RE XXX 15" subs...ANY GOOD????

[Twisted_0912 10+ year member]

XXX's are garbage dude...I'd recommend either sony or pyle, with a boss amp (and keep your gains low or you'll be replacing your windshield)

X2:laugh:

 

[Kyle_Keating 10+ year member]

it does have more xmax displacement that anything out there, but just because it can move a lot does not mean you can move it! its going to take about 10,000 watts before you reach xmax in thier optimal enclosure 4 cubic foot box @ 33 hz, its not terribly practical. Thats a computer model btw, not just my hunch. The sensitivity is very poor - around 83 or 84dB (website specs dont add up) the 12" i measured was 81.5dB so im guessing the 15" is about 2 above that. Also that box is pretty bad for that woofer, I think RE is trying to pass this thing off as a medium box woofer or something. At 4 cubes and 33Hz tune, this thing will ring worse than church bells on Easter morning, for all of you that dont know, that means it will be very "boomy." It will work much MUCH better in about 8+ cubes tuned below 20Hz.... its an awesome HT LLT driver and there have been some people that have used in in their hometheater with superb results... This is classic case of designed for the wrong market. If you are going to go for it, i recommend sealed for sure.

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

Ive been telling people for a while that RE's enclosure recommendation sizes on the new XXX's are not practical. They are way too small, to fool people into believing these things are more practical for car audio than they really are. Dont get me wrong, they have tons of potential, but not in 4 cubes. I think you would be much happier with a single 15" XXX in 8 cubes than you would two in 4 cubes each.

Their coils cannot handle 10kw. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/biggrin.gif.d71a5d36fcbab170f2364c9f2e3946cb.gif Not even close. Yet another reason you really need to go with a bigger box.

 

[IDSkoT 5,000+ posts]

RE XXX was voted as the best sub in '07 by some magazine...Seemed pretty unbiased, also
c'mon 54mm Xmax...dam

Xmax doesn't really mean much... except it's impressive.

However, XXX's get really good reviews for the most part.

But it's not the best sub of any year due to the sole fact that "best" is always subjective.

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

Xmax doesn't really mean much... except it's impressive.

However, XXX's get really good reviews for the most part.

But it's not the best sub of any year due to the sole fact that "best" is always subjective.

Actually xmax can mean alot in the right circumstances. Problem is when the xmax wars begans a few years ago, people put too much emphasis on xmax. Now there is a back-lash where people seem to think it means little to nothing. Neither is true.

 

[Rashaddd 5,000+ posts]

Xmax doesn't really mean much... except it's impressive.

xmax is as much an indicator to output capacity as is power handling

 

[Kyle_Keating 10+ year member]

xmax is as much an indicator to output capacity as is power handling

its deceiving, i have am 18" woofer with only 6mm of linear xmax and it will embarrass the XXX for everything above ~40Hz, but xmax becomes exponentially important as the frequency goes lower, likewise, it becomes exponentially less important as it goes higher. The real issue is xmax and sensitivity are pretty much mutually exclusive, even on cost no object drivers.

 

[Haunz 10+ year member]

The OP should just get some SMD subs and call it a day.. //content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/laugh.gif.48439b2acf2cfca21620f01e7f77d1e4.gif

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

its deceiving, i have am 18" woofer with only 6mm of linear xmax and it will embarrass the XXX for everything above ~40Hz, but xmax becomes exponentially important as the frequency goes lower, likewise, it becomes exponentially less important as it goes higher. The real issue is xmax and sensitivity are pretty much mutually exclusive, even on cost no object drivers.

You should mention that your comments only apply to sealed systems.

 

[Kyle_Keating 10+ year member]

You should mention that your comments only apply to sealed systems.

i was not thinking system design here, just driver trade offs.

 

[lvjeffro 10+ year member]

OP, for your amps why not look into...

sundown 1500d/3000d

or

the audioque 2200d/3500d

http://www.audioque.com/aq/AQamps2200D.htm

http://www.audioque.com/aq/AQ3500D.htm

audioque 2200d is 389.00

audioque 3500d is 699.00

http://www.sundownaudio.com

http://www.soundsolutionsaudio.com

the sundown 1500d is 475.00 at the above link

the sundown 3000d is 899.00 at the above link

Both are good amps but the edge goes to sundown IMO due to their customer service, their warranty, their repair program and their 5 year exchange programs...Plus they are dead sexxxy looking...But the audioque is less expensive and puts out more powa...

