I am beginning to see a lot of pro audio woofers in the Indian market. Specifically, there are quite a few shops in Lamington Road in Bombay who are beginning to stock pro audio woofers and horn tweeters.
Till now, the only place where I'd seen such drivers was Narains on L.Road --- they stock Selenium, RCA and a couple of other good brands. Now I saw them in Dev Electronics, the place where I pick up my Peerless India drivers from.
They have 12", 15", and 18" woofers, made by P. Audio, Peavey (including the famous Peavey Black Widow), JBL, B&C Speakers, and one or two other brands. Dev Elec doesn't stock Selenium.
As you probably know, pro audio woofers have the following characteristics usually:
So, guys, if you want to build that great 3-way system, I think you should catch hold of these drivers. Don't worry if the Fs is a bit too high... you need to go active for the woofer, and then add an LT circuit before it, in a sealed box, to get excellent bass.
If you don't want to go this far, there's always Peerless Audio 10" drivers. They are selling for a little less than Rs.2500 each, from the same Dev Electronics. They seem to have a fairly decent-sized magnet, stamped metal basket, rubber surrouinds and shiny black coated paper cones. They appear very decently made with a no-frills construction, much better than the Boltons and other Indian brands. I'd put two of these 10" woofers per side to get more than adequate bass for home audio.
Just FYI, for all those Indian DIYers who keep complaining about driver unavailability in India.
Till now, the only place where I'd seen such drivers was Narains on L.Road --- they stock Selenium, RCA and a couple of other good brands. Now I saw them in Dev Electronics, the place where I pick up my Peerless India drivers from.
They have 12", 15", and 18" woofers, made by P. Audio, Peavey (including the famous Peavey Black Widow), JBL, B&C Speakers, and one or two other brands. Dev Elec doesn't stock Selenium.
As you probably know, pro audio woofers have the following characteristics usually:
- Very rugged construction (3" and 4" kapton formers, cast aluminium basket, etc)
- Very high power handling (400W RMS continuous not unusual)
- Pleated cloth surrounds
- stiff paper cones, often uncoated or coated very lightly
- high sensitivity
- small Xmax (not by absolute standards, but by the standards of home audio HT subwoofers)
So, guys, if you want to build that great 3-way system, I think you should catch hold of these drivers. Don't worry if the Fs is a bit too high... you need to go active for the woofer, and then add an LT circuit before it, in a sealed box, to get excellent bass.
If you don't want to go this far, there's always Peerless Audio 10" drivers. They are selling for a little less than Rs.2500 each, from the same Dev Electronics. They seem to have a fairly decent-sized magnet, stamped metal basket, rubber surrouinds and shiny black coated paper cones. They appear very decently made with a no-frills construction, much better than the Boltons and other Indian brands. I'd put two of these 10" woofers per side to get more than adequate bass for home audio.
Just FYI, for all those Indian DIYers who keep complaining about driver unavailability in India.
The P-Audio woofer I saw
I am pretty sure that the P.Audio 18" driver I saw at Dev Electronics is this one. That model number which I saw had one more letter after the "EL", but all other details seem to match. And this was being offered at Rs.7,500 each.
I had visited Narain's a year ago and they'd shown me their 15" Selenium WPU1505 series drivers. Those were Rs.11,000 each plus taxes. In comparison, these P.Audio drivers seem like inexpensive. I think Indian DIYers looking to build serious bass for home use will probably not have to import drivers again. Not only that, the high sensitivity of these drivers will allow them to be driven quite happily with an LM3886 chip amp (biamped/active, one amp/driver) without needing any monster amps.
I am pretty sure that the P.Audio 18" driver I saw at Dev Electronics is this one. That model number which I saw had one more letter after the "EL", but all other details seem to match. And this was being offered at Rs.7,500 each.
