Hi All,
I'm looking for dirt cheap 12" woofers suitable for ripole subs (down the road I may spring for Peerless but for now I'm experimenting for cheap). So far my two candidates are the Pyle PLW12 and Boss CX12:
Pyle PLW12BL 12" Blue Cone Woofer | Parts-Express.com
BOSS CX12 Chaos Exxtreme 12" Subwoofer | Parts-Express.com
The Pyle's specs look pretty good except the X-max is not specified and they are rather inefficient (but I have plenty of amp power).
The Boss woofer is allegedly very efficient but its qts & x-max are not given.
Has anyone tried either of these woofers in a ripole setup and/or measured their x-max & qts?
Also, can anyone recommend other cheap (under $30) 12" woofers that might work?
thanks,
Charlie
I'm looking for dirt cheap 12" woofers suitable for ripole subs (down the road I may spring for Peerless but for now I'm experimenting for cheap). So far my two candidates are the Pyle PLW12 and Boss CX12:
Pyle PLW12BL 12" Blue Cone Woofer | Parts-Express.com
BOSS CX12 Chaos Exxtreme 12" Subwoofer | Parts-Express.com
The Pyle's specs look pretty good except the X-max is not specified and they are rather inefficient (but I have plenty of amp power).
The Boss woofer is allegedly very efficient but its qts & x-max are not given.
Has anyone tried either of these woofers in a ripole setup and/or measured their x-max & qts?
Also, can anyone recommend other cheap (under $30) 12" woofers that might work?
thanks,
Charlie
Hi there: My experience with inexpensive narrow subs in a ripole is you need lots of Xmax, more amplifier power, with low Xmax drivers, will lead to strange noises. I liked the sound of the ripole playing clasical and 50's 60's cool jazz, but have sidelined the project due to the noises. ....regards, Michael
Please consider a different project. I've never managed to make them sound better than "so-so", and dreadfully inefficient and/or prone to bottoming out.
One horn sub with an 8" slaughtered 4 15" drivers in 2 ripoles in every way imaginable. To this date, it's been the low point of my DIY sub efforts
Last edited:
OK... forget really cheap woofers-- I've just ordered (4) Peerless SLS 12's from Parts Express and I've started drawing up the MBC boxes.
Question: Is there an advantage to recessing the woofers into the baffles or just surface mount them?
I plan to use these subs for music playback, primarily; supplementing the 10" transmission line woofers in my hybrid electrostats. The SLS's will be wired parallel and driven via an active crossover and a Carver TFM-42 (375w/ch) power amp.
I know that Ripoles are inefficient but I'm opting for their dipole radiation pattern, which should excite fewer room modes, and their compact size.
Even though I will be using an active crossover, I'm thinking I may want to use a passive notch filter to tamp down the anticipated resonant peak between 200-300hz, rather than trying to EQ it out upstream (?)
Opinions on that are appreciated
If a passive notch filter is deemed desirable, I'm not at all clear on how to go about making one. Recommendations on that are appreciated too
Since my current crossover is a 2-way with no sub out, I will have to buy a new crossover for this project and I have not yet decided what crossover I need to get. Recommendations for the crossover and slope are appreciated!
thanks,
Charlie
Question: Is there an advantage to recessing the woofers into the baffles or just surface mount them?
I plan to use these subs for music playback, primarily; supplementing the 10" transmission line woofers in my hybrid electrostats. The SLS's will be wired parallel and driven via an active crossover and a Carver TFM-42 (375w/ch) power amp.
I know that Ripoles are inefficient but I'm opting for their dipole radiation pattern, which should excite fewer room modes, and their compact size.
Even though I will be using an active crossover, I'm thinking I may want to use a passive notch filter to tamp down the anticipated resonant peak between 200-300hz, rather than trying to EQ it out upstream (?)
Opinions on that are appreciated
If a passive notch filter is deemed desirable, I'm not at all clear on how to go about making one. Recommendations on that are appreciated too
Since my current crossover is a 2-way with no sub out, I will have to buy a new crossover for this project and I have not yet decided what crossover I need to get. Recommendations for the crossover and slope are appreciated!
thanks,
Charlie
Hi Jer,
I've been so busy with a home improvement project that I've hardly had any time to play with my new Ripoles. However, I do have them finished and playing. When I have more time, I want to do some tone tests (when I get the software) and play around with higher crossover points to see how they sound in the midbass band (I might even take my transmission line woofers out of the loop to see how highthe Ripoles can play). Since I already have gorgeous sounding bass in my hybrid electrostats, I'm using the Ripoles solely in the sub-bass region-- the crossover is at 50hz with a 48db slope and I have a 6db/oct low pass shelf to compensate the dipole roll off. Just as I experienced with my sealed box sub, it's not easy to get a seamless blend between the new subs and the main system. The tendency with new subs is to play them loud to see what they are capable of but most music doesn't have a huge amount of really low bass anyway and if I raise the frequency and volume beyond a fairly low level they tend to step on the transmission lines. So, for the time being I am content to let the Ripoles do their thing below 50hz and let the transmission lines handle everything above that. Most music doesn't go much below 40hz so I seldom actually hear the Ripoles but when a really low note comes along I can feel the Ripoles kick in. They are very clean and play profoundly low.
