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Truconcept v.2. PHd in douchebaggery.

The backplate is the area at the rear of the driver behind the magnet. It completes the magnet circuit that starts at the top plate then transfers over to the pole piece. Bumping the backplate allows for higher mechanical rearward excursion clearance. Since the Xcon utilizes a single magnet, it needs a lot more steel at the rear of the driver to allow sufficient mechanical clearance. Some drivers use multiple magnets not for additional motor force but simply to allow sufficient rearward mechanical clearance since ferrite is cheaper than steel. So yes, this is probably more costly for SSA since it's significantly more machining and higher material costs than had they used a simple flat backplate and more ferrite magnets to build up the rearward mechanical clearance. My guess for their reason for using it would be that it allows them to machine entire the gap in such a manor to optimize the air flow for cooling within the motor and it probably allows a more efficient return path for the magnetic flux. IMO neither is better or worse for any purpose as long as they're properly implemented. All things equal aluminum is lighter which allows for a lower overall moving mass, but power handling is a little lower than copper. That said the comparison is hardly ever equal. Everything is a trade-off, it's all about finding the best set of compromises. The Xcon uses a pretty long coil, my guess would be in their design the lighter coil was of larger benefit than any difference in power handling. Forgot - Four layer is how many layers of wire are used to create the voice coil. The more wire in the gap the higher the motor force (the voice coil is the "L" in BL) and generally the higher the power handling (although there are some other factors in regards to cooling that factor in as well). It really has nothing to do with SQ, it has to do with achieving the correct motor force for the design and having sufficient power handling capabilities for the desired design. 4-layer is pretty common in higher power handling, higher motor strength drivers like the Xcon. A shorting ring, also called a Faraday Ring, is an aluminum or copper ring or sleeve located within the motor of the loudspeaker. They can be located at different places in the motor (or multiple places at the same time), such as (for example) a sleeve over the pole or a cap on top of the pole, and where they are located does have an affect on their use and effectiveness and depends on the designers goals. Shorting rings, as the name implies, shorts out the eddy currents created by the moving voice coil. Ultimately they lower overall loudspeaker inductance and help reduce flux modulation within the motor. Nomex spiders are used by other loudspeaker manufacturers. It is designed from the ground up by Scott Atwell with the input of SSA and to their design specifications and performance objectives.

Dude, I don't have ANY idea why you posted up on the status updates about me being a moderator, but you should be glad I'm not one. You've done a lot of insulting and aggravating throughout this thread and I for one, if I were a mod, would have issued a warning and closed it before now. Whether you're getting the answer you want or not there's absolutely NO reason to be responding the way you are. Impious has given about the most technological answer that can be given without being the persons who designs and builds them. There's no need for any other response at this point IMHO.

I'll quote your entire OP, pointing out the issues that gave rise to the responses in this thread: See where the problem is now? You asked about pricing, then followed that up by talking about pricing and asking what makes them worth it. Apparently you don't even understand your own questions, or aren't articulate enough to actually ask what you want to ask. We were answering exactly what you asked. You asked about why they are priced were they are, we told you why. Produced in small quantities in the USA is a big factor in their cost. What the market will bear is a large factor in their price. Next time ask the question you actually want answered.

The only one being dramatic is you. Your questions were answered, however, not to your liking. If you want specifics, then state that. Most people want a simple answer which was provided. I won't even bother with your nonsense comment. Are you blind? The OP says PLEASE TRY TO BE SPECIFIC/TECHNICAL IN YOUR ANSWER If I wanted a simple answer I would not have typed, PLEASE TRY TO BE SPECIFIC/TECHNICAL IN YOUR ANSWER And the dramatic people are those defending SSA when noone is attacking SSA, and why are you guys so defensive anyways, is there something not being said? 90% of the answers I got were from people who do not know what they are talking about like yourself tire, saying because it is made in USA. Real good input and helpful to boot..... So don't get butthurt and go banning me or something. There is what, 1 new thread here a week, and I now see why. The ONLY technical reason is that the owners of SSA are too nice to put a real margin on their product. If they acted like other companies their products would be way more expensive.I wouldn't call this defending SSA, hell almost ripping on them. I give them shit regularly about raising the prices as they are inappropriately low for what you get. As for understanding marketing on how things are priced, there isn't a major audio manufacturer that my company hasn't been a critical cog in the design of the drivers. I've been in countless R&D and manufacturing centers and have an extremely good understanding of production cost. In the grand scheme of things it NEVER changes the selling price. You'd also cry at the markup's the big players can have as production is definitely an economy of scale and it is absurd how cheap things can be manufactured that way. The whole topic is a prepubescent nightmare showing an obvious disconnect in the world of business.

