SSA Product Reviews

Audio Wrap

Sat, 21 Aug 2010 09:25:29 +0000

Audiowrap is obviously a high quality product from my personal experience with it. Enough said.

The adhesion on it is superior to almost all other sound deadners I have used. It's very sticky and has no odor to it. Other products I have used had a uneven layer of adhesive while this product has a nice even thick coat for superior adhesion.

The deadening material itself is thick. It's nice and stiff so it's easier to work with. It won't fold over and stick to itself while you are removing the plastic film for install. My fingers got cut up pretty good from installing this product. Which means it won't fold under pressure and once again. It's thick.

I noticed a difference just from installing a single roll inside my car and I would like to purchase some more of this fine product very soon.

All and all. Drek gives AudioWrap a thumbs up.

Effective & Ease of use.

Radaflex 1/0 welding cable

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 01:56:48 +0000

I'm getting ready to venture into my largest build to date. A pair of 15's off a 3K watt amp. Here
is a little about the 1/0 cable I bought.

What do we have here?

100ft of Radaflex 1/0 welding cable. 42lbs of copper cabling.

ID markers on the cable. This stuff is good to 195 degrees Fahrenheit. I recommend some
fiberglass/foil insulation for under hood use. Also avoid running this by any exhaust components.

The outside diameter measures right at 5/8"

The strands outside diameter measure around 7/16" There are 1580 strands of 32 AWG copper wire.

A shot of my high tech measuring equipment.

Verification that the measuring equipment properly zeros out.

Resistance measurement of the 100ft of cable. Maximum rated resistance for 1000ft at 68 degrees
Fahrenheit is .106 ohms

Here is a flexibility test. Not too shabby.

I bough this cable online through CableYard.com Pricing varies on quantity ordered. Free shipping is offered for
orders over $250 of Radaflex cables. They accept paypal, which is very convenient. I placed my order,
got a confirmation e-mail with in minutes. Unfortunately there was no tracking number provided, so I
was kind of left hanging on when the item shipped. I'm pretty sure I would have been provided one if I
called. Calling was not needed because my order arrived a couple of days after I placed my order. Even
though Cable Yard is in Georgia the Cable came from Houston Tx.

Here is a link to the PDF brochure for Radaflex cables.
My link

As I start my build I'll update this thread with any new findings, performance wise and quality wise
as well.

XS Power VCM

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 14:26:33 +0000

Hey all.

So these finally came back in to stock and I jumped on one time I saw it.

My vehicle - GMC Yukon with 5.3
My Irraggi Amputator was charging real nice first thing in the morning getting up to 14v then a few minutes later, it would settle in at around 13.6v and stay there pretty much all day. I was not happy and was considering buying another alt.

I purchased the VCM from the SSA store and as usual communication and ship time were first class.

Installation was straight forward taking around 15-20 minutes. There is really no way to install it wrong as it's plug and play. I mounted it temporarily as I wanted to find the sweet spot as to where to set it to charge. I will mount it behind my plexi cover where my Stinger is now in the future.

As for the results...I am 110% satisfied! My voltage first thing in the morning is 15.3 and once things warm up the VCM keeps things plugging along 14.8 all day long. I could set it to charge higher, but I felt this was plenty for daily driving.

This is a wonderful product and I am completely satisfied with the purchase. I would recommend this to anyone who wants to get that little extra and have complete control over their charging voltage.

Boston Acoustic Pro60SE review

Wed, 28 Jul 2010 18:00:24 +0000

I purchased the Boston Acoustic pro60se component system from Sonicelectronix for 289.99 about four months ago and i feel like i've had enough time with the set to make a reliable review.
The bad news is that this is the first after market component set that i've really had any true experience with so this review may not have a whole lot of value. oh well

The set has been running off of an old Alpine 3522 its entire life, so there is no doubt that they aren't getting their RMS (125 watts at 3ohms). The set was installed in the front doors in replacement of the stock speakers in my 2004 explorer. No modification was needed; they were pretty much a bolt on. and the tweeter is in line with the woofer using the stock mount. Now this is very important, i have done no modifications to the door. No sound deadening has been installed. That plus the low wattage causes a pretty large lack in mid-bass, but that's not the speakers fault.
Now onto clarity. These speakers just honestly make it seem like i'm there in the studio. I have the adjustable tweeters set to all the way up on the crossovers. The vocals that come out of the speakers honestly seem like i have somebody in the car talking to me. It's very noticeable in the beginning of "baby got back" when the girl is talking. It's very noticeable in other songs as well, just I know that's a very famous song that people can relate to. Instrument reproduction is good as well and everything distinguishes itself very nicely. The best way to describe it is that i feel as if i'm in the studio listening to the band record their music. i love it. I would strongly recommend this set to anyone.

but like i said before, i haven't heard any other sets even remotely close to this price range.

CDT PSS-062i

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 13:56:03 +0000

The USPS priority mail package arrived, and I knew what was in it. I had been excited about their arrival, as they were the final piece to my upgrade from a more entry level set of CDTs to one of their very best 2 way component set offerings. The journey took about a month. The heavy box revealed the monster CDT ES-06 midbass drivers. They are pretty beefy drivers, with a big rubber boot over the motor. Jerking the boot off, I discovered a super shiny chrome motor. The basket is a nice cast 4 spoke basket. The quick release spring terminals offer a secure and quick connection. I quickly yanked out the old mids and modified the door to fit the motor, and they were in place about 1 hour later. I fired them up and let them have a little break in time while I e-mailed Mike at Vertex Audio, who was a great help in getting me set up with the units best suited to achieve my goals, and let him know I got the set and I had just carved up my doors to make those puppies fit.

Essentially my upgrades left me owning the CDT Audio ES-062i GOLD 6.5" Component Set which I will review as a complete set .The tweeters are the DRT26A aluminum dome modular tweeter units, which would be an upgrade to the normal set. The tweeters are very attractive, and obviously very well built. You can change the driver itself from the silk dome, to the aluminum dome, to the titanium dome by using the supplied tool, grabbing the base, and turning the tweeter module until it clicks. Then the tweeter slides out of the base and you can insert the new module just as easily. It takes about 20 seconds to swap both tweeter domes. The tweeters have just an awesome amount of options for mounting them. The crossover is the EX550i, which was designed specifically for the ES-06 mids and the DRT26 tweeters, as it brings the crossover point down to rolloff (2.5kHz) of the powerful mid. The crossover is a decent size, not tiny by any means, but not obnoxiously large. It appears to use very good components and has several setting options. There are no jumpers in here, all settings are done with switches, and admittedly the switches could be marked better.

Crossover on the right, with the switches circled)

Mid and tweet installed.

Now, on to the install in question. I wanted to let everyone know the important factors surrounding the set, as they can play a role in their performance. I used 2 different amplifiers while running this set. The first was a solid state Cadence FXA-5100 bridged, running 300 WRMS/ch. The second was a tube amplifier, Butler TDB475 bridged to provide 200 WRMS/ch. The source is a Pioneer Premier FH-P800BT. Everything is set flat unless otherwise indicated in the review, all bass boost and enrichment modes off. I set the HU to highpass at 63Hz. The substage consists of a Cadence ZRS6000D which is ~650@2ohms, and 2 Adire Koda 10” subs in a midsized (1.2 per sub) sealed arrangement, crossed at 80Hz and run in reverse polarity. The mids are in the stock location in the lower front of the doors, decoupled from the sheet metal, spaced out with MDF, in a well damped door in an IB alignment. The tweets are well angled in the kicks, with a desired soundstage in the center of the windshield.

Here is a little speaker porn. This is the ES-06 (the large black driver) compared to the EF-62FG (the red driver)

Now for the review

This set is a very solid offering from CDT for those of us who like a really warm, powerful midbass that can really get down deep. The only shortcoming is that the midrange may be a little soft for some listeners when listened through a mid level solid state amp. The tubes really opened the midrange up tremendously, and I have to say that this set with the tubes is a winner all the way around. I really like the aluminum dome tweeter, as it is crisp and detailed, without evidence of sibilance or ringing at all. It really allows for a broad soundstage and a great image. The soundstage is just huge in the car without much work. My only complaint is, there may be a little too much shimmer with the SS amp, although the tubes really pulled it back and tamed it where it might get a little domineering. Overall, it is a fantastic tweeter, one deserving of it’s reputation. Tonal accuracy is very good, but the midbass of the set is a bit silky to be called perfect, although I like the buttery smooth midbass.

I have always liked Tantric’s self titled album for midbass detail and depth. The mids definitely handled the usual tracks with precision; the drumbeats accompanied by Hugo Ferreira growling voice showed the mids could really handle transients exceptionally well. I love the way they blend acoustic guitar and electric guitar too. It allows us the ability to determine how realistic the differences are between the 2, with particular attention to the decay. The EX550i has them crossed perfectly (I had to make a small tweeter aiming adjustment to compensate for a tiny dip in frequency response), and the DRT26As handle the low crossover point with ease. Tantric does nothing exceptionally fast, but the separation of their instruments in their first release really helps show off how well a set can provide detail and accuracy during reproduction.

Dream Theater’s Train of Thought was next on the list. Mike Portnoy attacks a drum set like it is his enemy… and the ES-o6 handled the attack with ease. Kickdrum separation was precise; the ES-06 almost belittles his speed.

I love Pink Floyd. They got a lot of play on these speakers. I stuck to Dark Side of the Moon (30th Anniversary Remastered SACD Hybrid, original copy), and Wish You Were Here. Dark Side of the Moon really was amazing. My old lady commented “Wow, this sounds amazing, did you buy new speakers or something?” to which I replied, “No way honey!!!” Even she noticed the difference at very modest listening levels. Floyd’s psychedelic trips through both of these albums really presented imaging that is so deep and the stage is so vast it seems to extend beyond the doors and windshield of the car.

The usual suspects played on the system as well. Dave Matthews Band’s 34 showed amazing depth with the set, and the Tenor Sax played so beautifully it was frightening. I love to use Warehouse, and Ants Marching as well, because they provide a ton of detail from the bottom of the audible spectrum to the top, with explosive woodwinds and brass, pounding bass, harmonicas, cymbals (from delicate high hats to huge crashes) guitars, and of course, Dave’s voice. Everything is so accurate, and the image is amazing with so many instruments exploding around you, with amazing depth and clarity. Sarah McLachlan and Norah Jones both maintained composure, and beauty. Their voices didn’t seem to feel strained at all, no ringing on the high notes, and the mids don’t even seem like they are trying. Pianos rolled behind them with amazing precision and detail. The decay is as perfect as we can expect in an imperfect environment like a car.

In conclusion, this set is very accurate, very fast, and finely detailed. The mids’ attack is aggressive, and their decay is natural. They provided more impact than the FG mids, but they are not fatiguing like many aggressive midbasses can be. Their depth is impressive, and they handle their midrange duties in a very mellow, laid back manner. Transient response from the mids is impressive. The tweeters are very precise, and controlled, and delicate. I heard no audible ringing, no sibilance, and harsh isn’t a word that comes to mind. They are critical, without being bright, laid back without being flat. The crossovers handle the mid to tweeter transition smoothly. This truly is one fine component set. They are a well rounded set that really encompasses the whole package audio enthusiasts are searching for.

Hertz Mille (MLK165) Component set review.

Tue, 13 Jul 2010 19:31:37 +0000

So the package arrived at the shop and I could barely restrain my excitement. I had been reading a lot about the Hertz Mille set and found a brand new set for a real steal. The MLK165 set uses the ML165 mid driver, the ML28 tweeter, and the MLCX 20 crossover, which is amazingly HUGE! The mid is really a piece of art, very well constructed with an oddly shaped “V-cone” for better off axis dispersion. The tweeter comes with 2 “chambers” which seem to act as aperiodic membranes, altering FS from 1200Hz with the small to 920Hz with the large chamber. Hertz recommends the large chamber for best sound, and I agree that lowering FS is beneficial here as well, so I went with the large chamber. Unfortunately, almost none of the tweeter mounts will work with the large chamber, aside from flush mounting it, so don’t count on using this with a surface mount or with the angled tweeter pods that come with the unit… this design flaw is terribly disheartening I must say, but it didn’t affect my install, so… The Crossover is really obnoxiously HUGE, but pretty nicely featured. They use “easy jumpers”, which are pretty large, nicely handled couplers that are easier to use then most tiny jumpers we see in crossovers. They also allow for bi-amping the system, or running a single amp if you so choose.

Click here to view the MLK165 PDF file.

HU source is a Pioneer Premier FH-P800BT. Front stage amplifier is a Butler Tube Driver Blue 475 which is bridged for 2X200@4ohms, properly set up with an O-scope for no clipping. The front stage is crossed at 80Hz. The substage consists of a Cadence ZRS6000D which is ~650@2ohms, and 2 Adire Koda 10” subs in a midsized (1.2 per sub) sealed arrangement, also crossed at 80Hz and run in reverse polarity. The mids are in the stock location in the lower front of the doors, decoupled from the sheet metal, spaced out with MDF, in a well damped door in an IB alignment. The tweets are well angled in the kicks, with a desired soundstage in the center of the windshield. Some modification was made on the kicks to change the angle, as the silks are more directional then the aluminum tweets they replaced.

At the start of the testing I had the EQ dead flat; as this worked best for me with the CDT PSS-0626i set I removed from the system. In playing with this set I realized that I could not leave it flat as the bottom ½ octave or so seemed weak, so I boosted the mids at 125Hz, and reset the amplifier to compensate. I found that the substage being crossed at 80 and the mids crossed at the same point gave me a slightly artificial boost at 80, and the system remained relatively flat thanks to the mid’s rolloff, albeit slightly exaggerated at 80Hz, which livened up kick drums nicely. The crossovers of this set allow for tweeter attenuation, but I opted to leave the crossover set at 0dB. I also elected to use the HFC or “high frequency contour” option in the crossovers which compensates for speaker distance issues relative to the driver in the car, and it seemed to open the soundstage up on the driver’s side, where a silk dome might seem closed off in most other cases.

Overall the set has a nice sound to it. The mid seems rather forward in the midrange, and is weak on the bottom end, which surprised me. I like my mid to be fairly fat down low and I really like a low crossover point, which I was not able to achieve with this set. In looking at the specs it appeared like it might be a bit soft on the bottom compared to the ES-06, yet I expected it to be punchier, more aggressive. Needless to say I was surprised and disappointed at the bottom end, I expected it to be a little fuller, but I was pleased that it was punchier, although not as much as I expected, and it still remains easy on the ears. It is not overly aggressive or fatiguing, and yet well defined. A really happy medium, which I cannot say is a function of the driver, or the tubes that drive it. Even though it is a bit heavy in the midrange, the vocals seem very natural, and instrumentation is very clean and nicely detailed. Female vocals are very real, and open.

The crossover point is seamless, as expected from such a high end set. Though the crossover is so huge as to render it nearly impossible to hide, it is extremely well featured, and well designed, crossing at 2.5kHz.

The tweeters are a soft dome 1 1/8 inch compact design, with apeariodic chambers for the rear of the unit. According to Hertz, these are an open backed design that allows is to use various aperiodic modules to attach to the rear and alter the resonant frequency, and thus the behavior of the tweeter. While I did not play with the various modules, sticking with the largest module with the lowest overall system FS of 920Hz, I can guess it is a cool feature. The tweeters are delicate, yet pretty well detailed. Far and away one of the finer compacts I have heard. Unlike many soft domes this tweeter is energetic, and although the dispersion is more narrow then my old DRT26A aluminum domes, it is still pretty broad for a soft dome. They are very open and airy, lively and not fatiguing in any way.

The soundstage and image are pretty strong. While I have managed a better stage width in the car it is arguably more a function of the dome material then the driver’s incompetence. As I stated before, metal domes do offer better dispersion which I attribute to a broader soundstage. These definitely offer an extremely broad stage for soft domes. Image depth is impressive, with very realistic placement of musicians in test CDs and live acoustic performances… I love live acoustic sets as they tend to offer fixed placement of the musicians and a very real soundstage.

Musically these are pretty decent for most tastes. I did find some older midrange heavy 80’s metal to be a bit fatiguing though, due to the forward midrange I mentioned earlier. Female vocals are beautiful with this set, Sarah McLachlan and Norah Jones sound amazing. Norah’s breathless voice rings through very real and clear just floating in the center of the soundstage. Sarah’s amazing voice seems to fill the stage, and the differences between her grand piano, and Norah’s smaller piano are evidenced by this set. The grand just feels far more tonal and heavy then the smaller piano… you can almost feel the resonance of the large panels of the grand in the car. I love to use Dave Matthews for complex riffs and the huge array of instrumentation he likes to use. His nasal voice rings through as irritating as ever, and maybe a tad more nasal then I am used to. The background musicians really take off, and the lively midrange propels them to the forefront. Strings really ring true, with a nice and realistic decay, where some high strings that may get annoying with lively midranges seem to stay laid back and controlled, not what I might expect in listening to old school metal. I liked the way that Alice in Chains’ Unplugged album uses a kickdrum that is blocked by a plastic panel so as not to overpower the band, really seems like something is in the way of the kick. The placement of the musicians, which I know very well as I like to watch their Unplugged DVD, is extremely accurate, not overly separated like some sets that make it feel almost artificial, yet realistic enough in their placement that you know where they are sitting. You can tell Scottie Olsen is sitting right behind Mike Inez. I did a lot of other listening, but wanted to keep this segment brief… or at least as brief as my rambling can get, anyways .

To summarize, I like the set well enough, but it does suffer some shortcomings that I would not expect from a set costing a cool grand. I really expect a set this high end to have better bottom end. With 6MM of XMAX and a fairly low FS, this set should be solid to cross at 65hz, but it just starts to struggle at 80Hz. But with that weakness comes a great midrange, with some interesting qualities, a solid crossover that is well featured, well thought out, simple to adjust and set up with great jumpers, and a very, very nice tweeter. While the only audible complaint I have is the lack of deep down guttural midbass, the set does suffer some physical shortcomings as well. While it includes several tweeter mount options, you can’t use the best aperiodic module on any of them… rending the vast array of options completely useless if SQ is your focus. Also, the crossover… Guys, I can’t tell you enough how obnoxiously large this thing is.

If I had a thousand bucks to drop on a set, I think I would pass this set up for a few others. For what I paid for it, it is pretty decent, although in a similar price range I have owned better… But the midrange is intoxicating and the tweeter is very, very nice. If you have an opportunity to listen to the set, I suggest it. With all my complaining, it really does have some very strong audible qualities that have to be heard to be believed… oh yeah, and the mid is just absolutely a sexy unit, a real piece of art.

Mid in door:

Comp set:

Tweets and aperiodic membrane:

Crossover topless:

Mid from the front:

Mid from behind:

Tweeter:

Bravox CS60CF Review

Mon, 12 Jul 2010 03:58:48 +0000

Introduction

http://www.soundsolu...Components.html
http://bravoxaudio.com/

Bravox is a newer name to SSA, being recently just added to the store a few months back, so some of you may be relatively unfamiliar with the brand. According to the website, Bravox is a Brazilian company that was founded in 1953. From everything I could find they perform the full range of services in house, from engineering and design to driver construction. In this day and age of same-product different-name electronics, it's nice to see a company that still completely designs and produces their own unique products.

A few weeks back I purchased the Bravox CS60-CF component set, linked above, from the SSA store. At $445 I would consider these speakers to be in the middle of the price range.....more expensive than entry level products but not ultra-high end pricing either. The speakers arrived on my doorstep from the SSA store right at about a week after ordering, and as always the communication was great from the website and SSA staff.

Equipment

The CS60CF component set consists of 6.5" mids and 1" tweeters, and the packaging includes installation hardware, speaker wire and grills.

The mids are true 6.5" drivers, measuring exactly 6.5" from edge to edge. They feature a carbon fiber cone, butyl rubber surround and a sturdy cast frame with venting under the spider, which is a nice feature to see on a midwoofer as it aids in voice coil cooling and provides an additional escape path for air. The mids also feature a phase plug, which can serve dual purposes; it can aid in extending and smoothing the high frequency response by reducing cancellation and, when constructed of a heat-conducting metal, they can improve the driver's heat dissipation capabilities. The phase plug is coated so I can't tell the exact material, but it does have the feel of being a solid metal. Terminals are gold plated spade and the tinsel leads are fairly thick for being a midwoofer. The mid does not have a pole vent, and it's worth noting it also does not have a gasket. I'm guessing the lack of gasket is because of the grill-mounting ring that is to be installed behind the speaker.

It's also nice that the company provides T/S parameters for the midwoofer, as it's fairly rare for a company in car audio to provide those. With it's high Qts and moderate Vas it's apparent these 6.5" speakers were designed with the car environment in mind as results will be very close to optimal in a car door, which functions closely to an infinite baffle alignment.

The tweeters are 1" silk domes with ferrofluid cooling. The housing is plastic and there is about 6" of lead wires attached for direct connection to the speaker wire rather than any type of terminal. The packaging includes angle mount and flush mount options.

Crossovers are reasonably sized and feature blue polycarbonate plastic cases with venting on each side, a 0db and -3db switch and gold plated terminals. The manual states this component sets uses a 4th order acoustical crossover slope. Interesting to note their description of the crossover there. They state it's an acoustic slope, not an electric slope. The difference normally being the acoustic slope is the sum of the driver's response and the crossover, whereas an electric slope is the effect of the crossover only. The acoustic slope is actually a little more useful to know as it tells you what the response of the actual driver will be with the crossover, and not just what the crossover is doing to the signal. When most people are designing a passive crossover, they are aiming for a certain acoustic slope not a certain electrical slope. The electrical slope is essentially just a means to an end, not the end itself. The manual does not list a crossover frequency, but "LHP 3.5" is molded into the crossover. I'm wondering if maybe that means the low and high pass frequency is 3.5khz.

The installation materials included with the set is just about everything you would need to install the speakers; speaker wire, eight screws, four butt connectors for the tweeters, twelve spade terminals for connecting wires to the crossovers, and four female terminals that are supposed to be for connecting to the midwoofer.

The manual is semi-informative. The same manual is used for all but 1 of the component sets and gives a brief introduction to Bravox, some bullet points about the features of the products, T/S parameters for the different sets and a quick wiring tutorial. I would like to see it include a little more detail and possibly some suggestions on proper setup techniques and installation considerations for informational/educational purposes, but maybe that's just me.

Pictures
Who doesn't like pictures?

SAX 100.4 (C) Review

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 17:55:05 +0000

Company: Sundown Audio
Product Name: SAX 100.4 Rev C
Rating 4 out of 5
Power: 100 x4 or 320 x2
Pros: Flexible cross-over network. Enough power for entire system (if you are not greedy). Takes a beating thermally and physically. Not a flashy looking amp
Cons: Very large compared to comparable 4x100 amps which makes it difficult to mount. Not a flashy looking amp.
Ownership: 2+ years

I purchased this amp from DB-r as a refurb almost 2 years ago to install in a Miata to power the entire system. I only got around to running a 10" ported sub off of the rear channels which in that car was enough to make it (to me) a good thumping system. Nothing to break glass but enough to make me happy. (I'm in my 30's so I'm not trying to lose any more hearing). With the amp neing so large it was difficult to find a spot to mount. I'm not the best installer so I was able to get it to fit but it wasn't easy in such a small trunk. The car was rear ended by an Ford Expedition and the box that was in the trunk was forcefully shoved into the amp. Nothing was crushed but the amp did take some of the force of the impact. The amp was a little scuffed but still worked.

I installed the amp in the next car as just a sub amp again (lexus is300) and again due to the size I had to get creative in mounting. I needed to retain the passthru of the car's back seats so I decided to mount the amplifier upside-down under the rear deck. Before you start blasting me for this know that for almost 2 years the amp was like that I had absolutly 0 issues with this. NO OVERHEATING, NO flaky behaviour, nothing! Just kept on working. The amp did/does get hot but no hotter than when it was in the miata trunk. I understand that this is not optimal but the heatsinks were open to the air . With this amp In this car I went thru 3 subs (an 8"Ported , a 10" sealed and ported and a 12" sealed) and never thought that the amp was the weakest link in getting good sound out of these subs. This past spring, this car was involved in an accident which send another enclosure into the corner of the amp (oops forgot to secure that enclosure too) which did some damage to the wood of the box, but again the amp kept working. When I had the amp out after the wreck, I looked at the board and didn't see any signs of damange or anything. No weird caps or anything else obviously out of the ordinary.

I installed the amp in the next car with the intention to use all the channels. Its again, mounted upside down, under the deck powering a Tidal Audio 12" Sealed and a set of Hertz ESK-163L 3-ways in my E36 M3. The amp has enough power to make this system sound smooth and gets loud enough for me. Powers the fronts with ease and allows the 12 to fill in the lower end and can thump when I want it to. Sure it's only 300+ watts but it sure sounds good. The amp does get hot but no hotter than I've felt before. Frankly at this point, If it did die of heat, I'd do the same thing over again. I've gotten my $$'s worth out of it.

Overall, the performance of this amp has really made me happy. I've been able to use this amp in different ways and it has never disapointed me. It's hard now days to find something that doesn't let you down in way or fashion but this amp just keeps going. It may not be the easiest to install and may not be very popular name (like RF, alpine or such) and may not be flashy with LED's and such but for honest to goodness performace at a great price, I don't think you can find anything better. 4 out of 5. -1 star for just simply being big.

Pics in a few minutes

2 12" ssa icon prototypes

Sat, 29 May 2010 16:07:37 +0000

2 12" ssa icons (prototype?) review

First thing I noticed when I unpackaged them was how well built they were.
The huge triple stack motor, well you guys can read the specs but the craftsmanship on these drivers is top notch.

In my setup I had dual 1ohm drivers wired to 1ohm on saz-1500d amp. My electrical is stock besides the big 3 done, so I couldn't really take full advantage of the amp,
but that was okay because the icons still got loud, very loud. I probably had the gain turned up 2/5 on the saz.

First song I played was Narayan by The Prodigy, bass kicking in at 0:44 sounding nice and crisp at low volume, got a couple rattles here and there in the jeep.
I then turned it up to hear what it could really do, the rave of the drivers, and I was astounded to hear earth shattering bass without losing any sound quality.
My esophagus was tensing up and parts in my vehicle were moving and rattling that I didn't think was possible. My mirrors druped down for god's sake.

Everyone knows the icons are SQ based drivers, but they do in fact get loud. Big fat punch to the gut.

Next song was Cyanide by Metallica. Every drum line was dead-on, never missing a beat.

These drivers carry a punch and sound amazing doing it. I couldn't ask for more, hitting the lows like I never knew possible.

When setting up my amp settings and playing some test tones in the garage, I made a roll of paper towels fall from a shelf (just thought I'd share cause it was awesome )

I'll be posting another review once I have the electrical to backup my amp and the icons are broken in.

Enclosure Specs:
3.5 @ 33Hz

3.5 air space
.28 sub disp
.077 bracing

3.75 x 12.5 port area = 13.4 sq in of port per cube

Videos (sorry the camera sucks picking up audio)

Daber Audio Shop Reviews...

Tue, 25 May 2010 19:54:11 +0000

(Re-Post from Daber Section)

Daber Audio is starting to take off, so I thought I would take this chance and repost some of the store reviews we have got from them....

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Daber Audio SQL-10 Subwoofer

Michelle Kibodeaux Says:

"I was getting so frustrated that I couldn't hear the lower frequencies for some of my favorite music! But, I'm a mom, I drive a lil station wagon, and I wasn't into subs for the status. My 10" sub is perfect. Doesn't take up much room, still can tote groceries, but the bass makes all the grocery sacks make a sizzle sound. It's really just perfect!"

