THAM 15 vs Cubo 15 vs Cubo 18 ?

Lukey123 · 2019-03-12 1:50 pm

Hi guys

I need to build 2 small subs for my band, they need to have as much volume and SPL as possible, and go as low as possible. They will be used for live kick drum and a bit of bass guitar. Needs to sound good indoors and outdoors.

I can’t decide between THAM 15 vs Cubo 15 vs Cubo 18 ?..all roughly the same size. only 2 boxes for now, I might add more when I can afford it. Which one will give me the most thuding in the chest in a large room or outdoors and the most volume for the same input.

Tops will be DB technology IG4T

THAM 15 size 22”W/24”D/30”H

Cubo 15 size 24”W/24”D/24”H

Cubo 18 size 24”W/25”D/24”H

Drivers: Eminence Kappalite 3015LF 15” or The box speaker 18-500/8 18”

Thanks
Luke

freddi · 2019-03-13 2:39 am

If I got the sims entered right (little sleep) then for Kappalite 3015LF, Jim Bell's SS15 gives the nicest prediction (I did not use lossy Le in these sims). A Karlson box of ~140 liter airspace would do pretty well too but lose a few dB on the low end vs (the larger) SS15 plus the kludge sim for the K indicated more excursion in the 100Hz region than THAM15..

Lukey123 · 2019-03-13 5:53 am

Ah that’s brilliant thank you freddi, I’m only just learning how to use Hornresp and don’t 100% trust my results. My THAM 15 looked quite a bit different that. Would you run the sim on these for me, it would be brilliant if you could. I dismissed them earlier on but it could just be I was useing the program wrong.

MTH30 size : 13”W / 22”D / 25”H

THAM 12 size : 13W / 19”D / 21”H

Cubo 12 size : 17”W / 18”D / 17”H

Driver : Dayton Audio PA310-8

Like I said I’m trying to get the most SPL and this out of the smallest box. Big ask I know. So if I can get a 12” to be prettt close to an 15” or even 18”, Then happy days.

Out of my personal sims ive run the nices ones to me have been the MTH30 and the Cubo 18. But I really and just beginning to under stand the program.

Thanks
Luke

tonskulus · 2019-03-13 1:13 pm

mth-30 and tham are tapped horns, cubo is more like reflex w/flared port. (t)horns has 3 impedance peaks while reflex has only two in general.
I have both mth-30 and cubo15 extended. Cubo goes a bit lower and has more "punch", mth-30 somehow has a bit better sound.
Cubo has RCF L15P540 driver. Nice and tight sound!
MTH-30 has JBL 2206H. Pretty good overall response.

Both are only good for up to 100-110Hz and sounds horrible above that.

I would go for cubo18 if you need the most and if you can deal with the size of it.
Need to try tham15 someday.. might have better SQ than cubo I think.

chris661 · 2019-03-13 2:47 pm

I'd ditch the 3015LF. For not-much-more money, you can have an actual sub driver, like a Faital Pro 15HP1060, or something nice from B&C.

The 3015LF just doesn't have enough motor to give decent performance in a compact sub.

Chris

conanski · 2019-03-13 2:57 pm

Lukey123 said:
I need to build 2 small subs for my band, they need to have as much volume and SPL as possible, and go as low as possible. They will be used for live kick drum and a bit of bass guitar. Needs to sound good indoors and outdoors.

No they don't need to go as low as possible you need 40-50hz extension at most. I'd vote for the Cubo18 sub(extended) but you need to spend big on the driver, a 500w chinese thing will not cut it. Over on the Speakerplans forum they say load them with PD1850s and they will do damage.

tonskulus · 2019-03-13 3:42 pm

Eminence kappa pro 15 LF is the one "budget driver" recommended for cubo15 as far as I remember.
However 3015LF is also recommended even tho it has less motor force / higher QTS but more xmax.
Another options (good price/performance), even better than those eminences:
B&C 15PS100 (i would try this out)
Fane xb/sb 15
Fane sovereign pro 15-600lf
...

