

Performance Optimized · Datasheet
Dayton Audio Reference RSS265HF Box: Ported 10" Down Fire Enclosure Single 10" Ported enclosure
- Net volume
- 1.24 Cubic Feet
- Tuning
- 32.5 Hz
- Max mounting depth
- 5.374 Inches (Dayton Audio Spec)
- Cutout
- 9.252 Inches (Dayton Audio Spec)
- External dimensions
- 31 Inches W × 7.75 Inches H × 15.00 Inches D
- Front baffle
- Down Firing - Driver Fires Toward Floor
- Alignment: 1.24 cu ft net vented at 32.5 Hz. F3 31.6 Hz anechoic, 1.98 dB passband ripple
- Driver: Dayton Audio Reference RSS265HF, 350 W RMS, 12.3 mm Xmax at one-way, as Dayton publish it, 25.60 Hz Fs
- Build: Proline X V-groove and dado joinery, L-wrap slot port with a faceted 90 degree bend, double-layer 1.5" baffle, side-mounted terminal cup
- Cabinet: 31" W x 15.00" D x 7.75" H measured in down fire position, 9.50" tall installed on its feet, square corners, ships dry
Spec of record
Technical specifications
| Series | Proline X Performance Optimized Down Fire |
|---|---|
| Driver-Specific Fitment | Dayton Audio Reference RSS265HF (RSS265HF-4 single 4 ohm or RSS265HF-8 single 8 ohm) |
| Enclosure Type | Ported | Down Fire Geometry | Floor-Coupled |
| Baffle Configuration | Down Firing - Driver Fires Toward Floor |
| External Width | 31 Inches |
| External Depth | 15.00 Inches |
| External Height | 7.75 Inches (Cabinet Only) |
| Feet | Included - 1.75 Inch Standoff, Required For Down Fire Operation |
| Installed Height | 9.50 Inches (7.75 Cabinet Plus 1.75 Feet) - MEASURE AGAINST THIS, NOT THE CABINET HEIGHT |
| Dimension Reference | All External Dimensions Measured In Down Fire Position |
| Internal Volume (Gross) | 1.39 Cubic Feet |
| Internal Volume (Net After Displacement) | 1.24 Cubic Feet |
| Port Type | L-Wrap Slot | One Folded Wall | Single Faceted 90 Degree Bend |
| Port Tuning (Fb) | 32.5 Hz |
| Port Channel | 2.75 x 6.25 Inches (17.2 Square Inches) |
| Port Path Length | 28.18 Inches (Centreline) |
| Port Mouth Area | 22.1 Square Inches (2.50 Inch Corner Chamfer) |
| Port Air Velocity | 12.2 m/s At Tuning (17.0 m/s Chuff Threshold) |
| Predicted F3 | 31.6 Hz (Anechoic) |
| Passband Ripple | 1.98 dB (Anechoic) |
| Subsonic Filter | 26 Hz High-Pass, 24 dB/Octave - REQUIRED On A Vented Enclosure |
| Driver Fs | 25.60 Hz |
| Driver Qts | 0.450 |
| Driver Qes / Qms | 0.530 / 3.060 |
| Driver Vas | 54.000 Liters / 1.907 Cubic Feet |
| Driver Sd | 356.3 Square Centimeters |
| Driver Mms | 120.00 g |
| Driver BL | 11.43 |
| Driver Re | 3.5 Ohm |
| Driver Xmax | 12mm (One-Way at one-way, as Dayton publish it) |
| Excursion Design Basis | Derated To 12.3mm For Alignment - Dayton Audio Publishes At one-way, as Dayton publish it |
| Driver Displacement | 0.06 Cubic Feet (Estimated, Dayton Audio Publishes None) |
| Driver Power Handling | 350 Watts RMS |
| Driver Overall Diameter | 10.472 Inches (Dayton Audio Spec) |
| Mounting Depth Required | 5.374 Inches (Dayton Audio Spec) |
| Cutout Diameter | 9.252 Inches (Dayton Audio Spec) |
| Woofer Ring | 11.375 Inch OD, Bonded Under The Baffle In A Machined Recess |
| Material | Langboard Elite 3/4" MDF |
| Construction | ShopSabre CNC / Windowed Brace Between Cutout And Port Terminus |
| Joinery | V-Groove and Dado (CNC-Cut) |
| Front Baffle Construction | Double-Layer 1.5" MDF | Outer Layer Flush Recess, Driver Mounts To Inner Layer |
| Corner Profile | Square (Down Fire Series Standard) |
| Mounting Hardware | 8 x #8-32 Hurricane Nuts Fitted (16 Positions Cut For Driver Orientation) | Stainless Steel Machine Screws Included |
| Voice Coil Configuration | Single 4 Ohm |
| Terminal Cup | Proline X ABS/Carbon Fiber Composite | Side Mounted | 12g OFC Pre-Wired |
| Damping | None - Ships Dry. Polyfill Detunes A Ported Enclosure |
| Recommended Power | 244-350 Watts RMS (Dayton Audio Rated: 350W RMS) |
| Carpet Finish | Plush Black |
| Bundle Options | Enclosure Only (Bring Your Own Dayton Audio Reference RSS265HF) |
| Warranty | 1-Year Limited (Enclosure) |
| Manufactured | Tullahoma, Tennessee, USA |
Modelled response
Performance in this enclosure
01Is this driver right for a ported box?
Efficiency bandwidth product places the motor before anything else is decided.