I had visited Narain's a year ago and they'd shown me their 15" Selenium WPU1505 series drivers. Those were Rs.11,000 each plus taxes. In comparison, these P.Audio drivers seem like inexpensive. I think Indian DIYers looking to build serious bass for home use will probably not have to import drivers again. Not only that, the high sensitivity of these drivers will allow them to be driven quite happily with an LM3886 chip amp (biamped/active, one amp/driver) without needing any monster amps.
Any idea about the Chennai market?
Hi tcpip,
Any idea about such driver availability in Chennai? Have asked in a lot of places and even in the "Lamington" road of Chennai(Ritchie street) but with no luck. IN fact someof the dealers tell me that if these drivers are made available to the "local market" then it will "spoil the market". Now go figure. That beats me!!!
BTW I built the speakers (The link that you gave me in my link.....Help for newbie with crossover). It came out great . I have posted some pics and the costing for the speaker in another forum. Plan on posting it here soon since I have been travelling extensively lately. Thanks for all the help
Hi tcpip,
Any idea about such driver availability in Chennai? Have asked in a lot of places and even in the "Lamington" road of Chennai(Ritchie street) but with no luck. IN fact someof the dealers tell me that if these drivers are made available to the "local market" then it will "spoil the market". Now go figure. That beats me!!!
BTW I built the speakers (The link that you gave me in my link.....Help for newbie with crossover). It came out great
. I have posted some pics and the costing for the speaker in another forum. Plan on posting it here soon since I have been travelling extensively lately. Thanks for all the helpRe: Any idea about the Chennai market?
Personally, I feel this project is an excellent one for any Indian DIYer who can afford the drivers.
Absolutely no idea. However, I feel that anyone who sets up discos and pubs will know where to get these drivers from, because that's the pro audio market. I'm cent per cent certain that there will be some shops in the L.Road-equivalent there which will be stocking at least some pro woofers. Don't ask by brand, just ask by size. Ask them whether they have any large 15" and 18" drivers. Once they begin to show you some, the real details will begin coming out. Most of the shopkeepers here themselves don't know what brands are available... only this one shop, Dev Electronics, seems to have one chap who knows these names. The reason is obvious: their customers don't ask for speakers by brand name... they ask by size!Ronnie22 said:
This is really great news. I'd love to see some pics. I was in fact wondering what happened to your project.BTW I built the speakers (The link that you gave me in my link.....Help for newbie with crossover). It came out great
Personally, I feel this project is an excellent one for any Indian DIYer who can afford the drivers.
Most Indian speaker manufacturers don't have a web site or any specifications of their drivers . Strange isn't it ?
However there is one manufacturer who has a web site and has specifications and response curves too..............
www.iwaispeakers.com
Check it out. They have a distributor in Chennai .. Torvin in Ritchie street . In Mumbai it might be possible to get it direct from the factory. Local courier must be inexpensive.
The drivers look very well finished. I've seen them displayed at an exhibition. Prices are also very good. I have some pricing from two years ago.
Cheers.
However there is one manufacturer who has a web site and has specifications and response curves too..............
www.iwaispeakers.com
Check it out. They have a distributor in Chennai .. Torvin in Ritchie street . In Mumbai it might be possible to get it direct from the factory. Local courier must be inexpensive.
The drivers look very well finished. I've seen them displayed at an exhibition. Prices are also very good. I have some pricing from two years ago.
Cheers.
At one time, I too used to find it strange. Now it makes sense. If your customer is willing to do business with you, year after year, and you can reach all your business targets, all without a Website, why will you have a Website?ashok said:
Bolton doesn't have even an email address. They don't even have a fax machine. (No, I'm not joking. And yes, I've ordered speakers direct from Bolton's office, straight from their Delhi-Mathura Road factory.) If you want to send them an order you have to do the following dance:
- You write to them, giving them your requirements and ship-to address. You send this by post. Maybe by courier, if you're in a (no doubt most undignified) hurry.
- They write back, by registered post, giving you precise amount payable.
- You send them a DD/cheque, by post again.
