TC Sounds OEM 10"

[audio-neon 34]

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.

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.

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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.

Edited May 9, 2007 by audio-neon

[///M5 2,833]

Nice review.

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

Very nice review!!

[audio-neon 34]

I would like to add, that I love the way these subs sound so much I went out and bought a new set of components. Oh, and crossovers in setup #2 were sub 63 hz -24 db slope, mids 63 hz -24 db slope, tweets 3150 hz -12 db slope.

I added a set of hertz deici tweets today to help resolve my sound stage being in my feet.

[///M5 2,833]

I'd also play with shallower slopes, if you don't need the steepness regularly your stage will come alive as things blend together. Don't be afraid to underlap/overlap frequency ranges either. If by adding the hertz tweeters you mean in addition, I wouldn't you surely don't want two sets of tweeters in your car until you maximize the first.

[Tirefryr 1,742]

Hell, even if you don't like the way they sound, they are some very nice eye candy.

[audio-neon 34]

I love the way I have my hertz tweets set up, they are seeing about 1/4th the power of my morels and are not noticeable at all, but my soundstage is now in front of me, head-level vs. foot level.

[audio-neon 34]

here is a link to a video of the first set-up:

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseacti...eoid=2026515661

[Godsmack 360]

Only 3 things I can think to add

a)MSRP

B) SPL level you achieved in sealed and ported

c) type of car this was in

Other than that AWSOME review!!!

J

[audio-neon 34]

msrp: 175 dollars per woofer.

was doing mid 40's in a ported enclosure in the trunk of a neon, high 39's low 40's with a sealed box.

[audio-neon 34]

Just a little update guys... This sub is now 2 boxes later, fully broken in and awaiting my second saz-1500d to unleash some more hell. They have taken everything I can throw at them. They can get low. and sound good doing so. Here are just a bunch more pics of what they have been through:

[flakko 1]

wow verrr naaaaaaaaase

[bdawson72 0]

nice