These things are huge! (1 Viewer)

[Jonathan_D]

I know everyone is oohing and ahhing over their new Tumults and AV 15s, and with good reason. But I just got my Tempest today and the thing is huge. This is my first DIY sub, though I have built other speakers. I'm building, as you can see from my sig, a 122L sealed Tempest. My wife said when I told her I was going to build a sub, and the cost, "you should build two". Well, when I show her the size of this thing I think she'll be glad I not (at least for now ).

(Admin note - edited out "Damn" in the thread title, let's keep the titles clean).

Here are some pictures:
(like my feet? )





Edited to add pictures 3/14/03

 

[Robert_Gaither]

... yeah, but they're also beautiful in an industrial sort of way (own a pair myself and felt the same way, sort of an awe at the size, fear for my home's structure, and relief at the time after seeing it knowing I was going to get my money's worth).

 

[Greg Yeatts]

Nothing wrong with a Tempest. The only reason I bought A Tumult is because I could use it in a smaller space with high power and get a much higher WAF. The Tempest models very well against the Tumult when you use an optimized cabinet for both. As a matter of fact, I believe that if you use a larger cabinet for a Tempest, it will have more output than the Tumult at a given power level (given that the power level doesn't exceed the Tempest's limits). The Tumult will ultimately accept greater input power levels and have greater output.

If I had more room, I would have used a Tempest myself.

 

[Brian Bunge]

I'll have to get the pic up I took today of a Tumult and AV15 side by side!

 

[Owen Bartley]

Jonathan, I felt the same way when I got mine. And now that its back out of the box (for finishing) I still look at it and think wow. Just wait till other people see it who don't have a lot of audio experience. The friend I recruited to help me move my box couldn't believe the size of the driver or the port.

 

[Jonathan_D]

(Admin note - edited out "Damn" in the thread title, let's keep the titles clean).

Sorry, I don't really think of "damn" as "unclean" - I apologize.

I understand the need for a Tumult, or even AV-15, and I guess if I could have justified spending the money on a Tumult I would have. Part of my purpose was to build a sub for about the price I would have been willing to buy one. Once I put a BFD with this it will be just about right, since I'm going to use amplification I already have this will do it(though if the amp doesn't do it for me, I'm looking into a Yamaha pro amp that appears pretty good which will put me well over - oh well! ).

I'm dealing with about a 3000 FT3 room and really think any more than a Tempest would be way overkill!

 

[TimForman]

Oh..I don't know about that. My room is >3000 cu ft and I found that my sealed MidQ Tempest sub didn't give me the impact I wanted for movies (although it's very good for music) so I added a 135 L vented Shiva tube to "balance" things out. I've placed the Tempest in front and the Shiva in the back. So far it works great.

 

[Aaron_Smith]

I feel your pain. I have the 122L tempest built from Adire's plans... it's a GREAT sub, I couldn't be any happier with it. My wife, on the other hand, grimaces any time I even discuss it. The only real issue is that it's tough to place a sub that big ideally in a room. I use mine mainly for music, and it's hard to get it far enough from the listening position so that it doesn't smear the soundstage. Minor gripe- it's a great sub and well worth it's gargantuan size.

 

[Jonathan_D]

You know, I didn't think 122L was all that big considering the other possible alignments for the Tempest. I had considered building a couple Shiva or AV-12 based subs to use as stands for my AR-DIYs, but the wife didn't want anything that big out in the room.

I actually do have the space to put two 122L subs in the room (they would flank my tv), but still thought it would be overkill (despite what Tim says :b). I'm not looking to put out 110db+ in a 20x20 room that will shake the house and cause stuff to fall off the bookshelves. I didn't ruin my hearing (thank God) as a youth listening to high SPLs and don't want to do it now. (Yeah, I went to my share of rock concerts through my college days, but stopped sitting in the speakers when I started taking dates to 'em. And that was also before monster sound systems in cars.)

 

[TimForman]

It's not so much the SPL but just the way the two different subs sound. When running tone tests to adjust my BFD I could get my house in sympathetic vibration with the Tempest. Scary! But I don't attempt to do that under normal listening conditions. Anyway, you'll be the one to decide if you want more or not.

 

[Chris Tsutsui]

The tempest is a great sub, I think it probably sounds the same as tumults and AV15s at standard listening volumes. But when the volume goes up and the bass hits low, the higher end drivers will come out on top. (Given adequate power of course).

Me being a bass head, will probably upgrade my tempest to a Tumult if there's ever a sale on them for $350 again.

As for the Tempest being big... Yeah it is. I show the driver off every day as it is clearly on display for the public behind me.

I coated the tempest and the ports with armorall and now it stays shiny.

 

[Jonathan_D]

As for the Tempest being big... Yeah it is. I show the driver off every day as it is clearly on display for the public behind me.

Nice! Did you ever get it properly tuned?

 

[marc seals]

I am currently running 2 Mid-Q 122L Tempest subs. I have them stacked in the front left corner of the room. Yes they are kind of large when stacked but my (now discarded) EBS box actually took up more space.

BTW I have them front firing instead of down firing as in the Adire plans.

 

[PaulDF]

Hey Marc, can you describe the main differences you found between your EBS alignment and your now dual 122's?

Thanks

 

[marc seals]

Well the EBS played lower but also slower

Seriously the sealed Tempests are much faster and to me seem to have much more impact or a higher slam factor. Instead of only feeling the house shake (which I still do) I now feel a more physical impact as well. Keep in mind that I have mine front firing so that probably makes at least some difference compared to a down firing design.

The sealed design also sounds MUCH better for music in my opinion!

I toyed with the idea of a Tumult but the cost ratio of just adding another Tempest was the deciding factor. Heck I could add 2 more Tempests and still come out ahead of a Tumult/PR design.

If you have any more questions just fire away...........

 

[PaulDF]

I've always got questions...

1. Do you drive them with separate amps? Wattage?
2. When stacking them together, did you put something between them?
3. Do they perform well for movies?
4. Did you notice that you were able to turn the gain higher with a sealed 122 over the EBS before Xmax occurs?
5. Any drawbacks over the EBS?

Thanks Marc

 

[Chris Tsutsui]

Nice! Did you ever get it properly tuned?

The tempest in my car is tuned to 24hz which is the type of bass I like in my car. Yes I do notice a slight rise in volume at some beats, but that's only on the occasional deep bass songs.

I have a low/high pass filter on my amp and an adjustable crossover. I forgot exactly how I have it setup but I think the crossover is set to about 80hz. The mains are Alpine Type Rs that extend to about 45hz and I put them in sealed 0.75cf mdf boxes.

2 Sealed and stacked 122L tempests vs one EBS is gonna have a huge difference. The EBS has a slow taper in deep bass while the duals have more mid bass punch. Also, if he added another amp and since they're both corner loaded, it could mean an extra 5-6db. There's a big difference itself.

 

[marc seals]

Okay sorry for the delay but here are the answers.

1. I drive them with one 2 channel pro audio amp. Each tempest is wired in parallel and recieves approx 600 watts each.
2. Yes I bought some "stuff" that is for lining your kitchen cabinets or drawers with. It is rubber based and keeps them from sliding around very well.
3. Oh YEAH!
4. Yes I did. I actually have not bottomed them yet though I did notice the clipping indicator lights on my amp come on a couple of times when cranking up The Haunted in DTS mode and I had never noticed the amp clip before.
5. Ummmm not really in my opinion. As I said before they don't play as low but I honestly have not noticed or missed it and the (imho) benefits far outweigh the loss of low end output. Also since I have them stacked they actually take up less room than the EBS box with the legs.