fire pinch Posted December 22, 2003 Share Posted December 22, 2003 Hohoho!!! The Christmas time is coming, and I wanted to make sure than the Tumult sub would be ready for Xmas It is now, but in fact, the finish is not applied again on it. Still, this week for sure, it will be tested and heard! Im gonna try to make the most complete review I can do. It will not be as professional as some professional reviews found on the net (Tom Nousaine is an example) but still, I'll try to do my best. I thought about giving first my impressions, and when the sub will be truely finished, to give a review. I'll have at hand the Tempest + the Hsu VTF-3 as a direct comparison... Stay tuned! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEAR Posted December 22, 2003 Share Posted December 22, 2003 Quick Pincette a feu finish the tweeter I must know how a XBL 666 enabled woofa performs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Manuel Delaflor Posted December 22, 2003 Share Posted December 22, 2003 Dont forget a side by side comparo to the Tempest! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fire pinch Posted December 22, 2003 Author Share Posted December 22, 2003 First look of the subwoofer... OHH! And it was a PAIN IN THE *** to install the woofer too! This sucker weight so much!! Well, easy to take away and to walk with it, but damn hard to place into the hole of the enclosure!!! I wanted to place it carefully without dropping it. I will test it this evening (Eastern time) and I'll give my first impressions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fire pinch Posted December 22, 2003 Author Share Posted December 22, 2003 Here are my very first impressions! Firstly, and I was sure about this, I can hear some air leaks around the woofer and I knew it would happen because I didnt place very well the woofer and each of the eights holes (for screwing) are not exactly near each other. I was so in a hurry to hear that sub that I went too fast for placing the woofer, and you must take care because it is very and VERY heavy, approaching 70 pounds! But well, in that time, when I just saw that the woofer wasnt well placed, I said to myself "oh **** off for the moment, I will test it like that". Despite the air leaks, the first thing which surprised me is how POWERFULL the sub was for a sealed box, AMAZING! It has a lot of impact and energy, pants vibrating (no exagerating here, I didnt say shake, I use the right word) definitively more than what the Tempest can do and I didnt expect this... with my SPL meter, at the listening position, I've hit SEVERAL times 118-119 dB without any audible stress and distortion from the driver, and it wasnt maxed out. What is very surprising too, is that whatever at 5mm of excursion peak to peak or 30mm, the bass sounds like the SAME, its like if the distortion level hasnt moved! I cant judge for any higher excursion for the moment because from about 1" peak to peak, I begin to hear some air leaks!!! So yes!! The XBL6600 technology is that true and that impressive, Im now an XBL freak! And boy, what a power sucker... when I crank it up a more, I can see all the lights upstairs flashing (not totally) and changing of intensity. I wonder if the 15Amp current outlet that I have in my room will be enough if the woofer will be really pushed to its limit! That is for now... this is sad, I cant comment too much more for the moment if I want to cure my air leak problem fastly. But remember, I said first impresions. I will correct that air leak problems tonight or tomarrow, and If it will sounds right after that, without any air leaks, I guess that I will really hear the TRUE sounds of the Tumult and I'll give other impressions, with more precisions. Now, I cant considere that Im hearing the truth of it and Im somewhat upset because of those air leaks, and they are audible from the listening position which is 3 meters away! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prodj101 Posted December 22, 2003 Share Posted December 22, 2003 I'll be interested to hear your review as well. so far it's a very nice looking unit, those tumult drivers sure look feirce. thank you for saying vibrate rather then shake! shake is perhaps the most over used word in describing a subwoofer on the net. I have owned 3 subwoofers, and each had reviews where the users stated that it shook the hell out of their house and everything in it. none of these subs "shook" my house, they just vibrate (note I currently run a JBL PB-12, and a Klipsch RSW-15). