Products

If you’ve been into car audio for as long as I have, you’ve likely had a memorable experience with a Rockford Fosgate subwoofer. I vividly remember being in one of the Korbon Trading (the Canadian distributor of Rockford Fosgate in the ’80s) Blastro vans. This GMC Safari had four 18-inch Punch subwoofers powered by a pair of Power 1000 amplifiers. It was the first time a car audio system left me breathless. Fast-forward 33 years and Rockford Fosgate is still a leader in developing car audio subwoofer solutions that get loud and sound amazing. Let’s take a close look at the flagship of the Punch Series 12-inch drivers – the P3D4-12.

Rockford Fosgate Punch P3D4-12 Features

The P3D4-12 is a dual voice coil subwoofer constructed with each coil having an impedance of 4 ohms. The sub is available in a dual 2-ohm model called the P3D2-12. Both are based around a custom-tooled four-spoke hybrid stamp-cast aluminum basket. The main vertical supports and the mounting lip are stamped. There is a cast cooling insert at the base of the basket around the voice coil. Underneath the basket is a 96-ounce double-stacked ceramic magnet assembly that is concealed with a protective PVC rubber cover. The bumped T-yoke is visible through the bottom of the cover, exposing the vented pole piece and eight additional small cooling vents under the voice coil former. These extra vents also allow air pressure to be released from inside the motor as the driver moves rearward, thereby improving linearity and reducing distortion at high excursion levels.

Up top, the additional cooling and ventilation are provided by vents below each window in the basket. These allow hot air to escape from under the spider, helping to keep the motor assembly cool and reduce power compression. All the cooling features combine to ensure that these subwoofers continue to sound great without losing efficiency, even after hours of play time.

With Rockford Fosgate’s FlexFit basket, instead of eight fixed holes in the mounting lip for fasteners, eight slots allow your installer to align the subwoofer perfectly in the enclosure. An aluminum ring is included to finish off the installation and conceal the mounting hardware for a classy and tidy look.

Voice Coil and Moving Part Features

The cone of the P3D4-12 is made from aluminum, as is the inverted dust cap. Both have an anodized finish, and Rockford Fosgate is screened on the cone. At the top of the cone is a Santoprene rubber surround that is attached to the basket with Rockford Fosgate’s VAST design. In essence, VAST moves the surround closer to the outer edge of the basket and increases the effective cone area of the driver.

At the base of the cone are a pair of tear- and fatigue-resistant linear poly-cotton spiders mounted face-to-face to reduce nonlinearities. Four 16-AWG tinsel leads are sewn into the spiders to ensure that they won’t make noise at high excursion levels. The 2.5-inch voice coil former is made of anodized aluminum so that it can withstand extreme temperatures. The driver uses a four-layer voice coil winding. A spun-laced NOMEX reinforcement collar adds strength to the connection between the cone, the voice coil former and the spiders.

Electrical connections are handled by four nickel-plated spring terminals. The terminals push inward toward the voice coil and wire up to 10 AWG in size is inserted from below. While it seems inconsequential, this vertical wiring method helps keep everything organized during installation.

P3D4-12 Specifications

The P3D4-12 subwoofer is rated to handle 600 watts of power continuously and up to 1,200 watts maximum power. The driver has a total weight of 20.9 pounds (9.48 kilograms). Mounting depth is 6.66 inches, and the driver requires a cutout size of 11.25 inches.

In terms of electromechanical specifications, Rockford Fosgate specifies the driver as having a resonant frequency (Fs) of 27.7 hertz, an equivalent volume compliance (Vas) of 2.04 cubic feet and a total Q (Qts) of 0.52. The maximum linear excursion (Xmax) is listed at 0.547 inch in each direction.

The owner’s manual suggests a sealed enclosure with a net internal volume of 1.02 cubic feet to produce an F3 frequency of 42.2 hertz and a system Q of 0.78 – which should be well-controlled and impressively musical. If you want to increase low-frequency efficiency, they suggest a 1.79-cubic-foot vented enclosure with a tuning frequency of 40 hertz. This should result in an F3 frequency of 32.8 hertz and a lot more output. If you have the room, we always suggest the vented enclosure.

If you want a little more rumble from the sub, ask the Rockford Fosgate retailer you’re working with to build the vented enclosure with a tuning frequency of 30 Hz. You’ll lose some of the 50-60 hertz efficiency, but pick up more output below 35 hertz.

Upgrade Your Car Audio System with a Rockford Fosgate Subwoofer Today

If you’re searching for a high-performance subwoofer that’s designed to sound great while delivering impressive amounts of bass, drop by your local authorized Rockford Fosgate retailer. You can find a shop near you using the dealer locator on the Rockford Fosgate website. Be sure to follow Rockford Fosgate on their Facebook page and Instagram feed and check out the awesome videos they produce on their YouTube channel.

