MTX RTX88

Simple answer?..Yes. The company says it will work fine as an open air speaker. They are assuming that the buyer knows how to install an open air woofer correctly. That method is definitely not an efficient design but,this speaker can do it well. It can also be used in a woofer box,which, would allow it to work at it's best. Just depends on your need,as to what you can do. One thing MTX DID build it for, is shallow mounting. It's depth is much less than regular 8 inch midbass speakers so that you can use less space,to make it work at it's best. Good luck.

First of all, the use of the term "free-air speaker" essentially has no meaning. The term "free air" (abbreviated fs) refers to the resonance (natural) frequency of a speaker in open air; i.e., not mounted in an enclosure. If you were to hit the rear of the speaker with your hand, its cone will vibrate at some natural frequency. This natural frequency is the free-air resonance of that speaker. The lower the free-air frequency, the better its bass response. The value of the free-air resonance of a speaker is usually considered when designing an enclosure that includes that speaker. (Audio engineers don't just build any convenient size box and mount speakers in it! Speaker cabinet design is a nearly a science in its own right. That being said, the MTX RTX88 speaker is a mid-bass speaker. I purchased two of them as replacements for my stereo speakers that had dry-rotted after 40 years. If you are looking for a heavy bass from this speaker, you'll likely not get what you'd like. (I've discarded the technical info that accompanied the speaker; so, I don't know what the free-air resonance is.) Also, if you will be using this speaker in a car system, it will not perform well because of its 8-ohm impedance--another of many specifications related to speakers. Car systems typically use lower-impedance speakers. My suggestion to you is to speak with a technical person at Crutchfield. The person will ask you questions related to your specific use, and recommend the right speaker for you. Howard D.