Ipl Sw2 Diy Subwoofer?

[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