Rainbow Vanadium 12"

[headless 10+ year member]

Woofersetc has them for 499 I think. Contact Don (6spdcoupe) if you are serious and he can help you //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

I think the idmax might be slightly louder but haven't heard them in person

Here's the test results from the great 12" challenge on the vanadium

http://realmofexcursion.com/forum/showthread.php?t=14935

It's not an SPL driver..but ported you could see ~130db on 500w..... and sealed still 127+ on 400. I think I may end up with a pair of them on ~500 watts each, but will see what happens when i get an amp capable of higher output than my punch 100 before i buy another woofer - and it's really loud enough as it is...just wishful thinking mostly on my part //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif I might also port the sub to get some more low end extension - might be all I need.

 

[bose301s 5,000+ posts]

Gorgeous sub, would love to try one some day.

 

[joshualittle]

Hey headless if you ever become interested in a 1000 watt amp, a buddy of mine can do the arc audio ks 1000.1 for under $400. Woofersetc.com wants like $550 for it.

 

[headless 10+ year member]

Actually, I own an arc 1500xxk; just waiting on it to be repaired. I buy almost all of my equipment from Don; he's been amazing to work with and is a stand up guy. If the repair fails, i'll probably go with a DLS amp from Don...or maybe a celestra.

 

[skateboardkid 10+ year member]

Played through my rap collection today. This woofer has some pretty impressive excursion for an SQ driver..it really gets a lot of movement on the low lows. Gotta get a subsonic filter on it...

Its in a sealed box, play like 20 Hz on it and slowly up the volume to normal levels, It probably wont bottom out and you get much lower response overall without the subsonic killing the ultra low lows IMO.

 

[6spdcoupe 5,000+ posts]

Actually, I own an arc 1500xxk; just waiting on it to be repaired. I buy almost all of my equipment from Don; he's been amazing to work with and is a stand up guy. If the repair fails, i'll probably go with a DLS amp from Don...or maybe a celestra.

Yummy choices //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif

 

[headless 10+ year member]

Its in a sealed box, play like 20 Hz on it and slowly up the volume to normal levels, It probably wont bottom out and you get much lower response overall without the subsonic killing the ultra low lows IMO.

I suspect that 'normal levels' is a variable that you can't really quantify easily. A 20-25hz wave at full power should bring this woofer to it's limits...it's resonant frequency is 24hz so it really does get moving a lot. Doesn't make a lot of NOISE that low, though...Playing around with it ported will be my next step I think...after it breaks in fully //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[headless 10+ year member]

wow, the break-in is no joke...it's much louder than my old setup now at every frequency...had my friend sit in last night who has competed a bit and had the chance to hear some factory sq cars, and he was impressed by how it blends with my frontstage //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif I'd go for this sub over my 12w6 any day... i never had this kind of sound from it, and I think the vanadium is very close in output to it (comparing it to the original dual 6 ohm w6).

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

I love that sub //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[headless 10+ year member]

Have you ever run it ported, JimJ? The specsheet i got with it recommends a ~1.3cf ported box tuned to 29 or 34hz...

 

[JimJ 5,000+ posts]

Don't believe I tried it ported, not really a fan of that given the choice //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

 

[headless 10+ year member]

Well, the woofer's had some time to break in...and i am very impressed with it. The only thing is, even though there is massive excursion at very low frequencies, I'm just not getting the volume that I was used to with my old ported setup. I think i'm going to get a ported box put together so I can see if I would prefer that sound - the only other option is a bit expensive because it would require me to buy a second sub //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/wink.gif.608e3ea05f1a9f98611af0861652f8fb.gif

The documentation from Rainbow shows 2 recommended configurations

1. 1.17ft^3, 3" aeroport 10.63" long, which according to rainbow is tuned to 35hz with an f3 of 39hz.

or

2. 1.88ft^3, 3" aeroport 7.79" long, which according to rainbow is tuned to 29.8hz with an f3 of 31hz.

Any recommendations on which configuration I should try? My brother's got the tools and I have some 3/4MDF. Where do you guys get your aeroports?

Also, my current box is 1.24cf, which, according to rainbow, results in a qtc of 0.650 for the setup and an f0 of 46hz. They recommend an alternative of 1.02cf which would have an f0 of 50hz - and a qtc of .707 //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

I'd like to hear how it sounds at qtc .707 in 1.02cf - but it's more of a curiosity than anything. Can I put a block of wood that is ~0.22cf into the sealed box to test how the woofer would change in sound? Or would I be forced to create a new box? If i could fill in the existing box temporarily for testing, that would be convenient as I could then try all 4 configurations that Rainbow lists that use less volume than my current box. For SPL, they actually recommend a box of only 0.42cf! But the f0 point on that is way too high for my tastes @ 78hz.

 

[headless 10+ year member]

Well, rather than go with a ported box, i have picked up another vanadium //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif I'm going to drop them both into a dual chamber enclosure of 1.02CF per chamber. I got my arc 1500xxk going this week and the vanadium is now broken in well. On the 1500xxk, the one vanadium was getting way louder than my previous setup -- everything was rattling horribly //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

I put about 25 sq foot of raamat on my trunk lid/rear deck area, and lined the rear deck with ensolite...also put 2-3 layers of raamat on the inside of the plastic door panels, lined them with ensolite, and re-attached them. Jeez, between the extra deadening and the new amp it's like having a whole new system. My second sub will be here this week; planning on building the box for it next weekend. The 1500xxk does 2x450w into 2 ohms, which is how i'm planning on wiring it up. Should be interesting to compare 2 on 450w each to 1 bridged on it now @ ~1000w. I doubt it's getting near 1000w. I think 2 on 450w each should be plenty loud - and in 1cf i'll be getting .707qtc from the setup.

 

[headless 10+ year member]

w00t, got my second Vanadium in today, and installed. Wired the 1500XXK up in stereo, 2x450w, each sub wired to 2 ohms and on their own channel. Set monaural output on my cd7k tho //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif

Wow. The new enclosure is down to 1.02cf per sub, and they get SO MUCH LOUDER with this size box it's crazy. 1.25cf was too big. Got the box built from 3/4in MDF and used some brass bolts/nuts for the wiring posts. I wasn't expecting a huge massive difference in output, but it seems like it's twice as loud at least as the 1 sub was in 1.25cf, AND the output is much cleaner and more defined. Overall i'm extremely impressed

 

[headless 10+ year member]

few pics...night flash sure makes those finger prints show up //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/frown.gif.a3531fa0534503350665a1e957861287.gif

Now i've just gotta get my 2100xxk installed so I can go fully active and pull out those power line CS crossovers (they are on the back side of the amp board).

And of course, carpet the box //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/smile.gif.1ebc41e1811405b213edfc4622c41e27.gif My gf is going to help choose the carpet/clothe. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif