Shop

Professional Series · Datasheet

Professional Series Ported 12" Enclosure American Bass DX 12 · Single 12" Ported enclosure

Net volume
1.48 Cubic Feet
Tuning
34.0 Hz
Max mounting depth
5.600 Inches (American Bass Spec)
Cutout
11.100 Inches (American Bass Spec)
External dimensions
32.00 Inches W × 16.00 Inches H × 10.75 Inches D
Front baffle
Three 3/4" MDF layers, 2.25" total | Woofer Flush-Mounted In The Outer Layer
Buy at Audio IntensityFactory-direct, ships from Tullahoma
American Bass DX 12Buy at Audio Intensity
  • Alignment: 1.48 cu ft net vented at 34.0 Hz. F3 35.5 Hz anechoic, 1.54 dB passband ripple
  • Driver: American Bass DX 12 S4, 300 W RMS, 11.0 mm Xmax, 35.60 Hz Fs
  • Build: Front-firing standard box, 2.25" three-layer baffle with the woofer flush-mounted in the outer layer, American Bass logo acrylic, dado joinery, 18.1 sq in front slot port beside the woofer with one bend along the back wall, port and excursion gated at 360 W
  • Cabinet: 32.00" W x 16.00" H x 10.75" D, 50 lb, threaded insert kit included

Spec of record

Technical specifications

SeriesProline X Professional
Driver-Specific FitmentAmerican Bass DX 12 S4 (Single 4 Ohm)
Enclosure TypePorted | Front-Firing Standard Box
External Width32.00 Inches
External Height16.00 Inches
External Depth10.75 Inches
Internal Volume (Gross)1.92 Cubic Feet
Internal Volume (Net After Displacement)1.48 Cubic Feet
Port TypeVertical Slot Beside The Woofer | Front Exit | One 90 Degree Bend Along The Back Wall
Port Geometry1.25 x 14.50 Inches, 18.1 Square Inches, 21.85 Inches Of Path
Port Area18.1 Square Inches
Port Tuning (Fb)34.0 Hz
Port Mouth1/2 In Roundover On All Four Edges, 34.9 Square Inches At The Face
Port Air Velocity17.2 m/s In The Channel, 8.9 m/s At The Mouth, At 360 W (17.0 m/s Chuff Threshold)
Design Power Basis360 W RMS (1.2 x The Driver Rating) For Port Velocity And Excursion
Predicted F335.5 Hz (Anechoic)
Passband Ripple1.54 dB (Anechoic)
Subsonic Filter27 Hz High-Pass, 24 dB/Octave - REQUIRED On A Vented Enclosure
Driver Fs35.60 Hz
Driver Qts0.600
Driver Qes / Qms0.670 / 5.250
Driver Vas41.500 Liters / 1.466 Cubic Feet
Driver Sd510.0 Square Centimeters
Driver Mms155.40 g
Driver BL13.28
Driver Re3.2 Ohm
Driver Xmax11mm (One-Way)
Driver Displacement0.09 Cubic Feet (Published by American Bass)
Driver Sensitivity88.2 dB
Driver Power Handling300 Watts RMS
Driver Overall Diameter12.588 Inches (American Bass Spec)
Mounting Depth Required5.600 Inches (American Bass Spec)
Cutout Diameter11.100 Inches (American Bass Spec)
Flush Mount Recess13.500 Inches In The Outer Layer
MaterialLangboard Elite 3/4" MDF
ConstructionShopSabre CNC / Two Windowed Braces Front To Back Either Side Of The Woofer
JoineryDado Joinery (CNC-Cut), Flat Panels
Front Baffle ConstructionThree 3/4" MDF layers, 2.25" total | Woofer Flush-Mounted In The Outer Layer
Baffle Layers3
AcrylicGlossy Black American Bass Logo Insert, Outer Layer, Standard
Mounting HardwareThreaded Insert Kit Included: 8-12 Inserts, Drill Bit, 2.5 In Allen-Head Screws, Allen Key, Gasket Tape
Voice Coil ConfigurationSingle 4 Ohm
Terminal CupProline X ABS/Carbon Fiber Composite | Back Panel, Terminal-Cup Side | 12g OFC Pre-Wired
DampingNone - Ships Dry. Polyfill Detunes A Ported Enclosure
Recommended Power210-300 Watts RMS (American Bass Rated: 300W RMS)
Carpet FinishPlush Black
Shipping Weight57 lb
ShippingUPS Ground Parcel, Included In The 48 States
Bundle OptionsEnclosure Only (Bring Your Own American Bass DX 12)
Warranty2-Year Limited (Enclosure)
ManufacturedTullahoma, Tennessee, USA