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Daber Audio SQL-12 Subwoofer

BLACK HONDA CIVIC Says:

"I have used MANY diffrent woofers, always 12's.
Ive had systems w/ 1000's of watts, had to add xtra batteries, water hose size 1/0 wire, H.O. alternators ect. and spend 1000's of dollars. My last system was 2 12" Treo SSi woofers, w/ 1500 watt Treo Amp. It was loud, and did low 140's on a term lab. I now have 2 12' Daber SQL woofers, w/ 300 watts of Power from a Boston Acoustics amp, there GT50 ( 5-channel) running the whole show, and my civic is just as loud as it was w/ the Treo equipment, But, only running 4g wire, 1 battery, stock Alternator and Im still hitting low 140's on term lab. These woofers, are the best subs I have ever had. Very nice stuff.
Would for sure recommend these to anyone"

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Daber Audio SQL-15 Subwoofer

N/A

"i have a Daber SQL-15 in my mitsubishi galant.. by far the loudest sub iv had.. doesnt compare to anything else"

Jack Says:

"I have this subwoofer in my 2002 nissan altima and it is definately the deepest, cleanest bass i have heard and i've heard quite a few subwoofers being as many of my friends have systems in their cars as well. I have never heard of daber before so i was kind of leery but i am definately going to continue with this brand. The only thing that poses a problem is that is is only single voice coil so it takes 800 watts at 4 ohm but i saw in the post that dvc is coming soon. i highly recommend this brand and suggest that you choose this over kenwood, pioneer, memphis, and hifonics because i have had all of these in my car and this sub blows them out of the water!"
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SPL-Labs LCD Bass Meter

Mon, 03 May 2010 12:41:09 +0000

Here it is. I'll start of with a few pics of exactly what I got.

Plain jane.

Good to see you foam

The first signs for something promising

Cables!

Yay, for bubble wrap.

/////Alpine PDX 1000 Review

Thu, 29 Apr 2010 00:08:33 +0000

Company: Alpine
Product Name: PDX 1000
Length of Ownership: 2-3 months
Rate 1-5: *****
Pros: Size, VERY User Friendly, Just about everything.
Cons: I would of liked the speaker terminals better if they were fiberglass instead of plastic.. thats about it.

The PDX 1000 is an amazing amplifier.. its sexy and packs a punch!

I had it pushing two 12" Alpine Type R's (3rd gen) and it was an amazing set-up and i miss it everyday! This amplifier is my favorite to date, i would recommend this amplifier to ANYone that wants a great 1000wrms at 2 and 4 ohms

I really wish for Alpine to start making PDX series amps with 2-6kwrms!

Sound Deadener Showdown

Mon, 19 Apr 2010 23:37:20 +0000

I want to take short time aside to thank Don and his company Sound Deadener Showdown for making great products. He was VERY helpful on telling me what i need and did not try to sell me more the what was necessary to make an extra buck, i recommend his company products to anybody that really wants a quite ride.

The products:

16 CLD Tiles
1 roll Extruded Butyl Rope
1 sheet 1/4" CCF

The CLD Tiles went on my doors real nicely, they were easy to cut and shape with scissors.. but not so much with a box cutter lol

The Extruded Butyl Rope can stretch FAAAAAAAAAAAAR as fuck! i took about a piece the size of my thumb and pulled it about 6-12 feet -- just for shits and giggles. The rope will NOT stick to ANYTHING with a dirty surface so make sure you have it clean!

The 1/4" CCF is VERY NICE foam!! Has a nice thick compact feel to it, i put a piece of foam against my mouth to see if any air passes through... nope, that shit had my cheeks about to explode haha

Overall i am very happy i picked this company for my baby!

Mach5 IXL10

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 12:01:07 +0000

Hey Guys i wrote this review for my home car audio forum in Australia, so prices are in Australian but i thought it would be a good idea to post it up here as this is my perfered international car audio forum. I hope you all enjoy

Introduction

Having spent a considerable amount of time listening to the IXL18 I was interested to see how the smaller IXL10 compared with its bigger brother. I was always very impressed by the IXL18 and I was optimistic about how the IXL10 would perform. I was hopeful that the IXL10 would be able to replicate the sonic character of the IXL18 in a smaller enclosure. Although I have a Mach5 SPL15 I had been looking for a smaller subwoofer for a daily musical system. The IXL10 ticked all the right boxes, small, affordable and orientated towards sound quality systems. Although very applicable for home theatre the focus of this review is on the IXL10 as a sound quality driver for mobile audio.

Technical Features & Specifications

The build quality is excellent for a driver in this price range as are the driver's features. Triple stack 7.5 motor structure is something that is more fitting of a driver retailing for $500, in this regard the IXL10 punches far above its price tag. Large foam surround is constant across the IXL range. It is worth noting that the surround consumes a considerable amount of area reducing the driver's effective cone area. However the drivers high Xmax of 20mm offsets the small piston diameter. The driver has a single spider which is reasonable stiff, more so that on the IXL18. Dual screw terminals rather than push down terminals. Other reviewers have commented on the frustrating nature of the screw terminals which are spring tensioned and sometimes difficult to use. Granted if you have large fingers they might be annoying but I figure most people will only use the terminals once or twice in the life of the driver. I personally had no issues with the terminals. The motor is large with a considerable pole piece vent for cooling. The coils are dual 2 ohm to facilitate a 1 ohm load when wired in parallel or 4 ohm in series. The coil itself is a 3 inch coil on an aluminium former. Despite the rating of 1000 watts RMS the IXL series coils will take considerably more power if not clipped before any thermal issues. (I'm not suggesting you try but its useful to know, for reference my IXL18 was subdued to 2000 measured watts and it took 4 minuted clipped to burn the coil.) Other specifications worth noting are the low resonant frequency (FS) of 27.8Hz which is very respectable for a 10 driver and the sensitivity rating of 81db/1W/1M. The low sensitivity and high power handling suggests on paper that the driver is very inefficient requiring considerable power to drive however I found this not to be the case. The IXL10 is what I would describe as an industrial looking driver with a focus on performance instead of looks with impressive features and specifications for its retail price of $235.

Review Equipment

The review was conducted in my daily driver, a Ford Laser sedan. The source was a mid level Alpine Headunit, a CDE-104BTi to be exact. Music content was from either original CD's or an Ipod with files ranging from very compressed MP3's and MP4's (128k) to WMA and Apple Lossless. For the review I listened mainly with three amplifiers, a Jaycar monoblock, a Jaycar 2 Channel and a Digital Designs C4a. All amplifiers retailing bellow $500 which is the price range that potential buyers of the IXL10 will most likely purchase amplifier from. I did also pair the IXL10 with a Hertz HP1KD amplifier for a limited time to audition the driver with a high power, high quality amplifier. Previous experiences with recommended enclosures has lead me to adopt a principle of never building recommended enclosures so for the IXL10 I entered the TS parameters into WinISD 0.50a7 and modelled the driver in various enclosures. My goal for the IXL10 was quality output from a very small enclosure so I decided on a small sealed box. For a QTC of 0.7 (which is considered optimal) WinISD recommended a very small enclosure of 9 litres, due to the impracticality of such a design I settled on 18.5 litres. This gives a QTC of 0.58 which in theory translates into a slower low frequency roll of, or in other words more deep bass. I also modelled the IXL10 is various ported enclosures. Although it models very well in ported alignments due to the small box sizes and low tuning it is very hard to fit enough port area into the box. 20mm's of Xmax means the IXL10 requires a reasonable amount of port area which combined with the small box size and low tuning results in unfeasibly long ports. The box was 18mm all around with the exception of a double thickness front baffle. Given its final size of a little more than 320cm cube I decided box bracing was not required. The box was mildly stuffed with acoustic wool. On a final note most listening was with the box pushed up against the back seats with the driver facing the boot lid. As with all setups there is a compromise between overall output and quality, from the outset the goal was to achieve realistic infra bass reproduction at a level in keeping with the front speakers. Unlike my experiences with the Mach5 drivers (SPL15 and IXL18) overall output was not a priority.

Listening

I listened to a wide variety of music during this review from Ambient, Orchestral and Acoustic through to commercial Pop and Rock even expanding into Heavy Metal, Dance, Trance and Drum & Bass. Not only because this is what my daily listening includes but more importantly different genres of music challenge drivers in different ways.

Massive Attack

Without a doubt one of my favourite bands, their albums 100^th Window, Blue Lines, Mezzanine and No Protection are real favourites of a band widely attributed with the innovation of the genre Trip-Hop. Mezzanine is widely considered as a fantastic recording with s special emphasis on the bass lines, what better album to test a subwoofer. Track 7, Man Next Door, highlights the deep driving bass lines that massive attack are famous for. Double drum beats that are deep with substantial reverb. Unfinished Sympathy from the album Blue Lines is another perfect example. The IXL10 managed to reproduce these bass lines without the sloppiness and muddiness that many subwoofer produce. What was more surprising was the IXL10's ability to realistically reproduce these lows at a reasonable level from such a small sealed enclosure. I find Massive Attach a real challenge for most subwoofers yet the IXL10 really impressed.

This is an IXL motor next to the IXL10, the motor is from an IXL18, they are the same motor accross the range with tripple slugs and a large pole vent for cooling :good:

Dream Theatre

Progressive metal, heavy metal, rock metal infusion, whatever you chose to classify Dream Theatre they have some impressive songs. A favourite of mine is the 23 minute A Change of Seasons which is very dynamic with fast and hard passages one minute followed by slower rock style sections. Starting at 3:20 there is a drum line that contains incredibly fast kick drum. I have heard systems where the detail in the kick drum is completely lost. Yet again the IXL10 surprised with fast dynamic reproduction. This song did highlight a slight lack of impact from the IXL10, while the sound was very fast and tight it did feel at times like the kick drum did not have the impact that it should have. Some like to refer to it as the missing fundamental, to expand while the sub sounded great I noticed a lack in physical impact, I felt like I could not feel the drum as I would have liked to. To be fair this is probably as much a criticism of my midbass drivers rather than the sub but I noticed it never the less. On a more positive note John Myung's bass riffs were always reproduced with good accuracy, even the low B which is very prominent in Dream Theatres Music. With a many subwoofers the bass lines are drowned out by the kick drum, with the IXL10 despite considerable kick drum I could always hear with good detail and accuracy the bass guitar.

Harmonic 33

I only have one album from Harmonic 33 titled Extraordinary People and to my knowledge it might be their only album but it is great. Without a doubt the song Kaleidoscope is the best on the album. For all the ground pounder guys who are sick of chopped and screwed bass CD's go hunt down this song, the bass line comes from nowhere 48 seconds into the song. The lows are very prominent and dig very deep, you not going to reproduce such lows with budget subwoofer or ported enclosures tuned in the traditional 35-40Hz range. Reproducing the low notes with reasonable volume is difficult but the real challenge comes from doing so while remaining clean and tight with low group delay. To be honest this song is probably the song that made me begin to really appreciate what the IXL10 is capable of. Without a doubt the best reproduction of this track I have yet experienced in my car.

This photo highlights the IXL's 20mm Xmax, the driver is capable of fairly serious throw which makes up for the small piston diameter.

Ghost In The Shell (Stand Alone Complex) Soundtracks 1,2,3

I doubt many are familiar with the soundtracks from the successful anime series Ghost In The Shell series. Musical producer Yoko Kanno is amazingly talented and these three CD's for the base for my auditioning CD's due to quality of the recordings and the diverse range of music. Litium Flower from the first soundtrack is a rock song that is driven by a full sounding bass line. Yet again the IXL seemed to reproduce the complicate and fast lines with accuracy and realism. Another equally good example of the IXL's performance was track 16 (Japanese title which I cannot translate) which contains some very fast drum and a sound effect that I can only describe as a door opening followed by a sweep that drops very low. This track emphasizes the IXL's ability to replicate sub 30Hz content. I did however find myself looking for more emphasised output during enthusiastic listening experiences.

Side by side with the cheaper Digital Designs 512a.

Pendulum

The albums Hold Your Colour and In Silico are excellent examples of Australian Drum & Bass with fast intricate and deep sweeping bass lines. Boxes with high group delay tend to sound horrible on Drum & Bass often ending up sounding delayed and muddy. The track 9,000 miles from In Silico contains lots of low frequency information and most systems struggle to sound realistic, most systems sound very poor on this track, especially at elevated volume levels. I once again noticed a lack of output and for the first time I felt like I was driving the subwoofer hard, at very loud listening levels the IXL10's output started to sound slightly distorted and lacking the clarity I had come to expect from the driver.

Andy Salvanos

Don't worry if you have not heard about Andy Salvanos, he is a very talented local Adelaide artist who plays a 10 string Chapman stick. I have two albums Fragments and Closer which contain some great songs. The reason I decided to include these albums into the review is these albums I enjoyed listening to more than any others because of the IXL10. It's amazing how the most subtle details can have the most profound impact and effect on the listening experience. In the case of Andy's soft acoustic recordings the IXL10 added subtle impacts such as the harmonics between bass notes and warmth and depth to his melodic bass lines. A good friend who has considerable experience in audio was quick to comment on this when listening. The song Long Black Lunch from the album Closer is a perfect example, the subtle detail contributed by the IXL10 added considerable realism to the bass lines.

Listening Conclusions

I spent lots of time in the car both stationary in the garage and on the road listening to music from all different genres. Despite the efficiency rating I found the IXL10 was not hard to drive even from 2 bridged channels of a 4 channel amplifier, 400 watts seemed enough to get the driver moving in a 18.5 litre sealed box. While is does seem loud enough on most music materials I found that some songs lacked impact. The best way to describe this is it feels like the 10 cannot sweep enough air to reproduce some material at high volumes. At lower volumes the sub produces very clean bass and amazingly has the ability to reproduce sub 30Hz content without much difficulty. I think the main problem with the lack of impact is due to my love of very loud dynamic music. Although this is not in keeping with the original aim of quality sub bass reproduction sometimes I found with the volume up high the IXL10 did struggle. In my sedan with the back seats folded up I think I would need 2 IXL10's to achieve exactly what I'm looking for. I could always hear the bass note regardless of how loud I pushed the volume but sometimes I could not feel them in a way I would have liked. For someone with a smaller hatch or more modest listening levels I cannot recommend the IXL10 enough. Ported would have given more output again but with a different sonic signature.

Here is a video of the IXL10 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSV3YARw82I

Final Thoughts

In my system other components are the limiting factor for the IXL10. While there is no doubt there are better drivers in production I found the IXL10 to perform far above expectations. Being mainly an SPL orientated car audio enthusiast I did not expect to enjoy the IXL10, yet I found the opposite happened. I have spent more time listening in that car then ever before, the IXL10 is the best sounding subwoofer I have had in my car, great sounding, clean and balanced. Despite a total lack of processing on my headunit I was able to achieve a good balance with my front speakers. I could not help but be impressed that potential buyers need not play around with custom boxes, the IXL10 will sound great in a generic 0.7 cube sealed 10inch prefab box. Unlike many drivers that require trial and error in boxes all I had to do with the IXL10 was build a generic sized sealed box and connect it to an amplifier. Others thoroughly enjoyed listening to music in my car with many commenting specifically on the sub and its clarity, many owning more expensive subwoofers themselves. As far as car audio memories the IXL10 will always be high on the list because it really opened my eyes to how good a subwoofer can sound in an automotive environment. The next step from here is either another IXL10 or an IXL12. As always a big thanks to Mark and Sam for offering great drivers at amazing prices. Oh and you had better get ready for another order when I work out wether I want another 10 or a IXL12 :good:

It's a small box, very manageable and great sounding without taking up a large amount of boot space.

Some More photos

I really love this sub, i even prefer it to my 2005 RE XXX15 which in my opinion says a lot about the ability of these drivers.

AudioQue Sticker Review

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 02:30:30 +0000

So the sitckers came rolled up with surprised me, i thought it would fuck the sticker up but it didnt

I dont know if you are suspose to put the sticker on wet or dry but i had to put it on wet because i knew it'd be a bitch to reposition it if it was dry lol

At first i couldnt get the son of a bitch centered and even! but i got it perfect with time. Over all the sticker wasnt hard to put on, the letters seemed to stick th the clear layer of the sticker so i had to get my license out and wedge it between the clear layer and the letter. After i got the hang of it putting it on became very simple.

I love how they look on my truck and i would recomend them to any AQ fan.

Fi Hoody Review

Sun, 07 Feb 2010 01:54:34 +0000

I need to send it back and get a bigger size but here it is. (XL)

I thought it would be a material like Jordan hoodys but sadly its not and the size is smaller then a M compaired to Jordan.. seems thinner cotten too The strings comming out of the hood are pretty sweet. Its like weaved with white and grey.

The lettering seems pretty legit, i have a feeling it will shrink in the dryer so i have to hang dry it.

The elastic type material on the bottom of the hoody and by my wrist is decent not too tight.

Overall i am happy with the hoodys fi makes.. when i get the right size (XXL) ill be even happier.

The measurements for the Large is:
26" long 20" wide and a sleeve length of 8"

The measurements for the XLarge is:
27" long 22.5" wide and a sleeve length of 8.5"

The measurements for the XXLarge is:
28.5" long 25" wide and a sleeve length of 8.5"

AQ3500D (not the 3500d.1)

Sun, 31 Jan 2010 00:38:15 +0000

I'm not gonna post a lot of info in here right now because i dont have my specs in front of me but between now and the next few days, i'll be testing their power capability to a degree as they are wired at 0.4ohms right now... 4 of them are and will be kept that way for a week or two.

As of right now, leaving them wired like that and keeping the gain off(that's if you have an aftermarket gain controller), the amp's exhibit no heat buildup when not in use. It was left running like this for 45 minutes.

Some people may find this odd that i would test an amp with no output power but to the contrary... some amps wired this low are real touchy about certain wired loads and will go into protect without power output at all.
Also, some amps may start building up heat just from being wired that low and is not good for them either.

This amp is not like those which is good to see.
I do not recommend wiring below 0.65ohms at rest on any AQ amps as I've not yet tested their capability.

I will be testing how durable they are on low voltage drops, but that will be a little while from now.

The only output number i have for you guys is this-
5.1ohms - 957w. I do not know at what voltage the batts were but i know for a fact it was below 13v because the car was off.

Some more info about the amp-

All of it's vents are on the bottom so make sure you keep this area clear.
You can stack these amps on top of each other using threaded rod and nuts as bases but just a little side note about doing such an install-
Use a 17/64" bit to redrill the feet so the rod can slide through. You will need to position washers in place on the rod prior to permanently mounting amps on top of each other.
The allen wrench screws that are stickign out of the sides of the amp interfere with the washers properly going down to the feet of the amp, the washers must be placed in place prior to mounting amps permenently.

The amp comes with a remote GAIN controller with clipping LED, power\protect light.
It has standard controls- Gain, SSF, LPF, Bass Boost, Master\Slave switch.

The amp uses no internal fan and does well without one. Wired at 0.7ohms daily, the amps do not get hot enough to cause pain if you set your hand on it for long periods.
The remote wire connection is with the speaker connections.

This mono block amp has 2 sets of + and - terminals.

The purpose is inside the amp, these connections are internally paralleled.
This is still a mono channel amp.
This feature is to allow you to either let the amp parallel connections for you so you do not have to do it at the sub(s) or used for less resistance connections when trying to use the most and largest wire possible.
Knukonceptz Kolossus 8awg wire will fit into the speaker connection terminals on the amp.
The remote wire also accepts up to 8awg for unknown reason so you do not need a very small wire for this connection. I could not even get 16awg to fit properly, has to use something bigger.

These amps will stay alive all the way down to 9.5v and can accept voltage levels safely up to 18.5v.

This amp is rated to do 3,500w @14.4v @1%THD\4,000w @16v @1%THD\5,100w @18.0v @1%THD

If you want to drive these amps into major clipping, you will gain much more power as you'll see later on when i add more later.

These amps are no longer made and can be found used for under $500 shipped.

(2) SSA Xcon 18'' Review

Thu, 14 Jan 2010 05:27:56 +0000

So last night I took around an hour or so to write up some huge review on my new pair of 18'' Sound Solution Audio Xcons. Unfortunately there was a url glitch and the thread is gone, so I will try to sum up my product review instead of another 5000 word essay.

The SSA Xcon is an amazingly solid driver that has absurd amounts of low end output (on little power might I add) and still acts incredibly responsive, the sound quality of this sub does not hold back its ability to "get loud" one bit. I feel that the Xcon is a very under appreciated driver in today's market, so luckily for you all interested in this sub, I'm taking more time to write this second review.

My enclosure is 14^3ft, all 3/4'' birch ply doubled up all around. Its tuned to 27hz.. Originally I had a pair of 18'' nightshades (3kw versions), and all though I highly recommend all sundown products,i shortly realized the nightshades were too SPL oriented for my application. After switching to the SSA Xcons and only powering them with an AQ 1200d at .5ohms, I blew my trucks sunroof off its hinges @ 30hz and it sounded pretty damn good while doing it. These subwoofers are amazing, I still can't believe something can sound this tight and get so loud at the same time. At first I was a bit hesitant at the single slug design, but the first note that dropped completely took all my doubt away. (and took my sunroof away) The icing on the cake would have to be the sub is down right attractive due to the concave cone and textured 12 spoke basket.

As far as cons go, I haven't ran into any big ones yet. But from an unbiased point of view I have to reach up in my ass and bring something out. One thing would be the push terminals couldn't fit my 8 gauge, but not too many drivers take wire that thick. The only other thing would be some might consider the power handling a bit low at 1750 RMS, but oh boy, after only giving them 700 a piece, I am somewhat scared to hear them with any more power.

So all bullshit aside, if you are looking for a driver that has incredible low end output, and still enough precision to make an audiophile shit himself, then the SSA Xcon is what you want. I'll post some pictures below, and when I get some more power I will throw up my numbers and videos.

the drivers

the enclosure

gave it some foam and vinyl...

Second Skin Damplifier Pro

Wed, 06 Jan 2010 08:20:08 +0000

SECOND SKIN GIVEAWAY REVIEW!!

(Sorry if it takes a while to load there are a few pics!)

I am no stranger to this wonderful product... having two full layers in the trunk, generous amounts on the front doors and rear trunk wall I've really enjoyed what a big difference in sound quality Damp Pro has made. Before I installed it, pretty much every panel on the car would vibrate incessantly and after futile attempts at fixing the problem with weatherstripping and rags I decided to order a pack last summer.

I'm very grateful to Ant at SSA for choosing me as a winner in the giveaway contest, and for allowing me to finally complete my sound deadening endeavor. I chose to install the door pack I was sent onto the roof, because it was the most logical choice between the areas of the car I haven't covered. My roof skin had separated from the roof support, causing the panel to go apenuts with certain frequencies of bass, so I tackled the process today of damplifying the roof (is that a word? If not it should be hehe)

Since two full layers in the trunk worked wonders, I tried something a little different this time... I placed full square pieces in between the roof supports onto the bare skin of the roof and applied "center" pieces of the material in the middle of each larger piece... I imagine it'll help the vibrations quite a bit.

At the time of this writing my headliner is still dropped inside of the car for preparations of my screens being installed so I'm going to have to wait a bit to test it out, but there is no doubt in my mind that this will make a huge difference in the sound.

I really promote this product at car shows, I especially argue the price point vs. performance of the product (when compared to other more expensive brands vs. square footage such as DynaMat) and I came up with the idea of maybe cutting up a piece into small squares and handing it out at the car shows with the website written on it... so people can go and compare for themselves... like I tell everyone I'm all about saving money while keeping the quality straight

So thanks again SecondSkin and keep up the great work!

Oh, and remember kids, the edges are sharp! I forgot to wear gloves this time and paid for it with nicked fingers.

Headliner dropped can't get it out

Here are some older pics from my initial install last summer:

Bare trunk

The aftermath of a day of Damplifying!

Trunk Lid

Hazards of the job!!! lol

ZED Leviathan reviews

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 14:19:40 +0000

Here are a few I found so far:

http://www.audiogearreviews.com/reviews/amplifiers/review-ZED-Audio-Leviathan.asp

zed-audio-amplifier-review-pas.pdf (874.12K)
: 21

Sound Deadner Review

Tue, 01 Dec 2009 06:35:10 +0000

There is a lot of good info on here, but not much in the way of actual results. So here is the products that I have ran Dynamat Original, Dynamat extreme, Edead, Fatmat, Fatmat Xtreame, Fatmat Rattle trap XXX, Zilla mat, B-Quite, hushmat, and now Second Skin.

Dynamat original is good but you have to it to get it to stick, but once in place it is good to go. I would not use this on roofs, or trunk lids, or doors, just on you floors. No mess at all with this stuff.

Dynamat Extreme works great can be installed any temp sticks great. This stuff can be messy while installing, and will cut you up pretty good since the metal backing is so thin.

Edead do not recommend this stuff is asphalt needs to be heated up to stick, and falls when it gets above 100 degrees outside. This stuff can be messy while installing. This stuff can be messy while installing.

Fatmat do not recommend this stuff is asphalt needs to be heated up to stick, and falls when it gets above 100 degrees outside. This stuff can be messy while installing. This stuff can be messy while installing. This is the same stuff as Edead, maybe a little bit better quality in the foil, but that is it.

Fatmat rattletrap XXX is ok but still do not recommend this. You will have to heat this up to get it to stick good, as it is half butyl and half asphalt. But, it holds up in 100 degree temp outside. But if it is above 100 degrees outside for long periods like 12 hours in the sun, it will start to sag in places. This stuff can be messy while installing.
Fatmat extreme works great can be installed in any temp. Sticks like a SOB. It is almost impossible to get it off when it is stuck to metal, and forget it if you stick it to its self.

Zilla mat do not recommend this stuff is asphalt needs to be heated up to stick, and falls when it gets above 100 degrees outside. This stuff can be messy while installing. This stuff can be messy while installing. This is the same stuff as Edead, someone told me that is the same company just a different name used on packaging.

B-Quite is ok but still do not recommend this. It is almost the exact same thing as Fatmat rattletrap XXX. You will have to heat this up to get it to stick good, as it is half butyl and half asphalt. But, it holds up in 100 degree temp outside. But if it is above 100 degrees outside for long periods like 12 hours in the sun, it will start to sag in places. This stuff can be messy while installing.

Hushmat is good can be applied at any temp. Unlike most companies that bounce the sound back at you and can help gain you DBs on the microphone. This one does not increase your sound it actually absorbs sound. This stuff can be messy while installing.

Second Skin works great and can be installed at any temp. This stuff sticks just as good as, if not better then the Fatmat extreme. The nice thing about this stuff is that it has easy clean up and no mess left behind. Plus it is thicker than any of the other mats that I have mentioned. In comparison to Dynamat it is about 1.5 times thicker, so 2 layers of this is like 3 layers of Dynamat.

IMO, I would have to say that Second Skin takes the cake when it comes to sound damping material, for all bang for your dollar. I would have to say that Fatmat extreme is in close second, with Dynamat Extreme in third, and in forth would be Dynamat original but only if used on floors. As for the rest mentioned please don’t waste your money to save a buck or two. Spend a little more and get something that works good the first time around. I know that there is a few that have not been mentioned, but I have not personally tried them. Right now I will only be using Second Skin in all future installs, as well as cars I do for someone else. I am tired of helping someone put in cheap product and to have them come back a month later saying I did something wrong, because it is now sagging down.

Image Dynamics 6 1/2" comps

Mon, 05 Oct 2009 23:18:19 +0000

First off, let me begin by saying that the customer service at Image Dynamics is top notch... due to my improper gain settings I managed to blow through the first set of crossovers I received with the set and Eric over at ID sent me a new pair at no charge. Outstanding company.

Now, to the review... where do I begin? This set is very well balanced and the price point is very low for such an exceptional set of speakers. I had mine for around $150. The massive 6.5" midrange woofer delivers clear sound, powerful & punchy midbass, and is capable of sustaining clarity at very high volume levels. In other words, it gets loud and sounds damn good doing it!!

I'm feeding around 75wRMS to these bad boys and they're louder than most lesser setups with speakers on all four corners. The silk dome tweeters come with two mounting sockets - one surface mount, and one flush mount... in eyeball swivel sockets for precise aiming. The sound they produce is just right to my ears, not too harsh, and can blend very well with the midrange. However, they tend to be temperamental with the amount of power they receive, so heed the warning on the box and never push more than 100wRMS... you might end up with a fried tweet.