Here is a link to my writeup on my blob page:
Jazzman's DIY Electrostatic Loudspeaker Page: Ripole subs are underway
charlie , I have been doing the same thing myself last year was very crazy and hectic for me as well!
At least I made to fla. to retreive the rest of my equipment so I now have plenty of amplification now.
I still have 6 8" radioshack subs to work with and as you know I have been wanting to try a dipole sub for the sake of lower distortion.
However I have also come up with a electronicly asisted ported design with three of them per side that should produce 115db to 118db combined in stereo.
Flat down to 25hz.
I plan on mating them to a 11.5" by 47" panel of my design construction that will be segmented in 5 sections.
That should fullfill my ocasional need for earspliting and heart thumping loudness.
And when my economy gets better I'll go for a 4 or 6 driver per side dipole.
Meanwhile I can still try a 3 driver version.
I saw your web sight and they look very nice indeed.
I know it takes time to get them tuned in just right ,so, keep us posted.
After I had got back from fla. I hooked up my crown dc300a to my little panel and the low impedence (.89 ohms at 20khz) made it get realy hot and shut down at full power.
It didn't hurt it though.
The heat sinks are to small IMO so I just put fan on it.
It was unbeleivably loud yet clean.
Then one time the panel caught on fire.
Fire For Real!
So then I let it keep going for a while.
When I took it apart there was no damage to diagphram or stator.
The leakage was caused by sharp piece of screen wire along the edge that wasn't buried deep enough in the insulated border near a sandwiching bolt and arced over through the bolt to the other stator.
It is the only flaw in the design ,I expected that this would happen and will be easly remmedeed in the next build.
I merly cut out the burn't plastic and It is ready to be reassembled.
At that point I tore every thing down and rearanged the room to acomadate the new tape decks I brought home.
I'll have some pictures for you soon.
But I didn't get one of the burning panel,sorry.
I was appyling a 120v peak to peak signal to it.
In excess of aproximitly 26kv with 6.5kv to 7.5kv bias applied to it.
Prior to the breakdown along the edge I witnessed no signs of stress (except for my ears) or flashover from the stators
Meanwhile I started building some electrostatic headphones.
I can send you the pattern If you like.
I made them out the clear blank cd's that you get when you buy them in bulk. jer
At least I made to fla. to retreive the rest of my equipment so I now have plenty of amplification now.
I still have 6 8" radioshack subs to work with and as you know I have been wanting to try a dipole sub for the sake of lower distortion.
However I have also come up with a electronicly asisted ported design with three of them per side that should produce 115db to 118db combined in stereo.
Flat down to 25hz.
I plan on mating them to a 11.5" by 47" panel of my design construction that will be segmented in 5 sections.
That should fullfill my ocasional need for earspliting and heart thumping loudness.
And when my economy gets better I'll go for a 4 or 6 driver per side dipole.
Meanwhile I can still try a 3 driver version.
I saw your web sight and they look very nice indeed.
I know it takes time to get them tuned in just right ,so, keep us posted.
After I had got back from fla. I hooked up my crown dc300a to my little panel and the low impedence (.89 ohms at 20khz) made it get realy hot and shut down at full power.
It didn't hurt it though.
The heat sinks are to small IMO so I just put fan on it.
It was unbeleivably loud yet clean.
Then one time the panel caught on fire.
Fire For Real!
So then I let it keep going for a while.
When I took it apart there was no damage to diagphram or stator.
The leakage was caused by sharp piece of screen wire along the edge that wasn't buried deep enough in the insulated border near a sandwiching bolt and arced over through the bolt to the other stator.
It is the only flaw in the design ,I expected that this would happen and will be easly remmedeed in the next build.
I merly cut out the burn't plastic and It is ready to be reassembled.
At that point I tore every thing down and rearanged the room to acomadate the new tape decks I brought home.
I'll have some pictures for you soon.
But I didn't get one of the burning panel,sorry.
I was appyling a 120v peak to peak signal to it.
In excess of aproximitly 26kv with 6.5kv to 7.5kv bias applied to it.
Prior to the breakdown along the edge I witnessed no signs of stress (except for my ears) or flashover from the stators
Meanwhile I started building some electrostatic headphones.
I can send you the pattern If you like.
I made them out the clear blank cd's that you get when you buy them in bulk. jer
Last edited:
- Status
- This old topic is closed. If you want to reopen this topic, contact a moderator using the "Report Post" button.