Kicker's TC10 sealed enclosure delivers punchy, accurate bass with its Comp 10" woofer.

Kicker Competition TC10 10" sealed truck enclosure
The TC10 truck enclosure features a Kicker Comp 10" subwoofer housed in a sealed box made from 5/8" medium density fiberboard (MDF). For the uninitiated, a sealed box (also known as an acoustic suspension enclosure) has an opening for its subwoofer, but is otherwise airtight. The movement of the woofer cone creates the bass, and the enclosure acts solely as a neutral housing for the sub. The up side — a sealed box tends to be smaller and to play more accurately, producing a very natural sound. The down side — a sealed box is relatively inefficient, so it takes more power to create a given amount of bass than with other designs.

The TC10 is a truck-style enclosure, wider and shallower than a hatchback box, designed to fit in the limited space behind a truck seat. Its Comp 10" sub is descended from subwoofer royalty — the legendary Kicker Competition — and it more than lives up to the name. I tested the TC10 first, and it sounded great right off the bat — loud, clean, and punchy, with no tuning necessary.

I'm a bass player, so I judge a sub in great part by how well it reproduces the sound of an electric or acoustic bass. Any decent sub will nail the kick drum and the lowest octave on the electric bass but, with an inferior sub, the bass can become indistinct as it ascends into its higher ranges. Not only did the TC10 reproduce the bass effortlessly throughout its entire spectrum, it also brought out subtle differences between fingered and picked bass passages, even between Fender and non-Fender basses.

Powerful, natural bass
The TC10 also exhibited little or no "overhang" — the ringing or resonance that continues after a bass note has ended. When a bass note or kick drum hits on the TC10, it comes to a dead stop, making the music sound very natural and "tight." One surefire test — acoustic bass can sound "swampy" on an inferior sub, booming out with little focus to each note. The acoustic bass on the Hank Williams III cuts sounded fantastic on this sub, full and clean with plenty of string definition. (Note: If you love Hank Williams and old time country-and-western music, go buy Hank Williams III's Broke, Lovesick, and Drifting today!) Another test — even a well-tuned system can be betrayed by the heavy, throbbing bass on the typical reggae recording. The TC10 handled the low frequency demands of Alpha Blondy's heavy reggae perfectly — the bass and kick sat perfectly in the mix, dominating the sound but not overpowering the other instruments and the vocals.

Conclusion: "Clean" is the first word that comes to mind to describe the TC10. Do you often turn the bass down on a car or home stereo system because it sounds boomy to you? If you do, a sealed enclosure like this one is an excellent choice, especially if you listen to a wide variety of music. This type of enclosure produces the type of bass you'd expect to hear from the typical home speaker — well-defined, strong, but not overpowering.