With the holidays I fell behind on posting data from the NE315.
Here it is in the 3cu ft 17.4hz passive. One thing I noticed about this driver is that when it's humming along at 80db@60hz it's very clean; harmonics are basically at the noise floor -60db down.
Here's the max spl at 5% distortion measurements:
Frequency Spl of fundamental 2nd harmonic 3rd harmonic
16 76 -23 -42
20 77 -27 -33
25 72 -23 -38
31.5 50 -15 -30
40 81 -25 -61
50 106 -37 -25
63 104 -26 -48
attached is 60hz @80db and 100 db
Here it is in the 3cu ft 17.4hz passive. One thing I noticed about this driver is that when it's humming along at 80db@60hz it's very clean; harmonics are basically at the noise floor -60db down.
Here's the max spl at 5% distortion measurements:
Frequency Spl of fundamental 2nd harmonic 3rd harmonic
16 76 -23 -42
20 77 -27 -33
25 72 -23 -38
31.5 50 -15 -30
40 81 -25 -61
50 106 -37 -25
63 104 -26 -48
attached is 60hz @80db and 100 db
Attachments
I ordered a Dayton SPA1000 and it arrived yesterday. I think that's enough to power something like the Tuba or a Devastator to acceptable levels but I kinda wonder if something like a Behringer with more power would have given me more headroom down the road should I want to mess with an 18" passive radiator or something but I have had good luck with my SPA250 and do better with knobs than computers.
But back to the Tuba. It took a week but Kevin, who is local and builds speakers, responded to my email and gave me a really good quote for a complete 30" wide Tuba. $1100 in Duratex. He even said he could knock off $100 because I want to stain it myself to match my entertainment center.
But back to the Tuba. It took a week but Kevin, who is local and builds speakers, responded to my email and gave me a really good quote for a complete 30" wide Tuba. $1100 in Duratex. He even said he could knock off $100 because I want to stain it myself to match my entertainment center.
Dave, the THT and Devastator run between 90-100 db @1watt/1 meter. Using a 1000 watt amp you can add 30db to this, subtract 5db or so for compression and your listening position being more than a meter away and you are still around 120db.
I think this is plenty, but low distortion free bass can be addictive.
I think this is plenty, but low distortion free bass can be addictive.
That sounds like plenty. Plenty more than I've had. If it's that addicting why stop at 20? Lil' Mike's wrecker does 17. Tapped horns are supposed to be smoother in their pass band too.
In any event the real cost of one of these things is going to be in my hearing loss and the money my wife will be spending as I send her out shopping with the kids so I can put it through its paces.
What are we talking in output here? Roughly the equivalent of 6 or 8 15's sealed?
In any event the real cost of one of these things is going to be in my hearing loss and the money my wife will be spending as I send her out shopping with the kids so I can put it through its paces.
What are we talking in output here? Roughly the equivalent of 6 or 8 15's sealed?
Glad you're laughing but I need to commit to a driver and a design and here's what I think has made me reluctant to go the route of the horn. I hate to say it because a pure audiophile shouldn't care about the looks but I just want to be able to see the driver, it just appeals more to me.
So I'm committed now to 1000 watts. I wanted a good amp and that's about all I was comfortable spending.
I know I would need a lot of sealed units or IB to do what I want. I hooked my Cerwin Vega15" car sub up last weekend. It has good specs a low fz and qts of .54 for a sealed box so I went even bigger. I put it in a baffle I made and slid it up to my patio door and got the tunes going. It sounded good but it's clearly not close to being enough. Rated for 750 it started to smell a little when it was just getting good.
So I am guessing 4 or more good Daytons would improve things a lot. I've been thinking about
a transmission line too but then you don't always see the driver. Or an 18" passive radiator.
I'm eager to build something now with the amp. I really only need it to play to 40hz. I'm quite happy with my 15's from there but if it has more bandwidth the better I guess.
Or get over it and do a horn. It didn't help my cause messing around online and came across the REL Sixpack. That thing sounds good just looking at it.
So I am com
So I'm committed now to 1000 watts. I wanted a good amp and that's about all I was comfortable spending.
