12" Dcon Review

[Impious 1,476]

This review is a result of the SSA Dcon Give Away here on DIYMA. So, first I would like to thank Aaron & Mark of SSA for participating in the give-away and providing 2 free drivers to members of the community.

Specifications for the driver can be found HERE. The cost for the driver once added to the cart in the shopping section of the SSA website is $165 plus shipping.

As you can see from the below picture, the driver is single boxed with 4 foam pads glued to the sides of the box at the mounting ring and (not visible) foam padding underneath the motor structure with an inner cardboard "box" that surrounds the motor structure.

The driver did shift slightly during shipping, one side of the basket slipped down underneath one of the side foam supports, but was otherwise unscathed.

The sub itself is an attractive driver, refreshingly free of flash or pizzaz. Black pulp fiber cone, foam surround, 2" wide D4 voice coils, standard 12 spoke basket with venting under the spider, and a new logo design on the dustcap. Build quality appears solid and well thought out; clean glue joints, felt pads to eliminate lead slap and quality push terminals. The motor structure is reasonable in size and weight; It's fairly tall being triple stacked magnets but not unreasonably so (6.5" mounting depth), and the motor structure is fairy narrow which helps keep the weight down and makes handling the driver fairly simple.

It will initially be installed IB as that is how my trunk is currently configured. I'd like to also be able to test the driver in a sealed enclosure and ideally ported aswell....but we'll see how that all pans out. It will be powered by the bridged rear channels of a MB Quart QAA4250 which will provide approximately 500w @ 8ohm. Rest of the system consists of an Alpine W200, H701 and a Memphis Msync 8" comp set in the kickpanels. Sub duty is currently provided by an Exodus Shiva-X, which works out nicely as both it and the Dcon are in the same price bracket

Installed:

[Impious 1,476]

My initial listening impressions are that this is overall a pretty good driver.

To reiterate, I'm presently running the driver IB on a 500w amplifier with a lowpass crossover of 63hz @ 18db/oct.

Sound quality wise the driver is pretty well defined. This no noticeable overhang. The driver is tight and accurate on fast bass lines and fast transitions. There doesn't seem to be much blending of the various notes. For the most part they seem to be well separated and distinct with good transitions between notes. On faster bass lines, like those found on Mudvayne, and on more complex notes that transition fast or are layered the driver has no problem keeping up with no lag or overhang. It does an acceptable job of sounding "real", instruments sound like instruments. There also doesn't seem to be exaggeration of the notes. And with proper level matching the sub blends well with the rest of the system. The driver isn't perfect, but it's a pleasant driver to listen to with no obvious or obnoxious deficiencies in the way of sound quality.

Output wise the sub is fully capable of getting sufficiently loud at frequencies above approximately 35hz. Enough to be overpowering if so allowed....certainly more than enough output to suffice for all but a true basshead. I honestly haven't got a clue exactly how much power I'm running to it (amp is rated 500w, but I'm certainly not using all of that juice), but from fiddling with the settings I can tell it's capable of more output than I'm utilizing from the driver for daily listening.

On the downside, however, in this particular installation the driver lacks impact in the lowest half octave to octave. Of course, it doesn't take a genius to figure out from the looking at the specs why this would be so. A lower Q higher Fs driver is inherently going to have a weak bottom end in this alignment. Running IB however does give the driver some advantage in low end compared to a sealed enclosure. I did end up bumping 20hz - 32 or 40hz (can't recall off hand) by around 2db to give it some additional low end without trying to overly stress the driver. This helped some, but it's still a little lacking. On tracks like Planet Kryptonite and Beasty Boys the low end is present, It isn't non-existent, it's just not strong.

For this reason, I could not foresee running this driver in a sealed enclosure as that would simply serve to further reduce the low end output.....unless you had the available power and excursion to EQ in the low end. I do however believe this driver would greatly benefit from being ran ported in a low tuned enclosure as this should increase output in the last octave where this driver needs assistance. Sealed would probably be acceptable for just a good sounding daily driver setup.....but expect the low end to be further impaired.

