By James Chevrette
Arc Audio tested its new SW Series subwoofers at the recent Kicker SQ@HQ 2 event. In a phone interview, Brian Mitchell, national sales manager for Arc Audio, revealed the company had been quietly testing its new unreleased 10-inch slim subwoofer in his award-winning 2014 Cadillac.
“What better way to get feedback on our new woofer than have the best SQ judges in the nation listen and give us their thoughts,” Mitchell said. “It’s the best testing ground. They didn’t know we had swapped the subwoofers out, so we got honest feedback.”
The SW Series uses a front-loaded motor design built around a front-mounted N42UH neodymium motor structure paired with a CNC-machined vented iron motor cap. Arc Audio says the architecture was developed to manage the relationship between the subwoofer and the surface directly in front of it, a variable the company identifies as a key performance factor in shallow-mount applications such as under-seat truck enclosures and stealth installations.
The SW Series moving assembly uses a raised-cup cone profile constructed from reinforced cellulose fiber with a composite hydrophobic coating, paired with a low-shore butyl rubber surround and a Nomex/cotton spider. Arc Audio says the combination was chosen to deliver excursion capability while maintaining the linearity required for sound quality applications.
The SW10 and SW12 share a 2.4-inch mounting depth and are available in Dual 2-ohm and Dual 4-ohm configurations. One-way linear excursion is rated at 14.7mm for the SW10 and 15.5mm for the SW12. The 10-inch model uses a 2.5-inch voice coil; the 12-inch uses a 3-inch voice coil. Arc Audio recommends a sealed enclosure of 0.6 cubic feet for the SW10 and 0.8 cubic feet for the SW12.
Both models use aluminum voice coil formers and stage-baked tempered voice coil construction, which Arc Audio says improves thermal stability and long-term durability. The motor structure is positioned outside the enclosure, exposing the motor and voice coil to open air rather than trapping heat inside a sealed cavity.
Connection is handled through high-tension spring-loaded terminals, which Arc Audio says eliminate the need for tools or oversized terminal hardware during installation.
The SW10 carries an MSRP of $589; the SW12’s price is $629. Both models are expected to be available in mid-June.
