Reference 1042W - Subwoofer INFINITY - Free user manual and instructions

Product Type	Subwoofer
Brand	Infinity
Model	Reference 1042W
Diameter	10" (250 mm)
Sensitivity	91 dB @ 2.83V/1m
RMS Power Handling	250 W
Peak Power Handling	1000 W
Frequency Response	25 Hz - 400 Hz
Impedance	4 ohms (single voice coil)
Voice Coil Diameter	2" (51 mm)
Mounting Depth	4-9/16" (116 mm)
Overall Diameter	10-3/8" (264 mm)
Cut-Out Diameter	9-1/8" (232 mm)
Recommended Enclosure	Sealed, vented, or bandpass (not infinite baffle)
Optimal Sealed Box Volume	Typically 0.6 - 1.0 ft³ (consult manual)
Optimal Vented Box Volume	Typically 1.25 - 1.75 ft³ (port tuning ~35 Hz)
Warranty	Valid serial number required
Compliance	EN 61000-6-3:2001, EN 61000-6-1:2001

Frequently Asked Questions - Reference 1042W INFINITY

What is the best enclosure type for the Infinity Reference 1042W?

The Reference 1042W is optimized for sealed, vented, and prefabricated bandpass enclosures. Sealed enclosures offer the best power handling and accuracy, while vented and bandpass enclosures provide higher efficiency at the expense of some control.

Can I install this subwoofer in an infinite baffle setup?

Infinite baffle mounting is not recommended for the Reference 1042W because power handling is greatly compromised without an enclosed air volume, risking overexcursion and potential damage.

What is the RMS and peak power handling of the 1042W?

The RMS power handling is 250 watts, and peak power handling is 1000 watts. Ensure your amplifier matches these ratings to avoid clipping and damage.

What is the impedance of the Reference 1042W?

The subwoofer has a single 4-ohm voice coil. For dual voice coil models (1242W), impedance is 2 or 8 ohms depending on wiring.

What are the mounting dimensions for the 1042W?

Mounting depth is 4-9/16" (116 mm), overall diameter 10-3/8" (264 mm), and cut-out diameter 9-1/8" (232 mm). Verify clearance before installation.

How does enclosure size affect power handling?

Smaller sealed enclosures provide more control and higher power handling. Larger sealed boxes allow more excursion but reduce power handling. Vented and bandpass enclosures typically handle less power due to reduced cone control.

What causes voice coil overheating in subwoofers?

Overheating is often caused by overdriving an amplifier into clipping, which produces a square wave with nearly double the power of a clean sine wave. This can burn the voice coil. Avoid distortion at high volumes.

Is a subsonic filter necessary for vented enclosures?

Yes, a subsonic filter is recommended for vented enclosures to prevent excessive cone excursion below the tuning frequency (Fb). This protects the subwoofer from overexcursion.

What is the frequency response of the 1042W?

The frequency response is 25 Hz to 400 Hz. Actual low-frequency extension depends on enclosure type and vehicle acoustics.

How can I clean and maintain the subwoofer?

Gently dust the cone and surround with a soft, dry cloth. Avoid using liquids or compressed air. Ensure the enclosure is sealed to prevent dirt ingress. Check connections periodically.

USER MANUAL Reference 1042W INFINITY

840w, 1040w, 1042w, 1240w, 1242w

Illustration of a Infinity speaker with sound waves and instruction labels (no readable text or symbols)

Infinity®

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YOUR CAR AND BASS REPRODUCTION

THANK YOU for choosing an Infinity Reference Series subwoofer. Reference Series subwoofers are designed to suit a broad range of mobile-audio applications and can be used in a wide variety of enclosure types to produce extended, powerful bass in a limited amount of vehicle space. To ensure maximum subwoofer performance, we strongly recommend that installation be left to a qualified professional. Although these instructions explain how to install a Reference Series subwoofer in a general sense, they do not show box-construction details or exact installation methods for your particular vehicle. If you do not feel you have the necessary experience, do not attempt the installation yourself, but instead ask your authorized Infinity dealer about professional installation options.

Remember to keep your sales receipt with this manual in a safe place so both are available for future reference.

WARNING: Playing loud music in an automobile can permanently damage your hearing, as well as hinder your ability to hear traffic. The maximum volume levels achievable with Infinity speakers, combined with high power amplification, may exceed safe levels for extended listening. We recommend using low volume levels when driving. Infinity accepts no liability for hearing loss, bodily injury or property damage as a result of use or misuse of this product.

Depending on the size of the vehicle's interior listening space, reproduced bass frequencies below 80Hz are boosted by nearly 12dB per octave as frequency decreases in the car. NOTE: This effect, known as the vehicle's transfer function, plays an important part in shaping the overall in-car response and is displayed graphically along with freespace response on the enclosed data sheet for your Reference subwoofer.

CHOOSINGANENCLOSURE

Reference Series subwoofers are optimized to perform best in small sealed, vented and prefabricated bandpass enclosures. While infinite-baffle mounting of Reference Series subs is possible, power handling will be greatly compromised because there's no enclosed volume of air to prevent the speaker's cone from moving past its limit. For this reason, we do not recommend infinite-baffle mounting for Reference Series subwoofers.

You should choose the enclosure you will use based on the type of music you listen to, how much amplifier power you will use for the subwoofer and how much space inside the vehicle you can devote to a subwoofer enclosure.

Because a sealed enclosure provides the most control over the woofer's movement, a woofer mounted in a sealed enclosure will handle more power than a woofer mounted in another enclosure type. Sealed enclosures provide more accurate sonic reproduction than other enclosure types, so they are well suited to all types of music. Sealed-enclosure construction is straightforward and there are many prefabricated sealed enclosures available. Optimum sealed enclosures are always smaller than other types of enclosures optimized for a particular speaker, so they require the smallest amount of space inside the vehicle.

