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Suggestions, best 15" drivers brands for sub?

Mearle

Mearle

Active Member
So I grabbed 4 SX-80 EV outdoor speakers and I want to add a 15" sub. I will be driving the sub with one side of a Crown CDi1000.

I am thinking that my opinion of Brands is too limited, I lean towards Electorvoice andJBL with rather large magnet structures, I am a bit leary of wandering too far away from these choices due to lack of experience, I am suspicious of over-rated specs and dont know who make a respectable driver & series/model in a 15" that would compare with eiter the JBL or EV. I use 2 EV 15" subs inside I think they are EVM15 model but cant be sure, I am not sure I even like them too well, I have always been a bit concerned about their NON foam actually corregated/accordian style surround...

Any suuggestions?

Thanks Mearle....
 
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A lot would depend on your design goals and methods. A lot of the pro brands can provide very good results but so do a lot of more traditional HiFi brands. The more important step is to zero in on what you need for features and parameters. If your intent is small 4th order bandpass you are going to be looking at something different than large sealed which would be different than a TL or small ported system. How deep you need to go and SPL requirements are a good starting point.

Define the job properly and then you can look for the proper tools.
 
mashaffer said:
A lot would depend on your design goals and methods. A lot of the pro brands can provide very good results but so do a lot of more traditional HiFi brands. The more important step is to zero in on what you need for features and parameters. If your intent is small 4th order bandpass you are going to be looking at something different than large sealed which would be different than a TL or small ported system. How deep you need to go and SPL requirements are a good starting point.

Define the job properly and then you can look for the proper tools.
Click to expand...
Thank you, That makes sense, the EV's I have are in smallish TL cabinets which is fine. I suppose my real application is compact size, somewhat unobtrusive, not looking for any kind of monster Sub SPL or particular super bottom end, just something to Fill the gap from the 4 EV sX-80's (8" woofers) they wont be able to round out the bottom end sufficiently. When I drive the Sub with the DDi-1000, I will have full control of the LPF cross over point and EQ for the sub so I can enhance and filter/enhance anything characteristic required. In essence I just am worried about selecting something that is all "show and no go".

I do have a pair of Altec 421-8H Series II, 15" units kicking around that maybe I should just re-cone, but I figure I could grab something used that might be less effort/cost than re-coning the Altec Baskets. I am not stuck on a 15", it was just my best guess, thinking that a 12" or 10" would not do the job. I will have tons of power to drive the thing, I have benched the Crown and it actually is way underspec and is putting out 475 RMS into 8 ohms on a peak burst totally clean. If there is an alternative of maybe 2x12"ers that would be comparatively better for the application I would even go that way... I think 18's would just be too big, ugly and overkill for my purpose. does that help to clarify?
 
The best driver is one that is in a properly designed enclosure.

You can take a top quality driver with great specs and get dismal results in the wrong enclosure. Conversely, you can get surprising results from a low or mid quality driver when it is an optimum enclosure.

In my experience, larger drivers tend to go lower at the expense of immediacy/attack whereas smaller drivers behave inversely.
 
wmgwizard said:
The best driver is one that is in a properly designed enclosure.

You can take a top quality driver with great specs and get dismal results in the wrong enclosure. Conversely, you can get surprising results from a low or mid quality driver when it is an optimum enclosure.

In my experience, larger drivers tend to go lower at the expense of immediacy/attack whereas smaller drivers behave inversely.
Click to expand...
Thank you, I will get the driver of choice with its matching cabinet (Manufacturer's design).
 
This woofer:

https://www.parts-express.com/GRS-15PT-8-15-Paper-Cone-Prosound-Woofer-3-Voice-Coil-8-Ohm-292-808

... in a 2 foot cube (2' x 2' x 2') made of 3/4" thick plywood (22.5" x 22.5" x 22.5" internal dimensions), with two 4" diameter ports, 11.5" long each, has bass down to 31 Hz f3. With an X-max of 6.8mm (pretty good!). It even has a shorting ring, for lower distortion.

And the kicker? It's only $59.90 retail price.