- They make and ship the goods by road, and send you a dispatch advice, by post.
- You wait and wait for the goods to arrive.
Tell me, why should Bolton have a Website if this style of doing business allows them steady nation-wide sales? Would you still say it's strange they don't have a Website?
Any idea of prices? Can you let us know what prices you'd got when you'd inquired?
Caution....old pricing.
I called Torvin . They say they will not sell the drivers alone. They sell it only with a finished cabinet.
However the pricing I have is as follows : ( must have changed by now ) . Price per piece.
10 inch subwoofer Rs 985/-
8 inch subwoofer Rs 750/-
6 inch subwoofer Rs 550/-
25mm dome Rs300/-
6 inch bass mid Rs205/-
I don't have the model numbers.
I think these are for bulk packing. I'm not sure how many to a box. Woofers might be 4 to a box.
Check with Iwai directly.
Cheers.
I called Torvin . They say they will not sell the drivers alone. They sell it only with a finished cabinet.
However the pricing I have is as follows : ( must have changed by now ) . Price per piece.
10 inch subwoofer Rs 985/-
8 inch subwoofer Rs 750/-
6 inch subwoofer Rs 550/-
25mm dome Rs300/-
6 inch bass mid Rs205/-
I don't have the model numbers.
I think these are for bulk packing. I'm not sure how many to a box. Woofers might be 4 to a box.
Check with Iwai directly.
Cheers.
Torwin, I heard have quit using peerless and reselling any of their drivers aswell.. Apparently they have completely shifted to these drivers...but have also stopped the business of reselling the drivers..
I happened to bump into another of them...Berjis audio...(or something like that). Apparenlty they are into making line arrays...( they said they hold a patent in line array technology..well i dont know if that is possible) and they get all their drivers from china.. Off what we spoke, these guys are planning to bring B&O's ice power into Indain Pro market, as active speaker units. I did see couple of IcePower modules, there are some pro drivers as well, including a 22" sub ...!! wll try to get more details...I dont think they are very willing to give off the specifications,...On repeated queriesm, they said the drivers have been custom built by some chinese company for Use with ICE power...!! (that part seems to be true atleast) Anyways will keep e'one posted...
ajju.
Nice posts guys....
Luxco...Bolton..Philips those were the popular names when I build amplifiers 25 years ago,the amplifier was a Philips designed 40Watts RMS with Transistors 2N3055..
Recently I saw a 10inch Woofer made by Philips, maybe 20-25 years old in a Philips showroom in Kochi...The sales guy was really pushing me buy it claiming it it 250Watts RMS...what caught my attention was the really thin copper wire that connects the voice coil to the speaker terminals...i doubt it will tolerate beyond 50Watts...
Luxco...Bolton..Philips those were the popular names when I build amplifiers 25 years ago,the amplifier was a Philips designed 40Watts RMS with Transistors 2N3055..
Recently I saw a 10inch Woofer made by Philips, maybe 20-25 years old in a Philips showroom in Kochi...The sales guy was really pushing me buy it claiming it it 250Watts RMS...what caught my attention was the really thin copper wire that connects the voice coil to the speaker terminals...i doubt it will tolerate beyond 50Watts...
hey guys!
i am coming quite late into this post, but i figure i might be able to add something.
i have been into the indian pro-audio scene for about 9 years now, and design high-end pro drivers.
unfortunately, this market is becoming dirtier by the day. people who don't know or understand any technality, just go to china & come back with the cheapest stuff available. there are so many ways to make a speaker cheaper, so the chinese factories have no problem in cutting corners.
P.Audio - this company has grown phenominaly over the last 10-12 years the world over, & their peoducts are quite good.
