Just ordered my first (car) sub ever!

AustinKP

I decided to go with Ascendant Audio's Atlas 12. I just ordered it this morning! Yay! I'll get it Wednesday. I'll give the full report once I get a chance to give it a good listening-to. Cody, you should have given me your address. I was going have it sent to you, but I didn't know where to send it. Now you'll just have to wait
-Austin

exalted512

im not sure if you posted it before, but do you have a link with the specs? if i wasnt on dial up id attempt a search but 28.8 isnt something i like to go roaming the internet on. hope you like it!
-Cody

MacLeod

Originally posted by exalted512
i if i wasnt on dial up id attempt a search but 28.8 isnt something i like to go roaming the internet on.
-Cody

Damn son, time to join the 21st century!

neomagus00

or at least try to catch up to the last bit of the 20th...

nadams

http://www.ascendantaudio.com/Atlas%2012.htm

MacLeod

That looks like a hoss.

Cant wait to read the reviews of how it sounds.

exalted512

living out in the country this is as good as it gets...high speed isnt offered in the boonies...
-Cody

AustinKP

It's HERE:








It has a little felt pad to avoid tinsel slap


I'm building the box for it tonight. I'll let you know how it sounds.
-Austin

PolkThug

Nice sub!

Cool thing about it is no cheesey logo on the dust cap. Are you listening Polk?!

exalted512

sweet! the basket and everything looks like a mini-brahma. very nice
-Cody

exalted512

http://www.soundillusions.net/Forum/forumdisplay.php?f=50
i think you might find that informative
-Cody

MacLeod

Is that a foam surround?

AustinKP

Originally posted by exalted512
http://www.soundillusions.net/Forum/forumdisplay.php?f=50
i think you might find that informative
-Cody

don't know if that was directed at me, but I've been spending a good bit of time there lately as well.

Let me tell you guys, Chad Kuypers, the owner, is seriously a great guy. I've called him a couple times now. Once to order and ask questions, we talked for like 20 minutes. He made sure to answer all my questions and was very helpful. Never made me feel like he was too busy to talk or anything. Second time, I was wondering about if a grill from partsexpress would fit. He said it would, and if it wouldn't fit, he'd buy it from me! I've been very impressed with him.
-Austin

AustinKP

Originally posted by MacLeod
Is that a foam surround?

Yep. Just like the Brahma, ****, and all other drivers I've seen with XBL^2. I dunno why, but they're supposed to last just as long as a rubber surround. It comes with a 3-year warranty.
-Austin

MacLeod

I new the Brahma's used them but I didnt think too many others did. They may be coming back in style!

AustinKP

the W7's have foam surrounds too, don't they?

exalted512

foam surrounds supposedly offer better sound quality and are better for long-excursion drivers
im still skeptical on their endurance though...but theyve gotten better since the early 90s
-Cody

MacLeod

I agree with Cody. I would prefer rubber surrounds for longevity. I have a hard time believing there is much sonic difference between rubber and foam. But I upgrade once a year it seems so longevity isnt that big a concern.

exalted512

well i dont plan on changing my subs for a long time! so ill let you know. plus living in texas, the weather doesnt get much more diverse.
-Cody

MacLeod

Thats true. You get 110 degrees in the 9 months of summer out there but during the 3 months of winter you get down to the 80's. Now thats diversity!

exalted512

lol, at my house temps ranged from the 40s-120s
and it snowed at my house on christmas last year!!
-Cody

AustinKP

Originally posted by MacLeod
I agree with Cody. I would prefer rubber surrounds for longevity. I have a hard time believing there is much sonic difference between rubber and foam. But I upgrade once a year it seems so longevity isnt that big a concern.