Some of my listening material to test this driver all around for accuracy, performance with different music genres, output, etc;

Michael Jackson

Audioslave

IASCA disc

Puscifer (testing for output)

Eagles

Mudvayne

NIN

Tool

APC

Beastie Boys

And a whole lot of weird shit at Dave's house, most of which I'd not heard of before.

As of right now, I'd probably rate this driver a 7 out of 10. Sound quality is good while not prefect. Output in the upper passband is more than sufficient, while the low end is lacking in this particular installation.

Right now if you were to ask me if I were going to keep the Dcon in my car or reinstall the Shiva-X, I would probably have to say the Shiva-X will be going back in. Why? Well, the sound quality of the Shiva-X was at minimum on par with the Dcon....the Shiva-X seems a little more refined in definition. But, in my particular installation, I need the low end output the Shiva-X provides since I plan on sticking with IB. However this statement could be different if we were discussing a different alignment, such as a ported enclosure. We'll see how this weekend pans out.....hopefully I'll be able to test it in a ported enclosure.

[RobClay 20]

Great review

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

Would love to hear your thoughts on it ported, as it is the Dcon's strongest alignment in terms of performance. As is not naturally an IB driver, I am glad to see how it preformed in your install.

[ABXX49 20]

How much does a Shiva-x retail for? Just for a comparison, as the Dcon is a very affordable driver.

[Impious 1,476]

Would love to hear your thoughts on it ported, as it is the Dcon's strongest alignment in terms of performance. As is not naturally an IB driver, I am glad to see how it preformed in your install.

Indeed I would agree based on my listening thus far that the Dcon's ideal alignment for overall frequency response reproduction is ported. I have no doubts that the low end would come alive in a ported enclosure, as the driver specs dictate.

In this alignment it's a good sounding driver with more than adequate output in the higher passband, the design of the driver just doesn't allow for a strong low end sealed or IB. Which wasn't a surprise to me. Hopefully people reading the review thus far will take into account the design of driver and what alignment I tested it in (which is why I attempted to stress "in this particular alignment" in my initial review). It would be unfair to berate the driver for a lack of low end in an alignment it obviously wasn't design to excel in based on T/S parameters.

I'll probably go with a 2-2.25cuft tuned to 28-30hz for the enclosure....that's just from 2 minutes of fiddling around though. If you have a different suggestion Aaron, I'm all ears

[Impious 1,476]

How much does a Shiva-x retail for? Just for a comparison, as the Dcon is a very affordable driver.

$182 + shipping. So it is in the same price bracket with the Dcon (although the Shiva-X is more marketed towards the home audio segment). I happened to purchase mine while it was on sale for $135.

I didn't link to the Shiva-X in any of my posts because I didn't want this to turn into a "Dcon vs Shiva-X" thread. I wanted the main focus to be on the Dcon. But as I said above, the Shiva-X's parameters simply lend itself to be more suited to my particular installation.

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

Would love to hear your thoughts on it ported, as it is the Dcon's strongest alignment in terms of performance. As is not naturally an IB driver, I am glad to see how it preformed in your install.

Indeed I would agree based on my listening thus far that the Dcon's ideal alignment for overall frequency response reproduction is ported. I have no doubts that the low end would come alive in a ported enclosure, as the driver specs dictate.

In this alignment it's a good sounding driver with more than adequate output in the higher passband, the design of the driver just doesn't allow for a strong low end sealed or IB. Which wasn't a surprise to me. Hopefully people reading the review thus far will take into account the design of driver and what alignment I tested it in (which is why I attempted to stress "in this particular alignment" in my initial review). It would be unfair to berate the driver for a lack of low end in an alignment it obviously wasn't design to excel in based on T/S parameters.

I'll probably go with a 2-2.25cuft tuned to 28-30hz for the enclosure....that's just from 2 minutes of fiddling around though. If you have a different suggestion Aaron, I'm all ears

That is on the larger end of the spectrum, but all the better at 2.25 cubes and 30hz approx.

[jazzy 0]

Nice fair review... good job.

[audiolife 14]

so 2.25 @ 30 hz?

