Initial SPL 12 impressions

[stratusrt01 0]

I was sent a Mach 5 SPL 12 to test. I recieved it today and checked it out really well as far as build quality and design.

My 1st impression when I opened the cardboard box was hmmmmmm, a crate. I didn't know they came in crates, which caught me off guard at first.

While I like the way the crate looks, it really didn't protect the subwoofer any better than a box with foam padding. Upon opening the crate, the foam was in tact, but the wood was busted up pretty badly, however, the subwoofer sustained no damage as far as I can tell, so it did it's job.

Now for the good things I noticed upon initial inspection:

o Glue joints are flawless, there's no excess glue anywhere on the subwoofer. A+ for attention to details.

o The subwoofer is much nicer in person than in pictures, the pictures don't do it any justice.

o I love the way the dustcap is built, it would make centering the dustcap during recones a no-brainer. It has to go on centered, it has no choice.

o The subwoofer uses sewn on tensiles which I've always liked more than standard, or woven in.

o The gasket is probably the best fitting gasket I've seen on an SPL oriented subwoofer in quite some time. It fits the woofer perfectly with no gaps around the surround, all the holes line up perfectly, and it fits flat on the woofer, so sealing the sub with the supplied gasket shouldn't be an issue at all.

Now for the things I didn't care for very much:

o A picky thing, but there's some misalignment of the magnets in the motor structure. At first I thought it may be damage from shipping, but upon closer inspection, it seems that they just used one magnet that was about 1/16th of an inch larger in diameter in the stack. I know, I know, 1/16th is nothing, but it's perfect on one side, and sticks out on the other. I told you it was a nit-picking thing. Doesn't affect the sub at all, just a visual thing.

Here's a picture of the side where it's not perfect:

And here's the side 180 degrees around:

Now, my biggest complaint about the Mach 5 Audio SPL 12.................

The speaker wire connectors....

At first glance, they seem like a good idea, thumb screw connectors, but upon playing with them, they are a little hard to turn, and if you've got fat fingers like I do, getting in there to turn them is a problem. If you've got little girly hands, you'll be fine though... Once the speaker wire goes in them, it gets even a bit tougher. That would be my only suggestion on what to change so far on the sub build-wise.

So my 1st impression is that build quality is as good or better than other subs in the same class so far.

I plan on hooking it up this weekend to a Sundown SAZ-3000d and riding around for about a week to do my subjective listening. I know it's an SPL sub, but most people who buy them want to listen to music, not just burp them, so I'm going to compare them to my DD 9512 and IA DP as far as musical ability. After I feel comfortable that I can give a good, unbiased review on the musical abilities, the fun starts. We're going to hook it up in the truck, and just keep feeding it power and do some SPL testing vs. the DD 9512. We'll push it as far as I feel comfortable with. I don't want to purposely blow up either sub, but have been given the green light to see exactly what she'll take, so I'll do that.

[johnecon2001 82]

Good review, hopefully this will generate more interest in a great sub and company.

[ford302redneck 15]

sweet

[Stuckinok 0]

haha i hate the connectors also....

[bland 0]

Going to be nice to see some real spl numbers out of this.

[plushDJ 0]

I got girly fingers so I'm good

[stratusrt01 0]

Yes, all of that was in the box, and it was packed appropriately just like you mentioned, sorry, I should have been more clear on that. Like I said, it did it's job well, but the crate itself just didn't come out looking that great. But the subwoofer arrived unhurt, which is the important thing.

It took a little abuse along the way, as you can tell.

And here's a pic of the aluminum trim ring in place of the gasket:

[bland 0]

My crate is smashed up just about the same. Hate to think how a cardboard box would have held up.

[coobies5 43]

the crate is kinda nifty, and sub looks awesome......

[mrogowski 6]

That's the problem with shipping such heavy units. Shippers tend to "drop" them rather than "place" them.

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

My only bugaboo was the space for the terminals. But that is pretty good in the big picture. Looking forward to your build.

[Adrian_D 520]

I'm anxious to see how it does against the 9512

[wasted911 0]

hmm... seems like those terminals arnt a big hit..

Also.. I dont think you'll be able to blow that woofer up very easily.. But that's just what I think

[ford302redneck 15]

I'm anxious to see how it does against the 9512

x2.

I hate DD.

[stratusrt01 0]

I got to do some initial lower power listening tests this week, just trying to get a feel for what this sub likes. Put it in my 6th order bandpass for the IA DP, and it had some pretty tremendous output on the test bench, on not quite 1/2 it's RMS. Broke it in a bit, and I'm going to put it in 2 different enclosures this weekend, for a couple days each. One will be 2.5 cubic ft, tuned to 35hz, the other is a pseudo-transmission line I've used with other SPL oriented subs that tends to get rather loud, even on music.

[mrogowski 6]

I look forward to your results.

[stratusrt01 0]

Did a little more testing tonight. Threw the SPL 12 and the 6th order bandpass tuned looooooooow into a friend's truck on a SAZ-1500d. Everyone who was in the shop was amazed by the output. Had around the same output on music as his DD 3518 on the same amp. Did a 142.3 on the Termlab sealed and legal at 38hz. Told you the bandpass was tuned low in the beginning. Not too bad for a single 12" woofer on 1500 watts, when it's rated at 2500. In comparison, the DD 9512 did a 142.0 in the same setup. On Monday the fun begins, I'm going to build the SPL boxes for it tomorrow, and we'll give it a good run and see what it will do in the environment it was designed to perform in.

What amazed me was the low end output, for it being an SPL sub. Definately has more low end than the DD 9512, and sounds very smooth, where the DD is very mechanical sounding.

So far I'm impressed with it, can't wait to see what it will do given RMS power and then some. I let my friend wire up the sub tonight, and he had the same comment about the terminals though. They really are hard to get tight because the space is so small.

Edited March 15, 2008 by stratusrt01

[Breakjunki 0]

Is there a possible Mach5 boner in the making??? I'm glad you pulled good results from it. I know that subs has potential without ever seeing it in person.. Looking forward to some full power abuse

[ddeitz 0]

impressive cant wait to see more results

[Stuckinok 0]

nice

[mrogowski 6]

Yeah, the terminals. That was a mistake actually. Nice spring-loaded ones will be coming.

[plushDJ 0]

HURRY RICH!! The suspense is killing me!

And are you gonna post your results on ROE and the like? I think it's awesome you're doing this and hopefully the word gets out about this wicked sub.

[jonbearsmt 919]

My crate is smashed up just about the same. Hate to think how a cardboard box would have held up.

my fi's came in cardboard... it was fine.. no problems... but on another note...

i worked at ups for years... my lord. you have to imagen 1 guy unloading a 40 foot simi trailor that has been sitting closed up.. in the texas sun allday.. the temp up to 200f i chit you not... so you have a group of men 1 to a trailor.. and its hurry up kinda job, and there none stop boxes for hours.. in the dead heat... so many many many boxs got slamed tossed and droped... and when thay break out of the box ALL TOGATHER... FORGET ABOUT IT .... TTHATS A WHOLE OTHER STORY... IF YOU WANNA KNOW WHERE "LOST" STUFF AT UPS GOES.

[stratusrt01 0]

As the sub is breaking in, of course it's getting louder. Later this week we'll do the full on SPL testing, pushing it to it's limits. I'm impressed so far, 142's on a single 12 on a 1500 watt amp that's tuned in the low low 30hz range is pretty impressive.

Maybe I'll get to take a few videos today of it on music.

[plushDJ 0]

Are you gonna be testing numbers on tones and music or just tones?