Tom Nousaine's "The Subwoofer That Shook The World

[ThomasW]

This is a scanned copy of the S&V article that was the genesis for the founding of the "Cult"

Note it's 5 large graphic files, so if you're on a dial-up connection, this is going to take some time.....

Click HERE for page 1.

[bluesboyjr]

That was very interesting, I've been wondering how this whole cult thing came about. Now I know

[poppabirdy]

Thomas:

Thanks for posting the article. I enjoyed it very much! Those cartoons are an absolute hoot!

Poppabirdy

[philbiker]

What's the publishing date?

[ThomasW]

I don't remember, the hardcopy is packed away in the basement somewhere.

[jgsabato]

I remember seeing the original article and the one that preceeded it that Tom referenced (4 custom setups tested) in S&V and remeber being impressed with the results.

Looking at his setup now (relative to the current guidelines on this site), he did not have an "optimal" IB design, but got impressive results nonetheless. I remember your mentioning the "timing issues" due to the distance between the top and bottom drivers in the past.

I am taking sound mesurements right now for my IB, and so far, the best location in my new home would require a somewhat less than optimal design of the manifold since one side of it is against the basement wall.

This article showing up again, and the fact that the "12 dancing Shivas (with new drivers) setup is still operational gives me some comfort that possibly having to stack the drivers 2 high per side will not be a major problem.

Thanks for posting it.

[ThomasW]

As a result of the height of his manifold Nosuaine's IB has cancelation at 71Hz. That's not a problem for his design, since 70Hz is the crossover point to his mains.

[chrisbee]

Thomas

Could you explain why you didn't go for a two-driver-wide manifold rather than your much taller single-driver-width column? At a glance you seem to have lots of room around the manifiold area. Perhaps I missed the explanation?

Regards
Chrisbee

[ThomasW]

There are heater ducts, a natural gas line, hot & cold H2O lines, etc., in the general area. So my only option was what you see.

Also the IB is close to an opening between the HT and the main entry way to the house. So a compact opening was a plus.

[devanb]

That was a fun article, thanks.

[spyboy]

I wish that Tom Nousaine would have followed up to discuss what he did (presumably) to increase the output of his system to 131 dbs.

Also, I was wondering if anyone knows if Nousaine's IB is the highest output subwoofer in a home?

[ThomasW]

In the rather brief email exchange had with TN, he seemed to express reservations regarding the slant the S&V editors chose to give to the article. So my guess is he's real focus wasn't obtaining a couple extra dB of output...

I imagine John Salvini's IB (containing 8 Ave 18"s) has the ability to go louder than Nousaine's.. It's a moot point given all the glass in John's room, and the fact that he's a little past the age where people are interested in dB drag racing...

[carvernut]

mine is above 130dB's... i however do not have a mic that will meter C weight over 130dB's... but i can max it fairly easy with only 800 watts and they could easily handle much more

[robertr]

Thanks for the trip down memory lane, Thomas. I remember that article well, and still have it. Little did I know that I would have something like it one day.

[bp1fanatic]

The link is not working.