How does this look 2.23 with a 2.5" x13" port 39" long

Edited March 20, 2009 by audiolife

[manbeer 0]

Great review, i was going to try in an IB application at some point even thought that is far from it's optimal alignment, but you beat me to it. I am actually getting very good extension all the way down to the lowest of the lows in a 1.25 cubic foot sealed enclosure, like 30-31hz is where there is a noticable roll off.

This week i will be getting the ported box ready, 1.9 cubes net @ 32hz w/40 square inches of port

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

so 2.25 @ 30 hz?

How does this look 2.23 with a 2.5" x13" port 39" long

Looks good just glancing at it, not at home to put it through a program at the moment. I mentioned that size and tuning to bring to the forefront what you and Brad felt was lacking in an IB install. Heck, Mark run's his 10's in 1.73 cube per. You could take the tuning 2+/- and slug the inner volume to find your optimal preference.

The interesting things is that a large part of the focus and design of the Dcon was to really excel in smaller ported boxes with mild power input (well smaller then average, and still have a fairly flat response where others would have a steep roll off), but the production models are flexible with ported box sizes. So far a handful of people are putting them in average to slightly above average box sizes and loving the performance for what they spent and how little power they are running.

It was never meant to be a world beater, but a modest quality mid-level, mild power driver for people that did not want to spend Icon prices but still wanted the same level of clarity.

[audiolife 14]

Oh we never took it as a world beater, I do think it does have some potential though to sound good. If tuned well it can maybe do well in SQ? I am not about burps or stuff even though I am spending time with a RFL and a geo metro LOL. Its fun but I wouldn't want that as my daily driver.

[audiolife 14]

going with this plan

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

Looks good.

[audiolife 14]

Box is done. I ALMOST did it my way but decided since its squeak's wood I better do it via the plans LOL. All it needs is the speaker cut out.

[RobClay 20]

^Pics or it didnt happen

[Impious 1,476]

Big thanks to Audiolife for whipping out the enclosure in short order. 2.25cuft tuned to 31hz, which is smack in the middle of the "optimal" ported enclosure as listed on the website (which is why this enclosure was chosen).

I'll do some listening impressions after I get more listening time.

[audiolife 14]

its got some arse now but it lost a tid bit of its tight response. Doesn't sound bad at all just not as tight.

[Impious 1,476]

After initially listening ported, the low end came alive but I lost upper end response. I tried various box positions just to be sure that it wasn't install related. I ended up bringing the overall sub level up 3-4db, effectively increasing power to the driver, and then EQ'd down the low end since it was a little peaky and overbearing down low for normal everyday listening with music (but it sure was fun when blasting the volume!). This brought the upper end response to the level it needed to be and smoothed out the low end.

Overall the driver performs well. It lost some quality compared to IB. The notes aren't quite as well defined and precise. There's some slight overhang compared to the previous alignment. Transitions aren't quite as seamless. This isn't to say the driver sounds bad, it's still more than listenable and would perform admirably for someone looking for a good sounding daily driver. It however isn't as precise and accurate as it was IB. Music with fast transitions between notes and constantly shifting bass lines helps mask the deficiencies.....they aren't quite as pronounced but a bit of overhang and blending of the notes is noticeable. On music with solid, defined notes in quick succession is where it's most notable but still acceptable for daily listening. Though this is might not be the ideal alignment for those who place the highest priority on accuracy.

The low end however has improved markedly as I had suspected would be the case. As I noted above, I actually had to tame down the low end as it could get overbearing. Definitely no lack of low end output now. This driver ported has absolutely no problems reaching output levels well behind that which is necessary for everyday listening and should be sufficient for all but the most die hard bassheads. It's capable of finding rattles in my dash I never knew existed. My past few setups have all been single sub sealed or IB, so this is the loudest setup I've had in my car for quite a while.

Overall after testing the driver both IB and in a ported enclosure, I stand by my initial impression of 7/10. In a ported enclosure there's some loss of accuracy with the benefit of enhanced low end output. In IB (and likely also sealed) the accuracy is overall good but it lacks low end output. If I were to recommend this driver, I would recommend it for a ported enclosure. To me, the slight loss in accuracy is worth the benefit of low end presence. The driver should perform quite well in a ported enclosure for someone looking for an inexpensive, quality driver with great output and adequate sound quality for daily listening.