Sundown : Reference SQ Component Set

I have always been a bit SQ fan. Clean and clear sound is what brought me into car audio but I had to make a detour towards output for most of our company history so far in order to meet my customer demands. Of course... that has not stopped me from implementing features for lower distortion in many of our models :)

But now I feel it is time to really gear a product DIRECTLY towards SQ. I've started development on what I consider a true Reference grade component set... one with objective distortion levels up there with the BEST products on the market at any price level. This complete set will be priced under $1,000 from an authorized dealer; how much under that I do not know yet. This set certainly is NOT for everyone but it is what I want to have in my own cars.

Nearly every part will be custom tooled... tweeter housing and internals, midrange frame, cone, surround, spider, crossover housing, etc, etc. So this will take some time and effort to accomplish but will be a world class set no question. I was waiting for the time when this sort of tooling was feasible for Sundown as a company to make a product like this.

On to the initial renderings... I will only give out limited information until parts start to be physically completed. But I will go ahead and do the usual teaser shots for everyone to think about until then.

http://www.sundownaudio.com/misc/pro...id_1_Small.jpg
* Powerful Neo motor with very thick top plate (hint hint)... the surround is a specially tooled until to have identical forward and rearward compliance. The motor features two internal shorting rings and a naturally low inductance already. I will say that this driver does feature double-digit one-way excursion (linear) so will offer very powerful mid-bass.

http://www.sundownaudio.com/misc/pro...id_2_Small.jpg
* Very open frame similar to Dynaudio or Scan-Speak and the like but this particular unit will be tooled just for this driver. As this is an SQ unit we opted for a large open pole vent to keep air noise to a minimum. The coil is a fairly large diameter unit for a mid so thermal handling is not a concern.

http://www.sundownaudio.com/misc/pro...er_1_Small.jpg
* Specially tuned rear chamber (the shape is for specific acoustic purposes)

http://www.sundownaudio.com/misc/pro...er_2_Small.jpg
* The housing mounts similarly to many other high-end tweeters so bears a resemblance to a few but this particular housing will be tooled for the specific internal needs of our tweeter. Higher end tweeters such as this unit have quite a bit going on internally to damp the rear wave and tune the Fs of the unit.

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This set will be a two-way upon introduction. We may develop another crossover and a dedicated midrange for a three-way setup later on if demand exists.

The crossover is also still in development phase... I am working on some neat features for it.

I am also considering selling the set "a-la-carte" so you can buy the mid, tweeter, and crossovers all separately to meet your needs.

An ETA is NOT yet available.

Looking good.

hmm, now you have my attention.

speak scan was my 1st thoughts when i saw these...

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Originally Posted by SPLaudio

speak scan was my 1st thoughts when i saw these...

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It reminds me of a neo version of the exodus 6.5 that used to be around.

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Originally Posted by wenn_du_weinst

hmm, now you have my attention.

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My thoughts exactly...

You know that I've been waiting on these for a llllllllloooooooonnnnnnnngggggggg time............:D:D:D

Im waiting to hear pricing before I get excited...

under 1k for a comp set is pretty cheap as long as it performs, the biggest problem I see for SD is it's right around the HAT legatia price range and those things are amazing.

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Originally Posted by wenn_du_weinst

under 1k for a comp set is pretty cheap as long as it performs, the biggest problem I see for SD is it's right around the HAT legatia price range and those things are amazing.

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Ha ya if they are anything more then like 300/400 bucks Ill got HAT or Rainbow...

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Originally Posted by wenn_du_weinst

It reminds me of a neo version of the exodus 6.5 that used to be around.

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The old Exodus 6.5 WAS neo... does look like similar motor and frame. A very good platform IMO.


Keeping in mind a good portion of the people who would spend 300$ and up for a single mid or tweet wouldn't consider using passive crossovers I should hope these are offered with an option of drivers only.

Definitely relative to my interests.

Any more on these Jake?

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Originally Posted by Bettr n' Revrse

Any more on these Jake?

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The parts are being machined out for the prototypes; a few pieces are done. I'll get more photos as more parts actually roll out.

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And again... this set is NOT for those looking to save a few dollars. A 300/400 dollar set won't touch what these are capable of (I wouldn't bother to make them if this was the case) and neither will most $1000+ sets -- as far as objectively measured distortion figures. Everyone will always have their favorite sound, though, and the lowest distortion really is NOT for everyone.

In the end... we will have several lines of sets; this will just be the highest level set. The SA-6.5CS set will be $199 at a dealer and these towards the higher end... I'd expect to eventually create one to two more lines in between as time goes on.

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Originally Posted by sundownz

The parts are being machined out for the prototypes; a few pieces are done. I'll get more photos as more parts actually roll out.

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And again... this set is NOT for those looking to save a few dollars. A 300/400 dollar set won't touch what these are capable of (I wouldn't bother to make them if this was the case) and neither will most $1000+ sets -- as far as objectively measured distortion figures. Everyone will always have their favorite sound, though, and the lowest distortion really is NOT for everyone.

In the end... we will have several lines of sets; this will just be the highest level set. The SA-6.5CS set will be $199 at a dealer and these towards the higher end... I'd expect to eventually create one to two more lines in between as time goes on.

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Understandable I am excited to see them ... How deep will they be?

Fairly deep -- I will get it up more specifically as the parts roll out to make sure it is 100% accurate.