Driver recommendation for smallish sealed subwoofer

spot · 12th October 2011, 08:59 AM

Could anyone recommend a driver for a sealed subwoofer, 12" and about 47L or 1.75 Cuft cabinet?
Preferably available in Australia and under about $200, less if overseas.

I have seen a peerlees XXLS model that looks good - its discontinued (don't know if there's any left).

forr · 12th October 2011, 10:05 AM

Hi, you may find the Peerless XLS. I use it in a 42 liters closed box wiht no damping, fc = 41 Hz, Qtc = 0.47 and add a bit a bass boost. I should have done better with about 50 liters and some damping.

johnr66 · 13th October 2011, 03:08 PM

That volume is not particularly small for a 12" in sealed. Start by looking for drivers in the .4-.5 Qts range. Plenty available. You should model what you find to see how it will actually work.

cyclecamper · 13th October 2011, 03:38 PM

No useful concrete recommendations, as the 12's I picked up CHEAP are no longer available. They were unsuitable for a small sealed box, but isobaric'd (2 clamshelled) they compared very favorably to a single driver in price and and handled a lot more power; efficiency was bad compared to the same drivers in a larger cabinet, but not so bad compared to other drivers that worked in such a small cabinet. But if you find an exeptional buy on an unsuitable driver like I did, consider isobaric to make it work. Makes a great teensie "dense-pack" box IMHO.

Tytte71 · 13th October 2011, 04:20 PM

Are you planning to run it with a separate subamp?
If yes, what's maximum cont. output power and does it have bass eq to compensate for the roll-off?

spot · 14th October 2011, 02:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tytte71

Are you planning to run it with a separate subamp?
If yes, what's maximum cont. output power and does it have bass eq to compensate for the roll-off?

Yes, power yet to be decided. I will be putting in all sorts of freq compensation.

Tytte71 · 14th October 2011, 04:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spot

Yes, power yet to be decided. I will be putting in all sorts of freq compensation.

Then you shouldn't be concerned about using low Q drivers or not. The only things that counts for maximum sound pressure with a sealed enclosure is power, membran area and linear stroke range. Low Q drivers are most likely to fit into a small cabinet. Off course the driver should be able to cope with the power (linear motor/spring behaviour and low power compression)

The XXLS is a good driver and is not discontinued by Peerless. One XLSS would give you about 96dB@20Hz/45l/150W + room gain - 4pi (within linear stroke). Using a high-pass filtre at 30Hz would leave a maximum of about 103dB@30Hz/45l/200W + room gain - 4pi.
The 12" XLS is also an alternative, same maximum output (a little better impulse response) but will require a little more power.

You could also consider the Dayton TIT320C-4 that would leave you about 4dB more output than Peerless when feeding it with 500W (large signal analysis available at parts-express.com)
Also, the TC Sounds Epic 10 can deliver some 3dB more than Peerless at 20Hz/500W.

A better solution would be to use two or more smaller ones (like a long stroke 10"). That way you can more easily deal with room modes.

That said, I would rather have gone for a low tuned passive radiator solution - unless your listening room is small.

cheers,

peace brainerd · 14th October 2011, 06:55 PM

Spot, hope you don't mind me weighing in here, but it may apply to your question as well.

I'm going to return a Viva NE 12 inch driver for exchange with another 12 inch. I've decided, after a few threads posted and many questions/answers that there are better drivers than the Vifa for sealed 12inch sub duty. I'm looking at the RSS315HF-4 but see no mention of it in this thread. I'm certain that I want a 12 inch sealed sub as well. But am wondering if the RSS315 is the way to go. Mine is for 99 percent music.

There seems to be a bit of disagreement floating about as to the RSS315's suitability for a sealed box and then I found this page....
Dr. Mark Says Speaker projects

Quote:

I’m have added data on the Dayton RSS315HF-4 12. This driver could make an impressive sub. However the unit requires a large volume enclosure, around 5 cu.ft. This driver is not suitable for sealed alignment, as the F3 is in the mid forties, well above sub range.

So I'm asking mostly the same question here. What is the best 12 inch driver out there, in the 150 dollar range, for an approx 2cu ft sealed project?

Tytte71 · 14th October 2011, 11:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by peace brainerd

Spot, hope you don't mind me weighing in here, but it may apply to your question as well.