In conclusion, this versatile speaker set will satisfy anyone from a discerning SQ guy to an all-out SPL head... and anyone looking for that ever-so-elusive midbass

AQ HDC3 Copper 12" subwoofer

Sun, 04 Oct 2009 15:28:19 +0000

I have ran Audioque for quite a few years before they went overseas but that doesn't mean that things started to fail either...

The HDC3 line is stated to be more efficient than the USA version, the HD3 line. I never did a comparison so i don't know the difference.

However, this is what i do know about the HDC3 line because I also used to run 2 of the Copper Coil 12s.

Audioque subs, in general, are HEAVILY underrated just like many other speakers on the market. It all depends on how you set your gains and monitor your equipment.

My impressions on the HDC3 sub-

It doesn't take a lot of power to get the sub to produce a decent sound. At only 500w available, this sub still sounds fantastic. Well rounded response is expected.
Unlike other subwoofers, due to the long excursion capabilities of the speaker, it is recommended to tune higher than other speakers.

Why? because it's going to be hard to get a flat response from this speaker by tuning very low because if you attempt to, your mid 40hz+ range is going to roll off quite fast.
Tuning to 38hz is the well rounded suggested frequency to get both your favorite low end with that chest pounding, hard to breathe, 40-50hz range.
Anything tuned below 35hz is highly expected to not have a great effect in the mid 40hz range and higher.

The HDC3 line is quite heavy for a 1000wrms rated speaker too. The 12, weighing in at 48.5lbs is definitely a monster! Most other subs in it's thermal rating category weigh approximately 15lbs lighter.
the HDC3 line also has a GREAT cooling system! When I owned my pair of 12s, after several months of owning them, i took them to several non-sanctioned competitions and purposely put them through severe abuse and during my own testing as well.

I ran them with an AQ2200d per subwoofer(2200w to each subwoofer). In one of my abusive tests, i set the gain control on both amps to full clipped signal and played a competition testing track that consisted of tones from 65 - 32hz that lasted for just over 3min straight! By the time the track was over... the entire car smelt like a house burned down! It was crazy aweful... BUT... subs that can take that kind of heat abuse for that long with double the power is just amazing.

Here is a list of power recommendations used for the HDC3 line-
~1200w or less usually will keep the sub within it's xmax rating and will allow this sub to still sound great. Once you leave the linear excursion capabilties, the sounds changes drastically and sounds clipped. People must also note that when the sub breaks into the Xmech area that the pressure levels exhibited will be pretty high and most users aiming for such pressure levels do not care about how it sounds because the way how our ears perceive sound, depending on the pressure level, may appear to sound distorted when it's too hard to tell in actuality.

~1201-2,400w of power can be used on music with light to moderate clipping levels. At this power level, one isn't really concerned about how good of sound the sub can put out and is primarily looking to see how much power the sub can handle and this is it. If you run more power, you need to upgrade to the Aluminum coils which can take up to 4kw but that's not going to be in this review.

For burps... It's hard to rate a sub for burps due to many variables but it has been known that the original HD3 line could handle 6kw with ease so the HDC3 Copper line should also be able to as well.
When playing these subs on daily, as long as the gains are set right and are not purposely trying to kill it, lol, the subs will always stay cool which amazes me with how much power they can handle.
When using these for burps, they STILL stay cool even when clipped! I have only been able to heat the subs up when bassracing for over 60seconds straight using an AQ2200d per sub.

Box requirements for HDC3s are little bigger than some companies but do not let that discourage you from choosing them for slightly smaller enclosures.

The 12s are suggested to be in 2.5cuft NET but that's not the only box they can work in. The box ratings AQ recommends is for the largest optimal box with decent power on hand.
They suggest the following-
10" - 1.5cubes
12" - 2.5cubes
15" - 4.5cubes
18" - 6.0cubes

Now, you can do the following-
10" - 1.0cubes
12" - 1.9cubes
15" - 3.5cubes
18" - 5.0cubes

For the price to performance you get, it's just straight amazing at how loud these get yet how great they can sound with less power. These subs were never intended to be for audiophiles looking for that perfect sound. These subs were made just like the rest of their equipment is built for the crazy or just loud daily driver looking to pound the hell out of their car with massive bass.

AQ offers recones and will either ship you the recone or will do it for you. They can also rebuild your subs to any other marketed size they have to offer. They have great customer service as well.

Their subs also use direct connect speaker runs using 8awg wire so no speaker terminals! Some other companies have started doing this not too long ago. The purpose is lower resistance(no terminal) so possibly higher numbers in the lanes.

AQ subs are also known for having high inductance too. You may have heard of some people talk about this. This means that the sub wil typically exhibit high impedance rise.
High impedance rise is actually good rather than bad from my point of view.

This means that it can create massive pressure levels and draw less power out of your electrical system at the same time. The other positive side is you can use this to your advantage and run amps far lower than their rated stable load to even get more power shot through these subwoofers. I would never recommend doing that for daily though.

Overall, if you are looking for a subwoofer or subwoofers for ground pounding bass for your music, these are the subs! If you are looking for that perfect front stage\mids and bass to all fall in together... there are, of course, plenty of other options out there to choose from as the HDC3 line is not the intended use for such goal. Also, if you plan on competing and have the weight capacity for a large amount of cone area, these subs will not kill your bank account but will kill the meter with proper box designs.

Alpine CDA-9887

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 20:57:03 +0000

Brand:
Apline
Model:
CDA-9887
Rating:
I would give it a 5 out of 5
Pros:
Ok, so I just go my new head unit put in and it has 10 times better sound output then my last deck a Clarion VRX755 (which is a DVD/CD player). I think some of it might be going from 2 volt preouts to 4 volt preouts. But, I figured that wouldn't matter since I was running (and still am running) a line driver.
Cons:
The only thing I see being a con is if you are not sure how panoramic and graphic EQ’s work it could be a problem, along with setting the time delay by ear. But they take care of that if you have the mic for the sound imprint feature. Other then that I would say there is no problems with it.
Overall Opinion:
I have never ran Alpine CD players before, but I now see what all the hype is about. For the last 7-10 years I have always ran Clarion. I mean don't get me wrong there easy to use, and last forever. Before that I was running Pioneers they worked great but every time you hit the 2 year mark the sound outputs would go out. Now I did have a Eclipse back in the day It was awesome till someone stole it, But I got the last laugh on that one since you had to have a correct CD to start it up and like after 5 wrong times it locked you out.
Now I just can’t wait to figure out what I am going to do with my mids to take advantage of the sound imprint feature. I am half tempted to go pay to get it done now until I get my mids figured out. It is basically a mic that you hook up to your laptop and it goes in with a program and makes it the best sound possible for the driver and front passenger; using the time delay and sound processer, and EQ. Anyhow I would recommend the Alpine CDA-9887 to anyone that wants better sound quality.

Pap Sub Review

Mon, 17 Aug 2009 20:41:12 +0000

Quote

I have been Demoing some of the most Killer subs from Pierce Audio Products for 3yrs now and have blowen off all other Sub Manufactures / for this Company, as I feel after Torture testing them all, as follows the
Org MOAB / WMD / WMD^2 / MOAB XxX 15" / MOAB XxX 18"
the last 2 were one off special orders that were Modified to an extream level, to take the abuse i was going to dish out

I build SPL enclosures for ea set of subs and go compete with them.
then put them in an enclosure designed to play music, and Ground Pound them to the point of excess...

now for a few pics
My 1st Moab 15" org

the 2nd added later

second skin damplifier pro

Wed, 12 Aug 2009 16:17:21 +0000

well i got the awesome stuff intalled and i must say.. wow what a difference it made. the sound my woofer produces sounds much more whole now and not as empy or tinny as it was before..

installation waas a breeze(specially with the free roller and knife thatthey included) stuff went on real nicely with no signs of wanting to come undone..

i used the free doorpack i recieved to do my back hatch and partial of my roof. i noticed quite a bit of difference in sound.

i look forward to finishing my car in the product

mayhem 15'2

Sun, 09 Aug 2009 23:19:55 +0000

I recently had 2 Mayhem !5's put in a cut through in a my 2004 Dodge Ram. The box is tuned to 32htz. I power it off a Clif Designs 4800.1 and it hits harder and lower than anything I have ever heard (in a truck). Ascendant Audio is in my opinion the best, if the ultimate a street basser can get. Most people cant handle the sound in my truck. The shop that did the install told me that they have received several calls from "people" advising them to turn it down when in town. I have not been able to get them to distort under any bass and I pound them at all times. Its nothing but thumbs up for me, I'm sold.

Second Skin Product Review

Sun, 12 Jul 2009 00:16:50 +0000

Well as one of the winners of the Second Skin giveaway contest, and one of the closest recipients of it, I got my kit this week on Thursday. Considering Ant had to send it twice beacuse of UPS fuckin up and sending it to him instead of me, thats pretty damn quick!!! Anyways on to the review

I got the box on friday

and opened it up to find these extra goodies (not in a modeling position though)

I started by popping the panel off my 2006 Xterra and well its a bitch. There are 3 screws holding it in and ALL of them are hidden throught the arm rest/door handel. This is what I discovered

These pics showing more detail to the screw holes

After ripping it off this is what I am faced with

After doing the inside and outside here is what the driver's side looked like (forgot mid way pics on this side)

Upon removing the passenger side panel I noticed how even though it is just a flip of the other door, it is a much bigger pain in the ass than the drivers and you can see why that is

Here you can see the passenger side is now complete and ready to have a panel again

This is what was originally the outer 'skin' so to sepak

Before the actual review a side note of thanks to Anthony for helping me discover something I was not aware of. The much beloved 'Rockford Fosgate' System is really nothing more than some Rockford amps a Rockford HU andas illustrated below, Clarion speakers.

Ok now for the review:

Upon opening the box I found the goodies Ant included for all the winners (thanks again) and was curious as to how good the cutter really was and how well the roller kept out the air pockets. They certainly did not dissapoint!! I used one blade for the whole install and its still sharp as all hell!! Now the top piece had slightly adheared its self to the side of the box, but with the Arizona heat and being in the garage for a day and a half I was not too surprised. Once the first piece came out, none of the others were stuck to the cardboard.

Now upon the first cut I noticed how easily the blade slid through the mateiral. Even with the rubbery texture that it was cutting, it slid through like a hot knife though butter. While all the cuts repeated this process and ease of cutting, the material itself had one very minor issue. When being used in a higher temperature location the paper is not cut wider than the material itself therefore occasionally making removal of the paper backing very difficult at times. This also is a blessing as it makes the material adhere to the panel reguardless of shape or form VERY VERY easily.

Upon the completion of the driver's side door I shut my truck and instantly noticed there was no longer a slight echo or 'pinging' sound to the door, but rather a 'thump' had taken its place. This is VERY impressive and I of course was eager to see what musical changed I might now find. I then proceeded to turn the back speakers off and use the balance control to see the difference between right and left sides of the truck. Let me tell you I found some newer details in the music I had not previously noticed, and the level the volume was needed to be turned up to before becoming what I consider a 'nice' level had decreased by 2. The product had really shown a change.

Next was the passenger door. Let me tell you, in this 2006 Nissan Xterra SE, there is not a shit ton of great things about the doors and their design, but here the flexability of the product really shined. With how easy the Damplifier Pro was able to curve almost in half it really allowed me easier access to the less easily reached parts of the inner door here. The roller fit into tight spaces rather well and was only reall hindered by the width of the wheel. The roller did get rid of the air budbbles with ease and make the material have a more flushed smoother look and feel.

Now with both doors complete I did the second to last test for me as of right now, and that was another loudness test. This simple test again proved how much the Damplifier increased the output of my at best par, factory stereo. I again went looking for the 'nice' level of loudness and noticed it was now attained at 3 levels lower than it was previously!!! This to me is one of the best results so far.

I had to take her out on the road to see how much road noise got blocked out. Man with the windows up and the radio off even at 30 MPH I sure could tell a difference and with the radio on and the windows down the difference was still present. Now with the back speakers included in the mix, I could EASILY tell the difference between the deadened doors and the non deadened doors!!!

This is an improvement that should be made to any car weither it be to block out road noise, or to incease the output from your car's stero system, factory or not. I would and will recommend this product to anyone with any sound issue in their car and no other brand. My thanks go out to Anthony or Ant from second skin audio, and Steve Meade for making this contest a reality. There is already another contest in the works, so hopefully others will get to try this product themselves!!!

www.secondskinaudio.com

Jordan Raiff

Kinetik KCIB12-35 Battery Charger Review

Fri, 26 Jun 2009 22:08:31 +0000

The Kinetik KCIB12-35 is a sturdily built "intelligent" 12V battery charger with 2/10/20/35 Amp charge rates, alternator voltage check and battery recondition/desulfation functions.

It features an easy to read 3-character display, four clearly marked push buttons for on/off and accessing the functions, and 4 LED indicators. It also features a heatsink that covers the majority of the front section, a built in cooling fan and the rear of the unit also functions as a storage compartment for the wires.

Recondition
According to the literature, as lead acid batteries discharge sulfate can build up on the plates, causing them to not fully accept a charge. Reconditioning (Desulfation) of the battery is accomplished by sending electrical impulses to the battery over a given period of time to break down this build up and allows the battery to better accept a charge and release energy more quickly. This seems to be a useful feature for not only under-hood batteries but also auxiliary batteries that may repeatedly be discharged.

Very simple process. Just connect the charger to the battery and press the button! The large teeth and strong springs keep a tight clamp on the terminals. The downside is that this is a long procedure, however there's no way around this as it's simply a long process. The manual states it takes up to 24 hours. When using this mode on an HC1800 I had in the garage it seemed to take around 20 hours.....which while a long time, was shorter than anticipated.

Charging
The 2/10/20/35 amp charging allows you to select charging rate based on the size of the battery. The 2/10 are of course for smaller batteries, 20 for normal auto batteries, and the 35A rate is for large truck batteries or banks of batteries.
It charges in three stages;
Rapid Start Charge delivers maximum charging amperage (also allows for quick engine starting in as little as 2 minutes)
Absorption Charge maintains the maximum possible charge at a constant voltage
Top-off Charge voltage is automatically maintained and reduced to a predetermined level while current is adjusted to a safe battery charge level
This process as well as the actual battery charge rate are monitored and adjusted automatically by the microprocessor.

After desulfating the battery, I topped it off with a charge using the 20A setting. Again a very simple and surprisingly quick operation. Press the rate selector button until the desired rate of charge is displayed and let it do it's thing. The display will read "FUL" when the battery is fully charged. While I didn't watch it like a hawk, the process took less than a 4 hour interval. The charger appeared to stay nice and cool throughout the entire process.

Alternator Check
With the car running and charger connected, the manual asks you leave all accessories off and press the Alternator Check button, and then turn all accessories on a perform the same test. If the charger determines that the alternator is okay, the Alternator Good LED lights. Checked it on my car with the stock alt, and both times it indicated my alt was A-OK :thumbup:

Overall, I would say this is a great charger. Useful features for the car audio crowd in the desulfator and higher 35A charge for battery banks, convenient storage and carrying handle, all built into a fairly compact case. It's extremely easy to use, stays cool while in use and quick charging times.

Incriminator Audio 187 15" Review

Fri, 13 Mar 2009 03:22:07 +0000

Well, I think I have ample time into this sub now, and I've been promising this review, so here it goes.

First off, car and other equipment. Car is a Dodge Neon ES, headunit is a Sony GT330, front speakers are Powerbass 2xl-6.5's powered off the h/u, the sub is powered off of a Kicker KX400.1 at 2 ohm in 2.0 net sealed. Crossed at 90 hertz @ 12db per octave (only to help the coax's until I can amp them).

Some quick pics:

The most important part, the box:

The cone and dustcap of the moofer:

Height comparison next to a Pepsi 2 liter bottle:

Coil venting, which I was not expecting on an entry level driver:

Ass shot:

The mini review:

First thing I noticed listening to this sub is it's louder than my old Kicker Comp, which it should be, since I'm giving it over 2x the power. Second thing I noticed is it really likes lower material, like sub-40 hertz region. Anything above and it seems to struggle on some notes a WEEEEEEE little bit, might just be my box. Third, it's very accurate for an entry level driver in the chitty enclosure I have. Some of the stuff I listen to is very well recorded, and it reproduced most all of it close to perfectly save for the small hiccups as I noted.

First real song I listened to was Muse- Knights Of Cydonia. If you've never heard the song before, or haven't heard a good copy on a good sub, the beginning has some drop notes in the intro that will shake your car hard. This sub reproduced it so well that it surprised even me. I thought my Comp did an admirable job of reproducing it, but the IA is 100x better.

Second was Kerli- Walking On Air. Really creepy girl, really creepy video, kinda pop meets electronic song. Very low and loud information in this one, and again, the IA kept up just fine. Rearview mirror hates this song smile.gif

Third was Rascal Flatts- What Hurts The Most. Gets really low for a country song, but has nice note shifts in it. Only complaint is the upper end, and I think it's just my box.

Fourth was T.I.- What You Know About That. Great note shifts and low information in it. Played flawlessly on this one. Loud, low when it needed to be low, and switched between the notes with ease, didn't hang itself up on any of them, unlike the Comp.

Fifth was Fear Factory- Damaged. Very quick kick drums that are well recorded. Had good accuracy on them, and played them with a good bit of authority. Not the Raymond Herrera authority of a concert, but still respectable.

Overall, so far that is, I'm QUITE satisfied with my purchase, and I personally think that it's unbeatable in the entry level price range.

I'm going to do some more listening here in the next couple days and will add some songs and reviews of them. I didn't have all the songs on my Ipod that I wanted to sad.gif

Nick, you got a customer for life man, I'll be buying again.

Kef

Clarion MAX385VD

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 04:13:48 +0000

I have had this unit for about 8 months now and am very dissapointed in it
first the cons, cause right now i cant think of any pros

Cons:
iPod Control:
-no quick scroll or alphabetical search to find artists (you have to scroll down each page, 4 artists at a time)
-every time you go forward into an artist, then go back, it takes you all the way to the top of the list
-when you go into an artist, it skips the albums and goes straight to all songs listed for the artist
-often times it does not show the correct artist or album
-i have yet to get the unit to play video from my iPod, when i hit the button, it simply ejects my iPod from the unit and says "waiting for iPod"
DVD:
-takes a while to start up (same with cd's)
-you cannot control the EQ from the DVD screen, you have to return to the ipod or cd menu
Also:
-there are multiple buttons that complete the same function, not a big deal but those spaces could be better used
-the remote has way too many buttons and they all look and feel the same, you always have to look at it to see what you are pushing (which kinda defeats the purpose of a remote in a car)
-controls with the remote are very limited and frustrating (despite the excessive buttons)

Pros: (i thought of some)
-it looks sweet, very clean with the cd/dvd drive behind the face
-there is a little blue light behind the volume knob, which i think looks tight
-the buttons on the outside light up white, looks nice to me
-3 sets of RCA outputs

Conclusion:
i completely regret buying it other than the fact that i can watch dvd's, i often drive from waco to dallas or austin (about 1:40 minutes, so its great to watch a dvd)
the only reason i bought it was because i got it for superrr cheap from a friend at a shop

i do not recommend this unit at all, unless you get it for free.

and if you do, sell it to someone you hate and buy a different one!

Ultra Subs SS-6 Componets

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 03:26:49 +0000

Hi guys/gals!! I know I'm still new here, but I have been around the forums for a while. Hopefully some of you recognize me. Anywho, I won these comps over on DIY and so far I am happy enough with them that I wanted to share! I'll just save myself some typing and copy and paste what I have written over on DIY for now, but I will update this thread as needed. Thanks for putting up with this guys and I hopw some of you will give them a shot. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

Well, this is going to be my on going thread for my Ultra Subs SS-6 comps review. These are the comps that I won in the vendor give away. The Ultra website for these comps can be found here. My thanks goes out to IamMurph and all of those at Ultra as well as Ant for the Second Skin trunk pack. I will use the deadning in the FJ install. I say on going because these will be in two different vehicles and used in two different ways. I'll be updating the thread as I get the comps installed into the second vehicle and be giving my on going opinion as well.

The first vehicle that these will be going is in my car, a 2002Saturn SC2. I know, laugh it up, but it cost me $6000 and it gets 36 mpg. Done laughing, good, now on with the review. Currently (well up until today) installed I have the Seas 18RNX mids with the LPG tweets running active using my Pioneer 860mp as the x-over. The amp I am using is a Phoenix Gold Xenon 100.4, 4 channels at 100+ watts a channel. Traditionally I have been very pleased with this set up, but it seems I am always playing with the settings. It seems I just can't get it just right. To start off the Ultra comps will be a direct drop in replacement for the Seas and LPG's. They will also be run active.

Anywho, let's start off with some pictures. Here are the Ultra mids, they seem pretty beefy. Not too much to look at, but I kinda like that. I like when a company puts the money into the sound of the speakers, and not the cosmetics.

Take a look at the rim of the speaker. The top layer is a plastic guard piece I am guessing. The second layer is the basket itself, and the third (bottom) layer is my favorite. It's a foam gasket of sorts. I found this to be very cool! I don't think I have ever tested a speaker with a foam gasket on the mounting side before!

Here is the back side of the speaker. Nothing too fancy, but you can see the foam gasket a little better.

Here is the mid mounting system. Pretty standard from what I have seen in the past. Simple yet effective.

Here is a pic of the tweet in it's mounting cup.

Backside

Here is the tweet mounting system. I always worry about this when I buy comps because I never really know what to expect. No two companies seem to do this the same way and don't really elaborate on how they do it. After playing around with these I like the mounting options. I will most definitely try to flush mount these in the FJ. They do rotate around in the mounting cups a little so aiming them is pretty easy.

So, that's it for the initial pics. Next post is the install pics.

12" Flatlyne Review

Tue, 03 Feb 2009 22:04:59 +0000

Ordering process and packaging.

I posted in a topic at SSA asking if they were available in D4 coils because they only listed D2 the places I looked. Nick told me they could do D4 and to email him if I was interested. So following various threads here and other places I decided to go with the Flatlynes because I like to be different and not to many people have them. I emailed Nick(Incriminator) on the 22nd of December and got a reply within a half an hour. I sent payment 10 minutes after I got a reply and an hour after that he emailed me and told me they were added to the list. After all the holidays he emailed me on the 5 of January and told me they were going out that day and I received them on the 7th of January.

Upon receiving them I was impressed by the outside of the package, fragile tape and stickers letting the handlers know to be careful with the packages. I like the foam cushion protecting the top of the woofer and the woofer was in a plastic bag as well. The motor was sitting in a half box lined with foam to prevent it sliding around. Each woofer also came with a little care package consisting of a sticker, pamphlet showcasing their product line up and mission statement, a user manual for the woofer consisting of wiring diagrams, enclosure recommendations, and warranty info, and a disclaimer sheet explaining hearing loss and the air driven cooling used.

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Build quality.

This driver is heavier then it looks, shipping weight is 30lbs and I believe that is all driver. I couldn't imagine the top assembly being more then 5lbs leaving about 25lbs for the motor. The surround on the sub feels to be really heavy duty just from the feel of it and I punched through some of the mounting holes which was a little resistive for a tiny screwdriver. The cone appears to be very rigid having a smooth feel to the back and a textured fiberglass feel on the front. The dust cap on the driver is very tasteful not flashy(which I like, not a flashy person at all). The dust cap is also very shallow not a big convex shape also referred to as boob cone. The drivers suspension is stiff only moving about a 1/4 inch when pressing firmly. The driver has stitched leads which is a nice touch and the coils all measured in spec of 2.8 per coil. The ADC is an interesting feature on their lines which raises the basket about 1/4 inch from the motor assembly. Playing the drivers free air you can really tell it works, just playing a 30Hz tone for a minute at ~75watts the motor seemed a few degrees cooler after playing. That means the coils should have stayed cooler then without it. And last the motor assembly, it is about 8 & 1/4 inch in diameter with a top plate of 1 & 1/4 inch tall, about 1 inch tall magnet, and a bottom plate that is about 3/4 of an inch. Almost forgot about the beautiful "black chrome" finish on the motor.

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Listening impressions

Some of the test music included. There was just to many to list.
Trick Daddy - F**kin Around
50 Cent � Many Men
Bassotronics � Bass I Love You
Beastie Boys � Paul Revere
Korn - Hollow Life
Korn � Beat it Upright
Metallica � Blackend
Anthrax � Bring the Noise
Black Sabbath � Hand of Doom
Gorillaz � Punk
White Zombie � El Phantasmo And The Chicken-Run Blast-O-Rama
Queen � Bohemian Rhapsody
Queen � Fat Bottom Girls
Barry Adamson � Mr. Eddy's Theme 1
Barry Adamson � The Man with a Golden Arm
Atari Teenage Riot � Start the Riot
Atari Teenage Riot � Not your Business

For the test the drivers are each in their own 1.2ft^3 sealed boxes.
This driver sounds phenomenal, even with a stock front stage. The drivers play as part of the system and not the system. Now this doesn't mean they don't get loud. They still have enough output to shake the interior of the car and the things in it they just do it with finesse instead of sheer brutality. I tried my hardest to get the drivers to fail somewhere, just seems I wasn't able to. On the Basstronics & Trick Daddy song I was looking for the low end extension of the drivers, both songs have notes that reach down into the teens but the drivers handled them effortlessly. Trying to get the drivers to fail on transitions I used Korn � Hollow Life and the other tracks like ATR and White Zombie, but it didn't work the driver stopped playing the notes when the were supposed to stop and played the new ones when they needed to play. On the Black Sabbath and Barry Adamson tracks they start with soft bass notes but then bring the level up, the driver had no problem playing softly and then loudly all the while doing it accurately.

So for cliff notes these drivers are amazing, they are accurate, loud when needed, and handle any music thrown at them.
I would recommend these drivers to anybody looking for drivers to reproduce clean bass notes with some output potential.

Fi Q 15 w/ BP vs AA Havoc 15

Sun, 01 Feb 2009 22:06:43 +0000

I already posted this, but it will just disappear into the oblivion in the Fi forum, and people will actually use it hear.
Old info... new post...

Just made a topic so you don't have to scroll through pages to find it...
Ok first things first. The test was done in my car with my equipment (in signature).
The box is 4.2 cubic feet net tuned to 34 hz with 57.25 in^2 of port area.
Subs: 15" Havoc and 15" Q with BP option (both have embedded tinsels)

Yummy pics:

Here are TermLab results...
Outlaw style (at the kick, both windows open)

Q:

Havoc:

Legal (sealed up at the dash)

Q:

Havoc:

Listening experience:
To tell you the truth, unless you are a freaking machine, I doubt you would be able to tell the difference between these two drivers under the exact same circumstances. Now everything I am saying is dealing with ported enclosures; I have done no testing nor have I heard either sub sealed. I listened to everything from Nothing Left by As I Lay Dying with some sick kickdrum bass to the lows of Put On by Young Jeezy and almost no difference could be heard. The primary difference between the two is volume. You might not be able to hear much of a difference, but you can feel it. If you compare my door moving in 10 G's by Killer Mike in the two vids, it moved WAY more with the Havoc than with the Q. Definitely noticeable. The Havoc itself also seemed to move more, but that might have just been an impression. The Havoc also peaked out a little bit lower. It might be hard to see in the photos, but the Havoc got the loudest on the 33 and 32 hz tones while it was about 34 for the Q. Odd considering the Fs of the Havoc is a little bit higher. For sound quality and sealed setups, I'm sure there is a difference that would make a difference, but for the daily pounder, I'd say the Havoc is the better choice if you can get your hands on it, but the Q will do everything you want it to and more.

Vids:
Guess Who's Back by Mike Jones

Q:

Havoc:

10 G's by Killer Mike

Q:

Havoc:

My buddy's top score of the day. He hit this outlaw style with Prime Minister by Young Jeezy.
(He peaks at about 43 hz or so)
Fi Q 15 w/ BP on about 1000 wrms in 4.0 cubic feet tuned to 30 hz in a Chevy Colorado

Review of a 12" Incriminator Audio Lethal Injection Sub!!