Grymer · 2019-03-13 4:06 pm

A friend of mine who has a huge collection of F1 speaker always recommends the ss15 over cubo's. As standalones he says the ss15 outperforms both the cubo and tham15. Although I get that you'd like to have as much sound as possible, but the experience of the sound is equally important when it comes to bands. I'd go for the ss15

Lukey123 · 2019-03-13 4:19 pm

How about this, ignoring the driver for a minute just going of cab performance.

2x MTH30 ( per side of the stage )

1x ss15 ( per side of the stage )

1x Cubo 18 ( per side of the stage )

What would you say would have the best performance and spl out of those 3 ????

Grymer · 2019-03-13 4:34 pm

Lukey123 said:
How about this, ignoring the driver for a minute just going of cab performance.

2x MTH30 ( per side of the stage )

1x ss15 ( per side of the stage )

1x Cubo 18 ( per side of the stage )

What would you say would have the best performance and spl out of those 3 ????

Well - My guess is that you get more SPL from 4 MTH30, but they don't go very low. If the drum resonates too low, then the speaker won't play the frequencies anyways. When it comes to live music, I'd up for a wider range of frequencies

If you go for the ss15, you can get this driver instead:

Faital Pro 15FH500 15" 500W 8 Ohms PS163.60

It's cheaper and actually outperforms the kappalite 3015LF a bit. The kappalite is very expensive here in the EU

kipman725 · 2019-03-13 5:57 pm

Lukey123 said:
How about this, ignoring the driver for a minute just going of cab performance.

2x MTH30 ( per side of the stage )

1x ss15 ( per side of the stage )

1x Cubo 18 ( per side of the stage )

What would you say would have the best performance and spl out of those 3 ????

you may want to consider locating both subs together:
Bass In The Place |
locating them either side of the stage is usually leads to uneven bass.

Lukey123 · 2019-03-13 6:08 pm

In venues where I can put both subs together in the centre I do, but that’s pretty rare these days. I’m normally stuck with them either side..

Lukey123 · 2019-03-13 6:12 pm

Finally managed to find dimensions for the ss15, it’s bigger then the Cubo 18, and that’s on the limits of how big I can go. I think I will struggle to get anything bigger than the Cubo 18 in the van. Hight isn’t so much of a problem it’s the width that’s the main issue.

Brian Steele · 2019-03-13 8:28 pm

....and that's where my horn-folding workbooks can come in handy

. They can be used to redesign existing designs to fit specific requirements, e.g. dimensions.

The Subwoofer DIY Page - Horn Folding

Lukey123 · 2019-03-13 9:35 pm

Well after having an argument with the rest of my band. We’ve agreed I can’t go any more than 20” wide ,20”deep, 30” high.. there complaining my current subs are too big that are 27 H , 17w , 18D . So it looks lm going to have to build some 12” cabinets

Brian Steele · 2019-03-14 3:43 am

Lukey123 said:
Well after having an argument with the rest of my band. We’ve agreed I can’t go any more than 20” wide ,20”deep, 30” high.

That's big enough to fit a 15" driver. Or even an 18" driver.

Lukey123 · 2019-03-14 3:54 am

So far the THAM 15 meets my size requirements best.. I’ve been playing about with the spreadsheets and different types of boxes but can’t get anything to beat the standard THAM 15 in Hornresp... so at the moment that seams like what I’m going to be building.

???? Any other ideas

Lukey123 · 2019-03-14 4:00 am

Anyone got solid finished plains for the ss15, I can’t find anything other than early ideas where The dimensions are said to be wrong. ?

freddi · 2019-03-14 5:03 am

dunno - here's something which looks to be TB46's work

SS15

Lukey123 · 2019-03-14 9:49 am

What do you think of this, is this a good compromise??? a slightly larger THAM 15 box. W22”/D24”/H30” with a B&C 18TBX100

THAM 15 vs Cubo 15 vs Cubo 18 ?

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