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Professional Series · Datasheet

Professional Series Ported 12" Enclosure Ampere Audio AA-3.0 12 · Single 12" Ported enclosure

Net volume
4.22 Cubic Feet
Tuning
27.5 Hz
Max mounting depth
10.250 Inches (Ampere Audio Spec)
Cutout
11.125 Inches (Ampere Audio Spec)
External dimensions
32.00 Inches W × 16.00 Inches H × 28.00 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
Ampere Audio AA-3.0 12Buy at Audio Intensity
  • Alignment: 4.22 cu ft net vented at 27.5 Hz. F3 23.2 Hz anechoic, 5.32 dB passband ripple
  • Driver: Ampere Audio AA-3.0 12 D1/D2, 2000 W RMS, 29.0 mm Xmax, 33.80 Hz Fs
  • Build: Front-firing standard box, 2.25" three-layer baffle with the woofer flush-mounted in the outer layer, Ampere Audio logo acrylic, dado joinery, 65.2 sq in front slot port beside the woofer with one bend along the back wall, port and excursion gated at 2400 W
  • Cabinet: 32.00" W x 16.00" H x 28.00" D, 82 lb, threaded insert kit included

Spec of record

Technical specifications

SeriesProline X Professional
Driver-Specific FitmentAmpere Audio AA-3.0 12 D1/D2 (Dual 1 Ohm or Dual 2 Ohm)
Enclosure TypePorted | Front-Firing Standard Box
External Width32.00 Inches
External Height16.00 Inches
External Depth28.00 Inches
Internal Volume (Gross)6.19 Cubic Feet
Internal Volume (Net After Displacement)4.22 Cubic Feet
Port TypeVertical Slot Beside The Woofer | Front Exit | One 90 Degree Bend Along The Back Wall
Port Geometry4.50 x 14.50 Inches, 65.2 Square Inches, 41.36 Inches Of Path
Port Area65.2 Square Inches
Port Tuning (Fb)27.5 Hz
Port Mouth1/2 In Roundover On All Four Edges, 85.2 Square Inches At The Face
Port Air Velocity21.8 m/s In The Channel, 16.7 m/s At The Mouth, At 2400 W (17.0 m/s Chuff Threshold)
Design Power Basis2400 W RMS (1.2 x The Driver Rating) For Port Velocity And Excursion
Predicted F323.2 Hz (Anechoic)
Passband Ripple5.32 dB (Anechoic)
Subsonic Filter22 Hz High-Pass, 24 dB/Octave - REQUIRED On A Vented Enclosure
Driver Fs33.80 Hz
Driver Qts0.470
Driver Qes / Qms0.530 / 4.160
Driver Vas15.600 Liters / 0.551 Cubic Feet
Driver Sd451.7 Square Centimeters
Driver Mms411.80 g
Driver BL24.50
Driver Re3.6 Ohm
Driver Xmax29mm (One-Way)
Driver Displacement0.17 Cubic Feet (Published by Ampere Audio)
Driver Sensitivity82.5 dB
Driver Power Handling2000 Watts RMS
Driver Overall Diameter12.500 Inches (Ampere Audio Spec)
Mounting Depth Required10.250 Inches (Ampere Audio Spec)
Cutout Diameter11.125 Inches (Ampere Audio 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 Ampere Audio 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 ConfigurationDual 2 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 Power1400-2000 Watts RMS (Ampere Audio Rated: 2000W RMS)
Carpet FinishPlush Black
Shipping Weight91 lb
ShippingUPS Ground Parcel, Included In The 48 States
Bundle OptionsEnclosure Only (Bring Your Own Ampere Audio AA-3.0 12)
Warranty2-Year Limited (Enclosure)
ManufacturedTullahoma, Tennessee, USA

Modelled response

Performance in this enclosure

Net airspace
4.22
cu ft
Tuning
27.5
Hz · Fb
Half power
23.2
Hz · F3, anechoic
Xmax at
7232
W RMS · 22 Hz subsonic
With NO filter
3307
W RMS · unfiltered
Port
16.7
m/s at the mouth · 2400 W

01Is this driver right for a ported box?

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

EBP = Fs ÷ Qes = 63.8
SEALED 0–50 TRANSITION 50–100 PORTED 100–150 0 50 100 150 EBP 63.8
Ampere Audio AA-3.0 12 D2 · EBP 63.8
Between 50 and 100 a driver takes either load, and the choice becomes one of priorities rather than of physics. The Ampere Audio AA-3.0 12 D2 reads 63.8. 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

4.22 cu ft net against a 15.6 L Vas, vented at 27.5 Hz.

Fb = 27.5 Hz  ·  F3 = 23.2 Hz  ·  passband ripple 5.32 dB
20 30 50 70 100 150 200 +8 +4 0 −4 −8 −12 −16 −20 −24 FREQUENCY · Hz LEVEL · dB −3 dB Fb 27.5
Ampere Audio AA-3.0 12 D2 · Fb 27.5 Hz, F3 23.2 Hz
Anechoic, before any cabin gain, with the 22 Hz subsonic filter already applied. The vent takes over below 28 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 Ampere Audio AA-3.0 12 D2 — we do not build a sealed enclosure for it and Ampere 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 Ampere's published 29.0 mm. The two traces are the same cabinet with the subsonic filter switched on and switched off.