Tue, 13 Jan 2009 18:36:18 +0000

Well first off thanks to Nick @ Incriminator for taking care of me, awesome guy, replied to all my pm's and was very helpful. Well I got this sub because sqhertz got one and had nothing but good things to say about this sub. And before the LI I had a FI Q, in a 2.5 @ 32hz box by the man, BJ Fisher. So I thought why not, my Nine.5 is only putting out 600rms @ 1ohm (underrated) and the FI Q needs 1000rms to really shine. The Lethal Injection only needs 600rms, which is perfect in my case, and my amp really puts out around 700-750rms @ 1 ohm.

So I took the plunge, bought the sub, got it pretty quick from Incriminator, and when I got it, it was dead sexy. I love the fact that it comes fully loaded stock, so you get all the new features without coming out of the pocket. So I figured the box I had was good enough for the sub, so swapped them out, and wow. Even for being a brand new sub (super stiff and needs to break in) and lowered gain, the sub was loud. Songs before with the FI Q never sounded so good, I was completely amazed at how loud it was.

And after a hour or so of breaking it in, I noticed it got louder and louder and sounded so much clear. Guess the SQ finally kicked in, well I have fell in love with the sub. I had my share of subs, and this one is definitely the best. If I had 1000rms or more, I would have kept the Q, but I love my Nine.5 amp.

So thanks Nick and the crew at Incriminator for making a kick ass sub, and products, and providing awesome support. You got a customer for life now, and I will praise these products.

Pics be found here, cant edit my original post

http://www.caraudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=360008

So overall, this is my rating:

Sound Quality: 8/10 (FI Q sounded clearer, but the IA is still stiff)
Power handling: 10/10 (its rated @ 600rms, but can take much more)
Low Frequency Extension: 8/10 (hits the lows with authority)
Output: 10/10 (for a single 12" with 700rms, its insanely loud)
Build Quality: 10/10 (its beautiful, much more attractive than the FI Q)

Total: 46/50

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g4Wo8elznFc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lyt2usvlzko

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTBcOnd67WY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2Fg6Wc0hy0

ICON 12D2

Mon, 15 Dec 2008 23:01:49 +0000

Hi there! I know its my first post here, but I have actually been around a while. Anyway, I won a singel ICON 12D2 from DIYMA (thanks again Ant. and SSA). I had a chance to 'play' with it for a short time and the following is what I came away with it. Enjoy and please feel free to contact me with questions.

Ok, so I think it�s been long enough of listening. First of all, a big thanks to Anthony for the giveaway, you sure picked a nice product to give away. Since nobody knows who I really am, allow me this opportunity to give you a quick bio. I started in mobile electronics in 1987 at a stereo shop in So. Cal. Needless to say they are LONG gone. Anyway, I progressed into competing at local IASCA and independent events. Since I was in the industry I competed as a pro. Anyway, I had some great teachers and several good friends that taught me a lot. I do have some background in music as well, although that is brief but it helps never the less. I also am familiar with mid to somewhat high end home audio as far as what determines good sound from bad. I am not saying I am a know it all when it comes to it, there are others, but at the same time I am not a total noob. Ok, now on to the nitty gritty details. The ICON sub is mounted in a prefabricated angle faced sealed enclosure. The seams inside have been reinforced with more silicone, most convenient, and the interior is sprayed with rubberized undercoating, again convenience. There is also a small amount of polyfill in the enclosure. The internal volume of the box is about 1 ft^3 so it should model out pretty well in win ISD. Actually it is a little lower Qtc than I normally prefer. Anyway, in a 1 ft^3 the -3db point is about 50 Hz. Please understand that the parameters used were what were available on the website.

Here comes the part that puts me in a dilemma. My car is a 2000 BMW M5 (might be 9 years old, but still a dream for me!) and I am in the middle of changing a few things. Unfortunately, I have had no time to do any of the changes. Therefore I am basing my evaluation with this big quirk. If you have seen previous install pics, you will notice there is a 2 ft^3 box on top of my amp rack (nice work there Schuey). Since I got the �wild hair� again, that is being changed eventually. Anyway, the only place the box will fit is in the space left in the back of the trunk. So, if you can imagine, the sub is firing through the amprack, around the existing box (which is empty) and then inside the car. The amplifier connected to this sub is a Zed Audio Deuce, bridged at 4 ohms (wired the VC in series) so it�s seeing about 800W. Since the M5 has split fold down seats (why I don�t know) it allowed me to at least get some more output to the cabin of the car.

I pretty much used a wide variety of music to check this little bad boy out. I did try to break it in and the difference is noticeable since I first installed the sub. The music I used ranged from big band, jazz, vocal, symphony, electronica, electronic dance music and of course the ever so popular IASCA test disc (not the newest one though). After attempting to dial it in by ear, I think it�s close enough, I noticed a few �things� about this particular subwoofer. First of all, the Icon is a very �musical� sub capable of blending rather nicely, once it�s all figured out. The output of this sub in a smaller enclosure with what I have to say �mid-level� power applied was rather impressive. The cab of my car was nicely filled with accurate transitions and good level. Actually, I found myself readjusting my EQ down on certain bands. Secondly, this particular woofer does not show any signs of break-up or mechanical distortion. I understand the driver is built to handle a lot more power, but when I went �bass-head� to see what would happen, nothing did! Great engineering guys. One of my reference songs I use is Bird on a wire from Jennifer Warnes� album famous blue raincoat. To me, the bass line and percussion are rather unique with a certain quality to it. I have listened to several home and mobile audio systems and this little guy, with so little tuning and playing time came away sounding like a champ. I can only wonder what would happen in a proper enclosure without all the obstructions, a bit more power and tuning. There you have it! My long winded but short review of the SSA Icon 12D2. I hope you found it helpful and amusing at the same time. Please PM me if you have any specific questions about material I used to evaluate this subwoofer.

Tang Band "Beryllium" TW 25-1743S

Sat, 06 Dec 2008 19:12:53 +0000

The Tang Band TW 25-1743S is not Beryllium at all. It's a beryllium copper alloy that is typically 1.8 to 2.0 % beryllium by weight! Here's a message that I sent to Tang Band and their reply.

Dear sirs/madams:

Kindly be advised that the Tang Band TW 25-1743S (http://www.tb-speaker.com/detail/1230_04/25-1743s.htm), which you advertise and represent as a Beryllium Tweeter is not Beryllium. Your claims are false and deceptive. The dome material is actually a common material used in everything from electronic toys to termination in several electronic system products. The material is actually Beryllium Copper, also known as BeCu; CDA 172, CB101, ISO CuBe2, CEN CW101C, A4/2, beryllium bronze and/or Alloy 25. The material is typically only 1.80 to 2.00 % beryllium by weight. To call this material Beryllium is like calling Beer Whiskey but frankly it's statically much worse.

There are really three pieces of evidence.

1. The price is too low for a Beryllium diaphragm.

2. The color of the dome is just not the color of Beryllium. Beryllium is steel gray.

3. The only manufacturer of Acoustic Grade Beryllium Foil (98% or better) on the planet xrayed two samples. This is what they said. "We have performed x-ray fluorescence analysis of the Tang Band "beryllium"tweeter diaphragm. Our analysis indicates that the diaphragm is primarily copper. The technique we used for the analysis is not designed to precisely quantify the composition of the sample, but I am confident that the copper content in the Tang Band tweeter diaphragm is greater than 90%.Therefore, Tang Band may be using Be-Cu for their diaphragms, but I am certain they do not use beryllium as claimed. Please let me know if you would like additional information concerning our analysis of the Tang Band"beryllium" tweeter diaphragm.

The material properties of the BeCu and Be are vastly different.

1. Material Properties summary for Be:

Density 1844 kg/m^3
Young's modulus: 300 x 10^9 Pa
Poisson's ratio: 0.1
Speed of sound: 12800 m/s
http://www.matweb.com/search/DataSh...658d4a4f&ckck=1

2. Material property summary for BeCu

Density: 8250 kg/m^3
Young's modulus: 125 x 10^9 Pa
Poisson's ratio: 0.3
Speed of sound: 3900 m/s
http://www.matweb.com/search/DataSh...a06b668c&ckck=1

The TW 25-1743S seems like a nice product; however, it is being represented as a "Beryllium Tweeter". Please change your description on your websites and in your advertising documentation to "Beryllium Copper Tweeter" at your earliest convenience.

Yours,

Steve Mowry

http://www.s-m-audio.com/steve_mowry.html

Hello Steve,

Thanks for your comments on the Beryllium, we will correct the name to be "Beryllium Alloy". Our engineering team had ever done the experiment for different Beryllium materials from different vender and source for the dome tweeter and did lots of measurements and listening. The performance, THD, sounding and even the production control, the current one we use fit the best. Therefore, we prefer to use this Beryllium Copper to be the dome for tweeter. Anyway, thanks for your comments.

Sincerely,
Diana Huang
TB Speaker
ISO 9001-2000 certified
E-mail :info@tb-speaker.com
Web : www.tb-speaker.com
Tel : 886-2-26570282

Kenwood KAC-X40

Thu, 04 Dec 2008 23:37:12 +0000

This amp is rated 40x4 @ 4 ohms at 12 volts, and I think 70x4 @ 4 ohms at 14.4 volts. 100 x 4 @ 2 ohms. I bought it for $189 from woofersetc.com.

This amp definitely seems to put out a good amount of power. I was a little worried at first about the 40x4 rating, but it shows no lack of power. I don't have a way to measure it's actual output, but it certainly does more than that. The 70x4 rating seems more correct, if not more. It gets my JL XR components as loud as I need or would want them to go. The amp looks gorgeous IMO, I love the black. I also love the connections all on the one front side, makes for very easy installation, at least for me. Two hex-headed screws hold on a top plate that cover up the controls. This is something I've never seen before. It's not a negative, IMO, it's just different. It could be bothersome if you're constantly changing your levels, but I'm pretty much a set-it-and-forget-it guy, so I may never take the cover off again, who knows. It does make for a cleaner looking install, though.

The gain is very clearly marked, unlike most other amps. Most amps just have a "0" at one side and "6" at the other end, or whatever. I believe this one has 0, .3, .5, 1, 2, and 4 marked. The crossover is also equally marked, with I believe 40, 70, 100, and 200. The A set of channels has only the gain and high pass crossover settings, but the B channels has gain, high pass or low pass, and also has a bass boost feature. One thing that's nice about this bass boost is that it's variable from 40-100 hz (instead of fixed at 45 hz like most amplifiers), also very well marked every 10 hz or so. The level of boost knob is, again, from 0-12db and marked every 2 db or so. In short, the options on this amp are outstanding.

The amp sounds clean and clear, no problems there. The amp does have a fan, which is not very common for a 4 channel amp. This is the only bad thing I've found about this amp. The fan is a tad noisy. I have an Explorer so the amp is in the same airspace as I am, and when stopped and with no music playing you can just barely hear it. It's not a problem when moving or with music playing, however, and I can't imagine it being audible at all in a trunk.

I was a little skeptical at first because it was a Kenwood, but they generally make their eXcelon line with pretty decent quality, and this amplifier doesn't miss the mark. Very solid.

Stereo Integrity Mag v.4

Wed, 03 Dec 2008 00:50:06 +0000

I have the new Mag in an enclosure that's about 1.15 cubes before displacement, so maybe 1.05 after. It's powered by a Crossfire BMF1000D, giving a rated 1000 watts to it at 1 ohm.

I must admit that when I first put power to the sub I was a little disappointed. It seemed pretty lifeless. However, you must give it time to break in. After about 3 hours of listening time I was much happier. It sounds excellent, tonality is superb, and it does blend with the mids very well. I must say that it definitely sounds different than any other sub you've probably tried (though I haven't listened to any other XBL^2 enabled subs), and you probably wouldn't believe me unless you actually heard it. At least I didn't realize just how different a sub could sound.

The Mag gets about as loud as I thought it would. It's not blow-your-doors-off loud, but it can give things a good rattle and blur your vision a tad. However, as others have said, it definitely cannot soak the power like previous versions. The sub I replaced this with was a 15" v.2 Mag in a ported enclosure, and that sub could take everything my Crossfire could throw at it. But I'm a little timid to say that I did bottom out the new Mag. Let me tell you this- IT GIVES YOU NO WARNING. This sub sounds perfectly linear until you literally push that volume knob one notch too far, and then it will bottom. It is outstanding that it stays linear throughout its entire excursion range, but that's also a cause for apprehension for me. Other subs will let you know that it's getting a little too far by giving audible distortion signals. The Mag does not. It's volume 22: "Damn this sub sounds awesome, it's really getting into a groove," to volume 23: BRAAAP "AAAUUUGGGHH!!!! turn it down turn it down." It scared me a little.

This sub sounds like pure sex when I played Def Leppard's "Let it Rock." It will handle The Crystal Method's most crazy basslines with ease and detail you've never heard. It'll play all four bass notes in Young Jeezy's "Put On" in perfect form and without exaggerating any of them. This sub has absolutely 0% distortion. What you are hearing is what the artist put onto the track. There is no overhang from previous notes or boominess.

But there are things that will take some getting used to for me. One is the loss of the crazy low end that my 15" Mag had. I loved that thing. It didn't quite had the tonality that this sub has, but it was pure brute force and I loved it. The new Mag is not an aggressive sub. It's punchy, but not as punchy as I would have thought. Don't get me wrong, it's not sloppy either. It's just something in the middle that I can't quite figure out. It's punchy with a laid back theme. I dunno. If you're used to concerts where the kick bass from their loudspeakers snaps you in the chest, this does not sound like that. It also has some.......interesting......quirks. It seems to have a natural attenuation above 70 hz or so, and this may be why it blends with the mids so well. You can still hear the sub, but you don't feel it. Which is another weird thing about this sub, is that you can feel the pressure on your ears but it seems transparent. You can't feel it or tell where it's coming from in medium volume ranges. Which is great, I mean the other day I was driving down the road and turned my head to look for oncoming traffic and was like whoa.......I actually could not tell where the sub was located. It seemed to be emanating from all directions. When you crank it up that goes away, though, but that is likely mainly because it was overpowering my mids and highs. Speaking of cranking it up, I mentioned how you can hear it but not feel it so much at medium volume levels. This sub is different than others I've tried in that regard. Others steadily increase in both feel and hear, but this one really only gets felt in the upper 20% or so of it's output. It will give you a nice massage at about 90% full volume.

This is an outstanding sound quality sub, and it will get the job done for any true audiophile. It also has a fairly small mounting depth. However, for me and my Explorer that wasn't really a concern. If I had any suggestions for my own tastes, it would be to deepen the mounting depth to a more conventional design so that it could have more usable throw. A slightly more aggressive sub may suit me better as well, and I kinda miss the lowend monster that the 15" was. But these are my own fault for picking a subwoofer that was not entirely in line with my tastes. I do have a bit of basshead in me. I did want a smaller box (my gf was also pushing for that pretty hard), and this obviously has that advantage, along with weight saving. I forgot to mention build quality, but come on, it's SI. Build quality is never an issue.

JL audio W1v2

Wed, 19 Nov 2008 20:11:33 +0000

My first sub. This ten seems to do a good job. I have it running off of a 500 watt alpine amp. Dont really know why everyone dislikes JL audio but i like my 10" alot.I can drive past my school and everyone looks at me lol. Anywho ill put some pics up later. Im new to this whole audio thing so ask me some questions and ill try my best to answer.

Customer Service

Fri, 12 Sep 2008 19:28:18 +0000

Incredible describes it.
Something happened (unknown) to my sub, most likely something thermal, and it broke.
I sent it in a after an extremely polite and helpful call to Scott.
The basket broke on the way there somehow even though the sub was shipped in a box with a wooden frame built in it (stupid USPS).
He didn't even charge me for that. He completely rebuilt the sub for free... Under warranty.
He told me this by actually calling me. No other company has done that for me before.
Anyone who complains about the service of this company is ignorant and has obviously not dealt with them before.
Incredible company in every area. 500% satisfied.
I normally don't write reviews, but the service I received from them was just extraordinary.
I just want you all to know how far this company is set apart from so many others.

SeconD skin Product REVIEW

Mon, 01 Sep 2008 23:49:41 +0000

well i was extremely shocked from the product i got . this stuff is bullet prof. upon arrival the deadner right away feels like high quality deadner. I compared it next to the edead v1. other deadners i have installed in my life were dynamat extreme as well .

here it goes. upon arrival the deadner is bullet prof. when i say bullet proff i mean this stuff is very high grade deadner. i have never messed with anything as good as this stuff. its very nice and thick yet soft to form. i disected the product to compare it to the edead

the edead is very flimsy it folds very easy and is about the same thick ness of the damplifier pro but the damplifier pro is much less flexible and feels like the butyl is much better and much more packed in. here are some pics of the disection of the products the right hand side is edead and the left hand is second skin

if you notice that the left can(damp) is less crinkled then the right can(edead)

after the can i desided to gut both product the edead came off relativly easy but it still was not easy to come off . the second skin gave me trouble i had to use a razor to cut some of the butyl off

here is the aftermath after i dissected both products. again left is second skin right is elemental design

the left you can see the foil is very durable compared to the edead foil, its still crikled and the edead is thiner and not as strong as well as the butyl. the butyl retains it shape and is very adhessive
the end result is Second skin is by far the best i have seen cant wait to get the time of day to do my doors. this isnt a bash on edead just a side by side review. against dynamat extream id rather buy SS only because i think the product preety much sells it self. again if you want to do the job right go SS it wont fail you and the results are amazing

Mechman 250A alternator

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 23:47:05 +0000

There is a review coming up soon for this so stay tuned.

Ordered thursday, it was built, tested, shipped and received in only 3 business days from TN to KY.

It will try to be installed by the end of the week or early next week.

Pics and performance readings to come soon.

This alt is definitely nice.

Weighing in at what it looks like 16-17 lbs. I'll get a better reading next time.

Rated to do 250A full tilt.

Mach 5 IXL 10

Sun, 20 Jul 2008 02:21:34 +0000

I recently had the opportunity to have an extended test session with a Mach 5 Audio IXL-10.

My original setup consits as follows:

1999 Mercury Cougar coupe/hatch
Eclipse CD7000 w/ ipod adapter
Rainbow CMX 265 Kick Bass components, Powered by a PG ti600.2(150x2)
Elemental Designs 16Ov.2(2.3 cubes @ 27hz) powered by a USAmps MD.1D(1000-1200rms @ 1 ohm)
Kicker Hyperflex 0/1 guage power/ground wiring. Electrical system is stock.

Seeing as I have never tested any driver smaller than a 12 before I was very hesitiant to proceed with this testing. Mostly because I am admittedly a self proclaimed "Bass Head". And going from a ported 15 to a 10 seemed a fairly extreme change. So I came into this testing session with a very pessimistic attitude. And I must say I was shut up in a real hurry by this driver.

The box that I tested the IXL-10 in is a .85 cubic foot box that is tuned to 38hz. We wired the driver in parallel to a 1 ohm impedance in order to take full advantage of the power my MD.1D had on tap.

First Impresseion:

I have to say that this is one of the beefiest(is that even a word?) drivers I have ever had in my possesion. The shear weight of it threw my back into spasms. I just wasnt preparred for its substantial girth. Truelly imressive.
Once everything was in place, I did my best to ease into it . I lowered my NF level from 0, which is were my gain are set at to -4. As I planned on giving it a fair amount of time to fully loosen up.

First Listening Session:

But the inital inpact that I felt playing The Eagles Hotel California Live version which is my favorite SQ demo song made me as giddy as a little girl.......

The punch and output that hit me.......I'll be honest, I wasn't prepared for. The IXL-10 had more accuracy than I had ever had in one of my own installs before. And from such a small diameter driver as compared to my previous one. Impressive! I had to resist the temptation to turn it up to my normal highest setting until it was prudent to do so.

So over the next 5 days I kept things more or less under controll. About 12-15 hours into the test I began to notice a decent increase in the output of the driver, even im my dialed back settings. So I felt that it was time to see what it can do.

So I do recommend at least a 10-12 hour break in period.....the driver will thank you for it.

Full power Testing:

Once I returned my settings to their normal state, this driver began to shine. Its a truely magnificent blend of beastly output and humble sound quality. It hit every note with efficient vigor and ferosity. To the point I had to remove my pile of coffee money change from my cup holder becasue it was rattleing to much.

Once I got a nice taste of the drivers overall ability. I wanted to throw some of the quintessential bass head music at it to see how it handeled it. So in comes Three Six Mafia - Late Night Tip. Wow! It took it like a champ and thanked me for it. The clarity that was presented was a nice change from my previous setups. Never did the bass notes become uncontrolled or over baring. The kick drums seemed to really come to life with this driver. It seemed to hit the sweet spot with my components and blended perfectly even on the real bass heavy songs. It was never too much.

Over the following week I put the IXl-10 through as much of a workout as I could. I connected my 30gb ipod and spent many of my lunch hours parked in a parking lot listening to it.

The highlite of my listening was when i played Korn - Freak on a leash. One word .....Joy-gasm!!

Extreme testing:

But I slowly started to play with my settings(HU and Amp) to see what this driver could really take. I increased the NF preout to +5 of a possible +6 on the HU and also increased the SSF point to ~32hz to limit unloading below tuning. It was at this point I noticed a slight hint of mechanical noise. But this was well beyond any normal listening levels and I believe I may very well have been cliping the setup.

I asked mark of Mach5 if we could test it on the Termlab to get some hard numbers on its output.

It did a 134.1db @ 44hz. And this was after running several sweeps to determine the burp freq. So If I had burped them with cool coils I am sure a 135-136 should be possible. But I dont recommend it for long periods as the mechanical noise was a clear indication of where the line is with this driver. But I was exceeding the rated power handling at this point.

In conclussion........

-This driver is as impressive to the ears as it is to look at.

-It can clearly hadle the rated rms ported but I wouldnt go any higher. If you dont know what to look for I may even stay slightly below rms rating to be safe.

-It loves the lows thats for sure.

-Give it time to break in

-If the 10 preforms like this .......the 12, 15 and 18

-This is one of if not my favorite driver I have ever tested.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Its Media Time!!

This vid is during the EXTREME testing....

This shows the amount of air its moving.....and with no chuffing to boot.

Please direct any questions to my thread in the Mach 5 Audio forum.

Rockford Fosgate T3002

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 07:22:24 +0000

First off, I bought this amp cause I just wanted to see if it really lived up to the power ratings that I saw on birthsheets and on the rated vs actual power site. I got it used for $90 shipped. (Got a great deal on it) My first impression of this amp when I took it out of the box was, wow its almost as big as my T10001bd, very heavy and solid. I hooked it up to a pair of 10's in my F150. I have had several amps in my truck JL audio, planet audio, Zapco, and a couple other I can remember off hand. Going through my music ranging from hard rock to rap, this amp blew me away. It has close to the SQ of the Zapco (probably cause its an ab class and not d class like the other amps I have had on the subs) and the power output of the Planet audio bb1350.1. It stays cool even in the 115 degree heat here in Nor Cal, and hasn't shut down yet even when pushed hard. The one negative is that like my T10001bd the cover rattles with the bass notes. But thanks to some guys here on the forum, I have gotten some tips on how to fix that. It does draw a bit of power, but that is to be expected for ab class amp putting out close to 900 watts. (according to the rockford website) For an amp that is rated at 50 watts per channel, this is an incredible value. I will re-review this amp in a couple of weeks cause I want to hear how it sounds on my mids and highs. But as for sub duty, this is a definite thumbs up.

rated power:
50 watts x 2 @ 4 ohms
150 watts x 2 @ 1 ohm
300 watts x1 @ 2 ohms

average actual power:
223 watts x 2 @ 4 ohms
346 watts x 2 @ 1 ohm
838 watts x 1 @ 2 ohms

http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/products/amp_power_output.asp

Customer Service

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 02:13:01 +0000

I've recently started buying all the equipment for my build and I just wanted to thank Jacob at Sundown, Nick at Fi, and Rick at Raam for the unbelievable customer service and response to all my questions. If you are ever torn between a product from another company and one of these guys, you would have to be crazy to go with someone other than them. Check out this email Rick sent me after I ordered an extra item that I didn't need.

>> Thanks Kevin, got the order, will ship out in a few hours:) Just to
>> make sure, you do not need the glue for the RAAMmat, only for the
>> ensolite which is an incredibly good product, far better than every
>> other foam I have ever tried over many years doing this;)
>>
>> Have a great day!
>> Rick

And here is another one:

> Kevin,
> You are most welcome buddy and thanks:)
>
> Here are a few things about how I do business.
>
> 1) you are my fellow enthusiast first and foremost, I want to help you
> succeed, if you are happy then I am happy and it does matter to me a
> great deal.
>
> 2) I never try to sell more product just to make a bigger sale, I have
> more than enough business but even when I just started out I would talk
> guys into buying less if they wanted more than needed.
>
> 3) I am having trouble keeping Ensolite in stock, I get 1,000 yards at a
> time and it ships out of here like mad, I could do well selling less
> really:)
>
> 4) I am always honest and when I say the results are so much better with
> both materials, it is only to help you succeed in your goals, most
> everyone passes them and they sure do not complain about better results
> than they knew they could get:)
>
> 5) there are other foams, etc, sometimes the same thing but renamed, I
> just call it what is is and it is the best, if I ever have a multi layer
> product it will be with BXT and Ensolite, no other substitutes will do;)
>
> Have a great day Sir!
> Rick

Well it turns out Rick shipped me the mat and gave me the spray for free! He said he was busy and accidently forgot to take it off my order. I had a wonderful experience ordering from RAAM and I will recommend them to anyone who asks about sound deadener.

Review of Sundown Audio SD-1v2

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 02:04:04 +0000

I always like listening to lower-power woofers in the 2-300W range, because these smaller drivers show that especially when musical accuracy is concerned, you don't need the multi-kW behemoths that are becoming commonplace these days. Just 300W and a small sealed enclosure is often times all you need to realistically reproduce most anything you can throw at it. For this review, I wired the voice coils for a combined 8 ohm load, with an Xover point of 50Hz @ 24dB/oct. The enclosure was slightly under 1cF, sealed.

Aesthetics:

You normally don't expect much in the way of build quality for subwoofers in the SD-1's price bracket. I was pretty surprised on opening the packaging therefore to see push terminals and a basket more substantial than a simple stamped design. Small things like this may not impact the sound of the driver - but not having to find and crimp quick disconnects to mate to the typical terminals you find on subs of this nature is a time saver and is appreciated. The mounting depth lends itself well to mounting in center consoles or other hidden locations.

What's to Like:

Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um

The plucked strings of "Betta Git It In Ya Soul" exemplifies why I love this album; Mingus' playing is superb and a good sub should resolve all the grit and soul of the bass itself. I thought the SD-1 did an admirable job, with a good transient attack and ability to dig surprisingly deep without calling attention to itself.

Fleetwood Mac - Rumours (The Chain)

While the SD-1 didn't have the jaw-dropping command of this track that I experienced when I listened to the new Magnum, it's no slouch, either The underlying bass line was tight and tuneful, with none of the bloat or lag that afflict inferior drivers. Overall volume was satisfying as well, any fears that I may have had about running out of undistorted output were soon ended with a flick of the volume knob.

Tift Merritt - Another Country (Something to Me, Broken)

I first heard Tift's new material live at MerleFest earlier this year, and while the acoustics weren't too great there, the studio versions are blissful exceptions to the current "loudness wars". This is not a place for a strong, overpowering subwoofer - it'll sound woefully out of place. The SD-1 provided all that was needed, and the overall effect got my foot tapping quite nicely. You really need to be able to enjoy these without thinking "Oh, that subwoofer sounds good" - the SD-1 allows you do to this easily in its recommended sealed alignment.

What's Not to Like:

With just a single 10", I felt as if large symphonic arrangements were slightly beyond the grasp of what the SD-1 could do cleanly. With more cone area to work with, I'm sure the individual drivers can handle it well, but with only one I don't think you'd be happy if your usual listening fare is heavy on Orff, Holst, or Tchaikovsky.

Overall, if you're looking for a small, unassuming subwoofer to play accurately on a budget, the SD-1 is a solid option. It's not a world-beater by any means, but it's an honest speaker that can be a welcome addition to a reasonable, lower-powered setup.

