LOUD MUSIC AND HEARING
WARNING Playing loud music in an automobile can permanently damage your hearing, as well as hinder your ability to hear traffic. The maximum volume levels achievable with Infinity speakers, combined with high power amplification, may exceed safe levels for extended listening. We recommend using low volume levels when driving. Infinity accepts no liability for hearing loss, bodily injury, or property damage as a result of use or misuse of this product.
YOUR CAR AND BASS REPRODUCTION
Depending on the size of the vehicle�s interior listening space, reproduced bass frequencies below 80Hz are boosted by nearly 12dB per octave as frequency decreases in the car. This effect, known as the vehicle�s transfer function, plays an important part in shaping overall in-car response and is displayed graphically, along with freespace response, on the enclosed data sheet for your Kappa subwoofer.
CHOOSING AN ENCLOSURE
Kappa Series subwoofers are optimized to perform best in small sealed, vented, and prefabricated bandpass enclosures. While infinite-baffle mounting is possible, power handling will be greatly compromised because there is no enclosed volume of air to prevent the speaker�s cone from moving past its limit. For this reason, we do not recommend infinite-baffle mounting for Kappa Series subwoofers. You should choose an enclosure based on the following factors: the type of music you listen to, the amount of amplifier power required to drive the subwoofer, and the volume of interior space needed for the subwoofer enclosure. SEALED ENCLOSURES Because a sealed enclosure provides the most control over the subwoofer�s movement, an enclosed subwoofer will handle more power than one mounted in another type of enclosure. Also, sealed enclosures provide more accurate sonic reproduction than other enclosure types, so they are well suited to all types of music. Sealed-enclosure construction is straightforward, and there are many prefabricated boxes available. Optimum sealed enclosures are always smaller than other types of optimized enclosures for a particular speaker, so they will only require the smallest amount of space inside the vehicle. VENTED ENCLOSURES Vented enclosures provide better efficiency in the 40Hz to 50Hz range, but at the expense of reduced sound output in the lowest octave (below 40Hz) and some loss of control and power handling. When using a small amplifier, a vented box will provide more bass output from less power. Vented enclosures are also well suited to a variety of music types. However, because the required enclosure volume and port size have a specific relationship with the characteristics of the subwoofer, each enclosure must be built exactly to the provided specifications. While there are some prefabricated vented boxes available, matching one to a particular subwoofer is difficult. Moreover, an optimum vented enclosure is always larger than the optimum sealed box for the same subwoofer and will require more space inside the vehicle. If you wish to use a vented enclosure, we strongly recommend having your authorized Infinity dealer build it or that you verify that your design is correct before you start building it yourself. BANDPASS ENCLOSURES Bandpass enclosures often provide the most output available from any amplifier and subwoofer combination at the expense of sonic accuracy. If sheer SPL (sound-pressure level) is what you desire most, then choose a bandpass enclosure. However, bandpass-enclosure design is very tricky and may require the aid of a computer and enclosure design software. If you are an experienced installer or have some woodworking experience, you may wish to build the enclosure described in the design sheet included with this subwoofer. Fortunately, there are many prefabricated bandpass boxes available and they are all optimized to extract the most output possible from any subwoofer. Bandpass enclosures can be quite large and may require a lot of space inside your vehicle.
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