Kappa Perfect
was conceived and
introduced in 1998 as a high-end line
of car audio products. Infinity’s claim in
1999, when Kappa Perfect Subwoofers
were originally released, was that it had
the longest one-way linear excursion of
any subwoofer on the market. Additionally,
Kappa Perfect subwoofers incorporated a
somewhat higher Qts than other sealed-
box woofers available at the time, which
made them appropriate for use in small
sealed and vented boxes. The Perfect 12d
VQ represents the latest generation of
“Perfect” (no modesty here) subwoofers.
Built on a proprietary four-spoke cast
frame design, the dual voice coil 12d VQ
weighs in at a healthy 22 lbs. The frame is
well conceived and has four sets of vents
below the spider that provide for substan-
tial airflow out of the top plate voice
coil/gap area. This cooling mechanism is
further enhanced by the heat sinking
aspect of the frame. Besides cooling, the
frame is also set up to provide for substan-
tial rearward spider travel and has nearly
1.5 inches from the integral spider mount-
ing shelf to the back of the frame.
The motor system used on the 12d VQ
is pretty unique and patent pending. “VQ”
stands for Variable Q. Virtually all woofers
you see reviewed in
CA&E
have a fixed Q
(short for Qts, the number used to
describe low-frequency performance of a
speaker). Infinity engineers, however,
came up with a clever
way to allow a user to
personally customize
and optimize the Q of
his subwoofer for specific applications
from small sealed boxes to larger vented
or bandpass boxes and even infinite baffle
applications. This is accomplished with a
system of magnetically conductive 2.5-
inch-diameter milled steel “inserts” that fit
into the pole piece area of the backplate,
which is a milled T-yoke type with a 3mm
pole extension. Two inserts marked Mid Q
and Low Q are supplied with the Infinity
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T E S T
R E P O R T :.
TEXT
> VANCE DICKASON & ERIC HOLDAWAY ::
PHOTOGRAPHY
> STEVE SAWITZ
KAPPA PERFECT
12d VQ SUBWOOFER
Variable Q Makes This An Extremely Versatile Sub
THE AUTHORITATIVE ELECTRONIC SOURCE
ELECTRONICALLY REPRINTED FROM NOVEMBER 2003
INFINIT
Y