Network mode is only if you are running active. The extra features are crossover slopes and crossover frequencies. Your passive crossovers are taking care of that for you already. IMO it would not add anything to your setup to switch to network mode unless you are running your setup active.

The problem is that you are wanting to ignore the fact that being produced in small production quantities on a per-order basis in the USA is a major contributing factor to the cost of the driver. They could take the exact same parts, have it produced on a large scale overseas and end up with lower production costs. Economies of scale and higher production costs from being produced in the USA are real and considerable factors, even though they may not be "technical". And as M5 said the actual selling price of the driver is determined more by what the market will bear than what the production costs of the driver are. The issue for the company is that higher production costs mean lower margins. I think you are barking up the wrong tree. Had you asked simply about the design features that should make you consider an SSA driver, then you would probably be more on track right now with the answers you've received. But asking about the production costs of the driver brings up the ball of worms you are trying to ignore but add significant cost to the driver compared to overseas manufacturing, independent of materials used.

So you're untrustworthy? that's what it looks like lol I lost my one an only point,over my little comment here,lol thought we were jk here

so did i chill, well shit how are they hating all i said was little girl has a mouth on her.

i liked it better when you could actually see who upvoted and down voted somebody.

haters gonna hate

Wasn't me

lol who down voted me lol.

But it is fun to down vote Kevin.<br /><br />Actually I haven't done it, but it makes me laugh when I see it.

what are the rep.points for?i just noticed I had 1 neutral

Very nice! And I agree, the newer Camry's look awesome.

Can't wait to see it all done!

very nice

Nice!!!

I"m in the same boat! Actually, in my case, Bassink HELD something for me. Great guy to work with.

Once I found the SSA Forum I was going through all the classifieds and found a pair of PWX's that had been posted up for sale by Bassink months before. PM'd him to see if by some slight chance he still had the speakers. Turns out he did!! PM'd me right back, We came up with a good price and he was very helpful with shipping. Told me they would ship out the next day and sure enough they did. Great dude to deal with and I will also vouch for him as a buyer and seller. Thanks for all the help Bassink!!!!

Gotta love a Camry.

Let the force be with you!

Looking good.

It uses the Force!

the invisible force field around the sub is what produces SQ bass for hours on end.. fyi

Gotta keep is simple and clean.

Today's ride.. about 20 miles total, solo ride so the pace was really light. It's tons of fun navigating by map. Top of the hill, overseeing the city: Top of the hill was the ridge line in the distance And I still had to go to this ridge line From the previous ridge line I saw the destination, a few lakes, barely visible in the picture Very windy on the lakes... Deserted house

Every driver operating outside of it's pistonic range is going to have some deviation in frequency response as you move from directly on-axis to any degree off-axis. The further off-axis you move, the larger the deviation is going to be. The question, however, is going to be whether the deviation in response is still within acceptable limits for your goals. There is going to be some range of degrees off-axis where there response will still be acceptable. However there are too many factors at play inside of an automobile outside of the direct radiated response from the loudspeaker itself to really be able to predict what that range will be with much accuracy. And that's before we consider the listening preferences and hearing abilities of yourself. The short story is that they probably won't have to be perfectly on-axis. But how far off-axis you can move before response is no longer acceptable is something you are just going to have to test.