2008 Jeep Patriot

Sat, 31 May 2008 15:15:36 +0000

Alright. I have had this car for two weeks now. I have driven just a tad over 1500 miles as well. The verdict is good. It managed 34.7 mpg average on the Cape May NJ trip (~300 miles each way). It manages 23 mpg city easily and even on shorter highway trips (ie. work) it manages to average 27 mpg weekly. Not bad for a brand new motor that isn't completely broken in.

MY car is a 2008 Jeep Patriot:

-5 speed manual
and otherwise it's the base car with cruise control added. My bluetooth kit is ordered, and the factory 6 cd changing headunit will be going in soon, as well as the highline wheels.

Highway thoughts:

-Seats are incredibly comfortable even after 4:45 sitting in them.
-The gear whine can get annoying from 65-70 but it quiets down at 72 mph.
-It's really quiet for a budget vehicle, I can easily drown out road noise at volume 14.

City Driving:

-I love the power from the 2.4L I4. If I need to accelerate from a stop, It will take off faster than my standard neons, even though it is a heavier vehicle.
- Low windshield is annoying if your first at a stop light *in NY they are right above you*
- Drivers side blindspot is pretty big but there isn't really a passenger side blindspot.
- Handles potholes really well.

---The Audio Review---

It has 4 6x9 speakers and deck power (~17 watts per speaker). There is impressive bass response down to 50 ish hz, considering that there is no subwoofer. The soundstage isn't on the floor, but it is still a little lower than I would like.

I don't have the boston acoustic 458 watt 9 speaker system, It sounds better but it wasn't worth the money to me. The door speaker holes in this car are huge. When I upgrade the speakers to Morel Elate 9 3-way system, The door will fit the 8.75" speakers with minimal modification to the door metal and the plastic panel will fit it . The dash speaker locations are off axis, but because they fire into the windshield , they should still sound pretty on axis. The a-pillars will be home to many- a tweeter install and they are rather tiny *as in the depth* so they will most likely be the only area that isn't completely audio friendly.

Overall for the price, it is a lot of car for the money.

---The final verdict---

I really enjoy this Jeep. It's comfy and fun, it handles mild offroading pretty well. The gas-mileage is a plus. The comfortable yet definitely Jeep interior is nice. I opted for the vinyl seats (and the tan/beige interior). I had my reservations about the white headliner but after a little adjustment (my last headliner/pillars were all black) I realized it feel very spacious and open. There is an abundance of seat space. Enough headroom to easily fit someone 6'5". I love the fact that it is easy to get in and out of the back doors as well. It definitely fits adults in the back seat.

I will be glad to own this vehicle for another decade. It is fun and robust. Everyone loves it and it is probably the most comfortable jeep I have ever ridden in. Granted the Compass is idealy the same car, I love the retro old cherokee look and feel to the patriot. Overall if you are in the market for a relatively inexpensive new car that is cheap on gas money, can manage some off-roading, has ample room for 5, has great road manners and low road noise. Than the Jeep Patriot deserves a second look. It maybe on the cheaper side of small SUV's, and in my case it may be front wheel drive (4x4 optional) but it is hands down the most fun suv I have ever had the pleasure of driving in the sub 20k$ price range.

New Software, we need product reviewers now..

Thu, 29 May 2008 23:08:32 +0000

Anyone who would like to post a review on an product thats in the shop is now able too. Simple log in or/create a shop account, go to the product you'd like to review and click the write a review on this product button.

The more reviews the better, and any help would be much appreciated by SSA. Thanks again for the help guys.

http://www.soundsolutionsaudio.com/zencart/

Clarion DXZ785USB

Thu, 24 Apr 2008 04:07:23 +0000

Alright ive been messing around with this unit for the past two weeks. It has all the features i was looking for. It has a built in three -way crossover so i can go active later on and it allows the internal amp to be turned off which is nice. The crossover roll off is pretty steep i dont remember what it is off the top of my head.

Pros: Tons of features for the price. Color changing screen. Best sounding unit ive messed with yet (Panasonic 7203, pioneer avh-5700dvd, jvc-kdavx1, and a few other units). Internal amp can be shut off. Six 6 volt preouts. Ipod direct connect or thumb drive.

Cons:The equalizer leaves much to be desired. The volume is controlled by a slider instead of a knob. The screen is kinda hard to see during the day even with 5% tint.

Overall I would rate it at a 9/10. It is an EXCELLENT budget deck. It by no means will compete with the higher end eclipse units or anything like that, but i would put it up against any other deck in the 200-300 dollar range easy. TONS of features and sounds great. Its easy to navigate I really like this unit.

I by no means have golden ears or anything like that. This is my subjective opinion and views.

Second Skin's Damplifier Pro Review

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 21:13:22 +0000

Check out my review of Second Skin's Damplfier Pro.

http://www.soundsolutionsaudio.com/forum/i...showtopic=16639

Second Skin Luxury Liner Pro

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 13:58:05 +0000

After completing my sound deadening venture about two years ago I still wanted my car quieter. Less exhaust, less road noise, and just an overall quieter interior. So I set out in search of what to use and basically found three products, Second Skin's Luxury Liner, Vertex Mobile Sound Products' Vertex Barrier, and Cascade Audio's VB-4.

I started looking at the specs and comparing them. Both Luxury Liner and Vertex Barrier measured the same thickness and weight (0.375" thick, 1lb. per sq. ft.), while the VB-4 weighed the same as the other two but was thinner measuring in at 0.250" thick. All three are of similar construction, a thick vinyl mass barrier with a thicker decoupling foam layer.

Price wise is where the differences started to show. Cascade Audio's VB-4 varied in price a lot, the cheapest I could find it for was $113.72 shipped for 13.9 sq. ft.. That's $8.18 a sq. ft., making it the most expensive of the three.
Then came the Vertex Barrier at $95.00 shipped for 13.5 sq. ft. ($7.04 a sq. ft.) and finally Luxury Liner with the smallest price tag at $41.50 shipped for 9 sq. ft. ($4.61 a sq. ft.). Even if I bought two sheets of Luxury Liner to have close to the same amount of square footage as the other two (actually I'd have 3-4 sq. ft. more at 18 sq. ft. total) the price only came to $75.04 (thats only $4.16 a sq. ft.!). That alone really helped me out on which one to go for, especially when you're on a budget like me and you need to get the best bang for your buck.

Shortly after looking at those three products I contacted Anthony at Second Skin to ask a question (can't remember what it was) and he brought my attention to a new product he just released, Luxury Liner Pro. Not only that, he was more then gracious enough to send me a sheet to see if it would fit my needs and all I can say is WOW.

Picture of Luxury Liner Pro

When I got the package and pulled it out of the box, I remember the first thing I said, "... this is some heavy SH*T!" and quickly realized how serious this product is. Pro means PRO and that is exactly what you get with this product, professional grade through and through.

Being the type of person that I am, I of course pulled out my calipers and other measuring tools (scales, etc.) to see if it stacks up to what is claimed on the website and sure enough it did!

On the website it's published thickness is 0.375" and that was the thinnest reading I got, the average was around 0.390", so I definitely don't feel ripped off. And the sheer weight of the stuff is just astonishing. Tipping the scales at just a bit over 10 pounds for 9 sq. ft. puts it at 1.12-1.14lbs per sq. ft.. That is one heavy barrier!

The foam of Luxury Liner Pro is definitely something to be noted. It is a dense closed cell foam, yet it easily conforms to curves and compresses very well so it can be shoved into some tight areas. This is really great if you have a layer or two of a sound deadening mat already installed or if you are worried about trim pieces, your carpet, or anything else not fitting right after you install it.
Also with it being constructed from a closed cell foam, this allows it to be installed in areas that you would never install an open celled product such as in your doors or any other area that sees high amounts of moisture.

Sample of regular Luxury Liner on top of Luxury Liner Pro.
Notice the difference between the foams.

I then took the sheet of Luxury Liner Pro and just tossed it in my trunk right above the exhaust just to see if that alone would make a difference, I didn't even bother gluing it down, and sure enough it made a difference! It was enough of a difference my sister and mom both noticed, and you know how women are about noisy things...

Now the kicker, price. $51.92 shipped for 9 sq. ft., thats $5.77 a sq. ft.! That is cheaper then any other noise barrier out there (next to regular Luxury Liner)!

Luxury Liner Pro delivers nothing less of professional results. Unsurpassed quality, outstanding results, and all for a small price tag! If you are looking for that luxury car silence, this is the product for you! And don't just take my word for it, take a look at the product yourself, you will not be disappointed!

MY time with the new Mag.

Sat, 12 Apr 2008 23:04:35 +0000

First things first, I'm sure everyone knows this is a prototype and not the actual production driver. Mechanically it is an exact copy, however aesthetically, the proto is lacking some eye candy in regards to what the final driver will look like.

Many know I am affiliated with SI and will take this review with a grain of salt and that is fine. In my opinion, your own ears should be what you use to make your decision, but I can tell you, that every driver I have owned since I have owned a Mag has not impressed me in ways the Mag has, and this includes all generations.

Upon seeing the driver at my doorstep and picking up the shipping box, I was delightfully surprised with the little amount of effort needed to lift this package. I remember getting my other Mags, and none of them were difficult, but yet, none of them were this easy to lift either. Light weight; I like it!

Everyone's seen the other photos, so I'll skip those, but there is one I would like to show.

Here's a pic of the proto next to my custom Claw with the previous gen's motor and soft parts. The difference in depth is shocking, and the Claw basket is actually slightly shallower than the 12 spoke equivalent, so previous Mag owners who are looking to the new driver in hopes of conserving space are going to be pleased.

Doing some more in-depth comparisons, the cone seems to be a bit thicker than that of the previous Gen which should make it stiffer. It also appears this driver has slightly more surface are on the front of the driver compared to the previous gen. I would attribute this to the surround which appears to be slightly smaller. Nick will have to confirm this.

More on build quality, let's talk about glue joints. I can't tell you how many countless drivers I have owned, previous Mags included, in which is seems like kinder gardeners were hired to slap the glue on. This driver is so clean in this area. There is no globs of excessive glue anywhere on this driver, and this is a prototype. I expect the production units to follow suit as well.

It has the standard push terminals that have become common-place on many drivers and they work well. I myself prefer the allen screw type connectors, but I don't believe they be very beneficial on this particular basket.

Did I mention this driver is light? Shipping weight on this was 24.5lbs, and it was heavily padded and double boxed. Shipping weight on the box of my previous Mag was 32.2lbs and it was not double boxed.

On to the listening.

I loaded the driver in my standard 1.5 cube sealed enclosure. I used some blocks to take up some space in the enclosure to bring my net volume down to 1.2 and played away. The first thing I noticed was the increased low end. I've heard Nick say it, but couldn't believe it. My previous gen really blew my mind in the low end department, and I didn't think it could get better. Well, it has. I am a fan of sealed enclosures and low power, so that's where I concentrated most of my time.

One thing concerned me about this driver before I even listened to it. XBL^2. I have owned a 12" Brahma Mark 1 and a RE XXX12. Both of them seemed to have a "dryness" to them. They were incredibly accurate and loud if needed, but just didn't seem to bring about the normal smile I found with traditional over/underhung drivers. They seem to have a characteristic sound to them of their own that I had never experienced before. I have seen others with similar complaints. This was the reason I dumped them for the first gen Mag (Magnum). I came into this review as a skeptic, and similarly, I was the same way the first time I had heard SI's first offering. I have been pleases in both instances as you'll find below.

I used three amplifiers for this test. First up was a Rockford Fosgate Punch 450.2 bridged mono and running the driver in series at 8 ohms. This gave me about 200 watts of available power. I can sum this review at this point simply as; this driver is far more efficient than the previous gen. I spent some time swapping this driver out for the previous gen and I found myself reverting back to this driver. It handled everything I threw at it gracefully from rock to hiphop to R&B and some classical and jazz. If I put the rear seat down, it got unbearably loud, but I'm no bass head.

I then proceeded to put more blocks in the enclosure and bring the net down to 1 cube. I could not detect a noticeable difference in sound with this driver, but was able to detect a change with the previous gen driver. I really think the recommended 1 cubic foot net is more than adequate. I see no need to go any smaller or larger, so. . .

At this point I didn't see a need to go any further as I had been more than pleased with the results, but alas, this is a review.

I decided to keep going with the 1 cubic foot and add some power. Next up was the Cadence A7HC with the driver wired down to 1 ohm. Now, this amplifier is rated at 1200+ at this impedance and has been known to throw out a bit more, so I turned the gain down quite a bit as the rated RMS is 1KW. This REALLY woke this driver up. In fact, I found it rather pointless as I had to dial it down so far in order for it to blend in with the rest of the car. Bassheads will appreciate this, but I don't need it. It reacted the same way as the previous test, but with more authority and I had to put a "whoa" on the volume. This driver may be rated to handle 1K, but it needs nowhere near this to get loud.

I then turned the gain up a little bit and threw some Techmaster and tones at it to see if I could abuse it. Sorry Nick. IT handled this with no sweat. The dustcap was warm to the touch after 15 minutes of pounding (and two minutes of arguing with my 72 year-old neighbor), but it never lost a beat. It will not soak up power like past Mags, but it doesn't need the power the past Mags needed either, and I always found the previous drivers to be fairly efficient in their own right. In comparison to the previous driver, again, it doesn't soak up the power as well, but it stays composed and sounds better doing it, if you can put up with "loud." I'd still take a new one even at the higher power levels. Can you say headroom?

I then moved on to the JBL BPX2200.1 at 4 ohms. Okay, no point in this really. I just wanted to be an ass. DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME. You will fry your driver and you alone will be at fault. The previous gen took this puppy for all of 10 minutes straight before I started smelling some glue. At this point, it was time to shut things down.

In closing, the new Stereo Integrity Mag D2 does everything the previous Mags are known for with greater clarity, better lowend with less weight and in a smaller package. OH! They're also considerably cheaper thanks to direct sales only now.

Thanks Nick, now I have to find a way to incorporate these into my Cobra, but I don't know that I can part with the Claws.

Mach 5 Audio IXL-10.4 Review

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 23:24:34 +0000

Right now, I'll just let everyone know exactly what I told Mark previous to him sending the final specifications to the buildhouse.

I am in love with this driver Mark. Low frequency authourity during movies is very good and blends extremely well with my BIB CSS FR125S drivers (completely transparent). It suits my listening habits very well. I have only tried it in a sealed enclosure, but I do not feel I would gain anything for my own personal tastes going with a vented enclosure.

Power handling wise, I don't think I could approach the driver's limits with what I have (1300W @ 4 ohms), the driver is a beast. I wouldn't hesitate to say that it would be one of the best SQ 10s I have heard to date. No overhang, no bloating on the lower notes (even if I am using a larger enclosure for a 10" driver @ 1.1ft^3). So transparent, sometimes I have to check to see if its on!

I think you have another winner here Mark.

Now, as some of you know, my home theatre configuration is as follows:

DIY Class A/B amplifier, with an output of 46W RMS into 8 ohms
CSS FR125S in a BIB enclosure (http://www.soundsolutionsaudio.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=11940&st=30)
Keiga KGND52100 1200W@4ohms plate amp
IXL10 10" in the 1.1ft^3

Now, since the midbass & overall response is excellent from the FR125S drivers in the BIB enclosure, and this was in a HT configuration in a large room, I could get away with a larger sealed enclosure so that:

a) I could match the output of the BIBs with a very strong low end (15-55Hz).
b) Have extreme impact while watching movies
c) Test the subwoofers control

And, as you read above, the IXL did all three of my criteria EXTREMELY well.

Since I am currently 3600km away from home until May 2, once I get back home, I will sit down in front of the system & do more critical listening & post my thoughts.

Mach 5 Audio

Fri, 21 Mar 2008 20:49:50 +0000

After being impressed with both the build quality and output of the Maw series drivers, you could imagine how excited I was to try out one of the new �I Excel� drivers from Mach 5 Audio. Considering my involvement in the site, I had the pleasure of being one of the first to hear and play with the new IXL 12.4 driver. After playing with it a couple of months, I thought it would be logical to share my thoughts.

Demo location:
Most of my listening to the driver has been in my truck, since the car is in storage it isn�t possible to try it out in there but the advantage of being in the cab with the driver is nice as well. The setup consisted of a Pioneer 880prs going into a JL 1000/1 which I varied from 500w to well into the clipping range. My goal was to both listen to the sub as well as subject it to some �real world� punishment. My front stage as many of you know consists of Seas CA18rnx, LPG 25nfa being powered by a JL 450/4.

Initial Impressions:
After un-boxing the driver it was obvious that this sub is a definite upgrade from the Maw family of drivers. The build quality is very good; considering the position in the Mach5Audio line of products this didn�t surprise me at all. The screw terminals will support large diameter wires and are easy to use, although on this prototype mine didn�t have enough threads on one of the terminals to cramp down on my wire. Had I used a larger diameter this would be fine, but either way this has been addressed for the production units. What I really like about the driver is that it is the opposite of bling. Everything on it is there for a purpose and I like its purpose. There is no extra wasted options like chrome, a magnet boot, funky cone materials, unusual surrounds. It looks like an unassuming driver�.at least until you fire it up.

Some listening:
After installing the driver into the box under the seat of my truck, I put it through a break-in period before doing any critical listening. This consisted of really exercising the suspension as well as some plain listening time and enjoying the driver. The box the sub is in is 1.15cuft, with a double baffle, flush mounted upfiring.

The first thing I typically do with a driver is set it up in my current listening environment. Initially I was a bit shocked at the output, pulling half the power that I had been using it instantaneously blended extremely well with my front stage. So well, that for a long time I left the driver running with the gains set to 500w. At that level it puts out more than enough bass to blend in nicely with my front stage and keep me completely happy. Of course, after telling Mark I would review the sub he gave me the go ahead to really make it work offering me a recone if I destroyed it. So then I let the gains fly. At 1000w I couldn�t make the sub complain. Playing brutal sine tones it still had no issues. There were no unusual aberrations or funny noises playing raw tones although I did find a couple trouble spots in the deadening of my truck that had surfaced since I killed all the noise. Either way, I kept raising the gain to stress the sub and never really ran into a wall. I will admit I don�t like thrashing my ears, so I didn�t do this for any long period of time but did on multiple occasions really let it have it. Impressively the sub never complained, even well into clipping on the 1000/1.

After dialing it back into normal levels I listened to the driver for a while. I must say the more I listen to the driver the more impressed I am. It does everything that I ask it to and perhaps a bit more as it has me really wanting to upgrade my midbass. The biggest downfall with it is it stays composed at levels that I either have to raise the HP on my midbasses or lower the levels. For my hearings sake, I probably shouldn�t have installed this driver in the truck as now I really want some more dynamic capability from my mids.

As you will see reading further into my review, I really like the driver. It is easy to blend with my front stage and does everything I ask it to. In particular, I wish I had a spot that I could try it out IB as I think it would really be a great fit for it although it works well in other alignments as well. You may not like the unassuming look of the magnet structure if you plan to invert your drivers, nor may you not like the lack of bling as it is pretty mundane looking but personally I consider both of those as benefits. One other real negative for a lot of you might be the coil configuration of only a single 4 ohm, luckily I have an amp that doesn�t care and was able to give it a variety of power levels but if you are doing a single driver and want the utmost out of it your amplifier could end up being expensive. I will add that it doesn�t need a 1kW to get moving real nicely though.

Listening Specifics:
As many of you know I have slightly different listening desires than a lot of posters on this site; however, I still appreciate many genre�s of music and therefore let the IXL have it across the board.

To start things out I plopped in some Mingus. Something about the bass lines on II B.S. from Mingus, Mingus, Mingus always puts a smile on my face. His upright bass riffs start out with a couple chords and a nifty intro before the horns start, just typing about it makes me dance. The IXL did a stellar job of making me not only hear the upright but feel like it was in the truck with me. This was a good start if a sub can play bass chords clearly you know it isn�t a one note wonder, this driver is far from a one note wonder. Of course to make sure it wasn�t just Charles that sounded good I subjected the driver to my favorite bassist Dave Holland. He plays lines that make the best bass players in the world drop their jaw and of course reproducing them in a driver is not easy either, again the IXL completely impressed me. From Ray Brown to Oscar Pettiford the driver really did a stellar job of reproducing the upright bass lines. Continuing on with the jazz theme, I had to let the IXL play some drums. There is no easy task for a speaker system to reproduce licks from the likes of Tony Williams, Elton Jones, & Jack DeJohnette. At this point I further realized that I could use a bit more midbass, although I must add that for a 7� driver I have not heard a car setup that does a better job with the midbass than my truck. Nonetheless the sub took over and I had to keep it dialed down a notch to blend with the system. At this point, I knew I could live with this driver for a long while  My last test in the jazz realm, isn�t really jazz but a digital take on some flamenco, Jesse Cook�s album Gravity contains not only some incredible guitar work, but also a combination of real drums, real bass as well as digital bass & drums creating some extremely intricate passages and lines that are tough to reproduce. Definitely one of those albums that excels in my truck.

Since not all of you into jazz I wanted to throw some other music at it as well. Here I gave it a small sub sampling of different genre�s. Since I briefly played in a funk/reggae band I thought it would be fun to start there. Tossing in some Steel Pulse I heard my first depressing thing about the driver, it became localizable even turned down. Of course it really isn�t fair when the separation between midrange and low bass is so extreme like it is on Handsworth Revolution, nonetheless the quick attack on the bass lines in the song came through with nice clarity and no coloration. Continuing the theme, I plopped in one of my favorite funk bands. The IXL again did a great job of making Rocco Prestia from Tower of Power sound like he was right in the vehicle with me. Something about his bass lines are mezmorizing and well worth a listen. I couldn�t get out of the funk mode without playing some Meters and have no ills to report here either.

Stepping in to the next logical genre, I had to put in some Jamiroquai. Something that is mostly in my collection as my wives reaction to it after a few beers would put a smile on any mans face, nonetheless the fast bass in Canned Heat isn�t trivial to reproduce. The box, alignment and whole installation really came to life. Hearing it in my truck makes me appreciate it even when she isn�t around. The next step in the dance music realm was to try to throw it off base by sending it some repetitive booming found only in techno. Considering my techno selection is limited, I listened to some Moby and Utah Saints. While it is normally Kate Bush�s airy voice samples that people focus in on the My Mind Must Be Free, the bass line is far from trivial to reproduce. The difference between this in the truck with the sub on and off is amazing, it can surely make you hate riding in anyone else�s car. Since I was throwing some big bass notes at it and reminiscing about the timeframe I bought the album it made me think of an experience at Lollapalooza the first time I had seen the Tribe Called Quest. When they popped on stage and started playing Steve Biko the whole earth seemed to shake. Although listening to a sealed driver I thought what the hell let�s see what this thing can do. While I will say if this is the type of music you normally listen to that you wouldn�t prefer the driver in this alignment, from my perspective it did an amazing job of really putting out the bass. In a similar genre, I put in a track off the Ghost Dog soundtrack, whenever I hear Tekitha, Walking Through the Darkness, I end up singing the melody in my head for a few hours. Not sure if it is the tight bass lines, the eerie vocals, or combination. It is surely a treat in the truck.

To throw my last genre on it, it was time to get down and rock. No listening test is a listening test without listening to some Tool & Metallica. Tool�s Swamp Song has that nice attacking bass sound that I have heard many subwoofers completely destroy. In particular it is amusing to me when people out on Lake Minnetonka in their cruisers who have output as their primary goal try to play it. It makes my stomach sour from 100� away; however, playing it in my truck I had a completely different reaction smiling from ear to ear. The drums and bass in Undertow equally put a grin on my face. I also have an appreciation for space along with fast paced licks in hard music, so wanted to throw some Dyers Eve at the driver and it did a great job with the double bass kicks and drums throughout.

No matter what type of music I threw at the IXL, it did truly seem to Excel. I would say its name is fitting. Thanks for making a great driver Mark!

My impressions of the next-gen SI Mag 12

Mon, 17 Mar 2008 03:54:41 +0000

First of all, I'd like to thank Nick Lemons for giving me an opportunity to audition this latest version of the Mag 12"...

Chad Hicks and I auditioned this driver in my '94 E-150, under the exact same test conditions used for other listening sessions we've done. Power was provided by a PG Tantrum T1200.1, set to 800W @ 4 ohms. In use, the woofer needed nowhere near that level of power to reach its full potential, IMO. Enclosure used was 1 cubic foot, sealed. The woofer was lowpassed @ 63Hz, 24dB/oct.

INITIAL THOUGHTS:

The build quality is very good, something that doesn't surprise me given my previous experiences with SI products. The pressed paper cone and poly dustcap construction is simple and unassuming, and the push terminals are easy to use and hold the speaker wire well. One thing that struck me about this new Mag is the mounting depth; at 5 and a half inches deep it opens itself up for some new installation options that might have not been possible with the traditional 12-spoke basket and motor of the previous generation. It seems like it's begging for installation in a shallow spare tire well

WHAT'S TO LIKE:

I used my traditional playlist of tracks to put the woofer through its paces - Eva Cassidy, the Eagles, Dave Matthews, Fleetwood Mac, Chris Izaak, John Williams. In particular, "The Chain" on Fleetwood's Rumours brought a big smile to my face The transient response, the individual attack of the notes, the blending to the front stage...it all was effortless. Same with Eva Cassidy's "Wade in the Water" and "Wayfaring Stranger". Both are tracks that have made some pretty high-profile subwoofers choke in my opinion, but this Mag handled it with aplomb..."Wade in the Water" has some really neat stuff halfway through it with a stand-up bass playing a 7 note walking line while a muted trumpet does its thing...like any good subwoofer, the Mag reproduced what was on the recording without drawing attention to itself. In retrospect I really wish I had some Mingus with me, I bet Mingus Ah Um would be amazing...

It's not scared of the orchestra, either. Kettle drums on Williams' score for "Revenge of the Sith" were extremely accurate and extended very deep. I still prefer the Aura MR12.4 slightly for large orchestral arrangements, but now the price differential isn't even fair to compare the two.

WHAT'S NOT TO LIKE:

The cosmetics of the basket aren't really what I like, 12-spokes look better when inverted IMO, but since it allows the shallower clearance I'd rather have that functionality anyway over looks. That's about all I can find not to like, so that should say something in itself.

OVERALL:

If you're looking for a small, sealed-box woofer and realism is your number-one priority, I don't see how you could leave this driver off your list. Power-wise, it really doesn't need a lot of power to shine - I would say 500-600W is all you need to get it to perform admirably.

Two thumbs way up.

Mag review

Thu, 21 Feb 2008 18:40:31 +0000

I have been listening and listening and listening to the new Mag for a few weeks now in our '94 Civic hatchback with the woofer in 1.3 cubes sealed off two channels of a SAZ-100.4. I wrote the following first bit after I spent 4 or so hours with the driver. The more I keep listening the more I feel like I should update the review. So what I'm going to do is keep this thread open and keep adding to the original text. What you will see is not reply's, but the text will grow as time goes on. I'm not going to lie though, a lot of the material I use for testing subs isn't in a lot of people's CD libraries. Having said that, I will post the album title and artist of the material I am using so you can either download the song/album (legally of course...you don't want the RIAA on you (note the sarcasm)) or buy the CD.

I got the driver hooked up in 1.2 cubes in the Civic tonight!!! It�s running off of two channels of Jakes 4 channel, which is about 275 watts. The driver is WICKEDLY ACCURATE! I had to call Chad Hicks and Jake to tell them how ridiculous the driver is. I have Audax 5.25�s in the door running off of HU power and the Mag made the little Audax�s sound like 8” midbass monsters! The sub blends SOO good it�s not even funny. I know I have the x-over at 150 Hz or higher. Even with that x-over point the Mag sounds so insanely accurate it�s nuts.
I threw in Spies at first, then Gorillaz, then the Roland Sound Approach, then the Focal SQ CD, and polished it off with Nickleback and Linkin Park Reanimation. The last track I listened to was track 20 on the LP album and I don�t even know where to begin. First of all, it whips the current Mag in low end at medium to low volumes (nothing high volume happened with only 275 watts). But the low end isn�t tubby, rumbly, etc. It�s just nice and detailed. The hits/swells in track 20 really surprised me. You can feel the hit swell for a fraction of a second before the hit starts. I�ve listened to that track numerous time and I�ve never heard that kind of accuracy�even with two current Mag�s in the Integra.
Nickelback was a neat experience. The first track (their newest album) has fast double kicks in it and the new Mag not only re-defined how I will now listen to that track for tightness and the ability to keep up with the hits, but it also amazed me at how well it showed the kick drum overhang while still shelling out the fast kicks.
Guys, I simply cannot get over this driver. The driver is absolutely beautiful sound-wise.