I'm going to return a Viva NE 12 inch driver for exchange with another 12 inch. I've decided, after a few threads posted and many questions/answers that there are better drivers than the Vifa for sealed 12inch sub duty. I'm looking at the RSS315HF-4 but see no mention of it in this thread. I'm certain that I want a 12 inch sealed sub as well. But am wondering if the RSS315 is the way to go. Mine is for 99 percent music.

There seems to be a bit of disagreement floating about as to the RSS315's suitability for a sealed box and then I found this page....
Dr. Mark Says Speaker projects
So I'm asking mostly the same question here. What is the best 12 inch driver out there, in the 150 dollar range, for an approx 2cu ft sealed project?

There are many ways to design a subwoofer.
If you want to use a straight forward amp without any eq, then I (conditionally) agree with the statement. But if you have an 4-500W amp with bass boost or better a DSP controlled amp, then the RSS315HF-4 could make a great sub in a filled 2 cu ft cabinet. Unfortunately I don't have available large signal analysis of this driver. Peerless XLS is a good alternative.

Be aware that one 12" closed cabinet sub might not be enough to achieve realistic sound levels. It depends very much on your room and placement. In my living room I use 2 long stroke closed cabinet subs, corner placed and with DSP/DRC - which is far from enough for my room.
No I am not a head banger and I am not a bass fanatic

peace brainerd · 16th October 2011, 04:18 PM

For the time being my needs are similar to Spots. The plate amp I have on hand is a Foster 100w sub amp from the NHT sellout page. I'll live with it for a while and upgrade to a 500 w bash amp later. The existing oak cabinet I'm using has 4.2 cu ft available at present. So I can make it anything from .5 to 4.2 cu ft. I'd like to go sealed. In this case, and similar to what Spot is asking, if focusing on the Dayton offerings, which would be optimal for a small(ish) sealed box..... the 12 inch HO, the 12 inch HF, or the 12 Titanic? 98 percent music at moderate levels.

12th October 2011, 08:59 AM	#1
spot diyAudio Member Join Date: Sep 2011	Driver recommendation for smallish sealed subwoofer Could anyone recommend a driver for a sealed subwoofer, 12" and about 47L or 1.75 Cuft cabinet? Preferably available in Australia and under about $200, less if overseas. I have seen a peerlees XXLS model that looks good - its discontinued (don't know if there's any left).

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12th October 2011, 10:05 AM	#2
forr diyAudio Member Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Next door	Hi, you may find the Peerless XLS. I use it in a 42 liters closed box wiht no damping, fc = 41 Hz, Qtc = 0.47 and add a bit a bass boost. I should have done better with about 50 liters and some damping.

13th October 2011, 03:08 PM	#3
johnr66 diyAudio Member Join Date: Mar 2009	That volume is not particularly small for a 12" in sealed. Start by looking for drivers in the .4-.5 Qts range. Plenty available. You should model what you find to see how it will actually work.

13th October 2011, 03:38 PM	#4
cyclecamper diyAudio Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: was Chicago IL, now Long Beach CA	No useful concrete recommendations, as the 12's I picked up CHEAP are no longer available. They were unsuitable for a small sealed box, but isobaric'd (2 clamshelled) they compared very favorably to a single driver in price and and handled a lot more power; efficiency was bad compared to the same drivers in a larger cabinet, but not so bad compared to other drivers that worked in such a small cabinet. But if you find an exeptional buy on an unsuitable driver like I did, consider isobaric to make it work. Makes a great teensie "dense-pack" box IMHO.

13th October 2011, 04:20 PM	#5
Tytte71 diyAudio Member Join Date: Oct 2010	Are you planning to run it with a separate subamp? If yes, what's maximum cont. output power and does it have bass eq to compensate for the roll-off?

16th October 2011, 04:18 PM	#10
peace brainerd diyAudio Member Join Date: Nov 2004	For the time being my needs are similar to Spots. The plate amp I have on hand is a Foster 100w sub amp from the NHT sellout page. I'll live with it for a while and upgrade to a 500 w bash amp later. The existing oak cabinet I'm using has 4.2 cu ft available at present. So I can make it anything from .5 to 4.2 cu ft. I'd like to go sealed. In this case, and similar to what Spot is asking, if focusing on the Dayton offerings, which would be optimal for a small(ish) sealed box..... the 12 inch HO, the 12 inch HF, or the 12 Titanic? 98 percent music at moderate levels.