Sounds pretty sweet, a 4th order rear deck blow through woulda been cool too. looking forward to seeing and hearing how it turns out

Awesome! Looking forward to seeing this progress. One quick question tho, did she request it?

Wow I have been in the hobby since 87 and played every sub I ever owned the same way. If you blow a sub it is your own fault and not because it was not broken in.

Awe look at ///M5 junior with the cute signature, haha

Dude, stop being a moron. Using military boards and being .5ohm stable was a marketing decision. Unrelated to final price. Neo magnets add NO VALUE to a subwoofer. Sure some cost, but it doesn't make anything worth anything. If you want education on why it is a great woofer, fine, but relating it to what they set as their selling price is fucking moronic.

People are idiots until proven otherwise!

In my experience subwoofers can get lower and louder over a little time but wont mess up or anything bumping hard when its brand new

The best way to break in a sub woofer is to simply play music on it. If you try by other methods, open air for x amount of time, or, x amount of time on x Frequency, it only breaks in at that application. Playing music, you will break in across the sub woofers playing frequency. Which is the best way to do so.

Just play it. If you blow it then it is getting too much power and has nothing to do with "break in". Be careful running that much power.

look into the precision power ppi black ice series, they seem to be doing well. Also look at woofersetc.com, that's where I got my Cadence from.

So you're untrustworthy? that's what it looks like

I see no reason for a down vote button on replies. It's only causing drama. The up-vote is good, the other should go.

So your answer is USA labor and quality. Yea that is exactly what the OP asks for.... How about what specifically with the quality? Is the basket machined a certain way with special coatings? Is the surround made of some high quality super rubber that most subs do not use? Is it because of the way the voice coil is put together? does that take more time? Those would be better questions to answer instead of "because things cost more in the USA". And if you guys think Mark and AAron should answer this, then why are you posting? Nobody is asking about the business, I am asking about the materials in the SSA woofer that makes it worth the price. While they do use the higher (maybe highest, I can't say for certain because I just don't know) quality parts in the cone, surround, spiders, etc. the real money is in the labor and the fact that each and every motor is machined from a blank slug of steel, assembled and the magnet is charged at that point. I'm also fairly certain the coils are each custom wound as well then all of the parts assembled by hand. That process happens over and over again for each and every driver that is built in the build house. There's a great deal of cost in building things in that manner but it helps ensure the process produces some of the highest quality, most robust and trustworthy drivers on the market. Mark and Aaron may or may not have more to add, but that's the reasons in a nutshell that they're a little spendy compared to other brands with similar specifications. At least how I see it and how it's been explained in the past. Aside from that, why do you ask? I can't see any good coming from asking such a personal question about one brand in particular without giving (actual) good cause. Everyone has their preferences and favorite brands and it's no secret that many of the members of this forum has used, liked, and will defend the SSA brand but I also believe it's for a very good reason. If this is to start any kind of trouble I'm certain it won't and this will be put to bed in a hurry.

I see thx guys

lol,pretty sure that's not it

Not to be intrusive but I think he was joking.

You beat me to it damn! I was going to write one about you but I was really busy yesterday and today lol This should be more about you bigjon! You were great to work with man. You spent money out of YOUR pocket to insure it to make sure i would not end up with a loss due to damage. We all know how that goes! Again thanks a lot. I wouldn't hesitate to buy anything from bigjon again. Great guy!

Good to know there are still people out there who are true to their word

^^ ill tell u right now, the zcon compaired to any woofer is going to be a close on... between the zcon and the bl, the zcon will SMASH it IMO. iv owned every size zcon in the past and they are by far my favorite alltime woofer (even over the fi btl 18) here is a video of my buddies single zcon 15 in 4cubes IRRC on a audiopipe 3k in a trunk...

So I recovered everything I deleted, but it's all dumped into one folder. Splitting by size and file type to get all my music back (hundred gigs or so), and then looking through everything else for anything uber important. Talk about self-pwnage.