*x-over lowered to right at 100 Hz since posting the above info.

Tool - Undertow. Out of the 3 tool Albums I own (Anema, Undertow, and Laterus) this CD definitely has the best bass. The bass is deep, tight, and at times can be very fast throughout this album.
Track 5. About 3:27 into the track the kick-drum gets really intense and fast. The previous Mag was always able to keep up. The new Mag keeps up and clearly defines each individual kick. At 3:46 the kicks become very constant followed by a drum and kick roll that ends that particular fast bass section. Throughout the rest of the track the repetative, quick kicks happen again and again, but it's that section from 3:27 to past 3:46 that I like the best. That particular section really shows how "fast" your subwoofer is. The neat thing about the new Mag is that, like I said before, it clearly defines the hits. The driver doesn't just keep up, it demonstrates how tight the kicks are with a clear attack and clear, immediate, cease each and every time.

Roland: A Sound Approach.

Track 11 (Cho Doo Wop). A smidge before the 0:30 mark the bass hits swell with each hit. When listening to the begining it's important to feel and hear the swells. I've heard numerous systems "play" the notes without swelling, but it's important to not only hear, but feel the swells. The swells should be clearly defined in frequency - especially the lowest dips. The sub should let you feel the individual pulses of the frequency in the seat of your car. The upper bass note at 1:15 is always a tad strong (even with headphones), so don't worry if it's strong when you're playing it because in car environments it can be a bit strong as well. Moving on, the drop at 2:07 is noteworthy. That note (and the others that follow) need to be clearly defined and just as loud as the other notes that preceed it. The new Mag takes the lower note and makes it it's bitch. Keep in mind this is only with 250'ish watts. The previous Mag did a pretty good job with this song but it lacked the intensity and clarity of the really deep notes on this track (and CD, for that matter). This Mag follows everything better and dives much much deeper than the previous Mag did.

Track 2 (Living On The Edge). At 1:15 into the song the track dips low. It dips low with heavy audible bass still there. There are a lot of overtones to the bass line (listen to it with headphones on if you need to). At the 1:15 mark the "farts" (that's the best way I can describe the little blips, haha) shouldn't have any overhang, but the deep feel of the note should be very apparent. The thing to watch out for is the frequency of the farts. You should be able to feel each oscillation of the cone as the sub dips for the notes while still playing the audible part of the note at the same time. The new Mag pin points each pulse very well. Then at 1:30, the bass line gets more invovled with another bass line and smaller, much quicker hits. If your sub can't keep up with what's going on right after the 1:30 mark, you might want to jump ship to another sub or different box. In the sealed enclosure I am using for the test, the Mag displayed its abilities to follow any bassline very well with this track. The sharp strikes after 1:30 should be just that - sharp. The sharp hits need to be played just as well as the lower bass line continues underneath them. The previous Mag did a good job with this track, but when the lower bass line dipped really low, the old Mag didn't play it back with quite the authority that the new Mag does.

Track 5 (Worlds Apart). Throughout this entire track the bass line gets very slap-bass like off-and-on. Check out 1:00 and 2:12-2:25 for an example. The bass line should never break up or get muddy. Slap-bass can be a little "sloppy", but it is in the recording that way. Each pluck or slap should be felt, and each note should be solid, not muddy. Not only is the low end much more controlled and much more present, but the upper bass is phoneomenal compared to the old Mag.

Havoc vrs Fi Q comparison

Mon, 11 Feb 2008 01:42:41 +0000

I know this has been asked a lot so I'll give my input.

I have an SAZ-1500D which drove both a Q12 and Havoc 12 in the same ported box tuned to 33hz. I know its high but that's all the space I can afford. No BP option on the Q.

I've only taken a quick listen to the Havoc, just installed it about 1 hour ago. SQ wise, not much of a difference. The real difference seems to be in the Havoc's low end presence. The Havoc seems be a little louder across the board, especially down low.

There is a noticeable difference and they obviously aren't the same. My initial impressions is that if I had a choice, the Havoc is the better sub. If you are strapped for cash, the Q is a better value when comparing retail pricing.

I'll post some more notes as I listen to the Havoc more. Overall, I think I can now comfortably part ways with my Q. Awesome sub but the Havoc is just a little better.

Incriminator Audio Death Penalty 12" review

Mon, 28 Jan 2008 21:25:44 +0000

I'm fairly impressed so far with this subwoofer. A few people heard it today, and couldn't believe I was running a single 12. 1st off, if you're looking for a nice, civilized subwoofer, this isn't it. When you want something just to break doors down and steal your oldest daughter, this could possibly be the subwoofer. While comparing it with the DD 9512 directly, it has better musical abilities than the DD, and doesn't give up much at all in pure loudness to the DD. I'll have them both on the meter later this week, so I'll know exact numbers then.

My 1st impression after setting the gains to give the sub a clean 1500rms, which is rated power was that this thing needs more. I then bumped it up to right at 3000 watts, and in the 6th order, it seemed to be a bit overkill. I could get the sub to stink rather easily, although it cooled off extremely fast once I backed down a bit. The cooling system seems to work extraordinarily well on this sub. I kind of figured in a 6th order, 3000rms may be a bit much, but decided to give it hell anyways. Although I would feel comfortable doing bassrace in the bandpass with 3000 watts in my setup. I think that for daily driving, 2000-2200 watts would be perfect.

Since there are really no posted T/S parameters on these, I'm going to place a guess that the Fs is in the low 40hz range. Couple that with the fact that my box peaks at 44hz, and my car peaks at 44 hz, this sub can only be described as brutal. It doesn't have that mechanical sound that I've come to hear from most SPL oriented drivers, especially the DD 9500's, which is great. It's a bit smoother sounding, but at least in my setup, where everything kind of collides at 44hz, this sub is a beast.

If I wasn't enjoying it so much, I'd do some max power testing on burps, but I'm sure IA has already done that, so I'll stick with around 3000rms on it, and continue to just smile when people don't believe it's only a single 12.

My experience with the CSS SDX7

Fri, 14 Dec 2007 17:11:12 +0000

I have received a number of pm's and emails from friends and strangers alike asking to hear more about the CSS SDX7 after I wrote about them on AudioJunkies.com. Just to give you a little background, Bob from CSS sent these to me with a pair of Extremis' in the hopes that I would be able to supply some measurements for both the SDX7 and Extremis. Unfortunately, I ran out of time and haven't captured any FR, THD, IMD, etc. But what follows is my opinion based on a few excerpts from earlier posts I made.

Almost forgot...you can get the SDX7 from www.creativesound.ca for $100. I imagine they'll be available from Kyle at acoustic-visions.com in the near future as well, but I believe he's still out of town at the moment.

Pictures and full thread.

Quote

The first thing you'll notice is that though they are similar in approach (and motor topology; they both use XBL^2), they are very different. They feature very different motors, for starts. The Extremis' motor is considerably larger and utilizes a pole vent, while the SDX7 uses 8 1/8" circular vents into the gap itself.

They both feature cast aluminum baskets that appear to be from the same parts vendor. However, they are very different in terms of their design. The Extremis has very little venting except for four evenly spaced and narrow windows just above where the frame mounts to the top plate. The SDX7, on the other hand, has a very open frame with significant venting below the spider. As far as mounting is concerned, the SDX7 has six mounting points, whereas the Extremis has 4. The mounting flanges are roughly the same.

As we work our way up the speaker, the triple joints are slightly different as well. Most notably, the neck of the cone on the SDX7 has a lot more surface area where it is glued to the former. While the spider on the Extremis is of the progressive nature and smaller in diameter, the SDX7 is a linear roll spider with a larger surface area.

The SDX7 features better quality (in terms of appearance, position, and quality) gold plated terminals. The Extremis has heavier gauge lead wires that connect just above the base of the cone, while the SDX7's lead wires connect just below the triple joint.

On to the most immediately noticeable difference: the cones. The Extremis has a Polypropylene cone with a flat dustcap that gives it a very subtle and understated look. The SDX7 is the opposite approach, showing off a beautiful copper phase plug planted firmly in the middle of a woven carbon fiber cone. I haven't measured this yet, but at a glance, the SDX7 appears to have a wider roll surround as well. I haven't measured this at all yet, but the SDX7 seems to have a much lighter diaphragm which can likely be attributed to the carbon fiber cone. This could be a great way to offset the smaller motor in terms of efficiency.

Quote

Alright, so testing fell through due to time constraints, but I figured I should post my thoughts on the SDX7 directly compared to the Extremis.

First, I thought the Extremis set a pretty good standard for bass output from a 7" driver. The SDX7 meets and exceeds that standard. Not only is it capable of more output and a little more low frequency extension, it is also MUCH more detailed. It is significantly cleaner than the Extremis through a good chunk of it's bandwidth. Noise (both aerodynamic and assembly related) on the Extremis is quite high, whereas the SDX7 is very quiet.

The SDX7 does have the typical carbon fiber break-up. As I didn't collect any measurements, it's not easy to define the bandwidth over which this break-up occurs. I would estimate it to become a bit more noticeable from 1.5 kHz and up. From a crossover standpoint, you could work around this with a sufficiently low crossover point (as long as your tweeter can get down that far) or utilizing a notch filter to tame the break-up.

Bob Reimer of CSS mentioned in email the other day that part of the reason he is marketing the SDX7 as a drop-in for the Extremis is a small dip in FR around 800 Hz. I found some female vocals to be a bit subdued, but I admit that I didn't find this that noticeable. Maybe that's just my ears but I hope not.

Build quality is also much better than on the Extremis. There is more attention to detail on the SDX7 and the manufacturing tolerances seem to be much more stringent. Where there were very wide variances in thiele/small parameters on the Extremis (when compared against the manufacturers specifications and when compared against each other), the SDX7 was spot on with both drivers.

Overall, I would rate the SDX7 as a MUCH better driver than the Extremis, particularly for the midbass and bass section. The articulate bass this 7" driver is capable of is quite impressive, in my opinion. It is being mentioned primarily as the bottom octave driver in a 3 way design (and will be available in a few 3 way kits in the near future) but I believe it is quite workable in a 2 way design with the right crossover in place.

I do hope, in the very near future, to build an OB MTM using two SDX7's and a FR125. Now that would be a rocking good time.

ZAPCO DC REFERENCE

Tue, 11 Dec 2007 07:44:24 +0000

These amps are incredible, the output and clarity are just above and beyond any other none Zapco amps that I have used. Plus the DSP processing that is built in makes it really easy to tune the set up just right. I hooked my laptop up to the 360 and was able to tune both amps. The setting included, gain, eq, time delay, crossover setting, output level, input level and actually more than I can remember right now. The coolest part is that i could sit in the drivers seat with my laptop and adjust everything all at once. Instead of having to make countless trips to the trunk. The other great feature with the Zapco amp (not just the DC's) is they have a balance line output called symbilink that keeps radiated noise out of your sound and boost the pre outs up to 18 volts. Giving you a lower noise floor and a boosted signal to amps. If your into SQ these amps will absolutely fit the bill. But as a whole all the Zapco amps that I have used are on a different level than any other amps I have used. including JL Audio slash and e series, Rockford Power series, PPI power class old school( these were pretty close in SQ), xtant, Alpine and a couple others I cant think of right now. The only draw back to these amps are the sub amp is a class ab, while this is great for SQ, it is a bit less efficient than most d class's and heats up pretty quick and consumes quite a bit of power. If you have an questions about these amps I will be happy to try and answer them or Zapco has a really good forum that has actual technicians from there staff answering question. www.zapco.com Hope this doesnt sound too much like a plug, I just really like the products and this company.

P880Prs and Zed Audio Gladius X2 w/ BB

Sat, 24 Nov 2007 08:45:01 +0000

first off i know this thread is a little teaser w/o pics... i need to go buy a camera...

pioneer p880prs
ive own only one other pioneer deck which was the p8mp... a little old but the only pioneer that had the 4x60w internal amp and a 6.5 pre outs, before that i was a huge fan of alpine the 9813, 9833, 9855... all in all the pioneer p880prs completely blows everything ive owned out of the water... its extemely user friendly, the white OEL display is sharp and is clearly visible in day-light, its probably one of the cleanest h/u up to date in my opinion. and the eq is awesome... my only complaints are like most pioneers the face plate protrudes outward about a few cm and that theres a lack of a mute button on the deck... only mute is on the controller which in my car seems to get lost a lot hahah
overall this h/u is very solid, has many tuning options, and sounds incredible

Zed Audio Glads w/ BB x2
i was extemely excited when the ups man came and drop these babies off. after all the rave and reviews ive read... this amp truly lives up to its hype. conservatively rated at 75w x2 @ 4 ohms... i have to admit i was a little nervous at the power ratings but as soon as i installed them and played around a little all i can say is that they are definitively underrated. the build quality is impeccable, both the glads together weigh in about 35 lbs!!! one of the very 1st things i did was open one of them up to see the internals, let me tell you the pics off amp guts do not do it justice. i am a new found Zed fan, the SQ that you get for the price is amazing the only other amp that has impressed me this much was the old Art series from PPI... i have no complaints what so ever with this amp, just throughly satisfied : )

so much more i wanna say but its late and im tired haha long day... build log coming soon !

Assassin 8's Review

Sat, 13 Oct 2007 19:28:17 +0000

Setup Info:

2 Assasain 8's
Sealed box w/ .5cubes each
Memphis 500/1 amp
Memphis 4AWG amp wiring kit
Jensen VM9312 headunit

Had the system for a month now but I just got a hold of a camera and finally took some pics of the setup. I absolutely love it. 2 thumbs up to Ascendant Audio!

Likes: Very good SQ for a daily driver, I know they could sound better if the box would have been ported but space was a limitation and they still sound great. I didnt nor do I ever plan entering any sort of sound competitions so I wasnt looking for a system to blow my brains out, but for the size and quality I couldnt pass them up.

Dislikes: None so far?

I mostly listen to modern rock and rap. (Breaking Benjamin, Godsmack, Chevelle, 12 Stones, Tool, Lil Wayne, Eminem, Luda, etc...) and so far I havent found any songs in particular they sound bad on.

Any questions feel free to ask.

My review of the new AA Havoc 18"

Sat, 08 Sep 2007 23:44:00 +0000

Ok, first off, all pictures are in my album, so I wont repost them(saves time). I Bought the sub a few weeks ago, to replace my 4 mtx thunderr 5500 10", powered by a saz-1500d. The shipping box was ok, standard cardboard box with the styrofoam pieces in it to hold the sub. I would have hoped for a better box, as I've heard and seen horror stories with that type of box, but oh well. Build quality seems very nice, not much excess glue, all joints well glued. 2 problems I have with the build quality, small to some, but annoying to me. First is that the terminals are extremely close to the basket, less than a millimeter apart on one side and about a millimeter on the other. My worry with that is obviously shorting to the frame and smoking my amp. second is that the tinsels are not sewn in to the spider. That didnt seem to be a big deal, as there is felt on the back of the cone, but became a problem later(at least to me). The cone is sexy, surround is strong, although it is a foam/rubber compound rather than a full rubber surround. Very healthy sub, wieghed in at 35 pounds.

The first box I built last weekend for it was 7.5 cu ft gross(sealed). It is truly amazing, the kind of low frequency output this thing has. It makes the whole dash and windshield flex, and I dont mean just a little either!! Only thing about that size box is that there is very little upper subbass output. This is where the tinsel leads came in to play. For the first half hour or so of listening and playing around, all was cool. Soon after that I could hear a higher pitched clicking sound on harder beats. Figured it was tinsel slap but wasnt sure, so I kept it a bit lower all last week, because it did sound like a coil bottoming out as well. I have honestly never heard tinsel slap before, so that where that came from. Today I rebuilt the box down to 4.9 net cu ft, and it definitely loves that box!! I also took the opportunity to wrap the tinsels in some fabric pieces I had laying around, and that fixed the slapping problem. My mid-upper subbass came up, and it seems I kept all the low freq output too, so it is a win-win situation. Compared to my tens, it has the classic trade-off: lost punchiness, gained low freq, but overall I am very happy with this sub. I was able to make up for the punchiness I lost by upgrading my front stage to a pair of diamond d971's I installed a couple weeks ago, so it's no real issue to me. If you want to do 20-30 hz with authority... GET THIS SUB!! It is a very clean sounding sub, does keep up nicely with rock and roll drums and bass(in the smaller box), also blends a lot nicer with my front stage than the 10's did... definitely a nice LSQ sub! If I had it to do over again, I prolly would go with the rl-p 18 though, only because of the tinsel issue( Yes it is that big of a deal to me!) Seeing as how I bought this sub without ever having heard one, it wouldn't bother me to get the SS to replace it if I ever needed to.

Old box:
http://www.soundsolutionsaudio.com/forum/i...si&img=2687

New, smaller box:
http://www.soundsolutionsaudio.com/forum/i...si&img=2716

Sonic FX Q 12" Review!

Tue, 19 Jun 2007 21:51:42 +0000

Summary: Ok to start off let me give you a quick overview of my situation. I am a HUGE Incriminator Audio fan but as most of you know, their products are fairly difficult to come buy since they have been out of stock for some time now. I have been searching for a DP for about a year now with no luck. I had read about the Sonic FX Q in the past but had never seen or heard much about them. They are considered almost identical to the DP, so naturally I was interested. I came across this sub in the classifieds at ROE for an amazing price so I pounced on it.

Now to start off the actual review. At first glance this sub has a decent profile. Not overly beefy but by no means a "wimpy" looking sub. The TC9 based motor is not one of my favorites but seems to perform excellently! I installed the sub and was happy with its output. I had an Atomic AP/SPL 12" previously in the truck so most of my comparison is to that sub. Listening to it at first I felt that it was equally as loud as the Atomic and had equal amount of SQ. After more listening I found that the FX didn't get as loud or seem to pound on my truck as hard. So I felt that the FX was a inferior sub to the Atomic. Well after more listening I feel that I was very wrong in this assumption!!!! At equal settings on my HU the Atomic was louder but I found a little something out about the Sonic. I could turn the HU up more with no stress on the sub. I continued to crank it and crank it, and the Sonic just kept on getting louder!!! I have yet to do a full tilt run on the Sonic in fear that it will not like the IA 20.1 but the more I run it, the more confident I am that it will take the power. I have yet to do a lot of SQ testing due to not having a SQ based enclosure around. I will do some SQ reviews in the future and post them up for everyone to see.

Strength:
This sub can take some power!!!! I'm not sure its actual rating but if it follows the DP as closely as I assume it does, its rating is 1200w RMS. It has dual 2 coils so it is pulling a 1ohm load off my IA 20.1. So its seeing 1800-2000+ RMS and loves it!!! It retains decent SQ, I'm not much of a SQ man so its kinda hard for me to tell. It does hit the lows with decenet authority, nothing special but not a total flop either. All around Decent sub!!

Weaknesses:
Not to man people seem to know about it so its not a very popular driver. It's SQ abilities are not as high as some drivers and its SPL abilities are nothing to amazing. Not really a lot of weaknesses that I can tell, least nothing I've noticed yet.

Rating:

I give this sub a 8.5 out of 10. Its by no means a weak or mellow driver but it is also not a monster capable of killing small children :laughing::bangin:

Thanks for hanging with me to the end!

Jon

MAW12 vs rD Classic 12

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 05:10:50 +0000

Ok folks, here it is! The Mach5 Maw12 vs. the rD Classic 12 showdown! I want to thank Mark from Mach5 and Kevin From Low-hz, with a shout out to Steve from rD, for providing the subs. It ahs been fun, and it has been a learning experience. Nothing better then playing with new toys. Ok, on with the setup.

The vehicle is a 2004 Chevy Silverado extended cab. There is a yellow top under the hood, 1/0 Memphis wiring throughout, and a factory 105 amp alternator. The Big 3 has been done as well, also in 1/0. The source unit is a Clarion DXZ955MC, with the HPF set to 125 and the LPF set to 80. The amplification is provided by a Memphis Memphis Belle, MCH1300, which will provide these two subs ~600wrms @ 2ohm. The gains are set to just clipping using an o-scope and a 50hz note. Enclosures will be a 1.25ft^3 sealed affair, and a 2ft^3 @ 34hz w/a 4� round port, with rounded edges. Now onto the subs��

Mach5 MAW12 MSRP $63.51 direct

�The analogy "you get what you pay for" simply does not exist when you compare the Mach 5 Audio MAW line to other brands. The MAW-12 is no exception. Its three pound magnet structure keeps the lightweight craft pulp cone in check, delivering accurate and detailed bass response. With a 2.5" dual voice coil and 13mm of linear one way Xmax, the MAW-12 rivals drivers costing three times its price.�

T/S Parameters - MAW-12
(coils connected in series)

Fs = 23.3 Hz Power Handling: 350 watts RMS
Re = 8 Ohms Sensitivity: 87db (2.83 volts)
Qes = 0.30 Impedance: 4 + 4 Ohm
Qms = 3.03 Outside Diameter: 31.8cm (12 1/2")
Qts = 0.27 Mounting Diameter: 28.3cm (11 1/8")
Mms = 144 grams Depth: 14cm (5 1/2")
Rms = 6.96 kg/s
Cms = 0.324 mm/N
VAS = 76.6 litres
Sd = 408.3 cm2
Xmax = 13 mm
Cone Diameter = 22.9 cm
Recommended Box Sizes:
Sealed: 29 litres (1 cu. ft.)
Ported: 51 litres (1.8 cu. ft.) 28Hz tuning

Build quality is what you�d expect from a sub costing three times as much. A cast aluminum 4 spoke basket isn�t the norm on a $70 woofer. All glue joints were flawless, with no excess anywhere to be found. Nice thick tinsel leads, looks like 12guage, with shrink tubing over the solder joint at the terminal, leads on to believe this thing is designed for some power. A nice gasket and magnet boot round out the cosmetics. The motor on this thing is of good diameter, larger then the Classic in size, yet a bit shorter. My one gripe, the screw type terminals feel cheap. I�m not a fan of those, as they are typically found on lesser subs. However, that is my only gripe.

Fi 12" Q

Tue, 29 May 2007 04:10:30 +0000

Here she is:

It's in a 2.2 net tuned to 32hz. Powered by an MD2, set to get about 1200w. Pretty **** beefy when I first saw it, like a chubby kid back in those elementary school days. Quality looks excellent. Dropped in it, I've let it play 20hz tones here and there for a little over 10 hours now. Been listening to it gradually and it's been pleasing. The low-end is defining not lacking and for what it's worth, I think it's a low-end monster. So the suspension's loosened up a bit, but still a bit stiff (it was very stiff brand new). I was surprised by the output of this thing. Compared to my 2 12" RL-p's in 1.5 sealed with 1.5kw, they definitely keep up in terms of output around 40hz and below. Above 40hz, they're not too far behind. Output was pretty much what I was looking for, the two RL-p's ported were too much, this is enough for me. Accuracy-wise it's a bit punchy. I felt the RL-p's were a tad bit punchier in their 1.75 @ 32, but the Q may still need to soften up. I did steal some of RIckRolled's song choices and did some listening with both subs. The musicality and tone of the Q was noticeably better than that of the RL-p's. They sounded more natural playing guitar notes, particularly in 'Wayfaring Stranger.' They blended in very well. And on 'The Battle,' I did notice the RL-p struggling to play the low rumblings with confidence. The Q's didn't have a problem with it at all. On Hotel California live, the bass drum was just awesome. Very natural. Even on rap songs, the Q definitely proves itself (to me at least) to be a low-end monster. Listened to Hypnotize, Soul Survivor, etc. It was loud to say the least. Overall, I just like the musicality of the Q, especially in a ported box, it's still able to blend in with my front stage pretty well. And then when I listen to something bass-heavy, it isn't ashamed to show its capabilities in that department either. It doesn't have a flat response in my setup, but going sealed can probably help with that. Pretty satisfied with the purchase, Fi's service was excellent. Not taking anything away from Soundsplinter though, Mike is great and the RL-p is a very capable sub also.

TC Sounds OEM 10"

Wed, 09 May 2007 00:50:30 +0000

PART 1: Ported

Set-up:
Eclipse cd8455 head unit
Eclipse Ea4000 amplifier
Memphis MC60? co-axials
Sundown SAZ-1500d
2 10" TC sounds Oem woofers (4 ohm dvc)

Woofers were in a 2.37 cubic foot box tuned to 32 hz with 24 sq inches of port. Mids were in kicks.

Quote

And I have to warn those of you who are considering this woofer, it is quite heavy and is not suitable for those who may be pregnant, have back problems, a history of heart problems, or those who have had surgery in the past month. Not to mention you must be 42 Inches tall to ride this attraction, known as pure audio ecstacy. Partial hearing loss in advance is recommended as these get loud, although partial hearing loss is not a pre-requisite for purchasing as these woofers are extremely capable of administering a heaping dose of deafness.

Customer Service:
What can I say, I called Heather multiple times, she even put me on the phone with the design engineer who was on the phone with me for nearly an hour. So I would have to say the customer service was good. Although an automated tracking number with purchase would be a nice feature (no waiting for the company to email the information, the shipping company does it for them.

The Fun Part
So after some procrastinating, I decided that I needed bass, and modified my box from my Diamond D1 woofers.(2.3x cubic feet tuned to 32 hz) So got the subs wired down to 1 ohm on my trusty Sundown Audio Saz-1500d amplifier feeding each sub ~900 watts.

CLASSICAL:
First cd of choice is a greatest hits of Mozart and Beethoven. This of course is where the fun started finding the optimal crossover frequency and slope (-12 hz slope @ 80h) I was actually surprised that these subs were involved in the music, but did not overpower or steal any glory from my front sound stage.

Rock:
Next up was a little Black Sabbath (ironman and war pigs) and an Atreyu cd (love double bass). At first I thought the subs were starting to overpower my midbass, but realized about 2 minutes into black sabbath that my front component rca's somehow got switched. Fixed it and started the song over. All I can say is that these little subs amazed me. Awesome output, but completely under-control, even during high volume blasting. Started up Atreyu, expecting to finally find a weakness in this sub, turned the volume up and just let the subs rip track after track of perfect bass beats.

Rap:
I have a weird rap selection (from being an sq guy before spl). First track, Ludacris' Blueberries. Houston I had massive flexing going on in my car, but even with rap the subs were easily adjustable to level out the sound. Next up was Chamillionaire's Look better from behind, I actually thought that something was wrong because I was hearing bass lines that I have never heard before in that song.

The Final Test:

Put an Official Iasca test cd in the car and just listened. Seemed to blend very well with my front soundstage. Absolutely loved the George Williams (throne room) and the pink panther theme song. Got through all 42 tracks and decided to play 1812 overture. On the first cannon shot I choked on my vault. It sounded soo real, I could feel my heart beating from adrenaline.

Now for the Ratings:
Value: 10
SQ: 7.5
Spl:9.5
Versatility (LSQ): 9
Construction: 9.8

For the nitty gritty of this sub.
-Very box picky, did have to play with a few settings to smooth out my bass curve.
-I am not the biggest fan of push terminals because they make it harder to run 8 ga. power wire for speaker wire.
-It is a very deep sub, basically making standard cab trucks a no-no for this woofer.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PART 2: Sealed

So after reviewing these subs in a ported box not designed for them, I thought that there was definitely some more sq potential from these woofers. So here is the set up:

HU: Eclipse cd8455
Front amp: Eclipse ea4000
Front Stage: Memphis Pulse components (ran active)
Sub Amp: Sundown SAZ-1500d
Subs: 2 TC sounds oem 10"
Box: 1 cubic foot sealed box per woofer, front is in kicks. Entire system is ran active.

