Good morning all, I got my...

[paul_n_oneal]

I got my woofs in last night and the wife hardly said anything at all. She took it all out on my son, who happened to be home at the time, so when I got home everything was cool and only got a few bad remarks--lucky me hehe.

So they are actually nicer than what I was expecting. They came packaged in very nicely and FedEx delivery for free . They weigh about 22lbs a piece, cast frame, hugh motor and magnet, copper in the coil, etc, etc. Overall, I was delighted with the build quality--but how does it sound? I first wanted to do an impedance sweep with no luck. My son installed a computer game and somehow it mucked up my SC or the processing or something so I need to figure out how to fix that. Dang kids...

So, I was a little bumbed out about not getting to do the impedance sweep so I decided to give it a listen in free air at low volumes of course. I disconnected my speaker wire on my right speaker and hooked it up to Kappa Pro 15LF-2 woofer. Holy cow, this thing sounds great! And I mean the whole FR. I didn't have any passives on it so it was running wide open. Natural roll-off and very, very, very, nice sounding. Not a lot of bass in free air but you can hear it and you just know that when it goes into a box and baffle that it's just going to rock the house. Everything I played on it sounded good. No ringing, no bad noises, just smooth sound. Why in world have I waited so long to get one of these I tell myself now in hindsight. It's definitely not a subwoofer, it's a music woofer and woof, woofs mighty nice. Yes indeedy, as you can tell I am very pleased with the initial listen on this guy. Just seeing two of them right next to each other gets the goose bumps going.

Anyways, I need to go finish up this retention report for state submission so I need to get back on that. Again, I am very pleased with the build and sound quality of this finely made "American" product

Paul

[chevyman440]

Those ought to be somkin loud in a vented cabinet. I am using double 12 kappa pro's in my boxes...they are heavy and LOUD...did I mention how LOUD they are? Oh yeah, they're loud.

-Matt

[paul_n_oneal]

I Love Loud! I was probably putting a measly 1 watt max into the woof in free air. I listened for a few hours. Afterwards, my ears were a little sore. You can feel the bass wave just coming at you in a small room. Oh boy, oh boy, is this going to be a fun project.

Paul

[wg_ski]

> Those ought to be somkin loud in a vented
> cabinet. I am using double 12 kappa pro's in
> my boxes...they are heavy and LOUD...did I
> mention how LOUD they are? Oh yeah, they're
> loud.

> -Matt

Repeating repeating yourself yourself and SHOUTING - a sign of going deaf! :-)

Poor Paul.... He has now been corrupted by the SPLdaemon. His fate awaits.

[paul_n_oneal]

> Repeating repeating yourself yourself and
> SHOUTING - a sign of going deaf! :-)

> Poor Paul.... He has now been corrupted by
> the SPLdaemon. His fate awaits.

Warren, this woof impressed me a lot! I'm not one for being impressed after building so many speakers, but this guy is amazing. This thing sounds so natural and smooth even without a xover. Vocals were awsome for the portion that it covered. I'm so impressed that I'm bumping the xover freq. up to around 700hz or so. Yup, it sounds that nice and of course loud, real loud hehehehehehehhehehhehehehehheheh. Pro amps and woofers rule. At least until my next project whatever that may be.

Paul

[wg_ski]

> Warren, this woof impressed me a lot! I'm
> not one for being impressed after building
> so many speakers, but this guy is amazing.
> This thing sounds so natural and smooth even
> without a xover. Vocals were awsome for the
> portion that it covered. I'm so impressed
> that I'm bumping the xover freq. up to
> around 700hz or so. Yup, it sounds that nice
> and of course loud, real loud
> hehehehehehehhehehhehehehehheheh. Pro amps
> and woofers rule. At least until my next
> project whatever that may be.

> Paul

Bump that x/o frequency high enough and you get to use the 130Z0's for mids :-). Not all 15 or 18" drivers are smooth into the midrange. A few are, and none of those are super-long-stroke. The old formula of having a lot of coil in the gap, and using a naturally stiff semi-exponential cone still works. And it seems a lot of driver designers have conveniently forgotten that. Back in the old day, before computer measurement systems we ear-tested drivers to tell how smooth they were, and where to put crossover points. You knew you had a good one when you could just hook it up unhoused and listen to it without fatigue.

[paul_n_oneal]

>> without fatigue.

That's the word I was searching for. I listened for hours last night and it wasn't fatiguing or harsh at all. It was loud but the loud that you don't think is loud because it sounds so nice. That's why I was so impressed. Try doing that with a RS225 with no xover and it will grate on you after awhile, but not this guy. Dick seems to think that the HM130Z0 will work at a higher crossover too. It will probably just be enough after BS and mid boost. Gosh, I can't wait but I need to finish this gals speaker first. Ah, maybe a little on both . Thanks for all your help and support

Paul

[chevyman440]

What's the intended design? Box size? Tuning? Eminence has box plans available that are pretty good starting points. I'm sure you have something nailed down already that I missed on here.

-Matt

[chevyman440]

> Repeating repeating yourself yourself and
> SHOUTING - a sign of going deaf! :-)

> Poor Paul.... He has now been corrupted by
> the SPLdaemon. His fate awaits.

LOL! I remember that rush from my first real pro audio driver...wow this thing is loud! Just wait till he gets a hold of some bass horns......forget them low sensitivity kappa drivers...... *grin*

[paul_n_oneal]

> What's the intended design? Box size?
> Tuning? Eminence has box plans available
> that are pretty good starting points. I'm
> sure you have something nailed down already
> that I missed on here.

> -Matt

I'm thinking something along these lines in a 100 liter vented box using dual 4" ports with both ends flared. My amp has a 12db slope selectable crossover for the lows. If I put it at about 30hz or so the box modeling shows massive amounts of power handling. To be honest, I don't think I will ever have it that loud, but I will be prepared just in case . It a bit different looking but I'm thinking it shouldn't be to difficult to make. Bob had some good ideas about using 1/4" MDF on the sides for the bend. I'm probably going to use those buyout audax HM130Z0 for the mids crossed around 700hz. I was going to go lower but after listening last night, this guy will have no problems going up that high. The only thing I haven't bought is the tweets. I'm thinking that the Morel MDT-37 (??), the horn loaded one should be efficient enough and provide a nice pleasing high end.

Paul

[paul_n_oneal]

should name it the Nukeanator 3.

[Wolf]

I've been impressed with the 12" Eminence that I have as well, and they will be upgraded to the 4012HO drivers eventually. Heavy cast frame as well, and 109oz mag. 24lbs total! IMPACT is their game, not necessarily depth- remember that.
I hope that you enjoy yours as I enjoy mine.
Later,
Wolf