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Performance Optimized · Datasheet

Performance Optimized Down Fire Sealed Dual 8" Enclosure Musway MG8 · Dual 8" Sealed enclosure

Net volume
0.43 cu ft per chamber after the divider and the driver displacement
Max mounting depth
5.43 in required, 0.75 in clearance above the motor
External dimensions
30.00 in W × 6.93 in in the down fire position H × 15.00 in D
Front baffle
1.5 in double baffle, outer layer machined as a flush recess
Buy at Audio IntensityFactory-direct, ships from Tullahoma
  • Alignment: 0.43 cu ft net per chamber, Qtc 0.59, F3 76.4 Hz; height set by the motor, not the airspace
  • Drivers: Pair of Musway MG8 (dual 2 ohm), 300 W RMS each, 19 mm Xmax, 5.43 in mounting depth
  • Chambers: Two fully separate sealed chambers, 3/4" MDF full divider, one shared side-mounted terminal cup
  • Standoffs: Included, 1.75 in, shipped uninstalled. Installed height near 8.68 in
  • Cabinet: 30.00"W x 15.00"D x 6.93"H in down fire position, excludes standoffs, square corners

Spec of record

Technical specifications

SpecificationValue
SeriesProline X Performance Optimized Down Fire
Compatible DriverMusway MG8 (dual 2 ohm), quantity 2. Direct fit
ConfigurationDual 8 inch, two separate chambers, sealed down fire
Mounting PositionTrunk or cargo floor, baffle facing down on standoffs
Firing DirectionDownward. Feet ship uninstalled, so front or up firing is also possible
External Width30.00 in
External Depth15.00 in
External Height6.93 in in the down fire position, excludes standoffs
Installed Height8.68 in including the 1.75 in standoff
Internal Volume, Gross1.01 cu ft total
Internal Volume, Net Acoustic0.43 cu ft per chamber after the divider and the driver displacement
Height Set ByDriver clearance: the 5.43 in motor, not the airspace
Driver Mounting Depth5.43 in required, 0.75 in clearance above the motor
Floor Slot1.25 times the cone area at the 1.75 in standoff
Alignment, dual 2 ohm per chamberQtc 0.586, fc 61.3 Hz, F3 76.4 Hz anechoic
Woofer Opening7.28 in, two, Musway's published cutout
Frame Outer Diameter8.70 in
Bolt CircleNot printed by Musway; threaded insert kit included
Driver Displacement0.056 cu ft, estimated; Musway publishes none
dual 2 ohm Fs / Qts / Qes / Qms / Vas46 Hz / 0.44 / 0.49 / 3.89 / 9.5 L
Driver Sd207 cm2, Musway spec
Xmax19 mm one way, Musway spec
Driver Power Handling300 W RMS per driver
Wiring OptionsMusway sells the MG8 as dual 2 ohm; a matched pair should share a coil. A pair of dual 2 ohm drivers lands on 2 ohms with each woofer's coils in series and the two woofers in parallel, or 8 ohms all in series. Anything under 1 ohm, and many amplifiers at 1 ohm, is outside what the amplifier is built for, so series wiring is the safe default.
Parameter SourceMusway MG8 / MG10 / MG12 owner's manual specifications table
MaterialLangboard Elite MDF
ConstructionCNC cut, V-groove and dado joinery, square corners
Panel Thickness0.75 in
Front Baffle1.5 in double baffle, outer layer machined as a flush recess
Internal BracingFull-height 3/4 in divider
Driver MountingThreaded insert kit included, NOT pre-installed: Musway prints no bolt circle
Terminal CupsOne Proline X ABS and carbon fiber composite, side mounted, pre wired 12 gauge OFC to both driver positions
StandoffsIncluded, 1.75 in, shipped uninstalled
DampingLight polyfill wall lining in both chambers, does not alter acoustic volume
CarpetPlush black
Shipping Weight39 lb
Warranty1 Year Limited
Built InTullahoma, Tennessee