This article is written and produced by the team at www.BestCarAudio.com. Reproduction or use of any kind is prohibited without the express written permission of 1sixty8 media.

Whether you have a Jeep that gets muddy, a side-by-side that thinks it’s a part-time submarine, or a boat that’s always getting swamped, Rockford Fosgate’s M5-1500X5 powersports amplifier can be the heart of an impressive audio system upgrade. This five-channel amplifier can deliver the power your speakers need to reproduce audio with amazing clarity while driving a subwoofer or two to give your music impact and warmth – all from a single chassis. If you agree that this sounds like the perfect upgrade for your mobile sound system, read on to learn more about this fantastic amplifier.

Rockford Fosgate M5-1500X5 Specifications

The M5-1500X5 amplifier is rated to produce 100 watts per channel from the four main channels and an impressive 600 watts from the subwoofer channel. The front channels can drive 2- or 4-ohm loads while the subwoofer channel is optimized to produce that power into a 2- or 1-ohm load. The sub channel makes 400 watts into a 4-ohm load. If you have an application where you need huge power for a set of tower speakers, the front and rear channel pairs can be bridged to drive a pair of 4-ohm loads with 200 watts to each speaker. Of course, all of the specifications for the amp are compliant with the CTA-2006 standard, so you know you can trust the ratings. Based on our experience with the M5-1000X1, the numbers are likely conservative.

The front, rear and subwoofer channels each have a dedicated sensitivity control, Punch EQ control and a crossover that’s adjustable between 50 and 250 Hz. The Punch EQ allows up to 18 dB of boost at 45 hertz on the subwoofer channel and combines that bass attenuation with treble boost centered at 12.5 kHz on the front channels. The crossover on the front channels can be run in high- or low-pass modes or defeated completely. The adjustable subwoofer channel crossover is always on and limits high-frequency information. Your installer can connect an RCA cable directly to the RCA input for the sub channel, or set the Sub Input Switch off and let the amp combine the signals from the front and rear channel inputs. The subwoofer channel has a fixed -12 dB/octave infrasonic filter that’s set to 30 hertz to protect your subwoofers and optimize their output. There’s also a two- or four-channel switch on the end of the amp by the input connections. Setting this to two-channel mode copies the signal from the front channel inputs to the rear channels.

Rockford Fosgate includes their C.L.E.A.N. input and output monitoring circuit, making it easy for your installer to maximize the signals going into the amp and set the output level controls to deliver maximum performance. They’ve also included a PRESET switch for level and crossover settings for use with their vehicle-specific Motorsports stage kits. These settings can be invoked by activating the PRESET switch on each channel.

The amplifier makes use of several technologies found on other premium Rockford Fosgate amplifiers. The NOMAD protection circuitry guards against short circuits on the speaker connections. The Class-AD and Class-BD designs help to ensure good efficiency to maximize the capabilities of the magneto or alternator and battery on your boat or side-by-side. Likewise, the lightly regulated P.O.W.E.R. technology for the power supply design allows the amplifier to maximize output power when it’s fed with more voltage. Finally, the Maximum Efficiency Heat Sink Application (MEHSA) heat sink design helps to ensure that the amp keeps running when pushed hard by spreading thermal energy throughout the chassis.

Five-Channel Powersports Amplifier Layout

The M5-1500X5 is based on a 4.25- by 1.7-inch extruded aluminum chassis that’s 12.3 inches long, including the cast aluminum end-caps. The connections for input signals, along with speaker and power output, are made via pigtail harnesses that attach to each end of the amplifier. The harnesses are held in place with screws and feature gaskets to ensure that everything is watertight.

The controls are on the top of the amp on the left side and are protected by a removable cover once set. As you’d expect, the cover includes a rubber gasket to keep water, dust and debris out of the amp. The combination of these waterproofing features gives the amp an IPX6 water and dust intrusion rating. Rockford Fosgate calls this their Element Ready design, and it includes testing for prolonged UV exposure as well as corrosion resistance.

Upgrade Your Adventure with Rockford Fosgate

Your local authorized Rockford Fosgate dealer would be happy to design an audio system upgrade for your boat, side-by-side, off-roader or Jeep using the M5-1500X5. You can find a dealer near you by using the Dealer Locator on their website. To keep up with the latest new product release, cool events and amazing vehicle features from Rockford Fosgate, be sure to follow them on Facebook, Instagram and their YouTube channel.

This article is written and produced by the team at www.BestCarAudio.com. Reproduction or use of any kind is prohibited without the express written permission of 1sixty8 media.