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

i was not thinking system design here, just driver trade offs.

Well, you mentioned that xmax becomes more important with lower and lower frequencies, and less important with higher frequencies. That is a function of the enclosure type it is in not the driver itself, as just the opposite would be true with vented systems, assuming the signal is not allowed to deviate below enclosure tuning.

 

[Rashaddd 5,000+ posts]

its deceiving, i have am 18" woofer with only 6mm of linear xmax and it will embarrass the XXX for everything above ~40Hz, but xmax becomes exponentially important as the frequency goes lower, likewise, it becomes exponentially less important as it goes higher. The real issue is xmax and sensitivity are pretty much mutually exclusive, even on cost no object drivers.

Let me put it this way, if both subs could handle a shit ton of power, the xxx would have the capacity to absolutely destroy a sub with 6mm of xmax. Again, it is an indicator of a potential for output, alone it doesn't gaurantee anything. The spiders, magnet force, power handling, etc all come into play and must balance eachother.

The only decieving thing about xmax is the way it is measured and what it actually means. For example, the differences between an xbl^2 motor and a standard motor are very subtle on paper (as in, based on the typical parameters we compare drivers by), but in reality, the xbl^2 motor will provide MANY advantages over a standard motor.

audioholic please correct me if I am wrong

 

[audioholic 5,000+ posts]

Let me put it this way, if both subs could handle a shit ton of power, the xxx would have the capacity to absolutely destroy a sub with 6mm of xmax. Again, it is an indicator of a potential for output, alone it doesn't gaurantee anything. The spiders, magnet force, power handling, etc all come into play and must balance eachother.
The only decieving thing about xmax is the way it is measured and what it actually means. For example, the differences between an xbl^2 motor and a standard motor are very subtle on paper (as in, based on the typical parameters we compare drivers by), but in reality, the xbl^2 motor will provide MANY advantages over a standard motor.

audioholic please correct me if I am wrong

Assuming a sealed enclosure type, the speaker will be required to move less in order to reproduce a higher note at a given output level. So as kyle was saying, a speaker with 6mm xmax may very well do better than one with 54mm, at the higher frequencies. Mids and tweeters certainly have less excursion than a XXX, but we know a mid or a tweeter would 'murder' a XXX in the midrange or higher freqs. Clearly other things play a factor besides xmax (which I know you realize, just saying).

There are many home audio and PA speakers whose xmax is appallingly low compared to what we are use to. But they have large cones, are highly efficient, and when mated with the proper enclosure (usually vented to extend LFE) can have outstanding output. People around here ooohhh and awwww when someone mentions that some home audio setups have 18-21" midrange speakers. unheard of to us, obviously. But not that uncommon in other venues. Car audio tends to make the most use of xmax, imo, due to the size limitations of the cone diameters and enclosure sizes expected to fit into a vehicle.

But yes, all other factors being equal, take that same 6mm xmax sub and double its xmax... and its output potential in the lowest octaves increases, in sealed box situations, generally speaking.

Some could argue xbl^2 offers more on paper than in the real world. After all, showing on paper that they produce virtually no audible BL distortion (the distortion type that accounts for the vast majority of distortion a speaker produces) seems VERY impressive. But in the real world, some people actually find they prefer the sound better with the distortion in it. Go figure.

 

[Haunz 10+ year member]

Above tuning a ported box acts like a sealed box.. so the factors we are looking at between ported and sealed is that a ported driver needs less excursion around tuning and above tuning the Q will typically be lower because of the larger box which will net more excursion at any given freq... that aside I think what kyle was getting at is that the driver with less xmax he talks of will give more SPL for a given amount of power above 40hz or whatever..

I will only add to audioholic's post that traditionally pro sound drivers do not need alot of excursion because they are typically used with horn loaded enclosures which trade volume for velocity..