If anyone's got one of these, can you let us know what you think? Qual, extn, SPL, etc.

Rob.

[Ken]

I also would be very interested if they really are as good as the manufacturer says they are, but then they would wouldn't they.

[Ramius]

http://www.iplacoustics.co.uk/ipl_sw..._subwoofer.htm

For the price of the kit I reckon you will be very pleased and they're not joking when they say it'll compare to more expensive commercial subs.

However if you're interested in DIY subs there is a mass of info and resources on the net, (just do a search for "diy subwoofers"). You can have a killer sub for not much money say 5-800 pounds and your own time. I'm talking clean, articulate bass and gut wrenching high SPL's. Not many commercial subs can produce 20Hz loud and clean (not many can produce it at all).

DIY can't be beat for price/performance.

Cheers

Thanks for your i/p Ramius.

I know the SW2 is not DIY in the true sense of the word, but if it's anything like the reviews IPL Acoustics list for their other products it looks as though it could be a decent speaker.

To the best of my knowledge no one has reviewed this kit, and here lies my problem!
If I had the money, I would buy the REL Q100E, but I don’t! To buy and build an unknown kit is something I’ve not done for quite some time, but if I knew it was OK, Yes, I would prefer to assemble it myself.

I have designed and built many electronic and mechanical devises, of which only a couple failed to make the grade, but even the failures were worth it because none of them were available elsewhere!

In this case they are! I think it’s the fact that I just can wait! Or would I like to build a kit???

I’m sorry; I can’t come to the door right now! I’m too vulnerable!

Rob.

[Ramius]

Jagular

From what I've learnt reading posts at other various forums I believe kits give exceptional performance and value.
Just the Audax PR240MO 10" driver in the above kit would cost you £90 to buy. As you know, the money you pay for the kit goes into design and components not manufacuring costs.

I'd go for it. You mention the REL Q100E, I'll bet money that the kit would be as good as it and probably out perform it.


I'll never be buying manufactured commercial speakers again. If I only knew a year ago what I know now.

Cheers.

[Ken]

Well I finally cracked and ordered an IPL sub. It arrived today, and I have constructed the main shell. So we shall see what its made of by the end of the w/e. According to Mr. IP Leslie, the SW2 should perform as well as and better than all but the more expensive REL subs. Afigure of £1000 was mentioned, we shall see.

You lucky s*d Ken,
I'd already decided to go for it, but my sons car has just been broken into and my car has gone pop! Bang goes my woofer for a bit.
Keep us informed Ken, I'm very jealous.

Rob.

Ken was the sub difficult to put together(even for a novice like myself?).Also would appreciate any feedback when you get the chance on your thoughts about the sub if that is possible???Meanwhile good luck and hope you break a few glasses.....!!!!

martinc

[Ken]

Constructing the enclosure is fairly straight forward, though care is required to make sure that all surfaces line up, as it is just plain cut panels. I think it helps if you are somewhat handy handy, but just take your time.
I screwed and glued, drilling pilot holes for the screws. A couple of my panels were very slightly off square, but with a bit of filing and rubbing down I ended up with a nice smooth cuboid.
The next step, which took most of Saturday, was to fix the Ash wood veneer,(never done that before),which I purchased with the kit(£7.70). With a lot of care and patience I finished up with a very nice looking box. I then spent most of today applying about 5 coats of quick drying medium oak satin stain varnish, lightly rubbing down between coats. I finished off by lightly rubbing with wire wool, which left a pleasing finish. I must say that the end result of the enclosure is something that I am proud of, almost as good as my main speakers.
I am unable to fit the speaker and amp panel as unfortuneatly the speaker fixings did not arrive with the kit. As it happens, that probably forced me not to rush, to get it finished.
IPL has apparently been very busy getting subs out. Still I will get the fixings tomorrow, and then I can start having fun, not that it wasn't fun building it.
Hope I didn't go on too much, but I'm sure Rob and Martinc will find it of some interest. Next installment to follow.
Ken

No Ken you did not go on too much.It is nice to hear something with detail such as this.Thankyou for taking the time for being so informative.

With Thanks
Martinc

Far from it Ken! My unfortunate cicumstances have held me back for the mo,so I shall enjoy hearing how you progress.
Your most humble follower,
Rob.

I am thinking of going the DIY route for a new centre and possibly a sub later in the year. I await the next instalment with interest.

[Ken]

KenReceived the speaker bolts & T nuts this morning. I have now completed constructing the sub. It looks great.
First impressions, well I learnt the great importance of making sure that a sealed box construction is most definitely, just that. I had the tiniest of leaks, which totally destroyed the low frequency extension, I was really disappointed. After a most helpful phone call to IPL, and resealing the cabinet , the transformation was profound. The low end extension that I was looking for was there. My main speakers already go down to 30hz at –3db, so the sub was really going to have it’s work cut out. I connected the sub using the high input, from a spare set of speaker terminals on my main stereo amps, and with a lot of tweaking and twiddling of knobs, steady, I am hearing things that I’ve never heard before, must be going mad,and when the sub is disconnected it is very obvious. After trying many positions, for sub placement, I ended up with it between my left and Centre speakers, it’s amazing how it’s response changes from place to place in the room. Anyway I’ll probably be adjusting things for weeks to come.
Overall I would say that it is a good investment for the price, I may add another one at a later date, which has the potential of taking things even lower. Wish I had a means of measuring the frequency response of the system as a before and after, oh well.
Now I will be experimenting with the LFE connection from the processor, and that is another kettle of fish. Hope this has been of some help.
Ken


[This message has been edited by Ken (edited 22-01-2001).]