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fabulousfrankie Posted December 22, 2003 Share Posted December 22, 2003 I use weather stripping on the back of my subs to make a good seal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fire pinch Posted December 23, 2003 Author Share Posted December 23, 2003 Thanx for the interest You are like me Prodj, I hate that when others use exaggerated words, it makes reviews and comments very biased for any people who are reading them. You think that a certain sub will make your dream true when you hear that it can shake the hell of ALL the house but in fact, it is just able to vibrate a bacterium!!! I will never use any exagerate words, I'll be as accurate as possible when saying some verbs which describe the power factor. If I say that something really shake, I can back up my claims with some videos. I have a digital camera which is a webcam, video camera and at the same time a camera: this is an Intel Digital Pocket Pc Camera. It is now quite rare on the stores since Intel decided to discontinue their cameras. I have some videos which show that the Tempest is able to shake a frame which is against the wall in another room but upstairs (20-30 Hz effect), so quite near my bedroom. I have another video where we can see a dish moving on the desk next to me of 4" during a bass test, there was a spoon in it too Well, for the moment, Tumult included, Im able to rattle things in the bedroom, BUT my pants are not!!! I had the idea to post one of my videos, but I dont think that Klispch accept any *.avi* files... or I dont know, I can try to compress them into *.zip*. I could show the Tumult in action, live from Quebec As for sealing the back of my sub, I really didnt detect any air leaks problem behind. To hear better the air leaks and in order to be more sure, I fired some very very low bass test and I could really detect that they were around the woofer, near the top and the bottom of the woofer. Tomarrow, I will unscrew it and screw it again... Im pretty sure that the problem will be gone away after doing this. Thanx for the suggestion thought Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEAR Posted December 23, 2003 Share Posted December 23, 2003 ProDJ, "thank you for saying vibrate rather then shake! shake is perhaps the most over used word in describing a subwoofer on the net." LOL I agree,these BLOWN OUT OF PROPORTION descriptions make for a spicy,if not accurate description.I use them too muc and should tone down and make my descriptions more accurate. You should check out Definitive Tech reviews and blatant quotes,hype as thick and grotesque as is possible.And then some Definitive must be aiming the brainless crowd with thier hoopla circus reviews. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
prodj101 Posted December 23, 2003 Share Posted December 23, 2003 ---------------- On 12/23/2003 12:33:13 AM fire pinch wrote: Thanx for the interest You are like me Prodj, I hate that when others use exaggerated words, it makes reviews and comments very biased for any people who are reading them. You think that a certain sub will make your dream true when you hear that it can shake the hell of ALL the house but in fact, it is just able to vibrate a bacterium!!! I will never use any exagerate words, I'll be as accurate as possible when saying some verbs which describe the power factor. If I say that something really shake, I can back up my claims with some videos. I have a digital camera which is a webcam, video camera and at the same time a camera: this is an Intel Digital Pocket Pc Camera. It is now quite rare on the stores since Intel decided to discontinue their cameras. I have some videos which show that the Tempest is able to shake a frame which is against the wall in another room but upstairs (20-30 Hz effect), so quite near my bedroom. I have another video where we can see a dish moving on the desk next to me of 4" during a bass test, there was a spoon in it too Well, for the moment, Tumult included, Im able to rattle things in the bedroom, BUT my pants are not!!! I had the idea to post one of my videos, but I dont think that Klispch accept any *.avi* files... or I dont know, I can try to compress them into *.zip*. I could show the Tumult in action, live from Quebec As for sealing the back of my sub, I really didnt detect any air leaks problem behind. To hear better the air leaks and in order to be more sure, I fired some very very low bass test and I could really detect that they were around the woofer, near the top and the bottom of the woofer. Tomarrow, I will unscrew it and screw it again... Im pretty sure that the problem will be gone away after doing this. Thanx for the suggestion thought ---------------- yup, my RSW-15 can literally move things in the room. in fact it broke my nice terk indoor antenna (shook it off a bookshelf), and it can move some other things too, but still, alot of exageration going on. the people that say their pictures get knocked off the wall must have no picture mounting skill. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fire pinch Posted January 17, 2004 Author Share Posted January 17, 2004 New picture of the woofer, taken with my new camera Could be more sharp but I had absolutely to take the camera in my hand for taking this kind of view. I'm finishing the sub tonight and tomarrow. Can't wait to know how it will perform without the air leaks If I have the time, next week, I should post an objective review with some datas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEAR Posted January 17, 2004 Share Posted January 17, 2004 Damn that woofer is sexy I am torn,I want SVS's best and Acoustic Visions's Pinnacle also. Maybe I should get both,hmmm Yep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
