T3 Audio TSNS 18 + Soundigital 16k

[tejcurrent 13]

I'm going to quadruple this setup in a few months, but I pulled the trigger and bought one so I could do some testing. Not just on the sub, but I have alts that I like to test in-vehicle, and I can move 1 18 that can handle a ton of power around from vehicle to vehicle pretty easy.

This temporary setup is 1 18 TSNS in 5ft net @ 35Hz. It's 70sq of port and kerfed. Amp is an American Bass 1000.1 @ 4 ohms with 3 D3100s and 1 240a alternator.

Having owned numerous beefy subs I will say the weight and size of the motor on this thing makes it the most impressive looking.

102 lb ship weight

The sub has direct 8g leads, using Raptor wire. The Raptor is on the left, some scrap "Amp King" stuff I've had for years and got for free on the right.

And the test box:

And a short vid. This is with the amp set to keep above 13v with just 1 alternator.

I'll post a review a bit later on this evening, but I'm pretty impressed with it. There are a lot of things that I would have done differently if I wanted to spend the money, but this is a cheap test box that will fit my needs and costs very little to build.

[onebadmonte 235]

102 lbs, oh my. I wonder what's the story with them using that basket. I guess the drama was resolved. Any who, pretty impressive for a quick build.

[Dictator1992 6]

I feel roadtrip to conway!

[matthubb123 11]

nice work

[Aaron Clinton 2,372]

I wonder what's the story with them using that basket. I guess the drama was resolved.

It's not.

But sweet box BTW.

[Ohjay 116]

Nice box. It looks like that TSNS is moving a good bit of air. Can't wait to see what 4 of them will do.

[sefugi 166]

Nice looking work for a quick setup! Will be waiting for the outcome of the quads!

[tejcurrent 13]

Thanks everyone! Dictator head on over! I'll be mailing this amp out come Monday though so after that it'll be around a month before I get the new amp installed

The 1 sub moves a ton of air, way more so than I expected. It normally takes 150db+ do move my sunroof open, and after a short period of time my sunroof was open. Not saying it's doing over 150, just that it's flexing the bejeezus out of things for what it is! It seems to have a deeper sound than I'm used to if that makes sense.

I'll post a review tomorrow after a bit more listening.

[Kanaworm$ 292]

That motor is huge!

Nice job on the kerf.

How does it sound side firing like that in your vehicle?

[Sir-Lancelot 216]

Looks nice Troy. That's a big damn woofa!

I had been looking for these pics since last week when you said it was delivered, missed your post I guess.

Tuned in now tho.

[tejcurrent 13]

Thanks again! Side firing sounds pretty good. I have to get the current amp and rack out to have enough room to rear fire, but I didn't expect it to sound this good as it is. I'm going to see which way sounds best, but as is really does some damage.

Sorry I meant to send you a link to the thread or email a few pics but I've been super super busy. I'm excited to buy a new amp but at the same time sad to get rid of this one as I like it a lot- and the work to remove all that wiring is depressing!

Different setups peak differently and all that jazz, and you can't compare the cone area difference between my last setup and this single sub, but this sub sounds moves parts of the car 2 21s did not. It just has so much authority on low notes my steering wheel moves, and my front wiper jump around a lot more. This sub has the tonality I was missing with the Wardens. I gave it a good listening to and I keep getting happier. I don't have enough play time to say it's breaking in, but this sub DOES NOT need 5kw to get loud. If the TSNS was a little more affordable I can definitely see it being an excellent match for a 2000 watt amp. It just keeps getting louder as I throw more power at it, but with not wanting to wire above 4 ohms it's asking like little Oliver, "Please, sir, can I have some more?"

I have a long time to give a more in depth review of this sub, but since there isn't much info out on it I will write up some now. This sub looks fantastic, I wasn't sure if I would like the CF cone, but it looks absolutely killer. I want to inverse mount it so the basket and motor don't get missed, but the CF is also too sexy to hide. My hand is sore from holding it up at an angle with 2 fingers while I seated it in the recessed hole in the box, so it has enough weight it isn't a good idea for people concerned with stuff like that. There's the common misconception that if a sub is rated 1000 watts you must give it that, and with it's 5kw rating I'm going to say that isn't true for this sub at all. It looks like it will have no trouble taking gobs of power, but it plays with little power exceptionally well.

As far as sound it has a deeper tone to it that I would expect from an SQ driver. For rap and C&S music I would strongly recommend it, but for metal with a lot of kick drums I really feel the need for a better front stage to keep up with the really fast kicks. I keep saying I'll post more later but I'll post more after some more listening.

[tejcurrent 13]

I turned the box rear firing and I'm liking it a bit better, though I think there is a tiny bit less output. I'm uploading a few videos right now that are terrible quality, but I only had my cell phone and a few minutes.

I sold my 1000.1 and purchased a SD 16k, so while it's in the mail I'm running the sub bridged on 2 channels of my 4 channel amp for a total of 150 watts RMS. It is extremely loud for the power! It's louder than most 1000w single sub setups I've heard, flexes my wipers, my mirrors, my dash,and anything loose in the car. With 150 watts it even does a small hair trick, and you can feel the low notes as you inhale. If I hadn't wired the sub, set the gains, and made sure there wasn't clipping personally I wouldn't believe this sub was on the power it is.

