Who's afraid of the BIG BAD WOOF?

John Casler · « **on:** 16 Sep 2010, 11:54 pm »

Well ya gotta remember the story of the Three Little Pigs and how the Big Bad Wolf "Huffed, and Puffed", and Blew all their houses down except the Brick house.

Well here's hoping all of you new OMG Sub owners live in BRICK houses as the BIG. . . BAD. . . WOOF. . is on the way.

Just received a post from one new OMG adaptor who upgraded from the present MegaWoofer to the OMG Active and BIG BUMP Passive and it is a little like the reports coming out of an area after the Martians hit it in War of the WORLDS.

Short, excited and limited news of HUGE explosions and bodyparts being blown away if held in front of the DRIVERS.

Further reports of MASSIVE DRIVER Excursions that are categorized as "Beyond Belief"

have been trickling in.

Kinda scary.

I did get this photo of the comparison between the regular 15" MegaWoofer and the OMG MONSTER.

I am told by some that they have had to esort their previous subs out of the area so that they don't get blown away by the new guy in town.

I am awaiting further reports, and hope for the best.

Disclaimer: Not responsible for damages to foundations, structures, or non-secured items during the 1812 Overture, or War of the Worlds.

It has also been reported that the SUB grill will NOT. . . I repeat NOT fit back on the sub once the OMG has been called into action. One new user has also reported that even if it did fit, it would probably be blown off from the concusion and power of the aptly monikered OMG (BIG. . . .BAD. . . .WOOF)

John Casler · « **Reply #1 on:** 17 Sep 2010, 12:21 am »

There is absolutely NO TRUTH to the rumor that the government is asking for any "substance" testing of ANY kind for our BIG. . BAD. . .WOOF. NONE

The above 215 (which is our entry level BIG BAD WOOF) has a 15" ACTIVE OMG Driver from TC Sounds, and a 15" Passive BIG BUMP Radiator.

PRICE: OMG 215 = $1099

w/1000w sub amp = $1498!!!!

Early B. · « **Reply #2 on:** 17 Sep 2010, 05:05 pm »

Yesterday I acquired my TC Sounds woofer and Brian's passive for my 215 subwoofer. My room is 13' x 20' x 8'. The sub is powered by a 1,000 watt PE plate amp and is being used strictly for HT.

I installed the woofer and ran a quick demo last night and again this morning. First impressions -- this thing is brutal!!! No doubt about it. I've never
seen a woofer move so much air. If you place your hand in front of the woofer, it'll damn near blow it off your wrist. For those of you who think you already own a powerful sub, think again. This woofer makes my old 215 sound like the wimpy kid who gets beat up every day after school.

One minor issue -- I notice some noise coming from the sub during deep bass passages. It sounds like port noise even though the sub doesn't have a port. I'll be the first to admit that it could be my skills (or lack thereof) of properly installing the woofer and passive radiator (which doesn't sit flush either, by the way). I do think, though, that if this sub were built from the ground up for the TC Sounds woofer, the cabinet would need to be much stronger. There's a ton of air being pushed externally, and I can imagine that there's probably a lot more air movement inside the cabinet that the old drivers couldn't produce. This air could be rattling the plate amp.

And I feel sorry for the poor passive radiator. It's not well built and it also moves a lot of air, but it seems like it's gonna blow a gasket at any moment. Some of the noise I'm hearing could be coming from the passive's air hitting the base of the sub and back onto the radiator. I dunno. Hopefully some of y'all will chime in and help me identify the source of the noise.

Brian Cheney · « **Reply #3 on:** 17 Sep 2010, 05:31 pm »

I suggest moving the plate amp out of the enclosure. It is the source of the noise you're hearing.

The PR is fine. While the frame is stamped steel, it is damped with Dynamat and as quiet as most diecast frames, and it is stronger. The PR has more than 1" peak to peak excursion, like the 15". We may go to a taller PR surround, but again, the cabinet would have to be specially cut for that, not a retrofit.

Moving the plate amp outside the enclosure and sealing its cutout should take care of the noise problem.

Early B. · « **Reply #4 on:** 17 Sep 2010, 06:39 pm »

Quote from: Brian Cheney on 17 Sep 2010, 05:31 pm

I suggest moving the plate amp out of the enclosure. It is the source of the noise you're hearing.

Moving the plate amp outside the enclosure and sealing its cutout should take care of the noise problem.

OK, thanks Brian.

Oh, I forgot to mention that the TC Sounds woofer seems to weigh twice as much as the old driver. Check out the difference in magnet size in the photo above. It's a woofer for hard core enthusiasts, that's for sure. I don't know what it will sound like for music, but for HT, you'll need to board up your windows and prepare for the hurricane if you ever plan to turn this sucker up beyond 9am.

Brian Cheney · « **Reply #5 on:** 17 Sep 2010, 06:42 pm »

The TC sounds 15" weighs in at 43 lbs and has a 195oz magnet, vs 16lbs and 80oz magnet for our old 15". The TC Sounds costs about five times as much, too.

Performance on music is excellent once you tune the PR by pinching putty. Instructions for doing so are here as a sticky.

John Casler · « **Reply #6 on:** 17 Sep 2010, 11:35 pm »

Quote

If you place your hand in front of the woofer, it'll damn near blow it off your wrist. For those of you who think you already own a powerful sub, think again.

While I am a "MUSIC FIRST and HT SECOND" type, I have to say I love comments like the above.

