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 Performance Sub P 30

by Buck Pomerantz

Focal's Performance Series subwoofers deliver pure bass power so your music always hits strong and true. This Performance 12" sub features a light, tough poly cone and a self-regulating cooling system, so it'll perform reliably. A butyl rubber surround adds to the sub's strength, durability, and accuracy.

Efficient performance
With heavy ferrite magnets and 4-layer voice coils, it's no surprise this sub handles plenty of power — up to 250 watts RMS. The good sensitivity rating means your amp won't have to work so hard to drive this sub, so you'll get maximum wallop per watt. You can install this sub in a sealed box for tight, punchy bass, or in a ported enclosure for a little more boom.

See more info on this item

Highlights:

12" 4-ohm subwoofer
polypropylene cone with butyl rubber surround
power range: 100-250 watts RMS
peak power handling: 500 watts
frequency response: 35-500 Hz
sensitivity: 90.8 dB
top-mount depth: 5-3/4"
sealed box volume: 0.88-1.59 cubic feet
ported box volume: 1.24-2.82 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...	Polypropylene
Surround Material Loading...	Butyl Rubber
Ideal Sealed Box Volume (cubic feet) Loading...	N/A
Ideal Ported Box Volume (cubic feet) Loading...	N/A
Port diameter (inches) Loading...	3.125
Port length (inches) Loading...	7.875
Free-Air Loading...	No
Dual Voice Coil Loading...	No
Sensitivity Loading...	90.8 dB at 2.83 watts
Frequency Response Loading...	35 - 500 Hz
RMS Power Range (Watts) Loading...	100-250
Peak Power Handling (Watts) Loading...	500
Top Mount Depth (inches) Loading...	5 3/4
Bottom Mount Depth (inches) Loading...	N/A
Cutout Diameter or Length (inches) Loading...	10 3/4
Vas (liters) Loading...	63.92
Fs (Hz) Loading...	31.28
Qts Loading...	0.51
Xmax (millimeters) Loading...	5.25
Parts Warranty Loading...	1 Year
Labor Warranty Loading...	1 Year

Product Research

What's in the box?

Download owner's manual

12" Single voice coil woofer
Removable rubber mounting ring (installed)
Eight 5/8" Self-tapping screws
User manual (English/ French)
Focal window sticker

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

Materials: The FOCAL P 30 features a polypropylene cone and butyl rubber surround to withstand the harsh automotive environment.

Spring-Posts: The P 30 uses spring-post speaker terminals for easy connection of single banana plugs or bare wire up to 10 gauge.

Rubber Gasket: The gasket/mounting-ring ensures better chassis damping and prevents air leakage. The rubber gasket is removable.

Sealed Box Volume: FOCAL recommends a sealed enclosure with a volume between 25 liters (0.88 cubic feet) and 45 liters (1.59 cubic feet).

Ported Box Volume: FOCAL recommends a ported enclosure with a volume between 35 liters (1.24 cubic feet) and 80 liters (2.82 cubic feet) using a single port tube (size in the table below):

Port Specifications
Internal Volume	1.24 ft³	1.41 ft³	1.59 ft³	1.77 ft³	2.12 ft³	2.47 ft³	2.82 ft³
Port	3-1/8" diameter x 7-7/8" long	3-1/8" diameter x 7-7/8" long	3-1/8" diameter x 8-2/3" long	3-1/8" diameter x 8-2/3" long	3-1/8" diameter x 6-11/16" long	3-1/8" diameter x 6-11/16" long	3-1/8" diameter x 6-11/16" long