Modelled response

Performance in this enclosure

Net airspace
1.48
cu ft
Tuning
34.0
Hz · Fb
Half power
35.5
Hz · F3, anechoic
Xmax at
944
W RMS · 27 Hz subsonic
With NO filter
146
W RMS · unfiltered
Port
8.9
m/s at the mouth · 360 W

01Is this driver right for a ported box?

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

EBP = Fs ÷ Qes = 53.1
SEALED 0–50 TRANSITION 50–100 PORTED 100–150 0 50 100 150 EBP 53.1
American Bass DX 12 S4 · EBP 53.1
Between 50 and 100 a driver takes either load, and the choice becomes one of priorities rather than of physics. The American Bass DX 12 S4 reads 53.1. Ported buys output and low-end reach around tuning; sealed buys a shallower rolloff below it. This cabinet takes the first trade.

02What the box does to it

1.48 cu ft net against a 41.5 L Vas, vented at 34.0 Hz.

Fb = 34.0 Hz  ·  F3 = 35.5 Hz  ·  passband ripple 1.54 dB
20 30 50 70 100 150 200 +4 0 −4 −8 −12 −16 −20 −24 −28 −32 FREQUENCY · Hz LEVEL · dB −3 dB Fb 34.0
American Bass DX 12 S4 · Fb 34.0 Hz, F3 35.5 Hz
Anechoic, before any cabin gain, with the 27 Hz subsonic filter already applied. The vent takes over below 34 Hz and the cone stops doing the work there, which is what holds travel down at the bottom of the passband.

03Ported vs Sealed

No sealed comparison is shown for this driver.

A ported-versus-sealed chart is only worth reading against a sealed box someone would actually build: the one we make for the driver, or the one its maker recommends. Neither exists for the American Bass DX 12 S4 — we do not build a sealed enclosure for it and American Bass publish no sealed volume for it — so rather than compare this cabinet against itself stuffed and sealed, a box no one would build, the comparison is left out.

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 American Bass's published 11.0 mm. The two traces are the same cabinet with the subsonic filter switched on and switched off.

PXmax = 944 W with a 27 Hz subsonic  ·  146 W with none  →  the filter is worth 6.5×
20 30 50 70 100 150 200 0 4 8 12 FREQUENCY · Hz CONE TRAVEL · mm PAST LINEAR TRAVEL · Xmax 11.0 mm 944 W reaches Xmax here
944 W · subsonic at 27 Hz, 24 dB/oct146 W · no subsonic filterXmax 11.0 mm one-way, published
Each trace touches the limit and no further, because each is drawn at the exact power that puts the cone on 11.0 mm. With a 27 Hz subsonic that takes 944 W, reached first at 24 Hz. Take the filter away and the same cabinet reaches 11.0 mm on 146 W — the filter is worth 6.5× the safe power. A vent unloads the cone below tuning, so there is nothing holding it once the box stops loading: on a sealed build a subsonic filter is an improvement, here it is required equipment. The unfiltered trace is still rising where this chart stops at 20 Hz, so treat 146 W as a bound rather than a floor. Every wattage on this page is a MECHANICAL limit, not an electrical one. It is the power at which the cone runs out of linear travel in this cabinet, and nothing more. What the voice coil can dissipate as heat is a separate ceiling set by the driver, not by the box — American Bass rate this one at 300 W RMS, and that is the number that binds first here: heat stops you before travel does, so treat 300 W as the ceiling and the travel figures above as headroom. Final wired impedance, amplifier output and how long you hold the level are all electrical questions this graph does not answer.

