Subjective
This puppy looks like a laboratory test mule. The woofer itself weighs about 26 pounds, and the 1-inch MDF enclosure that Pioneer provided for our test session only added to the unit’s test-fixture persona. I love the aesthetic; it’s completely high-tech sans marketing gloss. “Form follows function” is definitely my favorite woofer design philosophy.

One of the much-touted features of the TS-W12PRS is the Voice Coil Cooling System or VCCS. While I was able to find lots of information on what this system is supposed to do, information regarding the actual design was decidedly scarce. However, going purely from outside appearances, this unit shouldn’t be short on potential for heat dissipation. The rear of the dust cap is clearly visible through the large vent hole in the woofer’s motor structure. The dust cap is made of aluminum, which transfers heat quite well. If the voice coil former is also made of aluminum and properly bonded to the dust cap or even (drool) one piece, then we would definitely have a heat dissipatin’ demon.

With a quick telephone call, I’m sure someone at Pioneer would have given me the details on the VCCS, but, in the name of objectivity, I avoid talking to any of the manufacturers whenever possible. I’m sure that they’re all nice people, but if our readers thought that someone at Pioneer was my buddy, how could they really believe me when I say something like….

Damn, this woofer sounds great. “Tonally Accurate” is a description that gets way too much undeserved use in the mobile subwoofer industry, but this unit actually delivers. Its upper octave response in particular is very nice. Most car audio woofer systems tend to sound a bit thick through this range. This isn’t to say that they don’t do a passable job with most types of popular music, but, to the real geeks, there’s a big difference between a system that merely sounds “good” and one that sounds “right.” A relatively good sounding woofer often becomes a big sloppy mess with merely a change in program material. This type of dual personality means death on the competition scene. Both the IASCA and USAC competition CDs were specifically designed as system torture tests with entertainment value thrown in as a bonus. If you intend to successfully compete, or simply have diverse and demanding musical tastes, you need a woofer that sounds “right” in the upper octave.

The TS-W12PRS provides spot-on performance in the lower frequency ranges as well. Most impressive was its reproduction of the low-frequency room noise that is contained in certain orchestral recordings. Almost any large enclosed space will exhibit this type of noise to a certain degree — ventilation systems, noises external to the building, pipe organ pumps, or even a lot of musicians just trying to be quiet — there are a myriad of sources, and a high-quality recording system will capture it right along with the musical performance. Few audio cues will draw you deeper into the audio illusion because under normal circumstances we would only hear this type of noise when we’re actually in a very large room. When you start the CD and hear this low-level, low-frequency noise, it’s like being sucked into the hall where the performance is going on. It’s been a long time since I last heard this eerily realistic illusion. Woofers usually don’t make my hair stand on end, but the TS-W12PRS sure did. It’s an experience that I’d highly recommend.

Objective
The TS-W12PRS was delivered with its voice coils wired in series, and all testing was performed with the woofer in this configuration. Impedance measurements show a maximum of 46 ohms at system resonance, which occurs at 46 Hz. Minimum impedance over the system’s usable range measured 10 ohms at 20 Hz. Average impedance between 20 Hz and 80 Hz measured 21 ohms. Out-of-car measurements show a very flat response between 100 Hz and system resonance followed by a 12 dB per octave roll off. In-car measurements show a 1-watt sensitivity that averages 97.3 dB from 10 Hz to 50 Hz. The system’s overall frequency response at 1 watt fits within a surprisingly large window of about 6 dB. However, the response is very smooth and the vast majority of the error coincides with a node in our test vehicle at about 70 Hz. Note that the out-of-car measurement showed very flat response through this range.

The TS-W carries a 1200W rating, so we pushed our set of progressive in-car sweeps to the next level. Beginning at 1 watt, the sweeps are stepped up in 5 dB increments. We normally stop at 300W, but if the woofer under test seems up to it, we’ll kick in another 5dB and do a sweep at 1 kilowatt.

As power increases, the system becomes gradually nonlinear, exhibiting about 2 dB of power compression at 30W, 3.5 dB at 300W, and a maximum of 6 dB at 1000W. At lower levels, the power compression occurs primarily in the lower frequencies, although, at 1000W, the system shows 4 to 5 dB of compression over most of its usable range. The maximum SPL measured during the course of this test measured 124.1 dB at 50 Hz.