Modelled response

Performance in this enclosure

Net airspace
0.43
cu ft per chamber
System Qtc
0.59
sealed
Half power
76.4
Hz · F3
Xmax at
575
W RMS · no filter
With 25 Hz subsonic
774
W RMS · +35%
Amplifier
300
W RMS recommended
This enclosure holds 0.43 cu ft net per chamber. In it the Musway MG8 runs a system Qtc of 0.59 with half power at 76.4 Hz, and the cone reaches its 19.0 mm travel limit at 575 W, above the driver’s 300 W thermal rating, so heat stops you before travel does. Run a subsonic filter at 25 Hz and that becomes 774 W — +199 W, or 35 percent more power for the same 19.0 mm of travel.

01Is it a sealed driver?

Efficiency bandwidth product places the motor before anything else is decided.

EBP = Fs ÷ Qes = 93.9
SEALED 0–50 TRANSITION 50–100 PORTED 100–150 0 50 100 150 D2 93.9
D2 · EBP 93.9
At 93.9 the MG8 sits in the transition band, not the sealed band. That is not a mismatch: a transition motor works in either alignment, and sealed buys a smaller box and a gentler roll-off at the cost of some low-end output. Stage 02 shows what this airspace actually does with it.

02What the box does to it

0.43 cu ft against a 9.5 L Vas.

α = Vas ÷ Vb = 0.77  ·  Fc = Fs√(α+1) = 61 Hz  ·  Qtc = 0.59
20 30 50 70 100 150 200 +6 +0 -6 -12 -18 -24 FREQUENCY · Hz LEVEL · dB −3 dB
D2 · Qtc 0.59, Fc 61 Hz, F3 76.4 Hz
The box lifts resonance from 46.0 Hz free-air to 61 Hz and half power lands at 76.4 Hz, anechoic, before any cabin gain. Parameters are Musway’s own published table for the MG8 (dual 2 ohm). Driver displacement is not published and is estimated.

03The 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 19.0 mm — and a bigger one once a subsonic filter stops it wasting travel below the passband.

PXmax = 575 W unfiltered  →  774 W with a 25 Hz subsonic
20 30 50 70 100 150 200 0 4 8 12 16 20 24 FREQUENCY · Hz CONE TRAVEL · mm PAST LINEAR TRAVEL · Xmax 19.0 mm 575 W reaches Xmax here
D2 · 575 W, no filterD2 · 774 W with subsonic at 25 Hz, 24 dB/octXmax 19.0 mm one-way
Every trace touches the limit and no further, because each is drawn at the exact power that puts that coil on 19.0 mm. Unfiltered that is 575 W, reached first at 20 Hz. It sits above the 300 W the driver can take thermally, so the voice coil gives up before the suspension does. The dashed traces are the same driver behind a subsonic filter at 25 Hz, 24 dB/oct: stopping the cone wasting travel below the passband lets it take 774 W before hitting the same 19.0 mm. That is 35 percent more amplifier for the price of one filter setting.
ParamValueUnitNote
Fs46.00Hzfree-air resonance
Qts0.440D2
Vas9.50Lequivalent compliance
Sd207.0cm²effective piston area
Xmax19mmone-way maximum, as Musway publish it
Pe300Wcontinuous RMS
SPL84.6dB1 W / 1 m, derived from T/S

Driver parameters as published by Musway published T/S table. Curves computed against this enclosure’s actual net airspace.

From the shop floor

Installer's take

0.43 cubic feet per chamber: Qtc 0.586 on the dual 2 ohm, F3 76.4 Hz.

Measure the installed height, not the cabinet height: 6.93 tall on its own, 8.68 with the standoffs on the 30 by 15 footprint.

Musway's MG8 table holds together: moving mass and resonance agree with the printed Vas. Displacement is estimated.

The MG8 resonates at 46 Hz, so no sealed box takes its F3 much below the mid 70s; Musway's 8 litre minimum is the best damped of its range. If you want the low end from an 8, the ported versions of this cabinet are the ones to look at.

