Upgrading my 15's -want opinions

[OMNIFEX]

Well!

Since you are using this for Home Use, I'm outta here

It's not like I don't want to help, its just I'm a PA Guy,
and, whats needed for PA, is not needed for Home Hi Fi.

In other words, I'm not qualified to recomend anything
for home use due to lack of experiece.

The other members will determine what will work best
for your needs.


Best Regards,

[ingvar ahlberg]

One way to go, if You want to keep the box, which is to small for a 15" and You won´t get the type of bottom end i suppose You´re looking for. Look around at higher quality car stereo drivers. Or look at TC sounds 12", one of the best bass units around, available in a coupple of configurations, usable in real tiny boxes, not cheap but wort every cent. If 15" is what You want i´ll post a nice design here.

[Tim Moorman]

R,

If space is not a problem consider a bass horn like the LAB 12 sub, which has huge output, but requires a huge box.

Otherwise it's all about moving air, and an array of 15's/18's is one way to keep excursion/ distortion down while output up.

The Titanic III at PE looks good. See "project ideas" tab. Fits in a sealed 2.1 ft^3 box, 5 + ft^3 ported.

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=295-420

The JBL is so far superior to most designs...frame,venting, shorting rings, attention to spider/suspension, linear excursion, power handling...that I wouldn't hesitate. Exception: A ******* if problems arise later.

Same. however, is true of the Lambda drivers. Don't really know if those are still available, but an excellent choice.

Use at least two/side and keep the amp from clipping.
Might also want to find out if the drive units to be used in your given alignment are limited by excursion or thermal/power handling restraints in a "max SPL" environment.

Tim

[usekgb]

The Eminence Lab12 will also work in a 3.5 ft^3 ported box as well. Try modeling the LAB12. You may be pleasantly surprised. Also, it is a 6 ohm driver. This should be a little bit easier on your amp than a 4 ohm.

Cheers,
Zach


I just modeled the LAB12, and it will do an f3 of 24 Hz in a 3.6 ft^3 box. You should be able to get something pretty close in your 3.5 ft^3 box.

Cheers,
Zach

[ratman542]

I just wanted to let everyone know that I appreciate all the input and suggestions. I am so new to the message board that I am still under moderation, so my replies are not posting right away.

In addition to that, I am still trying to figure out how to quote snipped pieces of the thread that I am trying to respond to.

So far, all my replies have been an absolute mess!

My apologies, -I'll figure it out sooner or later.

I am still reading all the suggestions however, and I appreciate everyone's time and assistance. -Keep 'em coming!

Thanks,
Rich.

[Bose(o)]

I'll take the info you gave me and bring it to my workshop, I'll look at Lambda's and such. I shall return.

[jonz]

Have you checked out Adireaudio's 15" Tempest woofers....they got around 17mm of x-max and dual voice coils....

I don't think you stated what kind of watts your're going to be running...but if you like a lot of base like you said. a type of a chest pounder ...then you got to run at least 350 watts in each.

[ratman542]

Originally posted by jonz
Have you checked out Adireaudio's 15" Tempest woofers....they got around 17mm of x-max and dual voice coils....

No, I have never really checked it out in detail. I have noticed though that it is brought up here on the forum quite often. I will definitely do some research on it. I like the idea of dual coils, -especially if it will let me run at 8 instead of 4.

Originally posted by jonz
I don't think you stated what kind of watts your're going to be running...but if you like a lot of base like you said. a type of a chest pounder ...then you got to run at least 350 watts in each.

I certainly hate to be included in the "bigger is better" crowd, especially in regards to power. However, I always figured that if I had twice the amp I really needed that dynamic headroom would never be an issue. I have 375RMSx2@8 for the lows, 250RMSx2@8 for the mids, and 100RMSx2@8 for the highs. If I run the big amp at 4 ohms (which it will do no prob.) the power goes to 750RMS a side. I really don't want to run it at 4 if I don't have to.

Thanks for the advice, I'll definitely do some reading on the Tempest for sure.

Rich.

[asauer]

This is a little off topic, but has anyone tested those JBL drivers PE is selling? I am curious as to how they perform.

[ratman542]

Originally posted by jonz
Have you checked out Adireaudio's 15" Tempest woofers....they got around 17mm of x-max and dual voice coils....

Well, I checked into the Tempest 15, and even went as far as calling them to ask some basic questions, and I have to say I was very impressed. I spoke with Chris at Adire and was even more impressed with the level of service and time he was willing to spend with me on the phone. We even discussed the JBL driver that PE is selling right now in great detail.

According to Chris, he recommends I try the Tempests in my 3.25ft boxes (sealed) and use 3 lbs of stuffing for each box. Like he and I discussed, there may very well be adequate extension on the low end because of the second-order rolloff that sealed boxes are noted for. In addition to that, I have post-x-over parametric eq's on every single output of my driverack-480 (in addition to the pre x-over 31 band graphic!). I really don't want to do it this way since in my opinion it is a band-aid, however, it will certainly work until I can build the right boxes (if need be). If I can't get the low-freq. output that I want in this particular room with the small sealed boxes, then I plan on just making some larger enclosures and go with a reflex design.

I placed my order for two of these drivers. I will definitely let everyone know how things work out. It doesn't look like I will have the drivers until mid April (since they are backordered), Hopefully my one Dayton series-2 that is almost grenaded holds together for just a little longer!

I also appreciate everyone's input on this.

Thank you all very much.

Rich.