Sundown : Reference SQ Component Set

[sundownz 197]

I have always been a bit SQ fan. Clean and clear sound is what brought me into car audio but I had to make a detour towards output for most of our company history so far in order to meet my customer demands. Of course... that has not stopped me from implementing features for lower distortion in many of our models

But now I feel it is time to really gear a product DIRECTLY towards SQ. I've started development on what I consider a true Reference grade component set... one with objective distortion levels up there with the BEST products on the market at any price level. This complete set will be priced under $1,000 from an authorized dealer; how much under that I do not know yet. This set certainly is NOT for everyone but it is what I want to have in my own cars.

Nearly every part will be custom tooled... tweeter housing and internals, midrange frame, cone, surround, spider, crossover housing, etc, etc. So this will take some time and effort to accomplish but will be a world class set no question. I was waiting for the time when this sort of tooling was feasible for Sundown as a company to make a product like this.

On to the initial renderings... I will only give out limited information until parts start to be physically completed. But I will go ahead and do the usual teaser shots for everyone to think about until then.

* Powerful Neo motor with very thick top plate (hint hint)... the surround is a specially tooled until to have identical forward and rearward compliance. The motor features two internal shorting rings and a naturally low inductance already. I will say that this driver does feature double-digit one-way excursion (linear) so will offer very powerful mid-bass.

* Very open frame similar to Dynaudio or Scan-Speak and the like but this particular unit will be tooled just for this driver. As this is an SQ unit we opted for a large open pole vent to keep air noise to a minimum. The coil is a fairly large diameter unit for a mid so thermal handling is not a concern.

* Specially tuned rear chamber (the shape is for specific acoustic purposes)

* The housing mounts similarly to many other high-end tweeters so bears a resemblance to a few but this particular housing will be tooled for the specific internal needs of our tweeter. Higher end tweeters such as this unit have quite a bit going on internally to damp the rear wave and tune the Fs of the unit.

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This set will be a two-way upon introduction. We may develop another crossover and a dedicated midrange for a three-way setup later on if demand exists.

The crossover is also still in development phase... I am working on some neat features for it.

I am also considering selling the set "a-la-carte" so you can buy the mid, tweeter, and crossovers all separately to meet your needs.

An ETA is NOT yet available.

[Sencheezy 689]

Edited May 18, 2012 by Sencheezy

[Notorious97200 339]

Damn...

Those things may make me change my Focal set finally !!!

waiting, waiting

[Impious 1,476]

Is the "line" in the top plate due to the rendering, or is the top plate a two-piece top plate?

The surround looks nice....typically spiders by themselves are fairly linear but the surround is what pulls the CMS curve out of symmetry.

Do you have cone material chosen yet?

[Shogen 325]

pretty sweet!

[ricksi30 923]

Very cool, these I will definitely be keeping an eye on. Again I have to ask, just 6.5? If so do you have any plans for a bigger mid bass driver?

[JPSWanberg 0]

I may have to rethink my dynaudio mw 162 and md 102's.

[Shogen 325]

nice!!!

[Skullz 8]

Very interesting, tuned in for sure.

EDIT: BTW is that an XBL motor as you said it will have double digit xmax?

Edited May 19, 2012 by Skullz

[onebadmonte 235]

Very sexy looking.

[Kanaworm$ 292]

I cannot wait for more information on this setup. Planning on going all SQ in my Civic at some time.

[Tirefryr 1,742]

How about ferrite and cut the price in half?

[ricksi30 923]

How about ferrite and cut the price in half?

X 1,000,000

[audio-neon 34]

I am interested, although the price will put it out of my reach.

I am wretching over the 500$ price tag on the audison voche component set I've been looking at.

[fishmonger 3]

I'll take a set

[SeductiveSounds 0]

These are just what the average user is going to need.

And the price point is looking really good.

[Julian 641]

How about ferrite and cut the price in half?

I agree 100000x

[sundownz 197]

The motor would be too wide and heavy in Ferrite, IMO.

We are trying to keep reflection on the motor down as well -- a big flat top plate and magnet right behind the cone isn't what we want.

[sundownz 197]

This is the type of driver we are aiming this set at :

http://www.madisoundspeakerstore.com/scanspeak-woofers-6-7/scanspeak-illuminator-18wu/4741t-00-7-woofer-4-ohm/

Scan did the wide open design for good reason We are going as open as practical without getting quite so deep.

[kkk4 3]

spectacular

[SeductiveSounds 0]

damn it!

i mixed up my posts lol

I'm going to need 8" midbass, 4" midrange, and Tweet. No X-over needed. Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd GO.

[sundownz 197]

So is anyone ready to see some updates on these bad boys ?

[pmureika 31]

Yep!!

[sundownz 197]

* Overall Set

* Crossover Cover

* Crossover Guts

* Crossover Side -- Very thick / heavy duty housing plates

* Midrange Front

* Midrange Back -- Notice lead wires ran below spider. I will also likely make the finish chrome for more durability and weather resistance.

* Overall side view

* Tweeter

* Rear Tweeter View

* Tweeter Side View

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Final MAP price from authorized dealer is $799 for the entire set.

I am looking into selling the parts separately as well -- but those details have not been worked out yet.

I am planning on doing a good bit of testing and tweaking before starting production on these -- so consider this pretty early in the game.

Will update once the prototype set arrives and we test it.

[Randal Johnson 544]

Are you by any chance gonna bring a working set for demo to MECA World Finals ??

I'd really like a demo !!!