system provided optimized reliability with no dynamic compression.

145mm Magnet: The Access 30A1DB woofer features a 145mm (5.708") magnet for higher sensitivity up to 91dB (2.83V/1m).

Spring-Posts: The FOCAL 12" woofer is equipped with a pair of spring-post speaker terminals for easy connection up to 10AWG wire.

Integrated Foam Gasket: The Access 30A1DB features an integrated foam gasket mounting-ring for better chassis damping and to prevent air leakage.

Rubber Magnet Boot: The Access 30A1DB features a rubber magnet boot to protect the woofer's magnet from shocks and corrosion. The rubber boot is removable.

Enclosure Compatibility

Recommended Ported Box Volume: The FOCAL Access 30A1DB is designed to be installed in a sealed box with a volume between 0.883 cu/ft to 1.765 cu/ft. FOCAL recommends a sealed enclosure made out of 3/4" MDF with an internal volume of 1.412 cu/ft.

Sealed Enclosure Specifications (using 3/4" MDF construction)
Internal Volume	0.883 cu/ft.	1.059 cu/ft.	1.236 cu/ft.	1.412 cu/ft.	1.765 cu/ft.
Dimensions	Width: 15.75" Height: 13.19" Depth1: 13.19" Depth2: 8.25"	Width: 14.96" Height: 14.57" Depth1: 14.57" Depth2: 9.33"	Width: 17.13" Height: 14.57" Depth1: 14.57" Depth2: 9.33"	Width: 19.29" Height: 14.57" Depth1: 14.57" Depth2: 9.33"	Width: 17.32" Height: 17.32" Depth1: 17.72" Depth2: 10.24"
Frequency Boost	2.0dB/80Hz	1.5dB/75Hz	1dB/70Hz	1dB/70Hz	flat

Product reviews from the Crutchfield Labs (what are the Labs?)

Video: Introduction to Focal Car Audio

Zak Billmeier, Ken Nail

4/14/2009

Crutchfield's car audio experts Ken and Zak present an overview to Focal car audio products. Focal is a leading name in high-quality sound and Crutchfield is proud to have them in our lineup.