Sq tuning was done by my buddy who competes in expert class in Iasca.

Here are some pics (click to see larger image) of my set-up:

So here it is:

First Song up was Fergie's "London Bridge", was listened to at a high volume. I would have to say that even though it is synthesized bass, it sounded really natural. Second song up was "Walk with me in Hell" by Lamb of God. Now for any of you that have never heard this song, go buy it (they sell it as a single). This song has some really intricate (not to mention fast) double bass. First off, you can tell the difference between the bass guitar and bass drum. I really love the definition between bass drum hits (extremely fast transient response). Next up was Beethoven's "Fur Elise". The whole purpose of auditioning this song was to determine how nicely the sub frequencies rolled over into mid frequencies without being audible, and this sub did that very well. The last song was "An American in Paris" by Gershwin, I love the brassy sound this sub woofer was capable of producing for tuba bass frequencies, and the slight resonance required to make a timpani drum sound like a timpani drum.

Now for the Ratings:
Value: 10
SQ: 9.7
Spl:8.6
Versatility (LSQ): 9.1
Construction: 9.8

FINAL VERDICT:
BUY THESE even if you don't need them, they would make awesome home theater woofers as well.

Incriminator Audio Lethal Injection 12"

Wed, 02 May 2007 00:30:18 +0000

12 Inch:
Fs:26.9 Hz
Re:8 ohm series
QMS:5.520
Qes:0.317
Qts:0.300
Mms:162.846 g
Cms:205.967
Sd:0.053
Vas:82.157 L
Spl:89.7 db 1w/1m
BL:23.978 TM
X-max:26 mm peak to peak
Sub diameter:12 1/2 inches
Mounting:11 inches
Mounting depth:5 5/8 inches
Driver displacement:.11 cubic ft.
Power:500 Wrms / 1000 peak

Summary:This is one amazing sub!!! Words can not explain how happy I was with my LI. The LI was my first sub and what a first sub it was!! As soon as I got this first thing that I noticed was the build quality! Very well built sub. I had it hooked up to a bahn A8000T ( I know I know) in 3.7@28Hz. Lets just say this much, as hard as I tried I could not get this sub to miss a beat. Heavy metal with strong fast double bass drum couldn't even make the LI miss a step, the LI just excelled! I also had a fart box made, 2.5@45Hz. People were blown away at the amount of sound this "no name POS" sub could put out. Sadly I never got it metered. In my opinion this is thee best sub in the $150 range.

Strength:The was one strong driver. I ran it at 800w daily for 3-4 months with no side of failure or fatigue. This sub has been known to take 1-2k burps and put up some impressive numbers!

Weaknesses:To be honest, I can not think of any real weaknesses to the LI. The guys at Incriminator really did an amazing job. In my opinion you'd be very hard pressed to find a fault with this sub.

Again these are all my personal opinions on the sub. I have had a limited amount of subs to deal with but so far this has been my favorite!

Jon

Atomic AP/SPL 12"

Wed, 02 May 2007 00:28:18 +0000

Right off from Atomic's page. No T/S :/

* APSPL 12, Available in DVC 0.7, 1.0, 1.4 and 2.0 ohms
* Rigid Die cast aluminum basket
* Organic long fiber non-pressed cone body for accurate tight bass
* Curvilinear Kevlar reinforced cone body
* Extended neck joints on cone, coil and spider strengthen the integrity of moving structure for high power capacity
* Butyl rubber surround heavy duty and forever lasting.
* Compressed mounting ring gasket
* Vented coil for extra heat dissipation
* 2-1/2 inch high temp aluminum voice coil
* Extended, machined cut one piece back plate
* Powerful 1 inch thick 90 oz high energy magnet

Summary: This is a very powerful little driver. Its rated at 1k conservatively but can and will handle 2k daily. I ran mine off from an Incriminator Audio 20.1 @ .7 The sub performed excellently!! When I first received the sub the first thing that came to my mind was, wow this is one beefy sub!!! It has tensil leads which personally I love. Most people will look at this sub see the 2.5" coil and assume it can't take a lot of power. People also look at its spec's, 18mm Xmax and a FS of 38 and assume its purely a SPL oriented sub. This is not true! Not by a long shot! This is a very musical sub and had no trouble pounding out the lows! To sum this up, this is one kick butt sub woofer. It has the potential to get hella loud and still maintain an exceptable amount of SQ.

Strength:Were to start, This is one beefy sub. It can handle 2k Daily and has mad potential to get loud. It had no trouble pounding out the lows and was decently accurate! I ran some double bass drum songs through it and was very impressed. It wasn't at the level of my 8W7 but it was not sloppy by any means!

Weaknesses:Not many weaknesses to this sub. One that I did notice that it is very particular about what size box it likes. My first box was around 3.5-3.7 cubes and it did not perform well. It had trouble with the lows and was not as loud as expected. These subs need between 2.3-3 cubes to shine. I would not suggest going smaller or larger then that.

I am by no means an expert or sub guru. This is my personal take on this sub. I'm sure there are other people out there who would disagree with some of the things I've said. This is just my take on the sub.

Jon

JL Audio 8W7

Wed, 02 May 2007 00:26:35 +0000

Free Air Resonance (Fs): 35.2 Hz

Electrical �Q� (Qes): 0.654

Mechanical �Q� (Qms): 9.50

Total Speaker �Q� (Qts): 0.612

Equivalent Compliance (Vas):0.61cu. ft. / 17.4 liters

One-Way, Linear Excursion (Xmax)*: 1.75 in. / 19 mm

Reference Efficiency (no):0.112%

Efficiency (1W/1m)**: 82.7 dB SPL

Effective Piston Area (Sd): 38 sq. in.
/ 0.0245 sq. m.

DC Resistance (Re): 2.78

Nominal Impedance (Znom): 3 ohm

Thermal Power Handling (Pt): 300W

Driver Displacement: 0.06 cu. ft. / 1.7 liters

Net Weight: 17 ibs. / 7.8 kg

Summary: This is a very impressive little sub!! It is the beefiest 8" sub I've ever seen. It also is a very strong driver!! It took 750w from an IA 20.1 @ 3ohms. Took the power like a champ!! I had it in both, .9@29Hz and 1@43Hz. It pounded the lows in the smaller box and had a very impressive amount of output in the larger box. People did not believe me when I told them it was only an 8" driver...

Strength: Very strong driver, took over 2.5 times its rated power with no sign of failure or ware. This is also a very very accurate driver!!! I tried my hardest to trip this sub up with heavy double bass drum with no avail. This sub never missed a beat!

Weaknesses: This is a very expensive driver. I bought both of my IA LI 12's for less then what I paid for this single sub. Also the single 3 ohm coil is a draw back. Most amps don't state what amount of power they give off at 3 ohms. Other then the price and coil configure I can't find many weaknesses in this sub.

As always, these are my personal views on the driver. I did not get a chance to meter this sub or compare it to other subs.

Jon

12" Fi Q

Sat, 28 Apr 2007 01:06:50 +0000

Let me first start off by thanking the guys at Fi. Scott, Shawn and Nick are awesome guys to deal with. I would have no problem recommending them to a friend or dealing with them myself again. They got back to me extremely quickly whenever I had questions. It just blows my mind that someone like Scott can work an eight hour day, then come home and continue to help his customers.

On to the goods, I have a pair of DVC 1 ohm 12� Fi Qs. They are being powered by an Orion 2500d amp which I love deeply. I have a stock electrical system; only change is the Optima Red Top under the hood and the Big 3 done. Wiring is supplied by Knu Konceptz, 1/0 front battery to distribution block in rear, with 4 gauge going to amp. All processing is handled by my Pioneer 8600 headunit. This entire set-up is installed in a 1995 Ford Explorer.

I have the subwoofers in a 5 cu. ft. box tuned to 33Hz.The port is faced towards the rear while the subs are on top.

Initial impression was how well the subs came packaged to me. I always hear horror stories about UPS or FedEx damaging their packages, but I guess I was one of the lucky ones.

Installation went extremely well. I took off from work for a weekend because I was building a more elaborate false floor design and I didn�t want to rush through anything. I got all wires run and everything installed by Sunday afternoon.

I�ve had these subwoofers for almost 3 months now and all I can say is wow. I could be not be any happier with this set-up. These subs replaced my 12� RE SX which was powered off an RE 12.1.

Music wises I cannot complain about anything. It has met every expectation and exceeded many. It is about to play with extreme accuracy. I listen to a wide range of genres and these subwoofers are simply amazing.

Again I would like to thank everyone who helped me piece this set-up together and a big thanks goes out to the guys at Fi for designing amazing drivers.

Fi Q 18" review!! ITS HOTTT

Tue, 24 Apr 2007 19:06:27 +0000

First off, I could NOT be happier. Alot of bang for the buck, and that's what I needed from this sub. It sounds excelent, especially for being in a box thats 11.6 cubes. I set the amp to send the sub the full 1000 watts when the bass boost is all the way up. When I listen to music, I have the boost all the way down cause its still loud, but sounds perfectly in tune with the mids and highs. Whenever I get bored is when I crank it up, but personally my ears dont like the pressure all too much. This enclosure was intended for music with the tuning at 28-30 hz, and I never planned on competing, although I went to a db drag on the 15th. I entered and qualified with a 138, quite the ugly score, but I was using the db jam cd that you can borrow from the judges. I played some stupid track I was told to, it didn't work out well. So first round comes along, I hit 145.2 with jeezy on my own cd because I knew it would play properly. The track was hypnotize, and it hit 145.2 at 39 hz. I am thrilled with that for my first try!

I can add more once I shrink the volume of the box a bit, I could also comment on the higher tuning before I lengthen the port.

NUMBERS:
-145.2 db with music on the TL
-1000 watts rms (lanzar opti1400D)
-11.6 cube box
-tuned to 28-30hz
-125 square inches of port (flared out to almost 200)
-18" of Fi "Q"uality

PICS

ok so photos are in order from the begining of the build to the final product, with some sub shots at the end!!

mounts for dancefloor

dancefloor

sides of the box

I like to call this the "frame method" to building walls

compared to a 12" type-R

again with the R, in the cutout for the Q18

Test fitting for the next couple pics (I'm poor, I didnt have saw horses at this point)

All framed in nice and neat

Q in the wall for the first time! (looks off center but my seats are just adjusted differently)

And so fiberglassing begins

After a long time came bondo and paint (although I got lazy with the bondo, it still looks sweet as heck)

Now for sexy subwoofer poses!

Mach5 MLI-65 Review

Sat, 21 Apr 2007 01:08:30 +0000

Okay I promised Mark I would do a full review on a set of Mach5Audio MLI-65 6-1/2� Midrange/mid bass.

Here we go: First off I want to say for a $18 woofer these things are build really nice and clean, I tested these with the Lpg 26NFA tweeter and the Seas Neo fabric tweeter. I tried these woofers without any crossover points to just break in the suspension and all I can say is wow these things have some really great low end bass, I did a tone at 65Hz and it played it like the tone was nothing, jumped up to a 80HZ tone and it played that with authority, I couldn�t wait to try it with some real music.

I played it with some Rap, alternative, country, jazz, and classical music crossed at high pass 70Hz and low pass 2.5Khz With rap it played all the low bass notes really well and they felt pretty powerful for a 6.5� woofer so I also high passed at 80Hz and I liked that even more and also felt more comfortable at that point. Alternative play great as well the drums where the best part I almost felt as if I where at the bands concert and they where playing right dead in front of me, it was excellent.. Jazz, country and Classical all sounded very great, clean and had some beautiful sound with these Mli�s they were almost where I was watching the performers play all there instruments on stage.

I liked these Mli�s more with the Seas neo fabric tweeters just because I could crossover low pass at a lower freq then with the Lpg�s, please don�t get me wrong I like both the Seas neo�s and the Lpg�s but I felt better with the Seas and I prefer them over the Lpg with the Mli�s..

Overall: I would have to say that the Mach5Audio MLI�s are really great mid bass/midrange drivers. There build quality alone make them well worth the money but the performance is excellent as well they are very accurate and clean with some powerful bass. I would give these a 9/10 for performance and a 10/10 for money and quality. Again awesome drivers..

Thank you Mark

SSD Review

Mon, 16 Apr 2007 23:10:19 +0000

I got into car audio about 12 years ago. I was a bass player and one day figured out that I could play CD's thru my bass amp. It was all downhill from there. I started listening to bass and rap CD's in the house. Then I realized I was missing something in the car. My first subs were Lanzar 12" OA's (designed for infinite baffle) in a large sealed box in the back of my 4Runner. Since then I have had Orion XTR's, Image Dynamics ID's, and some loud crappy Audiobahn's. I have always liked the sound of sealed systems, and the simplicity of build. I have heard MANY ported systems, and while they were always LOUD AS HELL, there were things I didn't like about them. Port chuffing was a BIG turnoff on most of the ported systems I've heard. Narrow frequency band was another.

I sold my last subs a few years ago, and ever since I've been missing them. I just got a job, and have some xtra cash. First purchase was car audio gear. I wanted loudest possible in my car, and something loud and nice for the wifes car. Her system is what I'm reviewing today.

I didn't sell the amp. It is a Lanzar VHC2000. The sub has the Copper coil option. And it's a dual 2ohm coil. The car is a stock BMW 330ci from 2002. The battery in these cars is in the trunk, so I ran 1/0 power and ground straight off the battery, about 4 feet. ( I didn't fuse the run either, I !DO NOT! recommend this, but it works for me.) For speaker wire, I had some 8ga power wire left over after a few older installs.

The amp is supposed to make 1100w at 4ohm mono, but I seriously doubt that's happening. Look at the amp, that power IS NOT coming out of it.

Anyway, the sub is sealed with approx 1.5cuft. The box is single walled MDF facing up in the trunk.

I listen to a wide range of music. Everything from 'drum and bass' to 'house' to rap to hardcore techno to metal to emo to old country to old jazz. All of this can be found in my CD case. Mostly rap and metal though.

The SSD has a HUGE low end. From 25hz to 40hz it (all by itself) is as loud as some systems with the same power and 2 12"s!!! It seems to be a little lacking in the upper bass, but thats fine with me, I live for the LOW LOW stuff. The low end of this sub makes me VERY happy. I just wish the 50-80hz would be as deafening. Songs like 50cent "Little Bit" are really loud, but "Toy Soldiers" isn't. "Toy Soldiers" was as loud on my last system as "Little Bit".

I need to talk about the sound quality. pucking WONDERFUL! Even my Image Dynamics didn't sound this nice. The bass lines on The Who's greatest hits sounded woody and accurate. The bass and kick drums on Van Halen's "Panama" were perfect. Tori Amos's piano sounded real and balanced on "Mohammed My Friend". I just haven't heard bass this accurate before. ( I haven't heard the "Q", but after this, I can't believe that there is a big enough difference to warrant the extra cost.) I just love this sub.

The upper bass (50-80hz) is softer and less defined. This allows it to blend with the factory system, and just fill out the lows. I plan ( and wonder if) putting this sub in a ported box would help "stiffen" the upper register. But I'm afraid that it will overpower the factory mids. I will built a new box in a few weeks and will update this.

Summing up.
Pros, cheap and loud. WONDERFUL SQ!
Cons, upper register isn't as loud as I think it could be.

This is the Lanzar that's powering it.

This is the box it's in.

This is the 8ga "power" wire I'm using as "speaker" wire

This is showing the HUGE excursion on 30hz, 31hz, 32hz, 33hz, 34hz, 35hz.

Any questions?

15" Fi BL Review

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 04:06:03 +0000

Well to start off with, the BL only has the pole chamfer upgrade and is in a 3.7 cf box tuned to 33 Hz in a 2001 Hyundai Tiburon hatch. I am powering it with a MB Quart RAA1000 (Soon to be Sundown SAE1000), stock alt, and battery (no dimmage )

Now to the good stuff...When I came home and saw the box I was so excited (I was actually denied admission to UF earlier that day but I didnt give a sh!t cause I had this monster ) and I opened the box and wow, this sub looked freakin nice. I opened up all the packaging and carefully inspected every little nook and cranny of the sub and was drooling the whole time.

I have dealt with many subwoofers from kicker l7s, eclipse, aa assassins, kicker cvrs, but none of them were like this one.

I went outside and hooked the sub up. I took it easy the first few days but then last Saturday I brought it to a local middle school parking lot so I could let it wang. First off this woofer has VERY good SQ and IMO plays each note EXACTLY as it was meant to be heard, which you could not say about my other woofers. It also keeps up with every note verrrrrrry well. My previous subs, AA Assassins which are deamed as SQ subs couldnt match the quickness and accuracy that the BL had. This was a very pleasent suprise. Then I turned on a little Late Nite Tip and Hynotize. WOW. My Rearview was flexing as I had never seen before, my spoiler rattled as if it was going to fall off and literally flipped my HU remote when I put it on the spoiler. It also knocked my garage door opener off of its clip within 10 seconds.

Now to the real unbaised opinion...My girlfriend, whom has been with me for 2 years of car audio escapades. She used to turn my headunit subwoofer volume to -15 everytime she was in the car with me with my other subs because they "sounded bad and muddy" but I am proud to say that now she listens to the subwoofer level at 0, sometimes even +5, and she loves it. Thank you FI, I can fianlly bump 24/7 now

I am so satisfied with the customer serivce and the product that I recieved. Every person who gets into my car, leaves with their mouth open, amazed how one sub can be so damn loud but sound so good.

Finally, I will have to apologize for the crappy camera phone pics but it is all that I have at the moment. THANKS AGAIN!!!!

ssd15 mini review

Thu, 29 Mar 2007 02:38:03 +0000

To start off I have been a BIG! fan of car audio since I have been like 12 ...I can remember rolling around with my cousin and he had 2 Polk EX 12's in his camaro, His sh!t use to WANG HARD!!! Ever since the day he first got them I could not get stop thinking "When I can drive I want something like that!!" I don�t want this MINI review to turn out to be a life story but I have had so many pairs of subs it is crazy!!! I will make a list of the subs I have had and then ill get onto the review. These are in order from 1's pair to last.

2 RF punch 10's
2 MB quart 12's
2 Q power 12's
2 Infinity 12's
2 polk audio momo 12's
2 audiobahn 15's
2 pyle 15's
2 audiobahn alum12n
2 lanzar 15's
2 fubar-10's
2 fubr-10's
2 FI SSD 15's

Above is my list, Long list huh? out of all these subs that I have owned none of them has done me any justice (why you think I bought so many) I can say out of all the subs up there the POLK MOMO 12's could maybe keep up with these SSD's in tight bass but def not deep bass ....I cracked 2 Windshields with my polks. With the way my car was wangin today by these SSD's I might want to keep the auto glass place on speed dial. At first when I heard of FI I was a little worried about buying because I have never heard them in person only in vids on ROE. So I am sitting at work just thinking about buying new sh!t for my car and im like man a new system would be awesome so im looking and find FIcaraudio.com so im checking it out and reading the forums and im like "what the hell, why not" so not jumping right in and buying a BTL I wanted to start out with something a little more in my price rang and saw the SSD were only 209 shipped!!! You cant beat that with a stick IMO. I buy one, then the other and the first one gets here. OMG this that is HUGE!! 30lbs I was like "DAMN" I have never owned a 30lb subwoofer. I was going to hook it up to my amp but I got the dual 1 ohm version so I could run 2 at 1 ohm with my AMP (Hifonice 1500D) so I didn�t want to run the sub SVC so I waited it out and it was HARD not to hook it up. So today the second one came why I was at work ...I was checking the tracking all day and when I saw it was delivered I left early to come play with it!!!! Came home and there she was sitting on my door step. I was so excited I didn�t even take my dog to the bathroom when I came in just cut the box open found a nice little decal in the bottom of the box and outside I went. Got everything hooked up and mounted in the 7.5 cu ft box I made turned all my gains down on the amp got in the car went to the park and started tuning. OMG this sucker POUNDS!!! I was a little worried at first that my box may be 2 small and it wont sound right but hell it is DAMN loud to me!!! the whole car was flexing like a MOFO!!! I didn�t play with them for long because I am not sure on their break-in time. So I turned it down and came home. I have had so many pairs of subs I can say by far these are the best. I don�t think I will get tired of these anytime soon!! If you are on a very low budget I would get these puppies they do what they are built to do and they do it DAMN GOOD!!!! BTW my box it tuned to 33hz I am really into deep bass ...I was thinking before I put these in if 33hz would give me the deep bass I was looking for. I don�t know if it was the subs or the box but it sure was there and it was crisp clear bass not messy or all crappy sounding. I am thinking about turning my old car into a little bassracer I am Deff going to be coming back to FI for my subs. I really wish you guys made amps also ...I would build a straight FI car audio car. I am thinking about going with 1 maybe 2 18" BL's for the bass racer. Maybe 1 BTL not sure yet but I LOVE FI!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PICS

http://home.insight.rr.com/rcooper1/images/FISubs001.jpg
http://home.insight.rr.com/rcooper1/images/FISubs002.jpg
http://home.insight.rr.com/rcooper1/images/FISubs003.jpg
http://home.insight.rr.com/rcooper1/images/FISubs004.jpg
http://home.insight.rr.com/rcooper1/images/FISubs007.jpg
http://home.insight.rr.com/rcooper1/images/FISubs008.jpg
http://home.insight.rr.com/rcooper1/images/FISubs009.jpg
http://home.insight.rr.com/rcooper1/images/FISubs010.jpg
http://home.insight.rr.com/rcooper1/images/FISubs011.jpg
http://home.insight.rr.com/rcooper1/images/FISubs012.jpg

I know the last 3 pics are not of the subs but that girl was walking by why I was taking pics and she was impressed with how sexy these subs look ...when she was walking away I was impressed with how nice her A$$ is and took some PICS!!

I want to say Thanks to everyone at FIcaraudio for such a good product. I will Deff be back buying more subs. Get some Decals for sale on this mother!!!
I want one to cover the back windshield.

Thanks a MILLION!!!!!

Russell

p.s. biggest minni review I have ever done!

Link to my tweeter review

Mon, 26 Mar 2007 04:57:34 +0000

Hope you guys like it.

http://www.diymobileaudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10458

USAmps MD.1D

Sun, 25 Mar 2007 15:46:15 +0000

Well today I actually was able to find time to have a very indepth listening session with my new setup. It consists of a Kenwood KDC-X859 head unit, eD 6500 components powerd by a Phoenix Gold ti600.2. My Substage is a eD 16Ov.2(dual2)in 2.3 cubic feet @ 30HZ powerd by the newly aquired USAmps MD.1D at 1 ohm. And I had also done the "Big 3" in 4 gauge as well.

A big thanks to Mark of Mach 5 for his help on the new box. Great job!

Now I have had the eD sub for almost a year. But it was removed for the winter at which time I used a Pair of Mach 5 Maw 15's. It was originally powerd by the PG amp, which was feeding it roughly 600rms. And for the longrst time i was very happy with how everything sounded. With the PG amp and eD sub combo I did manage a 136db on the termlab last summer.

So when Income tax refund season came around, I started asking myself what my plans were for my refund. I could have taken a trip......but naw, that would have been to frivolous in my opinion as I would have had very little to show for it after all was said and done. I then decided to feed my adiction. So a new sub amp it was. Recently I had the oportunity to vist a new local dealer of USAmps in Winnipeg, who I had been conversing with online for several months prior to this endeavour. I went down to the shop to check them out for myself. And imediately I was impressed with the styling and overall robustness of the MD1D. I had previoulsy done alot of research on this amp but little was found about this specific model. The othe Merlin series amps did have a very strong folowing online so I decided to give it a shot. And I took it!

So before I could toss this baby in. I had to do some fortifying to my current set up. I had 4 gaugue power/ground wires ran for my old setup(PG ti600.2 & Alpine MRP-F240). SO I purchased a Kicker 0 gauge hyper flex kit to supply my needs.

I am not going to bore you with the install details because we all know what they are.

So....with the mach5's installed in a final 4ohm configuration at which point the MD1D is CEA rated at 450rms. Well let me say that the output and over all control of the Mach 5 MAW15's was increased. Which wasnt what I was expecting at all seeing as the PG is rated at 604rms @ 4ohm(as per birth sheet) and is renowned for being of excelent quality. It was at this point that I felt there was no need in changing the voice coil configuration of the MAW's. Simpily because it was loud enough and because the return of the eD 16ov.2 was only days away.

Today I was finally able to get the eD back in. In the past I have gone through several different setups, the loudest I was able to achieve with all my systems was 139db with a pair of.....you guessed it eD flat coned 12's off of the same PG amp. And let me say today I sit here typing this absolutely ASTONISHED! It almost hard to put into words just how impressed with the MD1D I am. I have np doubt that i have achieved a new level in shear output. And the truely disturbing part is knowing that I am only using about two thirds of the merlins rated power Becasue of my preout and gain settings.

There is alot more tweaking to take place so I will update this review as changes are made.

But to me...the MD1D is one of my most worth while investments I may have ever made. I think I have finally achieved a zen like contentment with my car stereo....How many can say that. VIDS TO FOLLOW AS ROE UPDATES.

Fi X 10" Review

Tue, 20 Mar 2007 12:25:54 +0000

First off let me say i'll be totally honest and say i had very low hopes for this sub, as the previous owner had already told me what he thought about it. I bought this sub for the price of $40 dollars form him without a dustcap, contacted Scott and he was kind enough to send me a dustcap for the sub.

I tested this sub in a in a sealed off trunk of a 1978 Chevrolet Camaro

The test Equipment was:
Alpine 9835
kenwood entry level 6.4 coaxials
Kenwood entry level 6x9s
All speakers inside cabin running from deck power
Sub amp MTX 500d ( i know its over the RMS of the sub,buti honestly wanted to see if it would take over the RMS and the only other amps i have are 2k RMS and above)

The box i decided to build for it was a ported enclosure consisting of 1.3 cubes net 19sq in of port and tuned to 33hz.

The first listen was in the camaro, and i was very curprised at what i heard.

I putin some 38 special (classic rock) and the sub was very responsive to the quick drum beats of the rock genre, Next i tryed Journey - Who's crying now i honestly myself as a "high dollar sub owner" couldnt believe the amount of sound coming from a little cheap 10, it was very acurate and loud for what was playing. Welli thought to myself, "well it sounds great on rock music, i bet rap is where it falls off"

well it surprised me once again, it went though the whole Young Jeezy album (The Inspiration), Bass Mekanik - Quad maxximus-,and E-40 - my ghetto report card albums with flying colors. the dustcap did rise just a bit over room temp but i was slamming the crapout of it over RMS. my only letdown, is that its not loud enough for me, buti think its more just me being used to more, i cant expect the world out of a 350RMS sub.

through the frequency ranges in the Camaro setup it seemed to shine from 30-48ish hz, over and under the volume was slightly decreased but not enough to make me frown upon the sub.

Overall for my personal listening if i was looking for a 10" substage i would seriously consider this sub if you want somethign clean sounding for a great price, $119 i believe is what Scott told me they go for. If you want somethign loud i would say either buy multiples of these or look higher up in the Fi library of subs.

Fi Q 12" Review

Sun, 18 Mar 2007 21:54:41 +0000

Ok, so I'll start from the beginning. I bought this sub a few months ago, near the beginning of January. I bought a 12" Q, Dual 2.

The people of Fi: Being local, I got to meet Scott, and one of his workers. Scotts a great guy, down to Earth, and just extremely outgoing and friendly. He answered all my e-mails, even though the poor guy must get like 200 of them a day. He showed me around the warehouse, how they assembled the subwoofers, and even put part of mine together right in front of me. I left the warehouse extremely satisfied with Fi as a whole, but how good are they at making subwoofers? I'll explain in this review

First Impressions: The sub is pretty beefy for what it is, and fairly heavy. It has a great build quality, and is impressive and eye catching on the first sight.