PXmax = 7232 W with a 22 Hz subsonic  ·  3307 W with none  →  the filter is worth 2.2×
20 30 50 70 100 150 200 0 8 16 24 32 FREQUENCY · Hz CONE TRAVEL · mm PAST LINEAR TRAVEL · Xmax 29.0 mm 7232 W reaches Xmax here
7232 W · subsonic at 22 Hz, 24 dB/oct3307 W · no subsonic filterXmax 29.0 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 29.0 mm. With a 22 Hz subsonic that takes 7232 W, reached first at 23 Hz. Take the filter away and the same cabinet reaches 29.0 mm on 3307 W — the filter is worth 2.2× 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 3307 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 — Ampere rate this one at 2000 W RMS, and that is the number that binds first here: heat stops you before travel does, so treat 2000 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 AA-3.0 12 on the full Professional chassis: three layers of baffle with the frame flush in the outer one, the Ampere acrylic beside it, and a slot port that turns once along the back wall so a 27.5 Hz tuning fits a 28 inch deep box.

This one is deep, 28 inches, because the solver tuned low to keep the port calm at the power this motor takes. Measure for it.

Ampere print no bolt circle, so a threaded insert kit ships in the box. The figures are solved on Ampere's dual 2 ohm row. The dual 1 ohm version shares the frame, cutout and mounting depth and fits the same cabinet; its own table reads a touch lower in Q (Qts 0.39 against 0.47), so it sits a little tighter near tuning in this box.

Rated 2000 W RMS by Ampere. It ships dry; do not add polyfill to a ported box. Set your subsonic filter near 25 Hz.

Ampere Audio publishes no mounting hole locations for the AA-3.0 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.

The Performance Optimized wedge is the smaller and cheaper box, and I try it first for every driver. I could not make its port keep up with the AA-3.0 12: the calmest port that fits that envelope goes noisy at about 501 watts, under what this coil is rated to take, so I did not sell you that box.

Before you order

Questions

Why is this enclosure tuned to 27.5 Hz?

With a Qts of 0.47 and a 10.25 inch deep motor, the AA-3.0 12 has no good sealed box in a trunk: the motor forces the cabinet several times larger than the alignment wants, and sealed it lands near Qtc 0.4 to 0.6 with half power up around 60 to 90 Hz. A port is what this driver is built for. The port runs 21.8 m/s in the channel and 16.7 at the mouth at 2400 W, 1.2 times Ampere's rating, and the cone peaks at 16.7 of its 29 mm. Passband ripple is 5.3 dB and the in-car spread from 25 to 60 Hz 14.0 dB, a peaky alignment that trades evenness for output near tuning. 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?

Every driver is run through the Performance Optimized wedge and down-fire before this chassis; the Professional box is where a driver lands when that smaller envelope, 30 inches wide and 18 inches deep with a triangular side port, cannot give it what it needs at its rated power. The AA-3.0 12 did not clear the port gate there. The calmest wedge port that fits that envelope is 16.9 square inches at 20.5 by 12.25 by 17.89 inches, and its mouth runs 34.0 metres per second at 2000 W against the 17 metres per second line where a port starts to chuff. That port would stay clean to about 501 W. The slot on this box reaches 65.2 square inches and holds the mouth at 16.7 metres per second at 2400 W. An under-ported box does not fail quietly. Air speed at the mouth rises with power; past the chuff line the flow turns turbulent and the port is audible on every note. The turbulence also chokes the port, so the box behaves as if it were tuned higher than it is, loses output near tuning, and lets the cone travel further below tuning than the design allows. This chassis is a full-size front-firing box on a 2.25 inch baffle built from three 3/4 inch layers with the woofer flush-mounted in the outer layer, an Ampere Audio logo acrylic, and a port and excursion budget checked at 2400 W. It carries a 2 year warranty, against 1 year on the Performance Optimized lines.

Threaded inserts or a kit?

Ampere Audio does not publish the mounting hole locations for the AA-3.0 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 22 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 Ampere Audio AA-3.0 12 at 58 percent of its usable travel at 2400 W.

Would a sealed box be better for me?

Not one we can show you. We do not build a sealed enclosure for the Ampere Audio AA-3.0 12 and Ampere 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 22 Hz subsonic filter takes over; around 27.5 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, 4.50 inches wide and 65.2 square inches. It runs 19.75 inches to the back wall and turns once along it for 13.36 inches; the fold costs about 1.5 Hz and the port is cut for it. The channel runs at 21.8 metres per second at 2400 W, 50 percent of its turbulence limit, and the mouth edges carry a 1/2 inch roundover so the air leaves the face at 16.7 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?

82 lb, 32.00" W x 16.00" H x 28.00" D external. Every Professional cabinet is priced the same way, by its size: this one is 8.30 cubic feet outside. Delivery to the 48 states is inside the price; it ships as a 82 lb parcel and checkout adds nothing. Do not add polyfill; it ships dry on purpose.

Is the AA-3.0 12 included?

No. This is an enclosure only, cut for the Ampere Audio AA-3.0 12 specifically: the 11.125 inch cutout, the 10.250 inch mounting depth allowance and the 4.22 cubic foot alignment all come from Ampere Audio's published parameters. It fits both coil versions (D1 and D2), and the cabinet was checked against both. Bring your own driver.

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