On peaks, a single one of these, in this enclosure, driven by 500W, could produce close to 119dB output! Mind you, I wouldn't want to run a rave with one of these at that power, given that it's only rated at 350W continuous power- but, for a home application, it could kick butt...

I'd think that could do well here...

Regards,
Gordon.
 
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GordonW said:
This woofer:

https://www.parts-express.com/GRS-15PT-8-15-Paper-Cone-Prosound-Woofer-3-Voice-Coil-8-Ohm-292-808

... in a 2 foot cube (2' x 2' x 2') made of 3/4" thick plywood (22.5" x 22.5" x 22.5" internal dimensions), with two 4" diameter ports, 11.5" long each, has bass down to 31 Hz f3. With an X-max of 6.8mm (pretty good!). It even has a shorting ring, for lower distortion.

And the kicker? It's only $59.90 retail price.

On peaks, a single one of these, in this enclosure, driven by 500W, could produce close to 119dB output! Mind you, I wouldn't want to run a rave with one of these at that power, given that it's only rated at 350W continuous power- but, for a home application, it could kick butt...

I'd think that could do well here...

Regards,
Gordon.
Click to expand...
I've acually been looking at that one to go along with one of the Crown CDi-1000 amps I have. It can be bridged to 500w into 8 ohms.
 
Lavane said:
I've acually been looking at that one to go along with one of the Crown CDi-1000 amps I have. It can be bridged to 500w into 8 ohms.[/QU

Hi Lavane, you have advised me before, always good, lets talk about the Sub match to the Crown aspect, as you know I have been picking up the CDi 1000's, (I went from zero to now 4 units) I believe the ratings are a bit mis leading, I tested them under 8 Ohm load and found a clean 475 WPC output wave.... I can show you the graphic if you dont believe it. I found when the amp ;actually hits the peak, it auto-attenuates within about 2-3 seconds, BUT it does hit that 175V PtoP clean wave.

Anyway, I am discovering a number of cool things, I guess the main thing to touch off my system right now is some somewhat portable sub or maybe 2x12" cabinet rather than a single 15"... surely the 2 x 12's if eq'd properly would have different characteristics and more surface area to move more air in the end, just dont know if they can get down to the bottom end.... I'm not looking to "crush it" just to substantially help our the 4 (2 pair) EV SX-80s I just picked up. they have nice high end horns and a decent 8" driver with a decent motor/magnet. not sure about 15" vs. 2x12"ers.

I took the EV SX-80's over an alternative of JBL Control 28's they were the same price but I found the drivers in the EV's to have substantially larger magnets, they sound great running in 4 Ohms off the Crown, but being an outdoor application, well you know what open air does to sound, hence a sub solution.

I am going to Sum the I/P signal for outside application then use Ch1 for the Sub(s) and Ch 2 for the 4 EV's, I am figuring out how to use the Harman Audio Architec with the LPF Ch1 and HPF Ch2 Xover for each, this software is amazing, just learning it, started a separate thread kind of asking for some help... this below is what I came up with for a test today to sum and split the amp, works amazing... I think I have confirmed that if I "Sum" the input, that it does not bleed back to the source and turn the source into a mono signal, if I can verify it that will be perfect...
Click to expand...
 
Even at 475w that's plenty for my home system. These amps are fun to play with. My son is the one that gave three of them to me along with a DBX compressor/expander and a never used Tascam 202MK Vl dual cassette deck.
He works IT for a county school district and they recently replaced a lot of audio equipment. One of those use it or loose it funding things. So it was either find a new home for this stuff or send it off to a recycler. Two of the amps had very light use. I removed the Phoenix connectors on one and installed RCA jacks so he could use it in his garage system.
Good luck with your sub build, it sounds like fun.
 
Have you tried the Harman software "architect" rather than the simple DSP panel entry method? Just curious, if you have used it maybe you could give some pointers, if you havent, you should.... and yea they are great amps. I have a chance to buy some CDi4000's but really have no idea what I could use that kind of power for... LOL, how hard was it to put in the RCA I/P's, I can live with the pheonix but they are a bit of a pain, I have to make up my own rat tail cables for them, not so bad once its done.
 
