Audiobahn ABP 102X
www.audiobahninc.com

Audiobahn delivers a well-constructed, good looking box that bumps.

The ABP 102X is a dual 10-inch bandpass subwoofer system. The woofers feature stamped baskets, bumped and vented back plates, and treated pulp cones with oversized foam surrounds and oversized dust caps. Internally, the enclosure is arranged with a sealed volume of about 0.5 cubic feet behind each woofer and a single tuned volume of about 1.1 cubic feet in front. The tuned section of the box includes three ports which each have a 3-inch diameter and are about 4-inches in length. The enclosure is constructed of 3/4-inch MDF with two-tone vinyl upholstery, carpeting, and large gold-plated speaker connections. The front panel of the tuned section is translucent Plexiglas, allowing users to watch the woofers in action. The system also includes an internal neon light and a single mirrored panel in the tuned section of the box.

Subjective
If we gave an award for the best-looking subwoofer system, the ABP 102X would definitely win it. The polished ports, internal mirror, and neon might be a bit overboard for some tastes, but the construction and overall fit and finish of the unit are damn near furniture grade. All of the internal seams show signs of glue or sealant of some type and the vinyl on the exterior panels is buttery smooth, even at the corners. If you’re looking for justification, this puppy could easily double as a coffee table.

From a sound quality standpoint, I’m not too fond of tuned boxes in general. One positive aspect that the bandpass design retains versus a typical tuned enclosure is extended low frequency response in a car. If you removed the tuned front section of the enclosure, you’d still have two woofers in a sealed box. At very low frequencies, the front of the enclosure has no effect on the woofers, so you still get that smooth extended response of a sealed design. The ABP 102X did quite well with our collection of super low frequency stuff, providing a fair amount of definition. However, output in the low end was lacking a bit, although that’s to be expected considering that we’re talking about two 10-inch woofers in about a cubic foot of enclosure. At the other end of the range, the 102X seems to have abundant output in the upper octave of its range, with, of course, a corresponding decrease in definition. Again, about what one would expect given the design. The overall effect works well with most types of popular music but severely addicted bass junkies might be left wanting just a bit more. (Audiobahn reports that they did, in fact, tune the ABP 102X higher in an attempt to retain more of an accurate, musical representation — Ed.)

Objective
Impedance measurements for the ABP 102X show a maximum of 13 ohms at 45 Hz and a minimum of 2.2 ohms at 68 Hz. Average impedance measured 3.9 ohms between 20 Hz and 100 Hz. Out-of-car measurements show a dip in response of about 4 dB between 100 Hz and 80 Hz, essentially flat response between 80 Hz and 55 Hz, and a roll off of about 16 dB-per-octave down to about 20 Hz. In-car measurements show an overall response window of about 10 dB and a sensitivity of 96.2 dB SPL at one watt. Maximum SPL measured 128.9 dB at 100 Hz at a power level of 1kW. Power compression measured about 2 dB at 300 watts and about 4 dB at 1kW.

Price & Contact: $340; 714-690-7530, www.audiobahninc.com