02What the box does to it
1.24 cu ft net against a 54.0 L Vas, vented at 32.5 Hz.
03Ported vs Sealed
No sealed comparison is shown for this driver.
04The watts that reach Xmax (in this enclosure)
Travel scales with the square root of power, so there is one wattage that puts the cone exactly on Dayton's published 12.3 mm. The two traces are the same cabinet with the subsonic filter switched on and switched off.
From the shop floor
Installer's take
RSS265HF on the down fire: 1.24 cubic feet at 32.5 Hz, 31.6 Hz anechoic, 7.75 inches tall plus feet.
The slot mouth runs 12.2 m/s at rated power against a 17 m/s line, with room to spare.
Dayton print the bolt circle, so the threaded inserts are pressed into the baffle at the shop.
Rated 350 W RMS by Dayton. The RSS265HF-8 is the single 8 ohm load. It ships dry; do not add polyfill to a ported box. Set the subsonic filter near 26 Hz.
Before you order
Questions
Why is this enclosure tuned to 32.5 Hz?
Sealed, the RSS265HF is listed in our sealed wedge at 1.49 cubic feet, Qtc 0.68, half power 40 Hz. Vented, the same driver reaches 31.6 Hz. The port runs 15.6 m/s in the channel and 12.2 at the mouth at the 350 W design power, and the cone peaks at 7.6 of its 12.3 mm. Passband ripple is 2.0 dB and the in-car spread from 25 to 60 Hz 2.0 dB. The RSS265HF-8 (single 8 ohm) was run through the same cabinet: F3 30.9 Hz, passband ripple 2.8 dB, 7.6 of its 14.3 mm at 350 W. Tuning is chosen for in-car response rather than for an anechoic curve: a vehicle adds roughly 12 dB per octave below about 45 Hz, so a box tuned very low reinforces a region the cabin is already reinforcing and leaves 40 to 60 Hz thin. In this cabinet that lands at 2.0 dB of in-car spread across 25 to 60 Hz, which is where kick and bass fundamentals live.
Does this enclosure ship with polyfill?
No, and on this build in particular do not add any. Every sealed Proline X enclosure ships with polyfill pre-installed; a ported one must not, because damping material changes the effective volume the port is tuned against. The port on this cabinet is cut to 28.18 inches of centreline path for 32.5 Hz. Stuff it and you move the tuning without shortening the port, which gives you a mistuned box rather than a bigger-sounding one. The 1.98 dB passband you are paying for depends on it staying dry.
Do I need a subsonic filter?
Yes, at 26 Hz, 24 dB per octave. Below tuning a vented box stops loading the cone and excursion runs away toward DC. With the filter in place this cabinet puts the Dayton Audio Reference RSS265HF at 63 percent of its usable travel at full rated power; without it there is no meaningful number to quote, because the excursion curve does not converge. On a sealed build a subsonic filter is an improvement. Here it is required equipment.
How much power can I run?
Dayton Audio rate the Reference RSS265HF at 350 W RMS and that is the thermal ceiling. The figures on the Performance Graphs tab are a different quantity: they are mechanical limits, the power at which the cone reaches the end of its linear travel in this specific cabinet. Here the cone sits at 63 percent of usable travel at the driver's own rating, so heat is what stops you, not travel. Final wired impedance and amplifier output are separate questions again.
Would a sealed box be better for me?
Not one we can show you. We do not build a sealed enclosure for the Dayton Audio Reference RSS265HF and Dayton Audio publish no sealed volume for it, so the Performance Graphs tab carries no ported-versus-sealed chart: the only sealed box left to plot would be this cabinet stuffed and sealed, which nobody would build, and a comparison against it would tell you nothing you could buy. What a vented box gives up is the region below tuning, where the cone unloads and the 26 Hz subsonic filter takes over; around 32.5 Hz the vent carries the load and cone travel drops to its minimum, which no sealed alignment can do.
What is the L-wrap port and why does it matter?
It is a slot port formed by one folded wall: a leg down the long side of the cabinet past the woofer ring, one faceted 90 degree bend, and a leg across the end opening through a chamfered corner. On this cabinet that is 28.18 inches of centreline path and 17.2 square inches of channel, exiting a 22.1 square inch mouth. Air leaves at 12.2 metres per second at tuning against a 17.0 threshold, and the channel runs at 42 percent of its turbulence limit. One wall and one bend rather than a serpentine's three means less wall area inside the box, fewer joints to leak, and one place for flow to separate instead of three.
How is this enclosure built?
V-groove and dado joinery in 0.75 inch Langboard Elite MDF with a double-layer 1.5 inch baffle. The driver mounts to an 11.375 inch ring bonded under the baffle in a machined recess, carrying eight #8-32 hurricane nuts so it threads into steel rather than MDF. A windowed brace sits 2.85 inches clear of the cutout edge and 1.79 inches clear of the port terminus; the window is not weight saving, a solid panel there would split the cavity and make the box a bandpass. Walls seat into dados in both the lid and the baffle. Square corners, plush black carpet, side-mounted terminal cup.
Is the Reference RSS265HF included?
No. This is an enclosure only, cut and folded for the Dayton Audio Reference RSS265HF specifically. The 9.252 inch cutout, the 5.374 inch mounting depth allowance and the 1.24 cubic foot alignment all come from Dayton Audio's published parameters for this exact driver, and the port is sized against its Xmax and power rating. It is not a universal box with a 10 inch hole in it. Bring your own driver.
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