[This message has been edited by Ken (edited 22-01-2001).]

That sounds great Ken.
To hear a noticable difference below 30Hz has got to be good.
Keep up the good work.
Rob.

Good luck Ken with your new Sub...I hope it blows the neighbours away(metaphorically speaking of course).Thanks for all the feedback......

martinc

[slingshot]

Good review Ken, after reading your thoughts on the sub, I've just put an order in for 1 (hopefully turn up on Monday.

Any tips I should look for while building it, like how did you make sure it was sealed properly ?

Cheers

Slingshot

[Ken]

Slingshot, the most important thing is to take your time and resist the urge to finish it quickly. Make sure your panels are properly aligned with an even coating of glue on the edges. The enclosure will be no problem as regards sealing, especially if you veneer it as well. Just to make sure I applied sealant on the inside.
The seal of the driver is with draft excluder, just stick it onto the chassis very carefully, it works fine. The panel seals in the same way, no problem.
When finished you should feel slight resistance when carefully pushing the speaker cone inwards. See how it feels before you install it.
I actually discovered an air leak from the on off switch, by placing wet lips over it while pushing on the cone. Although this is set in sealant, it obviously was not sealing, application of sealant fixed the problem. I spoke to IPL about this and he said he would keep an eye on that. So you shouldn't have any problem.
I'm looking forwards to hearing mine again, as I have just completely rearranged my equipement and built a proper housing for it.
Good luck and feel free to contact me if you need to know anything else.

Ken,

The SW2 looks suspiciously like it's got RELesque components. Can you confirm this?

Also, how does the crossover work? With RELs:

1) There are separate gain knobs for both low level and high level inputs;
2) Low-level inputs are treated as full range (i.e. bass mgmt by the amp);
3) High-level inputs can bypass the active crossover, or have a high-freq cut-off (e.g. at 40Hz).

This enables simultaneous high-level (with cut-off) and low-level (full-range) connection.

Is this possible with the SW2?

Thanks,
Joel

[Ken]

Joel, The unit is similar to the Rels, but I'm not sure, how similar. There is both low and high level control, but the variable cut off point is the same for both. However, if home cinema is the priority, the cut off can be switched into bypass, thus allowing the processor to control cut off point, ie.80/100Hz.

Hi,

280 pounds...pretty expensive.
But they compare it to the 700pound subs? That means the REL ST series?

I was looking to buy the Yamaha 320.
It had a pretty good review with What Hifi and it's predecessor was also highly regarded.
What's the difference between these subs?

I need them strictly as bass for my Q50 and q10 speakers from Kef.
I was planning to plug them using the LFE(.1) connector.
What kind of sound can i actually expect?

[slingshot]

I'll let you know how I get on with mine, I've actually auditioned some subs already, including the REL Strata and Storm, but I decided that while they made some difference neither myself, a friend or the salesman doing the demo's could say it was an improvement on all DVD's, probably only Private Ryan.

My main speakers seem pretty good at handling low bass without messing up the midrange.

Basically the Strata was good, but I didn't think it was worth 700 quid !

Well I have completed my sw2 last week and here are my tips/findings.

I did not screw the cabinet together I went for the other option of using battens with the hot glue. This worked really well as I was able to get the cabinet lined up better than if I had used screws. I did not get a leak but I made sure I had plenty of glue on and I also put glue on the inside of the cabinet all down the joints. Because I got it very square I did not have to do much external work on the edges.

The venear was interesting and I would do it different second time around. I used the ash veneer and the instructions told you to hold seems together with tape.

I tried this and would not do itthis way next time as it is hard to get the glue of afterwards and there is still a gap.

I managed to fill the gap by cutting thin(very thin) strips of veneer and then ironing them into the gap. I then rubbed it down until smooth. Be carefull as you can wear through on the corners although this is not that noticable if you stain and varnish.

I used mixed two stains together and applied with a rag. I then used a clear matt varnish and put on three coats over two days.

I started the kit on a Saturday night and was totaly finished by tuesday night although most of the time is waiting for things to dry.

Before I bought the sw2 I tried a rell strataIII at home. I found the sw2 easier to place as it is smaller so I could put it inbetween my main speakers and to one side.

The first thing I noticed was how easy it was to set up. I had two connections.One to my yamaha dsp e800 and the high level to my audiolab 8000s. I found the sound to be at least as good as the rell but obviously I did not do an A + B comparison so can not confirm this. It certainly goes loud and low enough for me and I like to listen I high levels. It also works really well with the hi-fi as well.

I have the frequency about half way with the av setup but have it set to the lowest crossover for hi-fi (40hz) I would have liked the crossover to be even lower than this even if just to try out. I played a few hi-fi tracks that I knew none of the speakers I have ever tried could reach the lowest notes and these played back wonderfully.

This sub has improved my system for AV and hi-fi like a major upgrade would.

With a bit of time the finish is so much better than the offerings at £300 and you pay an extra £100 for a rell with a wood finish.

Hope this is helpfull