Parts Express DVC on sale (will they work for me?)

[woozyone]

PE DVC's are on sale for $99 with free shipping (sale ends 11/20). I already have two of the PE IB subwoofers and I was wondering if I could add two of these DVC's without any detrimental effects. I'm guessing I would have to wire them up at 8ohm so they'd be better matched to the IB's. Would be better off spending the extra cash and picking up two of the IB's so my system matches?

Thanks,

Nick

[PeterW]

I heard that the IB15 is basically a DVC15 with one voice coil and some minor adjustments.

The DVC's have a Qts of .38 and the IB15's have a Qts of .68 this is probably the factor which would determine their compatability since there is only a .4hz difference in their Fs.

[ThomasW]

They're more similar than different, so I think it would work ok..

[woozyone]

Great, thanks for the replies guys.

I'm debating on selling the two IB's and grabbing four of the DVC's so I can run 4 ohms to my plate amp (I can't afford a pro amp because an addition to the house has left me strapped). I'm guessing that 250W at 8ohms wouldn't be enough to power all four sufficiently. 380W with the 4ohm load of the DVC's should help a little until I get some more 'toy' money saved up.

[ryans]

From what I can tell, I think that Peter is right that the IB15 looks pretty much like a SVC version of the DVC15. You definitely will want to only connect one of the coils on each DVC15 if you're using them with IB15's. Note that leaving the other coil open will almost double the Qts so that they will have virtually the same Q as the IB15's.

As far as the amp goes - I say give your plate amp a try. It costs you nothing to try it and it might save you from spending a couple hundred bucks. I'm speaking from experience here since I built a 4 x 15 Atlas IB and I'm powering it with a 250 watt plate amp that I already had sitting around. Works great! Yeah, the woofers could probably take 2X what I'm giving them but still, I get more output than I'll ever need. And 2X the power would only gain me another 3dB.

Here's an example for you:
Imagine a DVC15 in a sealed box powered by a 250 watt plate amp. That would be a pretty decent subwoofer. But with 4 woofers you gain 6dB in efficiency. So your IB will be 6dB louder than that (imaginary) sealed sub.

[chrisbee]

I hate to argue with what has been said before but power makes a serious difference to sound quality. Even if it doesn't affect total output all that much.

I had effortless 120dBs from my IB even when my EP2500 was being starved of input signal. It still sounded okay despite the "worrying" lack of cone movement. ;D

When I finally matched the input requirements for my amp the IB started sounding phenomenal!

I imagine a more powerful amp gets the cones moving faster (acceleration) and stops them just as quickly(deceleration). So you get cleaner, sharper, shorter sounds instead of just a loud rumble. The shock value increases dramatically!

So start saving those pennies for more watts somewhere down the IB road to bass perfection!

[joest]

I have to agree with Chris as well. When I first built my IB I ran everything off a single PE 250 watt plate amp. It worked out great & sounded just fine, but when I upgraded to something with a bit more power it was noticeable. I went from the plate amp to a Crown XLS 602. At reasonable (lower) volume it sounded pretty much the same either way. But if you got to playing at higher levels the Crown started to show its advantage. Things sound tighter & more controlled, & I could get more out of the system than with the plate amp.

[twisterz]

Chrisbee got it right on.

A bigger amp with more current can better control the woofer. It's like having a V8 instead of a 4 cylinder. The 4 will go 65MPH but needs 3500RPM, the V8 uses 1800RPM to hold 65MPH. If you have ever driven a manual trans V8, wound up 1st gear and then let off the gas, the car decellerates real fast. That torque is like the current in a larger amp, it can push & pull the woofer more accuratly with less effort.

[woozyone]

Nice analogy twisterz. I love manual V8's
It looks like I might have a buyer for my IB's, so I think I'll just sell those and grab 4 new DVC's and wire them up at 4ohm total to the plate amp until I can save up for a pro amp. I won't be out much more right now and I'll have greater flexibility in the future with the DVC's.

[ryans]

Well, I didn't realize what I was saying was so controversial. But I wonder if you might have missed the real point of what I was saying:

Its really easy for us to sit at our computers and "spend somebody else's money". In this case woozyone has a perfectly capable amplifier and it won't cost him a single penny to try it out and see if it satisfies him.

Certainly a more powerful amp (with a better damping factor) will have its advantages and I understand that this amp wouldn't be our first recommendation. But there's absolutely no reason to give up on it before he even tries it. Yet this seems to be the message I'm hearing ... "you'll definitely want more". Its not quite that simple. There's all sorts of personal issues like budgets and listening preferences that come into play. And when somebody comes asking about some of the least expensive woofers available I try to stay sensitive to budget.

woozyone, it sounds like you're moving in the right direction. In this case we really are talking about some sensitive woofers. These are not like the Avalanche's or the Tumults that need a lot of power to reach their potential. I think you'll be impressed with what "only" 380 watts to 4x DVC15's gets you.

[woozyone]

Thanks for the comments, ryans.

(Un?)Fortunately I won't have the cash for a pro amp for a while, so I have no choice but to see how well my plate amp will work until I can replenish my toy fund. But you know how it goes with DIY...you always have to keep tweaking to get that last ounce of performance. Who knows what drivers or amp I'll have in 2 years. If I was smart and more money conscious, I'd just stick with the set-up I already have, but who wants to do that

[coolzone]

Look here Dayton dvc 15 will work fine

www.geocities.com/pnwright3/Gemini_subs.html