Subwoofer Driver: SI SQL-15... any experience?

[ryanosaur]

Thanks to @Pogre and his Good Deals thread, I started looking at Dayton Ultimax Drivers... but something rubbed me the wrong way a bit. Pricing, performance... Can't really put my finger on it, but it got me thinking.

So I looked around again at a bunch of the usual suspects that I've kinda stared at before, ranging from the 15" Dayton Reference HF, to the 13" Revelator Sub, the 15" Peerless... Morel, SB Acoustics, Seas...
And then I remembered Stereo Integrity.

SQL Series 2 B-Stock – StereoIntegrity.com

stereointegrity.com

Anybody have any experience with this?

Cheers!

 

[tripwire]

For the money out vs output, you truely can not do better than FI car audio infinite baffle subs for home theatre. Just ridiculous for power/performance..... and less per sub than what you just referenced

 

[lovinthehd]

Looks nice, do it! Better price than their HST-15mkiii, wonder how big a difference there is. There's a Stereo Integrity owners' group on FB fwiw.....

 

[ryanosaur]

In Wall treatments of any kind are not an option: this includes IB Subs.
I know this is the hot item now, however it is a non-starter.

I am specifically looking for drivers with a Qts around .4, ranging from .3-.5, and it must have a low Fs.

 

[ryanosaur]

Looks nice, do it! Better price than their HST-15mkiii, wonder how big a difference there is. There's a Stereo Integrity owners' group on FB fwiw.....

FB? SMDH, Lovin'.

 

[lovinthehd]

FB? SMDH, Lovin'.

Some wacky groups on FB, some not so bad....and the Lemons tend to participate now and then, too IIRC (Nick also has one called "I Just Want Sound Quality")....

 

[shadyJ]

Looks nice, do it! Better price than their HST-15mkiii, wonder how big a difference there is. There's a Stereo Integrity owners' group on FB fwiw.....

The HST is the one to have in a small sealed box. It has higher Xmax and more motor force. My guess is that the SQL probably has a naturally flatter response, and I am sure it would also work in a sealed cabinet.

 

[ryanosaur]

The HST is the one to have in a small sealed box. It has higher Xmax and more motor force. My guess is that the SQL probably has a naturally flatter response, and I am sure it would also work in a sealed cabinet.

I'm just so confused right now.
*crying-laughing
I've got one group telling me IBS, another group telling me Pro Driver... I want to do something which will allow for a TQWT build, but recognize I may need to do a ported or sealed box in the end.
Spending $800 on a driver to experiment with is pretty steep.
Spending $300 is steep if it can't be used at all. But at least with the SQL-15 it can. Somewhere I stumbled upon a comment about measurements pretty flat down to 7-8Hz in a small sealed box.
But then you get into this ported-sealed conversation...
FTW!

*more laughter, more tears.

F' Alden and Dickason for not writing about this in greater detail.

I know there isn't necessarily one right path...
But doing a Pro Driver build with the assumption you can just "fix it in the mix" using DSP and a high voltage amplifier is bordering on Faith... something I am not known for giving.

I have more willingness to bank on a TL build using sound physics... but until it gets modeled may still be a crap shoot in terms of the physical capabilities of the driver itself (Xmax, Xmech, Xvar...). Likewise, I know it will work in a different box, too.

Any hints or suggestions, @shadyJ ?

 

[shadyJ]

I would say you should just establish performance targets and size criteria and then fire up WinISD to see what drivers make a good fit for what you want to accomplish. If you want deep bass from a sealed enclosure, the HSTs are hard to beat, but they are expensive. If you don't need to save space that badly, get a few SQLs and you should be set.

 

[ryanosaur]

Well...
Anybody want some PORN?!

BTW... that's not a question. *grins maniacally

 

[ryanosaur]

Drivers were on sale. Not crazy on sale, but still.

As I told on @Danzilla31 ’s thread, one of these literally fell off the FedEx truck.
Dude was trying to squeeze through the door and past another box and just lost it. All.
It went from chest height to the deck of the truck, tumbled down the steel steps… hit pavement with a little roll.
I almost lost it, and dude was getting twitchy: hard twitchy.
Haven’t been able to plug into anything yet, but the packing took some damage…
Driver looks solid.

Ah, the ol’ box within a box trick!

Aww… Nick wrote me a note!

So…
Two open boxes and a brick of styrofoam!
Wasn’t that a Beck cut from back in the day?


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[lovinthehd]

I like the note from Nick....

 

[ryanosaur]

For the record, Tapatalk is trying to hold me hostage since the privacy update from Apple. This is my first time using it since then and it’s trying to force me to let it track me.

Hey Tapatalk… if you are reading this:
Suck it and choke.

‘Nuff said. Back to the bidness at hand.

Gently crack the shell, and separate the Yolk from the White.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ryanosaur]

All said… pretty solid. These are solid and really seem to be well built. Oh, ya… and about 28-30# each.

So we saw it next to a beer but what else are they bigger than?


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[ryanosaur]

Warning:
Gratuitous Pussy.

And the answer:
The cat could fit!


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[lovinthehd]

Nice choice of beer, too (Having a Juicy Domination at the moment)

 

[ryanosaur]

Anyway, it's gonna be a minute or 5 before I get to these.
Baltic Birch is ~$69 per 5'x5' sheet (18mm thick). I can get it down to ~$58 per if I buy 10.

I might have to do test builds out of MDF and just burn 'em (figuratively) after I determine the winner.
10'^3 ported with 2 5" flared ports?
4'^3 sealed with a system Q of .5
Both should hit 16Hz with some authority, but the sealed is pushing Xmax pretty hard without some DSP to tame it. Sealed will require DSP, too. According to Nick, a 30Hz Linkwitz Transform could see this flat to 12Hz and possibly below.

Got a few cards I ain't showin' yet... the astute follower might discern one other build I do with these. No: it does not involve a horn.
*fingers crossed
Hope I get to play with option 3. Time will tell. I will share.

 

[lovinthehd]

Not a bad price on the BB either way compared to what I've paid.

 

[ryanosaur]

Not a bad price on the BB either way compared to what I've paid.

I think they said it was BB/BB grade... so not gonna be the best finishing look if I were to choose just sanding and staining. Even painting could be tricky. Don't really wanna Duratex, but that might be the option unless I go crazy and do a veneer. Only likely on the Sealed version... I don't think I would wanna try veneering a 10 cu.ft. box.

 

[lovinthehd]

I think they said it was BB/BB grade... so not gonna be the best finishing look if I were to choose just sanding and staining. Even painting could be tricky. Don't really wanna Duratex, but that might be the option unless I go crazy and do a veneer. Only likely on the Sealed version... I don't think I would wanna try veneering a 10 cu.ft. box.

I think if its in 5x5 sheets its at least the general bb origin. Looking forward to where you go with it !