...�. . . : : | | Playing With New Toys: Rockford's 10" Punch Stage 2 Subwoofer | | : : . . . �...

One of the really perks of this job (other than the blog), is getting the chance to play with new toys from our vendors. My first toy this year is a Rockford Punch Stage 2 10" dual 4 ohm subwoofer.

First Impressions
The woofer comes boxed extremely well, surrounded in Styrofoam to guarantee safe delivery to your door step. After I got this beefy little guy unboxed, I have to say I was very impressed with the quality and design of the woofer.

One look and you can tell this woofer means business. The beefy stamped steel frame, heavy-duty push-style wire terminals, and husky motor assembly lend to the appearance of a much more expensive woofer.

This woofer also features great cooling technology. Huge vents in between the spider and the motor assembly keep the voice coil cool.

Rockford takes cooling one step further by integrating a Venturi cooling vent on the bottom of the motor structure.

I wired the woofer up in a series parallel configuration for a final 4 ohm load to the amplifier. The push terminals make wiring a breeze and can accept up to 10 gauge wire (NICE!).

I mounted the woofer in an RT 31610 medium volume sealed MDF subwoofer box, with an internal volume of 0.75 cu.ft., perfect for this woofer and falls within the air space requirements recommended by Rockford (0.50 - 0.85 cu.ft.). Mounting was simple. I lined up the woofer and pre-drilled my holes. Rockford includes sexy allen-head mounting screws that help give it a chic industrial look once mounted in the box. Pay attention though... If you plan to use the trim ring in your installation, line it up first and note which screw holes are required for the trim ring and which ones are hidden under it.

Listening Test
I tested the woofer out in my buddy's 2001 Nissan Frontier. His amp delivers about 275 watts RMS at a 4 ohm load. I mentioned above that this woofer has the appearance of a more expensive woofer, and after listening to it, i can say that it also performs like a more expensive woofer! I listen to a wide variety of music, from jazz and blues to drum-n-bass, and rock and jam bands to hip hop and soul. This woofer performs flawlessly with any material. At first it seemed a little overpowering for my jazz and jam band selections, but a quick flick my buddy's Kenwood EZ500's EQ and subwoofer volume control solved that problem (he likes his bass LOUD). Here are the tracks I used to test the woofer:
Smashing Pumpkins- Blue: Darcy's deep rolling bass sounded fantastic. The bass has quick transitions and the woofer had no problem producing the lower rolling notes and the faster punches from James Iha's kick drum and snare.
G.Love & Special Sauce- Blues Music: This song is almost defined by the bass line, so it's very important to have a solid response here. I've had previous woofers start to flutter at higher volumes on this track, but the Rockford shined on.
Dave Bruebeck- Take Five: Surprisingly, this song has a pretty fun bass line, and without a sub you might miss how well it helps define the track. This is the track I had to tweak the radio settings a bit to get the song to sound just right. But after the tweaking I was, again, impressed. The P2D410 has great depth and is very musical. This track has a lot of drum and string bass work and I was not let down.
Luniz: I've Got Five On It: Yep, that's right... An old school classic. This track has a fantastic deep bass track in the background that starts off higher and rolls off into low frequencies that can "frustrate" some subs. Again, no surprises here either. The Rockford sounded killer. If I listened to hip hop or electronic music I might step up to a 12" sub. The 10" sounded great on a musical level, but serious bass heads would probably want to go with the 12" to really take advantage of the lower output capability.

Conclusion
All-in-all, this is one impressive woofer. I definitely have to say the dollar-to-sound ratio of this woofer is extremely positive. I've used and sold Rockford equipment since about 1998 and every year I'm more impressed. If you want a solid subwoofer experience, but you're on a budget the Rockford Punch Stage 2 has your name written all over it!

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