But if u wanna buy P.Audio, better buy it from Sonotone (Mr. nagpal) who are the distributors for india. Dev electronics is not a 'reliable' source for 'authentic' p.audio products (if u know what i mean).
i assume that you would be trying to use a pro-audio driver as a subwoofer for home?.. then u would have to go for the 18" drivers, they will ask for a huge cabinet, & still rarely go down below 35Hz.
we design pro audio 18"s for high efficiency, high power & low compression. with a bass-reflex, 35 or 40hz is usually satisfactory for pro-audio.
beware of the extremely low q (.3 or less) drivers. they are better in horn-loaded subs. the bass will taper down just too much in ported or sealed boxes unless u use active eq.
cheers!
i am coming quite late into this post, but i figure i might be able to add something.
i have been into the indian pro-audio scene for about 9 years now, and design high-end pro drivers.
unfortunately, this market is becoming dirtier by the day. people who don't know or understand any technality, just go to china & come back with the cheapest stuff available. there are so many ways to make a speaker cheaper, so the chinese factories have no problem in cutting corners.
P.Audio - this company has grown phenominaly over the last 10-12 years the world over, & their peoducts are quite good.
But if u wanna buy P.Audio, better buy it from Sonotone (Mr. nagpal) who are the distributors for india. Dev electronics is not a 'reliable' source for 'authentic' p.audio products (if u know what i mean).
i assume that you would be trying to use a pro-audio driver as a subwoofer for home?.. then u would have to go for the 18" drivers, they will ask for a huge cabinet, & still rarely go down below 35Hz.
we design pro audio 18"s for high efficiency, high power & low compression. with a bass-reflex, 35 or 40hz is usually satisfactory for pro-audio.
beware of the extremely low q (.3 or less) drivers. they are better in horn-loaded subs. the bass will taper down just too much in ported or sealed boxes unless u use active eq.
cheers!
How many r interested in 18" pro audio driver.
I hv seen pictures of new drivers designed right in India & made in China. It will be launched very shortly.
It has many india specific features very hard to beat.
The magnet assembly is with india specific features.
The spider is also of new type about which there is info in Voice coil june 2008.
The magnet assembly is simulated & designed.
This is very powerful driver with dual 220mm Y35(high quality) magnet & dual spider.
I hv seen pictures of new drivers designed right in India & made in China. It will be launched very shortly.
It has many india specific features very hard to beat.
The magnet assembly is with india specific features.
The spider is also of new type about which there is info in Voice coil june 2008.
The magnet assembly is simulated & designed.
This is very powerful driver with dual 220mm Y35(high quality) magnet & dual spider.
Help me here being new to this forum and the world wide audiance it reaches.
Is it simply out of the question to buy Pro woofers from sellers in the US?
The reason I ask is because Parts Express is quite popular here and they carry a nice line of Dayton Pro woofers at a pretty reasonable price.
I picked up a pair of 15 inch Daytons # PE 295-080 when the ran a sale for $99 each.
A friend had told me they were very nice woofers.
I built a set of cabinets for them with Altec 811B horns and have to say they are a super woofer and easily outperfom many of my vintage altecs at allot less money.
I have no idea if Parts Express will ship international or how expensive it would be. If you can find a local seller that carries the Dayton Pro line, these woffers are rated to handle 500 Watts and have the weight and build quality that looks like they will.
I use these out in my back yard when we have summer BBQs and they blow the neighbors away.
Gary
Is it simply out of the question to buy Pro woofers from sellers in the US?
The reason I ask is because Parts Express is quite popular here and they carry a nice line of Dayton Pro woofers at a pretty reasonable price.
I picked up a pair of 15 inch Daytons # PE 295-080 when the ran a sale for $99 each.
A friend had told me they were very nice woofers.
I built a set of cabinets for them with Altec 811B horns and have to say they are a super woofer and easily outperfom many of my vintage altecs at allot less money.
An externally hosted image should be here but it was not working when we last tested it.
I have no idea if Parts Express will ship international or how expensive it would be. If you can find a local seller that carries the Dayton Pro line, these woffers are rated to handle 500 Watts and have the weight and build quality that looks like they will.
I use these out in my back yard when we have summer BBQs and they blow the neighbors away.
Gary
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