I know I would need a lot of sealed units or IB to do what I want. I hooked my Cerwin Vega15" car sub up last weekend. It has good specs a low fz and qts of .54 for a sealed box so I went even bigger. I put it in a baffle I made and slid it up to my patio door and got the tunes going. It sounded good but it's clearly not close to being enough. Rated for 750 it started to smell a little when it was just getting good.
So I am guessing 4 or more good Daytons would improve things a lot. I've been thinking about
a transmission line too but then you don't always see the driver. Or an 18" passive radiator.
I'm eager to build something now with the amp. I really only need it to play to 40hz. I'm quite happy with my 15's from there but if it has more bandwidth the better I guess.
Or get over it and do a horn. It didn't help my cause messing around online and came across the REL Sixpack. That thing sounds good just looking at it.
So I am com
Here is the link to a full glass front with measurements and sealed sub integration.
Mini Devastator Build, with Clear Front Panels | AVS Forum
Mini Devastator Build, with Clear Front Panels | AVS Forum
Next up is the Tymphany NE315 in 85 liters 38hz vented.
Here's the max spl at 5% distortion measurements:
Frequency Spl of fundamental 2nd harmonic 3rd harmonic
16 64 -28 -24
20 71 -23 -26
25 75 -24 -35
31.5 79 -24 -37
40 88 -24 -38
50 111 -26 -33
63 110 -25 -40
attached is 60hz @80db and 100 db
Here's the max spl at 5% distortion measurements:
Frequency Spl of fundamental 2nd harmonic 3rd harmonic
16 64 -28 -24
20 71 -23 -26
25 75 -24 -35
31.5 79 -24 -37
40 88 -24 -38
50 111 -26 -33
63 110 -25 -40
attached is 60hz @80db and 100 db
Attachments
I started something a little different with the tymphany I used some port lengths I had lying around to create a 31hz tune. This is not directly comparable to the 38hz tune because the port outputs to a slightly different location in the room. However I have gone back and tested the Lab, Wavecor, Radioshack and Magnum in this configuration and a comparison can be made between drivers.
I will make a graph of the 31hz when I am finished testing drivers.
I hope to test a few more. I am breaking in a Acoustic Elegance SBP12a this week. Any driver recommendations or donations out there?
I will make a graph of the 31hz when I am finished testing drivers.
I hope to test a few more. I am breaking in a Acoustic Elegance SBP12a this week. Any driver recommendations or donations out there?
One critique I received from my testing thread is that I'm testing cheap drivers and I'm giving too much credit to the cheap ones. Well I found some remedies for that. I will post next results of a costly but nice Acoustic Elegance SBP12.
Also I am conducting IMD tests of most of the drivers. So far the more expensive well designed motor subs are doing the best in this. For the IMD I play a 30 and 72hz tone @ 70db at the same time and record the spectrogram.
Also I am conducting IMD tests of most of the drivers. So far the more expensive well designed motor subs are doing the best in this. For the IMD I play a 30 and 72hz tone @ 70db at the same time and record the spectrogram.
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If I had to describe the acoustic elegance SBP12a in two words it would be clean and dynamic. This driver gives that best punch in a sealed box of the 10 subs I tested,(The diysg magnum is comparable but needs the help of the passive radiator). This driver will scare you out of your seat if you have the gain up too high and aren't paying attention.
However the clean sound is more in the upper bass it doesn't have as much brute force in the deep bass as say the eminence lab 12c. Judging by the small diameter of the surround and the fact that 2nd harmonic distortion limits are reached before third I feel this driver could benefit from more mechanical throw. This is the upgraded apollo version.
Here's the max spl at 5% distortion measurements:
Frequency Spl of fundamental 2nd harmonic 3rd harmonic
16 70 -36 -25
20 70 -27 -25
25 67 -25 -28
31.5 64 -23 -40
40 88 -24 -46
50 111 -26 -30
63 110 -25 -59
attached is 60hz @80db and 100 db
However the clean sound is more in the upper bass it doesn't have as much brute force in the deep bass as say the eminence lab 12c. Judging by the small diameter of the surround and the fact that 2nd harmonic distortion limits are reached before third I feel this driver could benefit from more mechanical throw. This is the upgraded apollo version.