The Build: I had David from RE build my box, and do all the wiring. I went with a 2.3 cubic foot ported enclosure tuned to about 31 hz. It has 2x 4" Aeroports coming out the side. The box is going into a Ford Ranger, with the subwoofer upfiring, and the ports coming out the side, towards the Driver's side. Pictures will be at the end of this.

The Hook-Up: The Sub is going to be connected to an RE 12.1. It is receiving about 1200 RMS @ 1 ohm, set using a DMM, and a -3 db attenuated tone at 60 hz. It's ideally receiving about 1400 ish RMS on a full on sine wave. My electrical consists of a Yellow Top under the hood, Big 3, and a 240 amp Iraggi Alternator, with 1/0 going back to the amps.

Now on to the actual Sub: Upon first impressions, I was not very impressed to be honest. It was loud, especially considering it's one of the few REAL subs I have heard, but it was not as loud as I expected. However, over time, about the next month truthfully, I began to fall in love. As the sub started to break in, it got significantly louder. A month later, I could not have been any happier. The sound quality is superb, the output is more than I could ever want, and it really hits the lows with authority. A few songs my Q has come to love have been: Betcha Can't Do It Like Me, Soul Survivor, Hypnotize, and for you Bass-drum-heads: The Light that Blinds.

The sub has never missed a single bass drum, no matter what I throw at it. It not only hits it with authority, it also does it while retaining clarity.

The lows make my ears ring, shake my car apart, and just utterly engulf you in the bass. It is unbelievably loud for a single 12" on the lows. With people sitting in my car, they usually throw their hands over their ears as soon as the bass hits, and beg to get out.

It has no problem hitting any note under 60 hz, and when it does hit them, it hits with authority.

Pros: What isn't there to love about this sub? The lows hit with authority, the mids make your ears bleed, and the Sound Quality makes baby jesus cry. It does not miss a single bass drum beat, a single note in any rap sound, or any other song for that matter. There's never a time where I wanted it any louder. It's loud enough to be heard from blocks away if that is what you desire. It also sounds nice enough to put in SQ cars.

Cons: The only problem I seem to have with my Q, is that it does not really like anything above 60 hz. Other than that, this sub has been perfect to me in EVERY WAY. I would never hesitate to buy it again, and I constantly recommend it to my friends.

Now on to the Pictures:

Videos in next post.

12" FI ssd D1 Copper coils

Mon, 12 Mar 2007 13:52:29 +0000

The SSD is a great sub...
fing34.gif

The SSD is currently being powered by a SAZ-1500d on my stock electrical along with my beautiful Pioneer 860mp as the captain of the ship

Anywho

When I first purcahsed the sub I only had a 4.5 cu ft ported enclosure for its home and well lets say it was a great experience to say the least.

4.5 cu ft review:

4.5 cu ft enclosure didn't really provide the SQ that I was looking for but it was loud and allowed it to produce a substantial amount of spl. Very noticable to the point it would tickle my ears and this is one sub mind you had friends that rode in my car think I had 2 subs. I enjoyed the 4.5 cu ft enclosure but due to me having copper coils and reading more and more up on it I felt that I was missing out alot on the low end of things because the copper coils were designed to work better with smaller enclosures. The sub had a pretty good low end but felt it has more left in it. It gets a lil peaky on the higher frequencies but im hoping I can smooth alot of that out with a bit of tweaking.

Dual 2 cu ft review:

now onto the other enclosure that I own I let a buddy borrow my dual 2 cu ft enclosure and was waiting till he got back into town from school so we can swap becuase the 4.5 cu ft is his. So currently I have the ssd in on of the sides of the box and the net for the box is approximately 4 cu ft so when I go to purchase another ssd it will fit nice and snug next to its brother. I am still testing the sub and the gains are minimal dropping it down to a smaller enclosure actually im a little bit upset that I lost the spl that I was fond of with the 4.5 cu ft however I have noticed that the sub is a little bit louder to the ear but im sure with the meter the 4.5 cu ft will have produced some better numbers. the 2 cu ft enclosure has a lot of sq more sq than I really want but again I still have some tweaking to do so I will keep you guys updated as I find that sweat spot for this sub.

Thanks Scott for a great product and I will be contacting you soon because I have a few questions to ask you before I purchase another ssd.

12" Fi Q D2 Review / 2.5^3 ft @ 30hz box

Sun, 11 Mar 2007 23:04:15 +0000

Well, around december i received my 12" Fi Q from my uncle who knew me too well i guess. It was given as a gift. So im going to break down this topic into the reveiw first, then into my ?'s

Packaging, First Impressions:

Upon opening the box, the sub was wrapped well and contained in a nice packaged box. only one of the blue things were somewhat worn, so it was slopped down a little, but as i said it was a gift, and probably not handled the best. But still was in perfect shape

When i opened the sub up to take it out and expect at the house, the first thing i noticed was how nice the magnet frame was painted. No scuffs. Later, after more inspection i noticed how stiff the suspension was. very nice. The build quality is great.

*I decided i was going to clean with rubbing alcohol the motor, and also the cone. 2nd part is a bad idea, dont clean with rubbing alcohol. Took logo right off and made a smudge of the glue i believe on the cone. I learned my leason this is my 1st system.* Question concerning this later.

Box:

I decided i hear everyone say they want a sub that hits low, so i decided a box at 2.5^3 @ 30hz after displacements would be adequate. with a double baffle and bracing. Pics later.

First listen:
I had a member of the CA forums set up my system iamamp3pimp (robin) did a incredible job. He dropped the car off. I got a few songs to listen too.

Hypnotize - Young Jeezy

This showed me how low the sub could get. At this time i didnt have the 2nd battery or complete big 3 done, but this song was enough to make me piss myself. My rear deck flexed so much that it was enough to move the top part of my trunk lid with 2 layers of deadening. The sub was loud and low, and very responsive and tight even in ported box.

Top back - T.I.

This song was prettty good at showing it ability to switch between frequencies. My amp was low passed around 60 though so it didnt hit the really high low note. But it was a very good demo from this expierence.

Last song
People of the sun - Rage against the machine

This song was very impressive, i could feel every kick pedal and low bass note common in rage against the machines music. It was a tad bit sloppy on the bass notes but than again they play like that. Very responsive and didnt have trouble playing both the kicks and bass guitar.

2 Weeks later, added big three, suspension is loosened on sub, and 2nd battery

The sub seems to hit even lower now and i adjusted the amp settings a little more now. I believe it passed around 65 hz now, and subsonic at 28 - 32hz. Phase is at 0 and bassboost is not at much either. I sending the sub around 1000 watts.

Songs like coming down da street - unk, knockin head off em - lil jon and put yo hood up (remix) - lil jon, all play loud and low, however i feel the sub is a little sloppier, but not much. I really enjoying this sub, and already have an addiction. I plan on upgrading to either another 12" Q or maybe sell the Q and buy a 15" Bl or maybe even sealing 2 12 or 15" ssds, not sure, but one thing is the same, i will be a life long fi supporter and customer.

PICS!

Trunk View

Close up of my accident and me being stupid rubbing off logo

ALL INTO THIS CAR

Mike-

FI Q 12 D2

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 09:44:11 +0000

I have a 2004 BMW 330Ci. Here is a list of what I have:

Eclipse AVN-5435
Audiocontrol Overdrive, ESP-2, DQX, and DDC
US Amps USA 200x - tweeters (50x2)
US Amps USA-400x - midrange (100x2)
US Amps USA-2000x - sub (2000x1)
OZ Audio CS-180 (old school superman logo)
1 Fi Audio Q12 D2 in a 2.0 cu ft box tuned to 33 hz with 24 in of port area (small, I know).

I just purchased an 06 RE XXX 12 to replace my 05 XXX 12. Then I heard about Fi so I bought a Q12 just to try it out.

The customer service was excellent and the sub was rushed to me in time for Heatwave in San Antonio (USACI). I got the box which was similar to RE's packaging. The box was ravaged but the sub was okay. Not sure if I can really blame Fi for this.

I installed the Q12 into a 1.0 cu ft sealed box just to check it out. I was so shocked at how light the sub was. ~27 lbs was the shipping weight I think. Much lighter than both of the XXXs which is a good thing. Connected it to my US Amps USA-2000x with the coils wired in series so the rated output was 2000 watts, 200% of the rated output. WOW! This thing got amazingly loud and very accurate. I use "Operation Spirit" by Live and the USACI focal disc to test SQ. The low end is controlled and quick, fast bass lines don't drag and are very distinct. This sub also has great output in across the 3 lowest octaves, a weakness of the 05 XXX 12. Played some Red Hot Chili Peppers and Bass Mekanik. Output continues to be astonishing. The sub has less than 45 minutes of play time and is pretty stiff.

So I dropped the Q12 into a 2.0 cu ft box tuned to 33 hz with a slot port (24 sq in). Got some port noise but I have limited space and the trunk masks the noise so its not an issue from the driver's seat. No significant loss in SQ in the ported box. Bass notes are still tight, quick, and distinct. Output...even more astonishing. Seemed to be louder than the XXX across the board. This also kicked the crap out of my 3 10" IDQs in SPL and SQ.

With the 2000 watts, I did get a burning smell after 1.5 hours with 2000 watts. I was going pretty hard on the Q and it took it. My guess is that the Q can handle 1500 watts and maybe up to 1700/1800 watts with a responsible adult. Only at the highest volume level did I notice a loss in linearity. But no nasty suspension or banging noises.

At this point I'm sold. Next day, both of my 05 XXX 12s are for sale and the 06 XXX 12 is being stored in my closet for home stereo duty in the future.

I went to the comp. Sub is still STIFF! REALLY STIFF! Along with a 1st place in SQ, I scored a 136.X (forgot the exact number). Not a great number but keep this in mind:

I forgot to put my back seat down
My car is a HORRIBLE SPL car
I didn't have time/forgot to setup my EQ for SPL testing

With that, 136 is a damned good score. I scored a 137.8 with the 05 RE XXX 12 in a well tuned setup with the back seat down. I have no doubt that the Fi Q can top that.

I was addicted to this sub for the next 30 days and then I deployed to Iraq. I got a noticeable increase in SPL and SQ as the suspension loosened up. I don't think that I ever really broke the sub in so I'm very excited to get back to the US.

This sub is similar to the XXXs without the weaknesses of weight and lack of upper bass output. For the price? Its a no brainer.

I tell people that this is the BEST deal in car audio. If anyone knows of a better one, please tell me.

12 inch SSD

Fri, 09 Mar 2007 00:16:52 +0000

Recently I purchased two 12 inch ssds from Fi car audio. I was looking for something loud yet retain good sound quality. I first built a box which is 4.5 cubes tuned to 33 hz. I have them hooked up at 1 ohm to a US amps Md2. At first i thought the low end was lacking so i contacted scott and told him and he told me about the copper coils vs the aluminum coils. Well the copper coils made that much of a differnce because i love these subs. They play the lows nicely and get loud. The sound quality could be better. But being that im a bass head it doesnt bother me at all. Compared to a sx which everyone wants to compare them to. I would say they are alike except more musical and better quality. I have played just about everything and put them through hell and have yet to smell any coils burning.

Pros: Great build quality
Customer Service
Lightweight
Get Loud

Cons: Lack SQ(its there but could be better)

Overall: Out of 5
Build Quality 5
SQ 3
Customer Service 5
Spl 4
Overall Liking of the Sub 5

Be prepared after they break in...

Fi BL 18in

Thu, 08 Mar 2007 21:17:43 +0000

Where to start...

I am completely Satisfied with every aspect of my purchase. From the Customer Service to the Product...simply amazing.

I installed it in a 6^f Box Tuned to 32hz

Lets start off with some pics

I have a Shoe Size 15-16

I am the kind of person who changes there mind on the fly. I went through many different subs, and box designs before deciding on FI...however, once I read a little bit about them, i was hooked and ordered as soon as my check came in...

I was so excited, I build the box in my house(its 0 out side) cause I didnt wanna be in the garage, and I took a half day on wed to meet the UPS guy and on Friday to Finish the install and test it out...

I ran to the door when i heard the truck and was waiting on the porch steps when he walked up. He didnt look happy and as he shoved the box in my hand I saw why...that mother fudgeer was heavy...

I opened it and instantly a smile arose on my face...i couldnt stop smiling at the awesomeness of this subwoofer...

So...after what seemed like forever, I installed it into its new home..

I set the gains and burned a CD and well....i was impressed to say the least...

This video is at 1/3 Volume and 1/2 The Full Gain Settings...

The Good
Everything..
Scott is amazing. I have never met someone as helpful as him. He has been there for me every step of the way and went out of his way to help me out.
The Sub hits so hard on only 1000w its is ridiculous..as you can see in the video
It hits loud and it hits low
On top of all that, I have never heard a 18in perform so well with the Sound Quality..Most are sloppy..this is not.

The bad....
Yes there is a downside to FI audio belive it or not..

Check it out for yourself...

18in BL at only 1000w....

I love it. I would reccomend this to anyone looking for deep bass with good sound quality.

I will def buy again(and plan to in the near future)

Fi Q 15' Review and Numbers (Lots of Pics)

Thu, 08 Mar 2007 19:30:29 +0000

Alright so I have had my system in for a couple of months now and I have finally had some time to really get to know it. Now that the hype of having a new system is over I am starting to listen to my normal music and not just rap, so thats stuff like 311, Eve 6, and Modest Mouse. And i have to say is that, it sounds amazing for being a 15. It keeps up with the fastest drum kicks and its clean and crisp. I could not be happier with the SQ of this sub. Before i had 2 10's and those were amazing for rock but this is just as good if not better, I got the benefit of being much louder and having lower notes but did not give up any accuracy!

Now for the SPL side of the Q. This baby is loud!!! I was totally blown away by how loud this driver will get. I went in with the idea of just having a really good SQ setup which i did, AND i got a spl score worth cometiting with! I couldnt believe it when i hit a 145.4 on my first run ever playing Lil Jon. Now I am just curious of what I can really hit after tweaking and playing tones. The only thing that could be better to me that what I have now is 2 Q 15's

Heres what Im Running
98' S-10 Ex. Cab
HU:Panasonic CQ-C7403U
Sub: Fi Q 15' d2
Amp: Hifonics BXI 1606d
Box: 4cubes @ 30 htz (by Scott)
Batt: Deka Intimidator
Dbs: 145.4 in the headrest (Throw it up)

Now some pics

This is how it looks now

This is probably my favorite pic

Pretty much the standard routine the day your sub arrives haha

Heres the Enclosure that Scott designed for me, I couldnt be happier

This is pretty much the bulk of my stuff, I believe it is a successful setup.

Thank you Scott and everyone else at Fi, I couldnt have done it without your help! You have my all of my respect and gratitude.

Fi BTL 18 Review

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 22:51:48 +0000

I got my first BTL 18 about 5 months ago, fully loaded dual 2 ohm version. It was the fist 18 I'd purchased or even heard in person, so I was a bit skeptical because of the mixed things people say about larger drivers as far as quality go.

The last two setups I had owned were a kicker L7 15 in 5cubes tuned around 32hz, and and alpine type-x 12 in 1.1cube tuned around 32hz. I had been trying to find a very loud woofer that still sounded half decent, and while the alpine sounded nice, and the kicker got loud, neither did both very well. The kicker was very loud though, so I was really trying to find something that could out-do it.

When I started trying to find out about the Fi products, I was extremely surprised to find out that I, the lowly consumer, was able to talk to the men behind the product, and that was amazing to me. The customer support was great from day one, and the interaction with scott/nick/shawn on everything was so helpful, I knew I was in for something good.

I built a box 8ft^3 tuned to 35hz for daily with about 115sqinch of port area, but tuned a little high so I could put up a bit better score. There was a double thickness of 3/4inch mdf for the baffle, and 3/4 for the other sides. I couldn't wait to put my Hifonics bxi2006d on it, run with 1/0stinger wire from the 3 batteries and 200amp alternator. I have an alpine 9831 head unit, and CDT components, all I needed was that sub to strengthen the low end.

I noticed upon arrival that the packaging was very good, and even though the weight was somewhere near 70lbs everything was intact. The sub looked great, beefy in all aspects, and was huge to say the least! I put the sub in the box and put it in my 99 yukon with adrenaline pumping in anticipation.

I kept the volume low, and put in some rock to see how it would handle the kick drums. Whoa, it was articulate and crisp, and sounded DEEEP. After playing with it a while, I put in some rap, Jeezy I believe, and was taken back at the output. A normal listening volume is between 5-7 notches, but I kept cranking the nob, and at a volume of 10 it passed the output of the alpine (when at full tilt), at 13-14 it passed the Kicker L715 (when at full tilt), and it just kept going. At a volume of 20, I could still not hear any distortion, and the volume was incredible. I cracked my drivers window open and felt the air gushing in, actually blowing my hair - which had never happened with my other subs. It sounded controlled and deep, unlike any sub I'd heard before. So much for the 'sloppiness' of larger woofers, this was clean and simply amazing in output. I stepped out of my yukon and looked at the flex of the body. The lock on my trailer hitch was jumping, and my rear doors were moving like they wanted to come open. Getting back in, the bass in Young Dro-Jackie Chan hit so hard it took your breath away, and the lows in hypnotize by Jeezy made the air move in and out of my lungs like nothing else. A few days later I went and got metered.

I knew it was louder than the low 140s I was hitting with the l7, but not sure how much. I put in some test tones and went to work on it, finding the peak to be at 42hz. I hit 148 and change, and still 145 and change at 32-34hz. I built a new box a few days later, CRX style with 7.5cubes tuned to 35hz w/ 115 sqin of port. This time I hit over 149.
Since then I've purchased a 2nd sub and amp to match, and hit ~149 at 32hz, and a little under 151 @ 42. It stays loud from the low lows up, instead of dropping off where many others do.

Now about 3 months since I've had both going, they've had time to break in. The SPL is still rediculous, they pound all day without a problem. After breaking in some of the initial tightness of them is gone, but that can be expected. I would say the SQ is not quite that of an alpine type-x- but close, and MUCH louder than average. I have a 4kw+ amp on the way, and plan to get another to give them a grand total of 8000+ watts, so I will update when I get this done. Being that this is my daily driver I do not plan on tuning higher, but I am very very satisfied with the sq that this spl driver can maintain.
I've had people with 'competition' setups get in my car and have a shocked look on their face. I've had people who brag to be hitting in the 160s with 6 12's get in my car, and jump back out saying how ungodly loud it sounds -especially on the lows.
Overall they are the best subs I've ever owned, great all around.

Hope this helps with someone when trying to find a great sub, for a great price, that really belts out the power and sounds good doing it.

2 BTL 18 Daily Driver Review

Wed, 07 Mar 2007 19:38:07 +0000

Product Review by Tejcurrent:

Follow the link to the post here: http://www.soundsolutionsaudio.com/forum/i...?showtopic=7337

tejcurrent, on Mar 7 2007, 03:23 AM, said:

Over the past year alone I have been through almost a half dozen systems in the constant quest to find a sub that was not only loud, but sounded decent doing so. I've owned Alpine, Kicker, and many other brands in between. I would only purchase one sub at a time in order to decide if it was worth buying more than one, and I never bought more than one. I had never owned an 18 inch woofer, and having owned 10s, 12s, and 15s, I wanted to try the next biggest step, especially since my 99 Yukon had the room to accomodate the system.

After I had placed my order for an 18" dual 2ohm BTL with cooling, 3rdMagnet, and HiXmCoil, I began to beef up my electrical system in anticipation. I already had a single Hifonics Brutus bxi2006d, and figured it should be sufficient after electrical upgrades (I found out later I was wrong).
I put in a 200amp Powermaster Alternator and an Optima yellowtop to keep the starting battery company. I Ran 1/0 guage to the back after doing the 'big 3' upgrade, and put in a 3rd battery under the rear seat. I wanted to have the box built so I could have the sub in as soon as it arrived, so I started to build that as well.
I decided to go for the simplest box I could make, so I just made a rear firing box with 8 cubic feet net tuned to about 35hz. Here is a picture of the sub in the enclosure. I only used a single sheet of mdf for the faceplate, and you can see it flexed enough to actually blow the rubber gasket from under the sub.
This was a picture of me holding the sub to give you an idea of how large it is.

This is how big it is compared to my alpine type-x 12

About 10 days after I placed my order it came in the mail.
That night I had it in my yukon and started playing it. The hit it delivered amazed me, it was sooo accurate compared to the L7 15 I had just before, and even rivaled the detail and clarity of the type-x. I listened to some rock and enjoyed the way it sounded, then pulled out some Young Jeezy to see what it would do. WOW, at a low volume it started tickling my nose and shaking things. As I cranked it up it became uncomfortable to sit in the car. I did my first hair trick that evening, and was very happy to say the least. After metering this setup I found out it was hitting about 148dbs @ 42hz, and still 145.x @ 32hz. The strength on the deep notes was amazing to say the least, so about a month or 2 later I put in my order for my 2nd btl 18, and ordered a 2nd bxi2006d. After asking around I decided to make 2 CRX style boxes (7.5cubes net each tuned @ 35hz) so that I could remove one at a time for work. I also used 3/8" bolts for the terminals to prevent leaks and make a good solid connection that I could interchange the connection from 1ohm, to 4ohms easily.

I tested just the one btl I already had in the new box and my score went up to about 149.x @ 42hz. In the building process I ran out of carpet, so I only covered one of the boxes, and as soon as the 2nd sub came in I put it in there. With 4kwatts rms going to 2 BTLs, it was by far the loudest vehicle I'd ever owned, and the loudest 2 subs I've ever heard. With my window all the way down I was able to get a good hair trick going, and figured it was time to get metered. At 42hz I was hitting just under 151dbs. To say the least I was pleased, but when I found out I was doing 149.8 @ 32hz, I was very happy with the increase. The lows are so strong you can watch your vision blur and feel the air move in and out of your lungs. These things really pounded.

This is by far the best setup I've ever had, and aside from 1 or 2 others that cost in the 5 digits, it's one of the best I've ever heard.

I know, the cars dirty.

This is a really bad image of how I set up the boxes, just with the subs where I plan on making them in the future.

Mach5Audio MAW-10 review...

Thu, 01 Mar 2007 01:30:37 +0000

Hey everyone, figured I would copy this review I did from DIYMA

First off, I wasnt honestly expecting much from a $30 subwoofer. I figured it would sound decent, probably be a bit sloppy, and hopefully give me a little thump... Boy was i wrong, big-time...

I have tried a single MAW-10 in a 1.2 cube ported enclosure tuned to 26Hz, a pair in a 1.8 cube common chamber sealed enclosure, and lastly 4 of them in a 6 cube ported enclosure tuned to 45Hz(talk about a fart cannon!). I really wish I would of got around to making some different size enclosures tuned differently, but these were what I had lying around.

1.2 cube ported enclosure tuned to 26Hz- Sub had great transient response in this enclosure, it was just as "fast" as the pair were in the sealed enclosure. I really enjoyed the response of this enclosure, and it was no doubt my most favored enclosure out of the 3 I tried. The low tuning helped it extend low, while not being over-powering. Even with any sort of tweeters hooked up, I actually enjoyed hearing the Exclusives and the single MAW-10 on the song Lateralus by Tool. Chemical Brothers- Star Guitar has an extremely fast bass-line, and this thing kept up PERFECTLY well with no overhang what-so-ever. Stayed very linear and tight even at high volumes. VERY impressive, if I do say so

1.8 cube sealed enclosure for a pair - I never really have been a fan of sealed enclosures, unless a high xmax driver was used, because of the not-so-stellar low end performance. I guess I really like that lower octave to actually be noticed and a bit more pronounced than necessarily transparent. The subs were very accurate, and had great response between 40-80hz, opposed to the ported enclosure having great response from 25-60 or so.

6 cube ported fart cannon- This was a common chamber enclosure built for sheer SPL. You know you have a loud system when you can set off multiple car alarms with the windows UP, lol. The subs were still accurate until you turned it up just before clipping, but once it became a bit painful they started to lose some accuracy, no big deal as this box wasnt going to make them shine in SQ Id really of liked to get this metered, as it literally hurt off a mere 1000wRMS... They held up perfectly fine with no VC smells what-so-ever

All-in-all, absolutely great drivers for the money! If you are on a budget, Id highly recommend these subwoofers!

rl-i10's installed and loving it (thanks Mike)

Thu, 24 Aug 2006 02:22:13 +0000

Well I finally got my subs installed with my new USAmps xt2000d (thanks flakko). They sound better than I expected. I couldn't ask for more from small drivers in really small boxes. I'm sure they could sound alot better if I had a clue about how to setup the amp and my deck (pioneer deh-780)

Thanks Mike, Flakko, and everyone that helped answer my questions.

Ben

The Review is in....

Tue, 15 Aug 2006 00:54:30 +0000

well my 3 moth review of the prototype "1200 watt" amp is in Jacob's hands-----just letting you guys know

2 15" rlp installed!

Mon, 14 Aug 2006 00:53:14 +0000

Initial tests conclude what i had expected. Clean, clear, deep and plenty loud. I feel transients would benefit from a huge ported box but for all intended purposes, the small sealed is sufficient. Rather tight sounding. I love it. Its only day 1.

I forgot to take the camera but here is the finished product. Very crisp, neutral sound. It's evident the subs need some time to loosen up a bit. At uncomortable volumes the subs are moving a CH over 1/4" or so. These are a quality product, and mike is a stand up dude to deal with. A small dent in one of the woofer cones was worth a $70 credit for me. Very pleased with my decision to put faith into soundsplinter. I'm sure these will last a good long time. The box almost received downfiring woofers but for simplicity sake, we mounted them regularly.

Damn 4guage varmit ran amuck in my neatly routed wires. If you excuse me i have to go turn the gain up on my amp I wish i had taken better pictures of the build but i just wanted to get it done real fast. It took a good six hours to build wire and mount. Take teh seat out, remove the obsolete subwoofer and box. It'll probably stay unfinished for a long time. If it does get finished, it'll be with gray or tan carpet. Something simple. Who cares what it looks like. It's just a beater. Note the boat antenna clamp and sinch strap mounting system...

P s is what part of the alphabet would look like if q and r were missing

Power Bass XS15Dv2 Review

Mon, 02 Aug 2004 18:12:46 +0000

XS15Dv2

Specs:

FS: 29Hz, Qms: 3.7, Qes: .38, Qts: .35, Vas: 89.6, Nominal Imp.: 2ohm + 2ohm, SPL 1w/1m: 91.5dB, X-max (one way): 13mm, Pe: 1000w rms / 2000w peak, Freq. Res. 20Hz-500Hz.

Physical characteristics:

-Triple layer non-pressed Kevlar composite paper cone.
-Chrome plated single piece cnc machined back plate and extended pole piece.
-Black anodized high temp multilayered aluminum dual voice coils.
-High excursion dual oversized black conex linear spiders with woven tinsel leads.
-Die-cast aluminum twelve spoke basket with voice coil perimeter aerovents.
-UV treated rubber surround.
-260oz. Double stacked magnets.

Amp used: Cadence A7hc - 1200w rms @ 1ohm

SQ / Box used: 3cu' tuned to 28Hz

I have been playing around with the sub for the two months now. At first I though the SQ was awful. After using different box designs, and it got broken in, my final conclusion is that for an SPL driver the SQ is not that bad. I have my amp X-over set to 250Hz. The higher tone bass is slightly distorted and laking, but if you want smooth lows it has plenty of room to spare. Another nice thing about this driver is that the extreme lows (>30Hz) can get really loud with out a lot of cone excursion. For this reason, the 1000w rms becomes more like 1500w rms. (Remember the box)

SPL / Box used 4.5cu' tuned to 46Hz

I figured that there was no way that the PBX could duplicate what my 15" Brahma could do; I was wrong. In this box their numbers are identical. It seemed like there was no bottoming out when I would play low frequency bass songs. The Brahma would never be able to handle this for long play (aprox. 30min.) as the PBX did. I think that the power rating is greatly underrated and that it is a great compitition sub.

Over all - 1 through 5

SQ - 4
SPL - 4.5

Top View. (Sorry...big flash)

Nice basket shot

Along side the Brahma