here is what you stated with respect to the TC sounds LMS...in your eariler post...
I know they (Rythmik) do offer kits for the DIY crowd so I'm sorry for the confusion.
My question was pertaining in use of a raw driver capability. Why are they not given the same consideration in the DIY crowd...with the likes of Exodus,Tc sounds or AE just to name a few?
Probably due to a number of reasons.
A. Its not like you can buy these drivers anywhere. Direct from Rythmik, and maybe one reseller currently?
B. They are servo driven subs. You really can't just buy the raw driver. You need the servo amp as well. Its a package deal.
C. Driver size: Its limited to 12" and 15". Alot of DIY subs are now available in 18" and larger drivers even. Obviously the more linear displacement you have, the more output your gonna get. I'd love to see Rythmik do an 18" version of the DS1510. But 15" is whats available presently. For me, I decided to do 8 15" Rythmik kits for my main HT to get a ton of clean dynamic headroom and low frequency extension. Not everyone wants to do that though or spend that kind of money when there are cheaper DIY solutions.
One thing that Rythmik doesn't market well is the ability to daisy chain their XLR plate amps(one master which controls gain and xover point, and as many slave amp/driver combos as you want each having their own independant variable phase adjustment). The cool thing is, you can use RCA or XLR input on the master, then use the xlr output to daisy chain the rest of the amp/driver combos.
D. Form factor of plate amps: They aren't in rack mount configuration and cannot be traditionally rack mounted. Plus you basically need one plate amp per driver(though Rythmik does have kits where one plate amp will drive 2 8 ohm DS1501 drivers). With alot of DIY kits people can use one 2 channel pro amp to power 1,2 or 4 drivers due to the power output and impedance load abilities. And these amps are relatively compact and rack mountable. Myself, I have a portion of a wall next to my equipment rack where all 8 plate amps will be mounted with toolless thumbscrews. I personally like the idea of one plate amp per driver as it gives me redundancy. If one driver or amp goes down, I still have 7 other units working until I do a swapout. It would be nice though if Rythmik could make a true rack mounted encased amp. BUt I doubt that will happen since most people will mount the plate amp onto a subwoofer box enclosure. Myself, I am mounting them seperate from the large 8 chambered 32 foot cubed box I made.
E. I think this is a big one. The "specs" aren't sexy. RMS is 5-600 watts on them which quite honestly is really alot of power but compared to other subs rms it doesn't look very impressive. And in todays game, big numbers sell. Subs with massive power handling ability in the 2-3000 watts or more is commonplace now as well as extreme Xmax numbers. People seem to be more worried(too worried IMO) about the BL and Xmax spec, and less worried about the Fs and moving mass specifications.
I know this isn't a "DIY" example but I have one friend who bought a lil 10" Velodyne DD 10 with a large class D plate amp that put down like 1200 watts rms and a dynamic power rating of 2-3000 watts. Its actually a very good sub. But one of my 15" Rythmiks that only had a quarter of the power, just killed it in raw output, especially low end extension, and did so at half the price. In this instance, he was looking literally at RMS power on judging a subwoofer and not linear displacement and box parameters. Now not everyone does that obviously, but that is one example.