As far as how it sounds it blends MUCH better with this low power, I was listening to Chevelle today and the sound was rich and hit with authority. The drums sounded natural, I was going to do more attentive listening but it sounded so good I just enjoyed the music

Here is a video from a few days back. It's a small paper trick, but for 150 RMS (before rise) on 1 18 it's very loud.

Here is a vid from today, really poor quality cell vid, but at least you get the idea. Don't have a seizure from the changing black to white

I don't expect those vids to win any awards, but you can at least see the little bit of flex my 4 channel is powering

[tejcurrent 13]

Here are also a few pics of the main build going on right now.

I have 8 runs (4+ and 4 -) from front to back of 1/0, but with the future upgrades I wanted to add 4 more for a total of 12. Here's another 100-some feet of 1/0. Knu Kolossus and kicker hyperflex mainly.

Here are my busbars. I was debating between aluminum and copper, but I like the look of the aluminum more and with the size of them I don't see there being an issue. The main bars are 1x2x30 and accept 27 runs of 1/0, and there are 27 blocks that are being used for fusing.

Sketch up, then cut.

[Duran 387]

ONLY 27 runs?! Lulz

[manrossdamn 57]

Awesome build!!

I always wanted to see how deadly that sub was!!

102 Pounds?

Use it as a weight when you're working out

As always,

[tejcurrent 13]

I was laying things out, but I'm going to completely redo this area:

I tested one piece and liked it so much I started on the rest. I was initially going with brushed aluminum, but I really liked the polished look. It's extremely labor intensive and time consuming, but looks almost like chrome when finished:

I was running 4 black alternators with steel center, I'll be switching to white with black center. Hope to have new pics of them powder coated white soon. Also probably adding more alternators.

[tejcurrent 13]

ONLY 27 runs?! Lulz

lol. I'm thinking 6 from the front, 10 to the rear batts, 2 for the future 2 4 channel amps, 1 for leds, volt meter, etc. and 8 for the sub amp(s). I figure I can run 8 runs within a few inches of the amp to one of my existing 3/4"x2"x9" copper busbars, then the 2 + runs to the amp so there's as little loss as possible. Also having the ground bar where I can have it grounded to every individual component seems like it would simplify and improve things to me. I'll probably also slap some busbars under the truck to the frame, and on the rear battery bank. I still have around 5 ft of 1x2 aluminum bar I'll probably use for the rear batt bank, but I have some 3/8" plate I'm not sure what I'll do with, or if I'll use it at all.

Those plates in my hand are in the bottom right corner, I think the big sheet is 3/8" x 12" x 40"

and 30 300a fuses.

Thanks ManRossDamn

*edit-

These were the old bars I was considering using by the amp(s), or something else.

[Sir-Lancelot 216]

27 runs....weaksauce. lol

Looking good man! Hope to get some seat time here soon.

[tejcurrent 13]

27 runs....weaksauce. lol

Looking good man! Hope to get some seat time here soon.

Sure thing! Whenever you want is good for me, maybe you could throw some suggestions on the front stage out there. I'm thinking 2 sets of t3 6.5 comps up front and 1 more set in the rear doors, but I know I'll be wanting more midbass.

[LDW3RD 0]

Looking good.

Can't wait to see what you come up with.

Good luck.

[Sir-Lancelot 216]

I have the perfect place for those copper blocks.

I will be hitting you up here soon for some more goodies. lol

:morepower1:

Cant wait to hear it Bro.

[edouble101 314]

Thanks for your review on this sub. It really is awesome!!!

[SPL_Man 20]

sweet !

[Dictator1992 6]

Liking the t3 setup always wondered about their stuff. Glad to see some one giving them a chance in a full build

[tejcurrent 13]

Thanks! My cousin stopped by today and took a quick listen, he said something along the lines of "Holy crap that's retarded for 150 watts." I built a nice 7f net box @ 36Hz for 2 IA LI 15's for the trunk of his Buick, powered by an AP1500. He said after a minute or two that it was louder that his install. We're going to drop his setup in his Durango soon though, so there may be a build posted.

With rock I've been loving the sound with this low power. My mids can't keep up enough to make snappy kick-drums in music like Devildrivers Clouds over California sound like I would like, but from lots of listening and testing I believe the sub itself isn't at all to blame. I'm crossed over around 60Hz, and the really deep sound of the sub just overpowers my anemic 80-200Hz that makes some rock to me. I'm sure with a bit better front stage (which is in the works) it will sound better. 99% of songs sound wonderful. I listened to every Chevelle CD made, Underoath, Destroy the Runner, Crystal Method, Atreyu, Devil Wears Prada, and lots of Rap, C&S music, etc and it all sounds great. I can't compare it to the XCON or Havoc, but in it's "Class" and power rating it sounds like I would expect, or a bit better.

With my last 2 Warden 21 setup I was pretty happy, but following it up with this sub makes me realize what I've been missing for some time. You can hear the full sound of different low frequency instruments much better. It may just be me but every drum (make/brand or whatever) has it's own sound and tonality. Many subs you just sort of hear- "oh that was a 40hz drum hit", where I hear a lot more than just 1 note, I feel like I'm hearing a much more full sound. I truthfully don't have the words or SQ experience to give the review I would like to or this sub deserves, but I'm definitely sticking with T3 as long as their CS is as good as it was with this purchase.