Kicker C18d, C15d, C12d, C10d, C8d Owner's Manual



Congratulations! You have just purchased one of the latest in a long line
of exceptional subwoofers from Stillwater Designs. Your KICKER CompVR™
was designed and engineered to deliver all the award winning low bass
performance and durability of the world-famous KICKER Competition from
a significantly smaller enclosure. It shares a number of cutting-edge features
with drivers like the KICKER Solo-Baric™ and XPL® subwoofers to give you
outstanding performance and dependability when installed in a properly
designed system.
Thanks for buying KICKER. Enjoy.

COMP VR SUBWOOFERS

C18d, C15d, C12d, C10d, C8d & C6.5d

KICKER CompVR SUBWOOFER FEATURES

• Highly Rigid Cone with high internal damping and excellent resistance to sunlight,

pollution, and moisture.

• Inverted Structural Dome™ further increases cone’s resistance to flex under pressure.

• Double-Stitched Surround prevents cone/surround separation at high excursions.

• Blackened Pole Piece provides effective heat transfer and cool operation for maximum

power handling.

• One-Piece Extended Pole reduces non-linear magnetic fields around the voice coil gap

for even more heat sinking and excellent cone motion control.

• Vented Pole Piece releases pressure under dustcap for freer cone motion and enhanced

low bass.

• Perimeter Venting in spider standoff provides continuous voice coil cooling and

increased linear response.

• Deep-Bumped Backplate prevents voice-coil-damaging “bottoming”.

• High-Temp Coil Former prevents cone meltdown to minimize warping and rubbing.

• High Power Tinsel Lead Wires resist lead breakage and power-robbing resistance losses.

RECOMMENDED ENCLOSURES

Your KICKER CompVR is specifically designed for outstanding low bass reproduction from
a very small sealed enclosure. In addition to taking up less interior space than the larger
boxes required by more conventional subwoofers, this small sealed box is relatively simple
to build and yields a very smooth response for highly accurate bass reproduction.

Note the recommended range of volumes for your model. For peak performance as
intended by the designers, your enclosure’s volume should stay within this range. Optimum
volume is in the center of the scale; smaller boxes will provide higher power handling with
somewhat reduced low end, boxes at the larger end of the scale will do just the opposite
(lower bass at the expense of power handling). Choose your box size based on your
listening and/or interior space requirements.

SOME BOX BUILDING TIPS

• Your box should be built using 3/4” MDF.

• Crossbracing should be added to any panel more than 15” wide.

• When joining two panels, use a good grade of wood glue, and screw or staple every

four inches. Do not use silicone, hot glue, or caulk in place of glue.

• After assembling your enclosure, add silicone liberally to all joints to ensure an

airtight box.

• If your box is built for multiple subs, each sub must have its own separate

sealed airspace.

• The use of terminal cups is the preferred means for getting wires to the woofer.

Remember to seal around the cup when attaching it to your box. If cups are not

available, drill a hole slightly larger than your wire and carefully seal around the wire

with silicon sealer.

• Before mounting the subwoofer to the enclosure, loosely fill the box about half full

with fiberfill (“pillow stuffing”).

• Do not use silicone products to seal the driver to the enclosure - use of silicone in this

manner will void your warranty.

• Your KICKER CompVR subwoofer will operate best if used in conjunction with a quality

subwoofer crossover. Your Authorized KICKER Dealer has a wide variety of active

electronic and passive crossovers from which you may choose the one best for

your installation.

If you have more questions about the installation of your KICKER component, see the
Authorized KICKER Dealer where you made your purchase. You may also call our Technical
Services Line at [phone] or contact us via the Technical Services page on www.kick­er.com.