Kicker COMPETITION, FREEAIR Owner's Manual

The new c-series KICKER Competition™ and Freeair™ drivers feature the latest
advancements in loudspeaker design from Stillwater Designs, the most
famous name in car audio subwoofers.

COMPETITION™ & FREEAIR™

FEATURES OF KICKER C-Series DRIVERS

Hemispherical Polymineral Cone w/ - High rigidity under pressure for accurate linear control

ISD™ (Inverted Structural Dome) - Stops enclosure pressure loss to reduce “pump-down”

- High internal dampening

- Excellent sunlight, pollution and moisture resistance

Double Stitched Surround - Prevents cone/surround separation at high excursions

Blackened Pole Piece - Improved heat transfer

Uniplate™ - Improved thermal and magnetic transfer between

pole and backplate

Extended Pole Piece - Cooler operation increases power handling

- Improved magnetic field linearity around the voice coil gap

Vented Pole Piece - Pressure relief under the center dome improves low bass

Extended Backplates - Prevent damaging voice coil “bottoming”

Perimeter Venting - Measurably lower operating temperature and

freer cone motion

Hi-Temp Kapton Voice Coil Formers - Protects against warped, rubbing voice coils

Long Throw Voice Coil - Enormous cone excursion capabilities

High Power Lead Wires - Stops lead breakage

- Reduces power robbing resistance losses

INSTALLING YOUR NEW KICKER DRIVER

Enclosure construction: Your enclosure should be made of 1/2" (8" drivers and smaller) or
3/4" (10" drivers and larger) material, minimum. Avoid low density materials such as common
particle board. The recommended materials are high density particle board, medium density
fiberboard (MDF) or high quality, void free 7-or-13-ply plywood such as marine plywood.

Include glue blocks to strengthen the corners of your box, and add cross-braces if you detect
panel vibration. Use quality wood glue such as Elmer’s Professional or Titebond (NOT silicone
rubber, hot glue or caulk!), and seal inside joints with a pressed-in bead of silicone rubber to be
absolutely certain that no air leaks exist. If your design includes multiple woofers operated at
high power, seal each woofer in its own enclosure.

WARNING! - the use of silicone rubber to seal in a woofer will void your warranty! If any sealing
is needed in addition to the speaker’s gasket, use caulking cord or vinyl weather strip.

Loosely fill a sealed box about half full with polyester fiber (typically used as pillow filling). Line
the inside of a vented box with 1" fiberglass insulation.

Schedule 40 PVC pipe is recommended for making port tubes for vented enclosures. The pipe
should be “roughed up” before gluing it into the box with silicone rubber or epoxy. The inside
end of the vent should be at least one diameter from the nearest cabinet wall. Rounded edges
on the vent can be useful in reducing vent “chuffing” noises.

Remember to observe polarity. Hooking up one or more woofers in reverse phase will
drastically reduce bass output.

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FREEAIR MOUNTING

The specialized design of KICKER Freeair woofers allow these speakers to work effectively in
infinite baffle applications. This does not mean, however, that the driver doesn’t need an
enclosure. What it means is that the “enclosure” can be of very large
volume, such as a car door, dash, rear panel or trunk. In these applications the driver needs a
relatively rigid panel to mount to, as excess vibration will color the sound and reduce efficiency.

Also, the panel should effectively “seal” the air behind the panel from the air in front of it. If
your mounting panel doesn’t meet these two requirements, you may need to modify it with
bracing or an additional panel “sandwiched” onto it in some manner. Dash mountings are almost
impossible to “seal”, however this is not too critical since the drivers used in this application are
for midbass and midrange and only low bass performance is sacrificed.
KICKER Freeair woofers are also well suited for use in vented enclosures. When used in their
recommended enclosures, these woofers exhibit a “boosted” bass response which is often
popular for rap or rock music.

POWER HANDLING

Power handling ratings on Competition and Freeair woofers reflect the largest power
amplifiers suitable for use with each speaker model. We feel that this rating is more useful to
the consumer than misleading “music power”, “continuous” or other ratings often used.

Stillwater Designs’ power ratings are based on “clean” power, with minimal amplifier clipping.
Amplifier clipping produces an extremely distorted signal that is capable of destroying drivers
and may void your warranty.

RECOMMENDED ENCLOSURES

The table below shows suitable enclosures for Competition and Freeair drivers. F3 values
listed indicate the -3 dB “down-point” of the system. Fb represents the tuning of the vented
enclosure. Remember that while a vented speaker has a slight theoretical advantage in output,
a sealed enclosure produces more low bass because of its much slower roll-off below the -3 dB
point. In addition, cone motion is more controlled in a sealed box, reducing the chance of
mechanical damage to the woofer.

Stillwater Designs has been using sealed enclosures in its show vehicles for a number of years.
They have proven to be very reliable, with highly predictable performance, even under extreme
power demands. The sealed enclosure sound is very tight and controlled, yet very “full” and solid,
with extended low bass response.

Note that a large box improves low bass performance and a small box produces more mid-bass
“bump”. A vented box also produces lots of “bump” because of the output from the vent. Some
prefer this “boosted bass” sound, while others favor accuracy of the sealed enclosure. Consider
the type of “sound” you want, and choose your enclosure to produce it.

SEALED ENCLOSURE

Competition™ Series Drivers

Box Volume F3

Model Cubic Feet -3 dB

C18c 4.44 (+20%) Maximum 35

3.70 Recommended 37

2.96 (-20%) Minimum 39

C15c 3.60 (+20%) Maximum 31.5

3.00 Recommended 33.5

2.40 (-20%) Minimum 35

C12c 2.10 (+20%) Maximum 37

1.75 Recommended 38

1.40 (-20%) Minimum 41

C10c 1.50 (+20%) Maximum 48

1.25 Recommended 49

1.00 (-20%) Minimum 50

C8c 0.78 (+20%) Maximum 57

0.65 Recommended 58

0.52 (-20%) Minimum 59

C6.5c 0.42 (+20%) Maximum 78

0.35 Recommended 79

0.28 (-20%) Minimum 80

VENTED ENCLOSURE

Freeair™ Series Drivers

Box Volume Vent Diameter Vent Length Fb F3

Model Cubic Feet (qty) inches inches Hz -3 dB

F15c 3.60 (+20%) Maximum (1) 4 4.25 32 34

3.00 Recommended 0r (2) 3 6 35 37

2.40 (-20%) Minimum ” ” ” 39 41

F12c 2.10 (+20%) Maximum (1) 3 4.75 32 35

1.75 Recommended ” ” ” 35 37.5

1.40 (-20%) Minimum ” ” ” 41 44

F10c 1.50 (+20%) Maximum (1) 3 5.25 36 34.5

1.25 Recommended ” ” ” 40 38

1.00 (-20%) Minimum ” ” ” 45 40.5

F8c 0.78 (+20%) Maximum (1) 2 5.00 36 41

0.65 Recommended ” ” ” 40 43.5

0.52 (-20%) Minimum ” ” ” 45 47

F6x9c 0.78 (+20%) Maximum (1) 2 5.00 36 41

0.65 Recommended ” ” ” 40 43.5

0.52 (-20%) Minimum ” ” ” 45 47

F6.5c 0.42 (+20%) Maximum (1) 1.5 4.25 40 40

0.35 Recommended ” ” ” 45 44

0.28 (-20%) Minimum ” ” ” 50 49