From the shop floor

Installer's take

I built this box for one DX 12 on the full Professional chassis: three layers of baffle with the frame flush in the outer one, and a slot port that runs along the back wall to put 34.0 Hz in a 10.8 inch deep box.

It is solved for the DX 12 S4.

American Bass publishes no bolt circle, so the box ships with a threaded insert kit rather than pressed inserts.

300 watts RMS by American Bass's rating. It is a single 4 ohm voice coil driver. American Bass publishes no mounting hole locations for the DX 12, so the inserts are not in the baffle when the box arrives. The insert kit is in the box: set the inserts where the woofer's own holes fall, with the drill bit and the 2.5 inch allen-head screws in the kit, and lay the gasket tape before the woofer goes down.

It ships dry. Do not add polyfill to a ported box. Set your subsonic filter at 27 Hz.

Before you order

Questions

Why is this enclosure tuned to 34.0 Hz?

Sealed, the DX 12 needs 3.77 cubic feet net to reach a Qtc of 0.707. Vented, it trades that for deeper extension. The slot is gated at 360 W, 1.2 times American Bass's rating: the channel runs 17.2 m/s and the mouth 8.9, and the cone peaks at 6.4 of its 11 mm with the subsonic filter in place. Tuning is chosen for in-car response rather than an anechoic curve: a vehicle adds roughly 12 dB per octave below about 45 Hz, and this tuning is where that sum comes out flattest across 25 to 60 Hz.

Why is this a Professional build and not a Performance Optimized box?

The DX 12 also builds in the Performance Optimized ported wedge and ported down-fire, the smaller and cheaper boxes. The Professional cabinet is the step up for it: a 2.25 inch three-layer baffle with the woofer flush in the outer layer, and a slot port gated at 360 W. It carries a 2 year warranty, against 1 year on the Performance Optimized lines.

Threaded inserts or a kit?

American Bass does not publish the mounting hole locations for the DX 12, so we cannot install the threaded inserts before it ships. The threaded insert kit comes in the box instead: inserts sized to the woofer, the correct drill bit, 2.5 inch allen-head screws, an allen key and woofer gasket tape. You set the inserts when you mount the woofer, and this box ships with one kit.

Do I need a subsonic filter?

Yes, at 27 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 American Bass DX 12 at 62 percent of its usable travel at 360 W.

Would a sealed box be better for me?

Not one we can show you. We do not build a sealed enclosure for the American Bass DX 12 and American Bass 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 27 Hz subsonic filter takes over; around 34.0 Hz the vent carries the load and cone travel drops to its minimum, which no sealed alignment can do.

How does the front port work?

It is a vertical slot beside the woofer, the full height of the cavity, 1.25 inches wide and 18.1 square inches. It runs 5.75 inches to the back wall and turns once along it for 11.10 inches; the fold costs about 1.5 Hz and the port is cut for it. The channel runs at 17.2 metres per second at 360 W, 49 percent of its turbulence limit, and the mouth edges carry a 1/2 inch roundover so the air leaves the face at 8.9 metres per second against the 17 metres per second threshold where a slot starts to chuff.

What does the price cover, and how does it ship?

50 lb, 32.00" W x 16.00" H x 10.75" D external. Every Professional cabinet is priced the same way, by its size: this one is 3.19 cubic feet outside. Delivery to the 48 states is inside the price; it ships as a 50 lb parcel and checkout adds nothing. Do not add polyfill; it ships dry on purpose.

Is the DX 12 included?

No. This is an enclosure only, cut for the American Bass DX 12 specifically: the 11.100 inch cutout, the 5.600 inch mounting depth allowance and the 1.48 cubic foot alignment all come from American Bass's published parameters. It fits both coil versions; the alignment published here is the S4. Bring your own driver.

Same series, same size

Other Professional Series models