Early B. · « **Reply #7 on:** 19 Sep 2010, 01:27 am »

Just wanted to report back -- I removed the plate amp today, sealed her up, and this resolved the rattling issue as Brian indicated. All I got left to do is sit back, pop in a few movies, and enjoy my "new" subwoofer. I'll report back again later.

Brian -- let us know if you run across any extra long grille posts.

Brian Cheney · « **Reply #8 on:** 19 Sep 2010, 01:46 am »

Madisound has fasteners with standoffs for extra deep grillframes.

In future retrofits with the TC Sounds woofers I'll make sure there is no plate amp in the enclosure. The amp will last longer outside the box as well.

Early B. · « **Reply #9 on:** 19 Sep 2010, 03:12 am »

Quote from: Brian Cheney on 19 Sep 2010, 01:46 am

Madisound has fasteners with standoffs for extra deep grillframes.

Do you have a link? I looked for it, but didn't find them. Thanks.

simon wagstaff · « **Reply #10 on:** 19 Sep 2010, 12:33 pm »

I have a pair of the older smaller VMPS subs. Is there a replacement driver and/or passive radiator for these? I am guessing I can't just get new drivers and drop them into the cabinet but I thought I would ask.

John Casler · « **Reply #11 on:** 20 Sep 2010, 08:16 pm »

Quote from: simon wagstaff on 19 Sep 2010, 12:33 pm

I have a pair of the older smaller VMPS subs. Is there a replacement driver and/or passive radiator for these? I am guessing I can't just get new drivers and drop them into the cabinet but I thought I would ask.

I think Brian could answer that better than I, but I think the Smaller, might have a "space" problem.

The OMG Woofer Driver is HUGE, and it must share space with the basket of the Passive Radiator.

In the bigger subs there is enough space or offset. I am not sure on the SMALLER.

Brian will know.

And no you cannot just place a TC Sounds driver in the cabinet. You will need the BIG BUMP Passive Radiator for your model sub and B, does some kind of matching with them before he ships.

Brian Cheney · « **Reply #12 on:** 20 Sep 2010, 09:14 pm »

New active 12" are $80ea or $125ea depending on quality. New passive 12" for the Smaller are $55ea.

The TC are too large for the Smaller cabinet, unfortunately.

simon wagstaff · « **Reply #13 on:** 25 Sep 2010, 12:14 pm »

Mine are working fine and I am very happy with them used as a stereo pair. Use with my Infinity IM4 I get true room lock. But, if there is the possibility of an upgrade I have to check it out!

Thanks!

G E · « **Reply #14 on:** 26 Sep 2010, 05:57 pm »

Quote from: simon wagstaff on 25 Sep 2010, 12:14 pm

Mine are working fine and I am very happy with them used as a stereo pair. Use with my Infinity IM4 I get true room lock. But, if there is the possibility of an upgrade I have to check it out!

Thanks!

Simon,

I advise you to upgrade. But until you do that, be sure to take care of room accoustics. That makes a world of difference.

ge

Early B. · « **Reply #15 on:** 25 Nov 2010, 02:34 pm »

Quote from: Early B. on 17 Sep 2010, 05:05 pm

And I feel sorry for the poor passive radiator. It's not well built and it also moves a lot of air, but it seems like it's gonna blow a gasket at any moment.

Well, it happened. I was watching The Last Airbender which has a tremendous amount of bass and it popped a hole near the edge of the passive driver. I wasn't playing loud, but my guess is the OMG is so powerful that the passive driver can't handle it. I glued it back, but anticipate this will be a temporary measure.

Brian Cheney · « **Reply #16 on:** 25 Nov 2010, 05:08 pm »

We'll send you another PR.

Recently we cut back on the amount of glue used to assemble the PR's, due to complaints about the look of excess glue around the gaskets. This may be a mistake with the TC actives, we shall see. The current PR has sufficient Xmax (27mm) to work well with the OMG's, and I don't want to have to go to the TC PR, which is tuned way too high (32Hz, vs 10Hz for our PR) and is very expensive.

John Casler · « **Reply #17 on:** 25 Nov 2010, 07:43 pm »

Quote from: Early B. on 25 Nov 2010, 02:34 pm

Well, it happened. I was watching The Last Airbender which has a tremendous amount of bass and it popped a hole near the edge of the passive driver. I wasn't playing loud, but my guess is the OMG is so powerful that the passive driver can't handle it. I glued it back, but anticipate this will be a temporary measure.

I think I heard somewhere that AIRBENDER has some exceptionally LOW frequencies so it is no doubt a test of the PR, and 12Hz output wouldn't "sound" loud (if you could even hear it), but it would certainly give the PR a workout.

Early B. · « **Reply #18 on:** 25 Nov 2010, 07:53 pm »

Quote from: John Casler on 25 Nov 2010, 07:43 pm

I think I heard somewhere that AIRBENDER has some exceptionally LOW frequencies so it is no doubt a test of the PR, and 12Hz output wouldn't "sound" loud (if you could even hear it), but it would certainly give the PR a workout.

Yeah, John, the bass is crazy insane in that movie. You'll love it.

Vr3 · « **Reply #19 on:** 28 Nov 2010, 04:03 am »

Just a FWIW --

I recently installed the 15" TC Sounds Passive Radiator in my Larger Subwoofer -- because to this day I have never not heard the original PR bottom and finally could take no more. Took a little trimming in the cutout - but the sub no longer bottoms - ever. I have far more usable low frequency output and it goes far louder...

Totally worth the investment and I have no complaints...

I put all the weight on the PR which according to TC Sounds brings the FR to 12hz.