Well supposedly, foam is lighter than rubber with the same strength so you get better response or something...
Plus, with the new ways they have of treating foam nowadays, it's supposed to last just as long as rubber.
-Austin

AustinKP

I got the box built last night. I was planning on doing around 1.25 ft^3, but ended up going with like 1.8. Apparantly, I didn't get one of my terminal cups completely sealed so I can hear it leaking air a bit. I'll give you guys a full review once I have it totally done.
Until then, I'm completely amazed at this thing. Once I got it, I just set it on my back seat and ran it free air to test it. All I can say is HOLY CRAP that thing MOVES! I ran a sweep from 1-80Hz and it really moves down low. I sure wish I had some kind of camcorder so I could get some excursion vids. So far, it gets plenty loud and is dang accurate. I played some Dream Theater. I can't remember which track, I think it's track 2, where it starts with Mike Portnoy going nuts on the bass drum. It didn't miss a beat. No rumbling or lag, it just played every beat quickly and accurately. I was very impressed. That's about it so far.
-Austin

neomagus00

cool, can't wait till it's done!

foam also, apparently, damps the cone resonances no one talks about. this makes me happy. so does higher efficiency (less mms).

MacLeod

Originally posted by AustinKP
I played some Dream Theater. I can't remember which track, I think it's track 2, where it starts with Mike Portnoy going nuts on the bass drum. It didn't miss a beat. No rumbling or lag, it just played every beat quickly and accurately.

Yes that would be track 2 - This Dying Soul -.

There is a little more going on there. During the double bass, hes also doing alternate quarter notes on the toms. Its hard to hear on car systems. See if your sub picks them up, although your mids should too.

MacLeod

Oh, and Dream Theater rules by the way!

AustinKP

so I gave it another two hour-long listen last night and another hour this morning. Lil John, Pety Pablo, and Late Nite Tip hit DEEP and hard. But it's still quick and razor-sharp. The 4th track on Dream Theater's Train of Thought, "Honor Thy Father" starts with lightning-quick double kicks and it doesn't miss a beat. I've heard this song on other subs, and I didn't even realize he was hitting the kick twice until I heard it on this.

My favorite part so far - I was playing test tones and got out of the car to see how loud it was outside. Very little to no bass escapes the car. I could hear the muffled vocals and highs of songs, but hardly any bass at all. Also, there are very few rattles inside. Hopefully that won't change once I put it in the trunk. Right now, it's in my back seat until I finish painting on all this dang vibration damping. I've got like 3/4 gallon to go.

Anyway, so far I'm VERY pleased with how it sounds.

-Austin

MacLeod

Im a drummer so Ive gotta get nitpicky. That isnt lighting fast double bass. Those are quadruplets sort of. 4 strikes on the toms (16th notes) followed by 2 stikes on the bass. This is one of Mikes signature moves. It makes the roll seem faster and the double bass kicks give it more punch as opposed to just straight rolls on the toms.

AustinKP

Originally posted by MacLeod
Im a drummer so Ive gotta get nitpicky.

Well I ain't (a drummer), so I ain't (nitpicky).

Anyway, I was talking about exactly what you described. I've always been able to hear the toms hitting, but I didn't realize the (LIGHTNING FAST)double bass strike was actually a double. And aren't those more like 32nd notes? Unless they're playing in cut time or something. They change keys and time signatures faster than I can shake a stick though, so it's hard to keep track.

Oh, and to answer your previous question, yes I can hear the toms in the beginning of This Dying Soul. It's mostly in the mids though. I think they're higher than my sub is crossed over.

-Austin

MacLeod

No those would be 16th notes.

With drums the value of the notes counts the number of stikes per beat. A quarter note is one strike per beat, an 8th is 2, 16th is 4 and then 32nd would be 8 or 32 beats per measure (assuming 4/4 time).

That is the extent of my drum theory knowledge. I never studied that stuff, I just played!

PoweredByDodge

I have no idea why - but I've noticed that foam surrounds do offer a slightly better SQ experience - but then again it may be that they're usually attached to paper/pulp cone woofers (which are sonically superior to polymer / composite material cone woofers - where you normaly find rubber surrounds).

As far as the basket goes - its hte same basket as an MTX 8000 also - it's a generic basket widely used in the market by MANY companies.

Reasons - 1 - rigid as hell, 2 - cheap because they make so many of them due to high use (which came first, chicken or the egg), 3 - the design offers flexibility for cone design due to the dish effect (rather than a conical sort of shape to it).