sundownz

Seems it was a pretty hot topic so more information on it now. The market I am targeting is retail dealers -- the products this amp will compete with are primarily items from Memphis, Alpine, JL, Rockford, etc. SAE-500D prototype size not counting power terminals and RCA connectors is only 9.5" wide x 1 7/8" tall x 9" long -- this will vary a bit when we tool our actual case but will be quite similar. Cost will be $200.00 from an authorized dealer. Comparison to products in direct competition from authorized online sources : Memphis (1 ohm / 60-amp fusing) : $339.99 7.83 x 1.85 x 11.45 Memphis 16-PR1X500 JL (Class A/B / 2 ohms / 60-amp fusing): $299.99 14" x 2-1/8" x 7-11/16" JL JLx500/1 Alpine (2 ohm amp / 60-amp fusing): $199.99 10-5/8" x 2-3/8" x 9-9/16" Alpine MRP-M500 Rockford (1 ohm / 80-amp fusing): $359.99 7-5/8" x 2-1/4" x 10-1/4" Rockford P500-1BD ---------- This thing is a little beast of an amp! I am using my Extech Power clamp meter as usual : 380976 - Single Phase/Three Phase 1000A AC Power Clamp Meter The results as follows -- simply a wide open test so therefore there is going to be clipping present. I am just getting an idea for what it can handle as far as abuse and what the maximum level of power that it can make without regards to THD. 1 ohm nominal - 60 Hz (two NS v.1 in ported box) 740 watts 40 v 18.5 A 2.16 ohms 0.5 nominal - 50 Hz (free air on Monster prototype v.1) 860 watts 36.5 v 23.56 A 1.54 ohms Current Draw : 80 Amps on the dot Voltage Drop : 14.6v to 14.0 v Efficiency @ 14v : 76.7% I made within a few % of 860 watts anywhere from 50-60 Hz on the test woofer. I was pretty impressed by it... ran quite a bit of testing on it wide open like this without ever hitting protect mode on the amp or over-heating it. So I am confident that 500-watts is a good, conservative rating for it at a reasonable THD. ---------- You don't see strapping often in this class of amp

I'll likely be doing testing next week on the NS-1. The 4500D was 1625 MAP and the NS-1 will be about 1900 MAP from an authorized dealer. The NS-1 actual power is expected to be ~7k on a 12v system and ~9-10k on an 18v system -- actual testing pending to make sure the design performs as expected in real applications. I expect that we'll likely see most of these in Team Sundown / Team Sundown Russia vehicles -- with the way our Russian friends are going they might have more of them than we will in the USA

Also -- the SAE-500D should run right around $200 from an authorized dealer.

SAE-500D Results are in... thing is a little beast of an amp! I am using my Extech Power clamp meter as usual : 380976 - Single Phase/Three Phase 1000A AC Power Clamp Meter The results as follows -- simply a wide open test so therefore there is going to be clipping present. I am just getting an idea for what it can handle as far as abuse and what the maximum level of power that it can make without regards to THD. 1 ohm nominal - 60 Hz (two NS v.1 in ported box) 740 watts 40 v 18.5 A 2.16 ohms 0.5 nominal - 50 Hz (free air on Monster prototype v.1) 860 watts 36.5 v 23.56 A 1.54 ohms Current Draw : 80 Amps on the dot Voltage Drop : 14.6v to 14.0 v Efficiency @ 14v : 76.7% I made within a few % of 860 watts anywhere from 50-60 Hz on the test woofer. I was pretty impressed by it... ran quite a bit of testing on it wide open like this without ever hitting protect mode on the amp or over-heating it. So I am confident that 500-watts is a good, conservative rating for it at a reasonable THD.

Yes it will look as similar as possible to the SAX/SAZ lines.

* An SAZ-4500D next to a pair of NS-1 prototypes. * NS-1 has speaker outputs on the other side. * Little SAE-500D Prototype hanging out -- this is not the final case; just have not tooled up the case I'll use yet. * SAE-500D guts -- stout little amp. * Guts of 4500D and NS-1 * Guts from the other side. * Top view of the guts. * Significantly larger output inductors on the NS-1 to handle the additional power output. * While the NS-1 has fewer transformers they are much bigger. I have not been able to locate my power clamp so no testing on either yet. I'll keep looking for it... not sure I'll be able to get to the NS-1 today or not due to the electrical requirements and the power handling requirements of something to test it on. Will have to set something up just to test it.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sundown-Audio/114478905274256 Two NS-1 prototypes arrived along with a small surprise prototype... see the Facebook for some initial photos. I'll bring this info over to the forums next week but have to head out for the day now!

