I just got a custom sub, opinions please. (56k beware, picures)

Daneel

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I just bought this from a local hi-fi shop. It's a one off using a Mackie 12" driver and his own 140W amp (no more details than that). Dimensions are 625mm tall and 474mm width and depth. I'd guess it weighs somewhere between 30 and 35 kg.

The design is something I've never seen before. It fires upward onto a dispersion plate which is like an upside down pyrimid. There is no crossover or anything fancy. Just a single port at the rear (about 3-4" I think, not measured), a low level input and a gain control.

The only thing I've compared it to is my Velodyne CHT-10 which it comfortably beats, though I'm judging purely by ear.

It is designed for hi-fi rather than HT use.

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I've been listening to a load of music and I am very impressed with this thing. My intension was to get a SVS PB2+ which I probably still will at some point but I don't have the money at the moment and it just takes up way too much space.

This sub (I need a name for it, suggestions?) is much easier to integrate with my speakers than subs I have used in the past. It just sounds a better match. The bass also has more authority, I always wondered what reviewers meant when they said that and now I know. I'll turn it up a bit in the morning, see what it's limits are. I've had it up to -15 so far and it sounds very clean. I was a bit concerned about it having just a 140W amp, but as it's a custom design so I don't think it's comparable with what most manufacturers would call 140W.

I am eagerly awaiting my Parasound 1205A power amp as I think it will help the cross-over between my fronts and subs to be even better. This sub seems to be reasonably even over the freqency range given there is no EQ. It's a little hard to test extension without all my DVDs (I'm running a 2.1 system for now with no TV!). I hooked up my DVD player and put on Total Recall LE, I think it's the start of chapter 7 where the spaceship arrives in Mars' orbit, it was pretty decent given I only had the volume at -20.

The guy told me the despersion plate design was used to help the sub work where ever it was placed in the room. He dislikes downward firing subs unless he knows exactly what they are going to be sat on. I had a few chat with the guy over this week and he seems to know his stuff.

I also like the styling and finish, it doesn't draw attention to itself but is well put together. It's some sort of high density MDF that has been laminated. Having the inputs on the bottom can be a pain, the power socket has a 90 degree conector that I got with it so no problem there, but the input is bending my RCA cable a lot, I need to find a 90 degree adapter somewhere.

I'm very keen to see how an SVS compares to this, a PC or PC+ 25-31 should be suitable. I got a demo offer from someone getting a PC+ 20-39, now where did that thread go.....
 
Looks very interesting. I'm curious to see how you get on comparing it to an SVS.

Dunc
 
I don't suppose the pyramid diffuser is essential in the bass except perhaps to reduce wind noise. What is the enclosure actully made of?

Nimby
 
The enclosure is MDF with a laminate on it. It is pretty solid and 1.25" thick (it could be two pieces with a gap but given the weight it could also be solid). The top piece seems to be a different material, it has a smoother finish.

I just measured the port (I'm measuring the hole here) and it's 3". I have it setup with the port facing the wall, good idea? There isn't a lot of air moving even around -15 (0 is 105 dB DD ref level). I found this a bit surprising as when he demoed it there was a strong wind coming from it. Then again, he had it in the middle of the room to show what it could do without corner loading and he had the gain turned up higher, there was quite a bit of driver movement.

The pyrimid dispersion plate is to help minimise placement problems I believe.
 
Hrm...very interesting. I just ran MCACC to see what settings it would come up with. It left the level I used exactly the same (normally it is too high) and it set the distance to the sub spot on, 40cm further back. Normally it places the sub about a meter too far away.
 
MDF? Is it laminated from seperate strips of the stuff? I wondered how they managed to get that nice round & square shape.

I think it's a very good looking sub. This in an interesting variation on appearance.

Rotating the port in different directions will probably produce different bass outputs. Offers a degree of flexibility I think. I found rotating my twin subs so the ports faced either towards each other or away would make a completely different sound in the room. This might still happen with a single sub depending on orientation.

Congratulations on a very interesting purchase. :)

Nimby
 
Originally posted by Daneel
Hrm...very interesting. I just ran MCACC to see what settings it would come up with. It left the level I used exactly the same (normally it is too high) and it set the distance to the sub spot on, 40cm further back. Normally it places the sub about a meter too far away.
It measures the distance to the woofer, along the soundpath. So the measurement is spot on, always. (at least it is with my down-firing sub)

It measures woofer -> floor -> LP, so that's a much further distance than: trebble speaker -> LP, which doesn't bounce off the floor but goes straight (=short). I think many people forget to add the extra 80cm or so, for down-firing subwoofers. ;)
 
Ettepet, that would work if it wasn't for the fact that the old sub is front firing rather than down. :)
 
It reminds me a bit of those 50's 'pulp sci-fi' robots. Does it do the washing up?

The Eclipse Time Domain subwoofer appears to have a deflector above the bass cone as well. Unusually for Eclipse they don't go in for endless (or any) explanation of what it does but it's there for a reason, even if it's just to keep the dust out ;)
 
Originally posted by Daneel
Ettepet, that would work if it wasn't for the fact that the old sub is front firing rather than down. :)
It was a good try though, wasn't it? :D

I have no idea why it would be off by that amount then. Strange as you would think the computations wouldn't be off by more than a couple of centimeters at most. :confused:
 
It could have been (too) close to a wall, or aimed away from the LP. The computer can't be wrong, or can it?! :D
 
I think the auto setup routines frequently get sub distances wrong. I have no idea why.
 
Hey Daneel how are you getting on with the sub now you've had it a bit longer?
 
Originally posted by Daneel
I think the auto setup routines frequently get sub distances wrong. I have no idea why.

If you read Pioneer's literature you'll see that implementing bass management frequently adds a small delay to the subwoofer channel and hence MCACC compensates for this by 'placing' the sub further away than it physcially is. It's quite normal for MCACC to add an extra meter, I thought it was wrong when I first set up my AX5i, but no, MCACC is right after all. It measure the speaker response times, which after all is what we're trying to keep in sync.
 

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