A question for Aristocrat owners

[audiomagnate]

I picked up a pair of EV 12BW woofers for my Heathkit console and I'm a little disappointed with the bottom end. The Jensen Triax that came with the console are gone but I remember them having much better punch and extension in the bottom. The cabinet is larger (I'm pretty sure) than an Aristocrat cabinet, 3.4 cu ft, and tuned to around 40Hz.

My question is, what's the bottom like on the Aristocrats?

 

[macyjrm]

I have a pair of Aristocrats loaded with full range EV 12trxbs. Bottom end is just fine. But my Aristocrats are also shoved into corners as the back vented cabinets were designed.

 

[audiomagnate]

That makes sense. I might have to go with a modern woofer because corner loading is not an option for me. Thanks for the reply.

 

[Anti_Skate]

Aristocrats need to be placed in a corner to complete the folded horn. Spacing from the walls should be 1 to 3 inches.
Mine are also loaded with the 12trxb drivers and the bass is plentiful and tight.

Since the Aristocrat is a horn loaded open baffle type speaker, your going to need a woofer designed for such an application. A woofer designed for an acoustic suspension application (ie a sealed box), might not work very well.

 

[audiomagnate]

I finished the project, and am actually quite happy with the result. I'm using a 2nd order crossover at 4K in a aperiodically vented (stuffed bottom firing ports) conventional cabinets. The bass is no longer overpowered by the mids and actually goes surprisingly low. Tweeters are the Vifas Paradigm used in many of their designs; a nice blend of vintage and not so vintage drivers.