Mearle said:
Have you tried the Harman software "architect" rather than the simple DSP panel entry method? Just curious, if you have used it maybe you could give some pointers, if you havent, you should.... and yea they are great amps. I have a chance to buy some CDi4000's but really have no idea what I could use that kind of power for... LOL, how hard was it to put in the RCA I/P's, I can live with the pheonix but they are a bit of a pain, I have to make up my own rat tail cables for them, not so bad once its done.
Click to expand...
I'll have to check into that software. I removed the Phoenix connectors from the small PCB and then used a stand off to space the PCB away from the back panel to have room for the RCA jacks. I used short jumper wires to connect the jacks to the PCB adding the jumpers to wire them unbalanced. The RCA jacks will fit the slot in the back panel ok, but it's better to use a small rectangular bit of metal or plastic to make a mounting plate for the jacks. It wasn't difficult at all to add the jacks. I left the screw terminals for the speaker connections though. It's more involved if you want to replace those.
 
I used a Stereo Integrity SPL-15 when I built my subwoofer. https://stereointegrity.com/product/sql-series/ This is a beast of a driver and plays really deep. I've had in on an amp peaking at near 1KW, and this thing just sounds great. Mine has dual 4 ohm VC's, and I have it wired for 8 ohms. It's powered by a QSC USA-900 bridged, which puts out 900 watts. I'm not sure if it will work with your enclosure's volume, but they do have other drivers with different enclosure requirements.

Edit: Here are some fun videos
tested at over 24,500 watts:

These videos are more mobile audio systems, but the driver works just fine in a home system. The driver has over 28mm of travel each way for a total of 56mm!
 
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Lavane said:
I'll have to check into that software. I removed the Phoenix connectors from the small PCB and then used a stand off to space the PCB away from the back panel to have room for the RCA jacks. I used short jumper wires to connect the jacks to the PCB adding the jumpers to wire them unbalanced. The RCA jacks will fit the slot in the back panel ok, but it's better to use a small rectangular bit of metal or plastic to make a mounting plate for the jacks. It wasn't difficult at all to add the jacks. I left the screw terminals for the speaker connections though. It's more involved if you want to replace those.
Click to expand...

I am using it now, trying to get some screen shots, but if you have a Crown and you havent checked it out, it is a MUST at least for me, its a real Gem...
 
David_NC said:
I used a Stereo Integrity SPL-15 when I built my subwoofer. https://stereointegrity.com/product/sql-series/ This is a beast of a driver and plays really deep. I've had in on an amp peaking at near 1KW, and this thing just sounds great. Mine has dual 4 ohm VC's, and I have it wired for 8 ohms. It's powered by a QSC USA-900 bridged, which puts out 900 watts. I'm not sure if it will work with your enclosure's volume, but they do have other drivers with different enclosure requirements.

Edit: Here are some fun videos
tested at over 24,500 watts:

These videos are more mobile audio systems, but the driver works just fine in a home system. The driver has over 28mm of travel each way for a total of 56mm!
Click to expand...
Thank you, thats pretty informative, they sound pretty slick, will study it, no floating between 1X15 and 2X12s, not sure what is best...
 
Can you handle 25" to 29" sealed Cubes? A couple of inexpensive options $85-$130). First one is a nice $85 unit from PRV which is high on my list for a high efficiency build. Black line is 29"^3 while the grey is 25"^3 (Qtc of 1.0).

PRV15W700.png

DaytonDSC385.png

If you can afford a bit more money the Dayton 15 inch HF sub driver looks really nice and works in much smaller enclosures (but not as efficient).

DaytonHF15.png
 
mashaffer said:
Can you handle 25" to 29" sealed Cubes? A couple of inexpensive options $85-$130). First one is a nice $85 unit from PRV which is high on my list for a high efficiency build. Black line is 29"^3 while the grey is 25"^3 (Qtc of 1.0).

View attachment 2598862

View attachment 2598863

If you can afford a bit more money the Dayton 15 inch HF sub driver looks really nice and works in much smaller enclosures (but not as efficient).

View attachment 2598864
Click to expand...
Thank you, Trying to find them online....
 
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