Vented enclosures provide better efficiency in the 40Hz – 50Hz range but this efficiency comes at the expense of sound in the lowest octave (below 40Hz) and at the expense of some control and power handling. If you are using a small amplifier, a vented box will provide more bass output from less power. Vented enclosures are also well suited to a variety of music types.

Because vented enclosures require the volume of the enclosure and the size of the port to have a specific relationship with the characteristics of the woofer, the enclosure must be built exactly to the specifications provided. While there are some prefabricated vented boxes available, matching a prefabricated box to a particular woofer is difficult. If you wish to use a vented enclosure, we strongly recommend having your authorized Infinity dealer build it or verify that your design is correct if you wish to build it yourself. An optimum vented enclosure is always larger than the optimum sealed box for the same woofer and will require more space inside the vehicle.

Bandpass enclosures often provide the most output available from any amplifier and subwoofer combination at the expense of sonic accuracy. If sheer SPL (sound-pressure level) is what you desire most, choose a bandpass enclosure. Bandpass-enclosure design is very tricky and the aid of a computer and enclosure design software is necessary. If you are an experienced installer or have some woodworking experience, you may wish to build the enclosure described in the enclosure design included with this woofer. Fortunately, there are many prefabricated bandpass boxes available and they are all optimized to extract the most output possible from any woofer. Bandpass enclosures can be quite large and may require a lot of space inside your vehicle.

POWERHANDLINGLIMITATIONS

The power handling capability of any woofer is related to both its ability to dissipate heat and the maximum excursion limits of its cone. Once the speaker's voice coil moves outside the magnetic gap, power can no longer be converted into motion and all the amplifier's power is converted into heat in the voice coil. This voice coil heating is the largest detriment to speaker longevity, so overexcursion should be avoided. Since speaker-cone excursion is different for each type of enclosure, power handling is different for each enclosure.

Sealed enclosures exert the most control over the motion of a subwoofer because the air inside the box acts like a spring against the motion of the woofer cone. Larger boxes allow for more excursion, thus providing more low-frequency output for the amount of power used. When placed in a sealed box much larger than the Vas of the subwoofer, it will perform as if it were in an infinite-baffle installation.

Vented and bandpass enclosures have the lowest amount of excursion for the amount of sound output. This is a result of port output reinforcing the sound output from the woofer. The mass of the air contained in the port provides an acoustic load on the woofer's cone at the tuning frequency, and this added mass decreases woofer-cone excursion. Vented boxes do not provide adequate woofer control when driven below the tuned frequency (Fb), so proper design is important. A vented bandpass box will have the lowest overall cone excursion, provided a subsonic filter is used.

• Voice coil overheating and burning due to overexcursion are often caused by overdriving an amplifier into "clipping." A severely clipped signal, or square wave, contains nearly twice the power of a clean sine wave at the same level. Bass that sounds broken up and distorted at higher volumes is usually indicative of an amplifier that is clipping and being asked to deliver power beyond its ability.
• Infinite-baffle or "free air" mounting applications allow for greater cone excursion than subwoofers mounted in an enclosure. In order to compensate, the power handling of the subwoofer will likely be half its rated power in this application.
• Study the excursion curves on the enclosed Reference Series data sheet and note the differences for different enclosure applications. The type and size of box used will produce different excursion demands on the enclosed subwoofer and, consequently, different levels of power handling. As long as the recommended enclosure parameters are used, the subwoofer will perform properly in its enclosed environment. However, any design deviation may result in less than optimum performance, and may also subject the subwoofer to overexcursion (i.e., where the voice coil leaves the gap) that can eventually damage the speaker. For additional help with this issue, please contact your authorized Infinity dealer.

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SPECIFICATIONS

840w 1040w 1042w 1240w 1242w

Diameter: 8" (200mm) 10" (250mm) 10" (250mm) 12" (300mm) 12" (300mm)

Sensitivity @ 2.83V/1m: 91dB 91dB 91dB 93dB 93dB

Power Handling (RMS): 200W 250W 250W 300W 300W

Power Handling (Peak): 800W

Frequency Response: 30Hz - 400Hz

Impedance: 4 ohms

Voice Coil Diameter: 2" (51mm)

Mounting Depth: 4-5/16" (110mm)

Overall Diameter: 8-1/4" (210mm)

Cut-Out Diameter: 7-1/16" (179mm)

1000W 1000W

25Hz - 400Hz 25Hz - 400Hz

4 ohms 2 or 8 ohms

2" (51mm) 2" (51mm)

4-9/16" (116mm) 4-9/16" (116mm)

10-3/8" (264mm) 10-3/8" (264mm)

9-1/8" (232mm) 9-1/8" (232mm)

1200W

23Hz - 400Hz

4 ohms

2" (51mm)

5-1/16" (129mm)

12-7/16" (316mm)

11-3/16* (284mm)

1200W

23Hz - 400Hz

2 or 8 ohms

2" (51mm)

5-1/16" (129mm)

12-7/16" (316mm)

11-3/16" (284mm)

A valid serial number is required for warranty coverage.

Features, specifications and appearance are subject to change without notice.

Infinity Systems • 250 Crossways Park Drive, Woodbury, NY 11797 USA

FAX [phone] • www.infinitysystems.com

© 2005 Harman International Industries, Incorporated • Part No. INFREFSUBS1/05

H A Harman International Company

Declaration of Conformity

We, Harman Consumer International

2, route de Tours

72500 Chateau-du-Loir

France

declare in own responsibility that the products described in this owner's manual are in compliance with technical standards:

EN 61000-6-3:2001

EN 61000-6-1:2001

Klaus Lebherz

Harman Consumer Group International

Chateau-du-Loir, France 1/05