michael hurd Posted February 11, 2008 Share Posted February 11, 2008 I have had a few different subwoofers and built some home-brewed vented cabinets. ( JBL car sub drivers in PVC sewer pipes with PSP 4" port kits ) After hearing a pair of ID direct "other" brand subwoofers a few years ago, it really opened my eyes. ( Thanks to NOZ )These subwoofers outperformed larger subs that have a larger diameter driver, and more powerful amps. I wanted something that was beyond what most consumers wanted. I wanted a system with very high dynamic range, and the ability to keep up with and even exceed what my main loudspeakers are capable of. To keep IMD low, large diameter drivers were a must. The system would need to be able to deliver at times levels in excess of what commercial theaters were. After looking at several different companies and having direct experience with TC sounds, I decided to buy some of their top tier drivers. At the time, they were debuting a prototype system at CES featuring the same drivers, which was subsequently never released. I am having an enclosure built for me ( I work odd hours, on call 24 / 7 ) to the same dimentions and specifications as the unreleased system. It features 2 18 inch active drivers in an enclosure ( just shy of 16 cu ft ) and 4 18 inch passive radiators. The subwoofer will be driven by 2 large professional power amplifiers. Crossover, phase, and eq details will be handled by a digital crossover device. Each active driver features a 4" voice coil wound on a titanium former. Xmax it 38 mm one way. Each PR will be capable of 44 mm clean one way excursion, or 88 mm p-p. They will move more than that, but on a non-linear basis. At tuning, there will be 38 litres of displacement available. No other commercially available system can come close to this, in a single box. The TC LMS 5400 18" drivers in a PR system have been independantly tested in Finland as being one of the lowest distortion systems out of a good number of high dollar commercially available systems and a few large DIY efforts. I have a few pictures of it, in a semi-completed state. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael hurd Posted February 11, 2008 Author Share Posted February 11, 2008 Another view of the enclosure... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael hurd Posted February 11, 2008 Author Share Posted February 11, 2008 One of the 18" active drivers weighing in at 76 pounds, 65 of that in the magnetic assemby alone, that is a large and wide gap to energize. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CECAA850 Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 NIce. Interesting box design. Wouldn't opposed drivers cancel vibrations better as opposed being on the same plane? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jay481985 Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 oh boy!!! or shall I say oh BEAST!!! its finally happening? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael hurd Posted February 12, 2008 Author Share Posted February 12, 2008 Yes Jay, it is happening, coming together quite nicely. We have maple machined and glued today, ready for another pass through the planer tomorrow, I am still torn on the color choice for the MDF. Black, red metallic ( very close to the powder coat on the frames ) silver, copper.... so many colors to choose from. Part of me wants black, yet I still want to see it in red metallic. ( ford FL light toreador red ) It will be finished in BASF RM Dia-mont basecoat / clearcoat. The drivers are on the same face, with passives on the other faces. It is essentially an equilateral triangle with corners that have been truncated. ( shortened ) I believe that rocking forces will be minimized with the finished weight north of 400 pounds. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEAR Posted February 12, 2008 Share Posted February 12, 2008 RED remember Gladiator...the gods favor you. Do not decieve them..RED [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael hurd Posted February 13, 2008 Author Share Posted February 13, 2008 Here is a picture of the glued panels. ( 3 in total to make up the top ) They have had a trip through the saw and the planer, tomorrow they will be finish planed to the proper thickness, and glued together to form the top. ( planer is 16 inch capacity ) The maple is kiln dried, and the moisture content is between 4 and 6 percent. Did I mention my cabinetmaker built furniture for a living and is very picky? [] He can tell you if the board he is looking at came from a tree that was growing on a hill. All the pieces for this are selected by eye, for the straightest and most figured boards, out of a total of 400 board feet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael hurd Posted February 13, 2008 Author Share Posted February 13, 2008 Another shot of boards before gluing, they need another trip through the planer before being sawn to final sizing. Beautiful stuff, but hard on the planer knives and saw blades, as it is so hard. ( they were sharpened before this project ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEAR Posted February 13, 2008 Share Posted February 13, 2008 Wooden planks...woo hoo... I want to see DRIVERS...red drivers. LMS goodness. [] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael hurd Posted February 14, 2008 Author Share Posted February 14, 2008 New pictures coming soon! Just popped by the shop, there is assembly going on, and looking good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael hurd Posted February 14, 2008 Author Share Posted February 14, 2008 Pictures getting resized... in between calls... Bracing mocked up in this picture... not glued yet, but everything fits tight. Holes for the magnet to pass through are pretty close ( 1/8th inch around ) and will have a brace under the motor structure. Speaker connectors are 50 amp Neutrik speakon's, they will be in the rear panel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael hurd Posted February 14, 2008 Author Share Posted February 14, 2008 Another picture through the driver mounting hole. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
customsteve01 Posted February 14, 2008 Share Posted February 14, 2008 that is some very profetionalwork there Michael. If you make it to Indy this year can you strap that to the back of youe car. Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael hurd Posted February 15, 2008 Author Share Posted February 15, 2008 Strap it to the back of my car?? ROLMAO... I might rent a van for transporting of the "mini" beast. Yes, you heard that right.... after this one, there is another PR'd TC driver in a box coming. [] Maple, same sort of stuff....but I think I am going to have it built a little lighter. We'll see how it turns out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colterphoto1 Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 In the words of my friend Dtel (after being blown away by your last sub at the House of Klipsch) 'You's a sick, sick man' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael hurd Posted February 16, 2008 Author Share Posted February 16, 2008 Today's update. There is major progress today, the maple is looking fantastic, top is not fastened on yet. I will have to remove it all for paint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEAR Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 Gorgeous ! This will be one of the few propjects around the net I follow,and what a progress ! Good work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest " " Posted February 16, 2008 Share Posted February 16, 2008 What frequency will the passive radiators be tuned for? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michael hurd Posted February 16, 2008 Author Share Posted February 16, 2008 Speakerfritz, I don't know if you got my email reply, as it didn't show up as P.M. on the site, I did however reply from Hotmail. The PR's I will tune for 18 hz, as there is not much musical information below that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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