Here's the max spl at 5% distortion measurements:
Frequency Spl of fundamental 2nd harmonic 3rd harmonic
16 70 -36 -25
20 70 -27 -25
25 67 -25 -28
31.5 64 -23 -40
40 88 -24 -46
50 111 -26 -30
63 110 -25 -59
attached is 60hz @80db and 100 db
Attachments
How do bandwidths compare across the board in a fair comparison? If an 18"TL will do 16 to 60 how does it compare to comparable TH's, FLH's and sealed units for bandwidth? I'm just talking natural, native bandwidth not with eq. The Tuba doesn't reach quite as far as the graph suggests, at least that's what some seem to be saying.
I also tested the AE SBP 12a in the 3cu ft 17.4hz passive radiator alignment. This driver sounds best in the sealed box and it is advertised and optimized to do so. But for consistency in my measurements I gave it a shot in the passive and I'm in the belief that you don't know until you've tried it.
One note is that the third harmonic is quiet in the 63 hz test (-60) but 4th and 5th harmonincs are louder (-53 and -49)
Here's the max spl at 5% distortion measurements:
Frequency Spl of fundamental 2nd harmonic 3rd harmonic
16 71 -23 -40
20 85 -25 -25
25 77 -24 -37
31.5 57 -21 -35
40 91 -25 -35
50 110 -25 -30
63 111 -23 -60
One note is that the third harmonic is quiet in the 63 hz test (-60) but 4th and 5th harmonincs are louder (-53 and -49)
Here's the max spl at 5% distortion measurements:
Frequency Spl of fundamental 2nd harmonic 3rd harmonic
16 71 -23 -40
20 85 -25 -25
25 77 -24 -37
31.5 57 -21 -35
40 91 -25 -35
50 110 -25 -30
63 111 -23 -60
I also tried the AE SBP in the 85 liter 38hz ported alignment. I still prefer this is in the sealed enclosure.
This driver is the best of all I've tested so far in IMD distortion measurements. That is what distortion comes from playing two tones at the same time. More on this later.
Here's the max spl at 5% distortion measurements:
Frequency Spl of fundamental 2nd harmonic 3rd harmonic
16 56 -29 -18
20 69 -35 -24
25 86 -41 -26
31.5 90 -25 -25
40 91 -25 -37
50 110 -24 -39
63 112 -25 -44
This driver is the best of all I've tested so far in IMD distortion measurements. That is what distortion comes from playing two tones at the same time. More on this later.
Here's the max spl at 5% distortion measurements:
Frequency Spl of fundamental 2nd harmonic 3rd harmonic
16 56 -29 -18
20 69 -35 -24
25 86 -41 -26
31.5 90 -25 -25
40 91 -25 -37
50 110 -24 -39
63 112 -25 -44
Attachments
The next driver in the test enclosure is the SB acoustics SB34NRXL75- 8. This driver does what a subwoofer should do. It extends the lower frequencies frequencies of your main speakers without resonances or stored energy issues that would draw attention to itself. However, when some bass power comes along like in the song "poem of chinese drum" you know that the SB is there and it reproduced the big drums in this song well.
This SB woofer does the best of the 12 drivers I've tested with reproduction of the string bass. The upper string fundamentals are handled by my main speakers and the lower strings are handled by the SB with a seamless transition.
This first test is the SB in a sealed box. It's parameters are more geared toward vented enclosures but I was still able to get some good low frequency output due to a shallow roll off.
Here's the max spl at 5% distortion measurements:
Frequency Spl of fundamental 2nd harmonic 3rd harmonic
16 70 -42 -25
20 70 -32 -24
25 70 -26 -25
31.5 61 -25 -35
40 89 -24 -38
50 105 -26 -25
63 112 -26 -38
attached is 60hz @80db and 100 db
This SB woofer does the best of the 12 drivers I've tested with reproduction of the string bass. The upper string fundamentals are handled by my main speakers and the lower strings are handled by the SB with a seamless transition.
This first test is the SB in a sealed box. It's parameters are more geared toward vented enclosures but I was still able to get some good low frequency output due to a shallow roll off.
Here's the max spl at 5% distortion measurements:
Frequency Spl of fundamental 2nd harmonic 3rd harmonic
16 70 -42 -25
20 70 -32 -24
25 70 -26 -25
31.5 61 -25 -35
40 89 -24 -38
50 105 -26 -25
63 112 -26 -38
attached is 60hz @80db and 100 db
