ZOD Audio M.A.U.L

[its phillip]

I dunno what Ricci put in here but it takes all the power the Powersoft K20 amp has to give and destroys everything else tested on data-bass. Only the measurements are up now. The review will be updated later with more detail.

http://www.data-bass.com/data?page=system&id=131
http://www.data-bass.com/data?page=system&id=131&mset=143

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

One would think that 20k sub which weights 550lbs would be at least somewhat competent
Surprisingly it hit limits of Josh's amp given his Horn design.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Love this comment:
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/subwoofers/294213-theres-new-sheriff-town.html#post4773663

 

[TLS Guy]

Love this comment:
http://www.diyaudio.com/forums/subwoofers/294213-theres-new-sheriff-town.html#post4773663

I agree it is not a horn. I'm not sure what it is other than a mess. Certainly nothing to lust over. In terms of quality of bass it is not even in striking distance of what I am used to. There is a whole Grand Canyon of difference not just a chasm.

 

[its phillip]

I'm not sure what it is other than a mess. Certainly nothing to lust over. In terms of quality of bass it is not even in striking distance of what I am used to. There is a whole Grand Canyon of difference not just a chasm.

Care to elaborate?

 

[shadyJ]

In terms of quality of bass it is not even in striking distance of what I am used to. There is a whole Grand Canyon of difference not just a chasm.

So your rig can do 16 Hz at 126 dB with less than 10% THD? Doubtful. Also I find it absurd to compare home audio subs to the raw response of a large live sound subwoofer. Moreover, you are kidding yourself about the difference in sound quality you think might exist. I would bet if someone replaced your subs with these and EQ'd them for the same response curve, you would never notice the difference from simply hearing them.

 

[TLS Guy]

So your rig can do 16 Hz at 126 dB with less than 10% THD? Doubtful. Also I find it absurd to compare home audio subs to the raw response of a large live sound subwoofer. Moreover, you are kidding yourself about the difference in sound quality you think might exist. I would bet if someone replaced your subs with these and EQ'd them for the same response curve, you would never notice the difference from simply hearing them.

I said quality. My rig plays quite loud enough to threaten the integrity of the home. The bass is non resonant.

Those subs you can tell are ported and not well, with a humped peak response.

This is what the impedance curve of a horn loaded speaker looks like.

That speaker has three peaks of impedance. The ripple at 110 Hz is definitely box panel resonance and I strongly suspect that the 88 Hz peak is some very nasty pipe resonance.

No amount of Eq will turn that speaker into a suitable listening implement. A demo device it might be but not a musical reproducer.

 

[shadyJ]

To me this looks like a decent live sound subwoofer aimed at deep bass output. It looks like it does the job very competently. With respect to resonance, that would take the form of stored energy, and there is nothing on the group delay graph nor on any other acoustic measurement that would be cause for concern. The naked response is not flat, but who cares since it can and definitely will be EQ'd where ever it will be used. This is not a wide-band subwoofer, but again, who cares, it is tuned for deep bass, so low-pass it at 80 Hz. The deep bass distortion behavior is very good, even out to 120 dB. Looks to me like it may do well with music after equalization.

 

[TLS Guy]

To me this looks like a decent live sound subwoofer aimed at deep bass output. It looks like it does the job very competently. With respect to resonance, that would take the form of stored energy, and there is nothing on the group delay graph nor on any other acoustic measurement that would be cause for concern. The naked response is not flat, but who cares since it can and definitely will be EQ'd where ever it will be used. This is not a wide-band subwoofer, but again, who cares, it is tuned for deep bass, so low-pass it at 80 Hz. The deep bass distortion behavior is very good, even out to 120 dB. Looks to me like it may do well with music after equalization.

That third peak of impedance along with the associated rise in output is of real concern to me, and the couple that with the fact the impulse response continues to 150 msec, I would say that is NOT a sub I would like to own at all. You just can not Eq that type of a problem.

There is far TOO much concern with the output of subs and near enough attention to bass quality and that does not end with distortion. Q is so important. That design does not have the characteristics of proper horn loading, but some type of cocked up vented loading.

My bass system is done in 0.5 msec and is very low Q. The impulse is 300 times shorter then that sub and that will be audible. I would not swap that unit for all the tea in China.

 

[Steve81]

That third peak of impedance along with the associated rise in output is of real concern to me, and the couple that with the fact the impulse response continues to 150 msec, I would say that is NOT a sub I would like to own at all. You just can not Eq that type of a problem.

To be fair, I don't think it's a sub any person is really meant to own for a home rig. The dimensions (47.5" x 47.5" x 30"), weight (550lbs), and cost ($20,000) would be far bigger concerns for the vast majority of folks.

As far as the qualitative aspects go, comparing apples to apples with other pro-sound type items like the Danley DTS-10 and JTR Orbit Shifter LFU, the ZOD doesn't look half bad.

 

[shadyJ]

The ringing in the impulse response graph is at very minimal levels by 50 ms, and human perception of sound duration in bass is very poor at bass frequencies. I think you are overstating how bad this sub sounds, especially since it is aimed at very deep frequency performance, where human perception is so poor. My guess is it sounds fine.

As for cost, this looks to be a creation of Josh Ricci, and he was just estimating cost were it a commercial unit.

 

[rojo]

It looks like a Humvee to me -- not at all practical, a barely manageable monster impossible to fit into any parking space, poor handling, not very aerodynamic or shiny, and you probably wouldn't drive it to the opera. But boy, does it look like a lot of fun! Merica!

 

[Ricci]

Haha. Some amusing comments in here. TLS guy are you aware of how impulse response works and is displayed? This is a serious question. You are mistaken on a number of your other assumptions as well.

As far as looks or practicality goes...These are a custom job for myself. Clearly the application is not "ordinary". This has really nothing to do with the type of systems used for consumer audio in a small domestic environment. It's sort of like commenting that a Barrett m107 rifle is impractical for self defense or to carry around in your glove box and comparing it to a 9mm handgun. The ballistics reports for both are what they are though.

 

[its phillip]

more info has been posted at data-bass

 

[Defcon]

Josh is using 2 of these in a 14k foot arena. I'm amazed it still has headroom left and doesn't reach the limits of the amp. Those drivers are beasts, 2.5K each , and the box could easily be 2x larger. Its not a horn as most suspected.

Someone on AVS is going to have one (or more likely more) of these in their 20x15 HT, its just a matter of time