Inserts ship in the kit, not pressed: Musway prints no bolt circle. Mark from the driver, drill, press. Sealed, so leave the polyfill as it is and run it at 300 watts or under per driver.

Before you order

Questions

Does this fit the Musway MG8, and will any other 8 inch fit?

The MG8, yes, in the dual 2 ohm version. The baffle is cut to 7.28 in, Musway's published cutout, under the 8.70 in frame. The 5.43 inch motor clears the cabinet with 0.75 inch to spare. Run two of the same coil so the chambers match.

Any other 8, no. The airspace is engineered around the MG8's own Qts and Vas, and a different woofer that happened to drop into the hole would not see the alignment printed on this page.

Why 0.43 cubic feet per chamber, and what alignment does it target?

0.43 cubic feet net per chamber on Musway's published figures: the dual 2 ohm reads Qtc 0.586 with resonance at 61.3 Hz and half power at 76.4 Hz. The motor sets this down fire's height, and that height holds more air than the 0.28 cubic feet the volume alone called for. That is a slightly over-damped alignment: a gentle, early rolloff and tight transients rather than a flat top.

The 5.43 inch mounting depth sets the minimum cabinet height here, so the airspace is what the motor allows rather than a free choice.

What amplifier power should I run, and how should I wire it?

Musway rates the MG8 at 300 watts RMS per driver, so target 210 to 300 watts RMS per driver at the final load.

Musway sells the MG8 as dual 2 ohm; a matched pair should share a coil. A pair of dual 2 ohm drivers lands on 2 ohms with each woofer's coils in series and the two woofers in parallel, or 8 ohms all in series. Anything under 1 ohm, and many amplifiers at 1 ohm, is outside what the amplifier is built for, so series wiring is the safe default. Confirm your amplifier's minimum stable impedance first.

How tall is this once the standoffs are on?

The cabinet is 6.93 inches tall measured in the down fire position, and that figure excludes the standoffs. The standoffs hold 1.75 inches under the baffle, so plan your space around a finished stack of roughly 8.68 inches.

The footprint is the standard Performance Optimized down fire platform, 30.00 inches wide by 15.00 deep. Height is the only dimension solved to the driver, and here it is the MG8's 5.43 inch motor that sets it.

Why two separate chambers instead of one shared volume?

Two drivers sharing one sealed volume load each other: each driver's compression stroke becomes the pressure the other works against, which blurs the alignment either would have alone. A bonded full-height 3/4 inch divider gives each driver its own 0.43 cubic feet and its own polyfill.

It also means a failure in one driver does not unload the other, and the alignment on this page is the alignment in each chamber, not an average across a shared box.

What is the expected low-frequency extension?

Anechoic F3 is 76.4 Hz per chamber. Below Qtc 0.707 the rolloff is gentle and F3 sits above fc, which is what an over-damped sealed box does.

Those figures exclude cabin gain. In a car the cabin's transfer function adds real output below 50 Hz, so in-vehicle response runs deeper than the numbers above.

Do I need to add polyfill or damping?

No. Polyfill is already installed in both chambers as a light wall lining to control internal reflections, and the quantity is chosen so it does not change the acoustic volume.

Do not add more. Packing a sealed box with fill makes it behave as though it were larger, which walks the alignment away from the 0.43 cubic feet per chamber this cabinet was built to.

Is the driver included, and are the threaded inserts installed?

No driver. This is an enclosure only. You receive the cabinet finished in plush black carpet, one side-mounted pre-wired terminal cup to both positions, the polyfill lining already in place, the standoffs, and a threaded insert kit with stainless machine screws.

The inserts ship loose on purpose: Musway prints no bolt circle for the MG8, so you set the driver in the recess, mark its holes, drill and press the inserts. The pair of Musway MG8 is purchased separately, and the cabinet is cut direct fit to it, not a general purpose 8 inch box.

Same series, same size

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