[jsalk]

Along with the recent introduction of the SongTower QWT's, we wanted to introduce a subwoofer for use in home theater applications.  We worked hand-in-hand with Jeff Bagby, a very talented speaker designer, to come up with a sub that was compact in size, yet was capable of performing to SongTower standards.

Here are a few pictures...



A shot of the driver...



A shot of the passive radiator...



A shot of the plate amp...



As you can see, the driver and radiator are side-mounted (with grills) and the plate amp is rear-mounted.  The front is a veneered panel showing the beauty of the wood finish.

Details to follow...

- Jim

[Ryan45872]

Looks GTEAT!  Is that  the 10 or 12" sub?
Ryan

[jsalk]

Ryan -

Looks GTEAT!  Is that  the 10 or 12" sub?
Ryan

Things always change when designing speakers.  As you proceed with a project, you find trade-offs that work better than your orignal concepts.  This was originally going to be a 10" sub, but now is a 12" sub.  We were able to design a 12" model that was about the same size as the 10" sub we originally thought we'd build.  We were able to come up with an even better design than we originally planned.

I'll try and post some details later today.

- Jim

[Ryan45872]

Thank you. Looking foward to the details.
Ryan

[bikes and beats]

Jim,
This is awesome.
What so you think the price would be for the sub and speakers together?
-Mike aa

[patrickperry]

we wanted to introduce a subwoofer for use in home theater applications. 

- Jim

Jim,

      How will this sub perform in a 2-ch music only system?

thanks.

[jmc207]

Are my eyes playing tricks on me or is it PhotoShop? The passive radiator appears to be on different sides in the last two pictures. On the right side in the third pic, and on the left in the fourth. Either way it's a very nice looking sub!

[jsalk]

Mike -

Jim,
This is awesome.
What so you think the price would be for the sub and speakers together?
-Mike aa

We're working on pricing right now.  I think the sub will be priced at $995.  But when purchased with SongTowers, we will offer a discount of perhaps $100.  The SongSurrounds will probalby be $895 per pair with the same $100 discount on a system.  I will proabably sort all of this out in the next week or so.

- Jim

[jsalk]

Jim,

      How will this sub perform in a 2-ch music only system?

thanks.

It should work very well in a 2-ch set-up provided you integrate it properly.  It should perform even better than the sub we originally thought we would be building.  The substitution of the passive radiator for the ports kept the cabinet small, extended the bottom end and made it very flexible in terms of placement.  A win-win-win situation.

- Jim

[jsalk]

jmc207 -

Are my eyes playing tricks on me or is it PhotoShop? The passive radiator appears to be on different sides in the last two pictures. On the right side in the third pic, and on the left in the fourth. Either way it's a very nice looking sub!

I only had a picture of the driver side.  So I fipped it horizontally in Photoshop so you could see the other side of the cabinet. 

Seriously, you are seeing the surround on the driver in the photo viewed from the rear (the side the plate amp is mounted in).  Had I taken it from a slightly different angle, you would have seen the radiator surround.  Only the background and the floor were changed in photoshop.

- Jim

[mcullinan]

Dr. Salk,
dimensions? Price? Watts?
mike

[jsalk]

Mike -

Dr. Salk,
dimensions? Price? Watts?
mike

I'm getting ahead of myself, because I have yet to generate a complete description (I will post it soon).  But to answer your questions, the dimensions are 14" wide, 14" deep and 24" tall, not including plinths or grills which add 1 1/2" to the width and about the same to the height.  I will most likely be priced at $995 with a $100 discount if purchased along with SongTower QWT's.  It is 500 watts (which is a perfect match for the driver/passive radiator combination).

- Jim

[Toka]

It should work very well in a 2-ch set-up provided you integrate it properly.  It should perform even better than the sub we originally thought we would be building.  The substitution of the passive radiator for the ports kept the cabinet small, extended the bottom end and made it very flexible in terms of placement.  A win-win-win situation.

Jim,

Does the nature of transmission-line bass in the ST's make it easier or harder to integrate a sub? Did the SongSub need to be "tuned" (for lack of a better word) to match the ST's specifically?

Looks like a winner, thats for sure! 

[mcullinan]

Sir Salk,
Is this a very musical sub? Can I see one of those fancy schmancy resonse curve charts?
Mike

[jsalk]

Mike -

Sir Salk,
Is this a very musical sub? Can I see one of those fancy schmancy resonse curve charts?
Mike

It is a tight, articulate sub and should work quite well with music.  As for the response curves, it is quite dependent on the settings you use on the plate amp.  Specs to follow...

- Jim

[jsalk]

OK, here are some specs on the sub...


DRIVER
12" Cast Frame high-excursion woofer with black anodized aluminum cone. The motor has three different shorting paths that dramatically reduce voice
coil inductance and motor distortion. Distortion levels are lower than nearly all other high excursion subwoofers on the market.

PASSIVE RADIATOR
12" Cast frame - full suspension passive radiator, mass tuned, with 22mm of one-way Xmax capability.

PLATE AMP
Amplifier - 500 Watt RMS Class D BASH type high efficiency amplifier with fully adjustable 4th order lowpass crossover.  The amp features a continuously-variable phase control (not a 0/180 switch like on many plate amps), full parametric EQ to adjust for room response, adjustable crossover with bypass switch, subsonic filter to extend low-end response, an auto-on feature and more.

SYSTEM PERFORMANCE
With this tuned enclosure and this amplifier, the woofer remains within its linear operating range at all frequencies above 20Hz at the full 500 Watt output of the amplifier. This linear performance, coupled with the shorting rings inside the motor make this a "Very Low Distortion" (VLD) subwoofer when compared to even many much more expensive subwoofers on the market today.

Bass Extension - In an anechoic environment this subwoofer has a 1 Watt Nearfield  -3dB point of 22Hz. In most rooms bass will extend to approximately 18Hz due to typical room gain.

Output - Maximum half-space output is 112 dB at 30Hz, 109 dB at 25Hz, 102 dB at 20Hz (Without Room Gain), with linear output at very low levels of harmonic distortion.

SIZE
The SongSub VLD cabinet is 14" wide, 14" deep and 24" tall.  Grills add 1 1/2" to the width and spikes, if used, add 1 1/2" to the height.  The result is a high-performance subwoofer in a very compact form factor with high WAF.

PRICE
The SongSub VLD will be priced at $995 each when sold separately.  When purchased in conjunction with a pair of SongTower QWT's, the price is $895.

- Jim