formica Posted January 18, 2004 Share Posted January 18, 2004 WHAT ??!!! You're not finished?? I leave for almost 4 weeks... allowing you ample time to "win", but your sub has air leaks and no veneer finish? ... I say you've been eating too much "tourtière" and dancing too many "sets carrés"... I may still have a chance, as my amp should arrive between now and the end of the month. My planned amp mod should only be a couple of hours work. Just thought i'd mention it, even though you may already know, just be careful if you do caulk any joints as silicone fumes can be harmful for the woofers surround... Looking forward to reading your actual review... Later... Rob BTW... the camera is much better than the webcam thingy... it's a beautiful driver. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fire pinch Posted January 28, 2004 Author Share Posted January 28, 2004 Haha!! I fire a post during the same day than Formica!!! Our treads are just beside each others hehehe! Tomarrow is the day of the finished Tumult (I HOPE SO MUCH)! The finish is correctly applied and now, I just have to add the new gasket, and to re-solder the wires which goes from the woofer to the binding posts. I had some problems with that soldering iron... like if I didnt have enough problems with my router! L O L !!!!!!! Maybe some photos tomarrow... ahhhh and at the same time, this is tomarrow that Im gonna know if the new gasket seal greatly the woofer, Im so anxious!! I wouldnt like to have any kind of air leaks again! lol... but Im still happy that Formica and I are QUITE in Sync for our sub Who did win the race? LOLLLL!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
formica Posted January 29, 2004 Share Posted January 29, 2004 ---------------- On 1/28/2004 11:51:25 PM fire pinch wrote: Im still happy that Formica and I are QUITE in Sync for our sub Who did win the race? LOLLLL!!!!!!! ---------------- I don't know... what's the prize? You haul your Tumult to my place? If we don't consider the fact that you're on your 2nd sub, it's pretty tied... which goes well with the spirit of the forum... Later... Rob PS: Did Frankie ever get some socks onto his "easy-pour" monoliths? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fabulousfrankie Posted January 29, 2004 Share Posted January 29, 2004 ---------------- On 1/29/2004 12:46:44 AM formica wrote: ---------------- On 1/28/2004 11:51:25 PM fire pinch wrote: Im still happy that Formica and I are QUITE in Sync for our sub Who did win the race? LOLLLL!!!!!!! ---------------- I don't know... what's the prize? You haul your Tumult to my place? If we don't consider the fact that you're on your 2nd sub, it's pretty tied... which goes well with the spirit of the forum... Later... Rob PS: Did Frankie ever get some socks onto his "easy-pour" monoliths? ---------------- Nope...Frankie's been quite lazy. I was all motivated at first to get these done but once they were functional the motivation went away. I've been wanting to do it lately but it's just too cold here on the east cost to be spraying the MDF outside. I do have everything to finish it though...does that count for anything? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fire pinch Posted January 29, 2004 Author Share Posted January 29, 2004 Yep Frankie, the finish count for a +5dB bonus LOLL!! Wow... I just heard my finally FINISHED Tumult and for now, I dont detect any air leaks!!! MOREOVER, I dont have to turn up the sub volume as high as before (I had to turn it all the way up) in order to have the same volume. Well, this is my very first impressions and I dont know if Im hallucinating!!! I think that this would be too strange to be true! More to come tomarrow with one or more pics Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
formica Posted January 30, 2004 Share Posted January 30, 2004 Frank, it looks like youre the last man out!! I sure hope the air-line will let you bring those monoliths with you when you bring them Firepinch's and my homes to audition. When you get to the border... don't worry, just mention theEAR's name and they'll let you through. Rob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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