Need to get the coils in first.

I'm planning to offer only the 12-layer coil -- yes, the motor is super strong with it but it seems commonplace these days for folks to like that sound (eg: Wardens daily, DD Z daily, DD 9500H supercharged, etc).

The original prototype was pretty rugged... we made a few videos of it : * Yes, I am fully aware of this method not being 100% accurate in reading power... but try that with another 3" coil sub seeing the same current. Very few will make it much less come out in mint condition. * TWO wall sockets on it... as the comments state we already did a test just like the above on it and had it hot enough the dust cap felt like jell-o from the air exchange. THEN we put ~60 amps into it long enough to have done a bass race run. I also had the 15" model in my Jeep for a 2+ minute run on music in my SPL box doing around 150 dB the entire time on a 4500D @ 0.5 ohm -- my bank of six batteries was down to the high 10s and the sub walked away fine. In fact... I still have it in the back room with the same soft parts and coil in it as that show.

Spider size limits.

3" coil (75mm) -- the OD of the windings is actually about 3.5" (89mm) as it's a 12-layer.

Forgot to bring the pics over here from the Facebook : Attached to 15" frame. If we do make it the shorting rings (three of them) will be aluminum.

The new frame / slightly taller spacer gives you a few more millimeters before the ring hits the top plate. You'll also experience a bit less mechanical noise at higher throw as the higher clearance from surround landing to spider landing allows a taller cone with a higher angle that will rub the spider less.

The original was very strong on the lows but dropped off up high due to inductance -- the shorting rings should address that weakness

Waiting on the revised coils to come in then testing will follow. The old Monster coil is too short for this version.

So... how about a beefy 6.5" with about 12mm one-way excursion and flat response to around 5000 Hz ? Would you guys like that ?

I had Brandon measure these -- so any input let me know before we get the round of site updates completed. Cut-Out / Depth / Outside Diameter SA Series 15 - 14 1/8" -- 7 1/2" -- 15 5/8" 12 - 11 1/8" -- 6 1/2" -- 12 5/8" 10 - 9 1/4" -- 6" -- 10 1/2" 8 (12-spoke) -- 7 3/8" -- 5 1/2" -- 8 1/2" 8 (4 leg) -- 7 1/4" NS v.2 Series 18 - 16 3/4" -- 11 1/4" -- 18 3/8" 15 - 14 1/8" -- 10 1/4" -- 15 5/8" 12 - 11 1/8" -- 9 7/8" -- 12 5/8" 10 - 9 1/4" -- 8 1/4" -- 10 3/4" Z v.2 Series 18 - 16 3/4" -- 10 3/8" -- 18 3/8" 15 - 14 1/8" -- 8 7/8" -- 15 5/8" 12 - 11 1/8" -- 7 3/4" -- 12 5/8" 10 - 9 1/4" -- 7 3/8" -- 10 3/4" E8 v.2 Series 8 - 7 1/4" -- 4 9/16" -- 8 1/4" * Terminals may stick out slightly at an angle from the factory and need to be bent in at the bottom to go into the hole.

I am waiting on a status update on the X-8 frame tooling -- once the frame is done we'll be much closer to a final prototype as the motor won't take long at all to machine up. The soft parts hit a set-back that I was notified on 4/4/11 -- I was told about ~8 weeks which should be any time now I think; as long as the recovery effort of the manufacturer in Japan was a success. I am also considering a less extreme new frame tooling for the SA-8 v.2 model -- which would leave only the E8 v.2 with a "stock" frame

OEM work is commonplace in the industry -- but you usually don't know who is doing the work. For example... TC Sounds made woofers for countless companies; RE used to be an OEM provider; Fi/AA currently do OEM work, etc. The markets for our products in the end are quite different as are the designs of the Skar woofers compared to our own so I am not concerned for my wallet so to speak

The driver is significantly different from both the E8 v.2 and SA-8 -- there is plenty of room in the market for drivers with various applications.

... and ?

:drink40:

The test thread I posted is probably as close of an answer as you'll get -- once wired to a sub-woofer power will vary dramatically based on frequency and enclosure.

If the excess glue peels off the inside roll but doesn't come off it can buzz a bit as the sides rub together -- we can check it out for you if you like.