Alternative to Ascendant Audio Drivers

[Hi Ho]

I built a sub (seen HERE, obviously not veneered) about six months ago I am very impressed with it. I used an Ascendant Atlas 12" driver and PartsExpress 250w plate amp.

Now I am making a dedicated theater in another room. I need another sub. I want to go even bigger/louder/lower. I am probably going to make a sonosub since I have several sonotubes lying around already. Unfortunately Ascendant Audio seems to be in the unknown right now. There site hasn't been updated and my emails bounce. Does anyone know what's up with them?

Anyway, what is a good 15" alternative to an ASA driver? I would want something equivalent to an Avalanche 15". I will probably drive it with a bridged Crown XLS 202 amp for a total of 500 watts.

[mike.e]

pity that ascendant has dissappeared for awhile like stryke,in the mean time people buy other gear!

Your not going to get much louder unless you buy larger/more subs,not better ones of the same displacement.

Adire audio perhaps

[Hi Ho]

I am going to buy a bigger sub. The driver I used in my first sub is a 12". I want to buy a 15" for the sonosub. That, coupled with a much smaller room and a much more powerfull amp, should give me higher SPL levels. Am I wrong?

[Timn8ter]

You are correct.
A 15" Tempest is an affordable and capable sub driver. If you have more money you may want to consider one of the 15" XBL^2 monsters.

[morbo]

oaudio.com has 15" TC sounds drivers that are comparable if not better than the ascendant atlas series was. The 15" tempest will be up there too, as will pe's dayton titanic or bully subs.

[mike.e]

Yep but I wouldnt expect phenomenal increases in SPL.

3dB more amplifier costs alot,but is only just audible,while a larger 15" woofer has basically the same sensitivity as its 12" brother.

Power compression on home woofers is an unknown issue also.

The bully sub should have significantly less distortion with its flux shorting ring. - >
http://www.mfk-projects.com

The Tcsounds looks good for its price.

[PoorboyMike]

I've heard good things about the drivers offered by Sound Splinter.

Check them out here : http://www.soundsplinter.com/

[danvan]

Resonant Engineering has a strong fan-base, never heard one myself but they look pretty nice, though they might not be any cheaper than Adire's offerings. The XXX I know was more expensive than the Avalanche.

http://reaudio.com/

Elemental designs is another possibility, again I have no experience with their subs, but I own one of their car amplifiers for a pair of Atlas's and it's extremely well built. Supposedly the subs are designed more for car audio, but meh.

http://www.edesignaudio.com/us.php

Other possibilities:

Incriminator Audio
http://www.incriminatoraudio.com/

and of course offerings from Peerless and Dayton, always good stuff. If I were in your position, I'd probably wait out for Adire's new stuff, and maybe even Ascendants new stuff.

[mazeroth]

If you're looking for extreme sound quality you might want to look into the new Dayton RS series subs. Possibly go with 2 of the 12s. They measure better than the Peerless XLS series woofers people praise about:

http://www.partsexpress.com/webpage....=25&rak=DaySub

[Tweeker]

Id go with oaudios TC2+ for home use of whats available right now. The TC2 had very low measured distortion.


The 15s sensitivity is ~89dB/watt.

O Audio TC2+