What's a component sub and why would I want one?

A component sub is simply a speaker that's designed to reproduce bass once it's installed in a compatible enclosure. Think about the impact of a movie soundtrack in a big theater or even in your own home HDTV setup. A component sub can add the same kind of power to the music in your car. And a car sub is not all about the boom that you hear on a street corner (although that's cool too) - you can pair a component sub with your choice of enclosure to get bass just the way you like it, from tight and punchy to fat and loose. And once you experience music in your car with a well-tuned subwoofer, you'll never go back.

Our take on the Brax Matrix M10.1

by John Pollard

Made in Germany

Brax strives to build car audio equipment that provides an absolutely top-class sound experience, and their Matrix line embodies that goal. They hand-assemble every product in Germany using the highest quality parts to give you the best performance possible. If you're looking to build a reference-level system in your vehicle, Brax audio components will put you right smack in the middle of your favorite musical performances.

Hand-built woofer cone

The Matrix M10.1 10" subwoofer gives you phenomenal low-frequency reproduction that'll augment your full-range speakers perfectly. Brax builds this speaker's cone by hand, using Agave sisalana fibers mixed with aluminum oxide to make a driver that's lightweight and rigid, as well as exceptionally accurate. They anchor this cone to the specially designed die-cast aluminum basket with a heavy-duty rubber surround for maximum stability. Extra venting at both the spider and pole piece keeps this sub running cool. You can turn up the volume without worrying about unwanted distortion.

Quality and quantity

Speaking of turning it up, this sub's handwound voice coil and double-stacked magnets help it to handle up to 600 watts RMS, so you can have your bass cake and eat it too. You no longer have to sacrifice loudness for sound quality or vice-versa, as this sub will give you incredibly detailed lows and play cleanly at very high levels. For best results, mount this sub in a sealed or ported enclosure.

See more info on this item

Highlights:

10" 4-ohm subwoofer
aluminum-impregnated Agave sisalana woofer cone cone with rubber surround
die-cast aluminum basket
power range: 200-600 watts RMS
frequency response: not available
sensitivity: 89.93 dB
top-mount depth: 4-1/2"
sealed box volume: 1.0 cubic feet
ported box volume: 1.5 cubic feet
warranty: 2 years
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Hands-on research from the Crutchfield Labs (what are the Labs?)

Features and specs chart | What’s in the box? | In-depth notes

Features and Specs


Size Loading...	10 -inch
Impedance Loading...	4 ohms
Cone Material Loading...	Agave Sisalana
Surround Material Loading...	Rubber
Ideal Sealed Box Volume (cubic feet) Loading...	1
Ideal Ported Box Volume (cubic feet) Loading...	1.5
Port diameter (inches) Loading...	4
Port length (inches) Loading...	13.5
Free-Air Loading...	No
Dual Voice Coil Loading...	No
Sensitivity Loading...	89.93 dB at 2.83 watts 86.46 dB at 1 watt
Frequency Response Loading...	---
RMS Power Range (Watts) Loading...	200-600
Peak Power Handling (Watts) Loading...	---
Top Mount Depth (inches) Loading...	4 1/2
Bottom Mount Depth (inches) Loading...	4 7/8
Cutout Diameter or Length (inches) Loading...	9 1/8
Vas (liters) Loading...	35.35
Fs (Hz) Loading...	35.75
Qts Loading...	0.53
Xmax (millimeters) Loading...	12.5
Parts Warranty Loading...	2 Years
Labor Warranty Loading...	2 Years

Product Research

What's in the box?

Download owner's manual

10" Subwoofer
Specification sheet

Our Product Research Team

At Crutchfield, you'll get detailed, accurate information that's hard to find elsewhere. That's because we have our own in-house Product Research team — they open the box, verify contents, check the owner's manual, and record dimensions, features and specs. We stay on top of new products and technologies to help people make informed choices.

Features

Cone Design: The subwoofer's Agave Sisalana fibers are infused with aluminum oxide, resulting in a lightweight and rigid driver to produce quick, accurate, well rounded bass response. The M10.1 also uses a durable rubber surround.

Motor Structure: The hand wound voice coil is energized by double stacked magnets and cooled by pole piece and spider plateau venting.

Terminals: The spring post terminals accept pin connectors, single or dual banana plugs, or bare wire up to 8-gauge.

Cast Aluminum Basket: The die-cast aluminum basket resists flexing and resonance (ringing).

Enclosure:

Sealed: Brax recommends a 1.0 cubic foot sealed box for the M10.1.
Ported Enclosure: Brax recommends a 1.5 cubic foot ported enclosure with a 4" diameter port tube. Two port length options are recommended, 18.75" (resulting in 35 Hz tuning frequency and 33.5 Hz -3dB frequency) or 13.5" (resulting in 40 Hz tuning frequency and 35 Hz -3dB frequency).