2001 Honda S2000 Build Thread
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II. Revisions
Naturally it would have been too nice to stick with what I have. Since I drew up the plans for the S2k new speakers came out, and I've learned a thing or two more. These revisions are improvements of the original plan.
New subwoofers: Vifa NE 315W-04 12"
Compared to the outgoing AE IB12:
6lb vs. 15lb
11.9mm xmax vs. 10.8mm xmax (Klippel verified values -VC mag July 2010 and DIYMA, my driver as tested by Matt Bogart)
Sexy vs. rugged
The big difference is the weight, in triples the new Vifas weigh only 18lbs together whereas the AEs are at 45lbs. Make no mistake, the AEs are some of the beefiest subs at their weight but the Vifa's clever use of neo motors and aluminum spokes in a classy industrial design beats it easily.
Performance wise both subwoofers cover the same market. High quality subwoofer that can be crossed really high. I would have no problem crossing either up to 1khz in a home audio design. The Vifa has a minor edge 20hz-40hz with better venting, low end sensitivity and large displacement suspension. The AE shines over that with a beefier coil, lower and flatter inductance, and more motor strength. Take your pick, both are fantastic.
Overall I saw this as an opportunity to save 27lb, get a sexier looking sub, and keep the performance envelope just as high.
Cost? $0. The Vifa's were on clearance on PE for $119 shipped. Sold the AEs and used some PE coupons for more savings = [winner].
Current price is $326 a pop:
Vifa NE315W, 12" Woofer, 4 ohm: Madisound Speaker Store
Vifa has a heatsinked version in the pipeline too. It makes use of aluminum fins to cool off the motor just like a car transmission, oil pan and differential have aluminum fins for cooling. Power handling goes up but personally I haven't had a problem heatsoak wise. The aluminum spokes never heat up either which is a good sign since they help cooling as well.
First off the pictures:
Build quality impressions based on the glove work:
The basket is built around the neo motor. I'm guessing by design the magnet can't shift due to the way the aluminum spokes grab onto it. Faital keeps mentioning this about their speakers so I do too haha. The spokes are rounded off inside and outside, incredibly well vented is the way to describe them. The benefit of the small neo motor is actually bellow the spider where again it's incredibly well vented. The lip has no felt treatment but it has a very subtle edge pronunciation. Perhaps it digs into whatever surface it's mounted on to make an even more airtight seal. The screw holes are countersunk, in a driver with this much high frequency extension I bet it helps. Whoever designed this basket really loved his job, you can see they even took the time to countersink the logo into the basket.
The voice coil former is titanium and it has loads of thermal relief vents. Titanium is used presumably to prevent the coil from unwinding under extreme temperatures. It happens to have very good magnetic properties. In case the former vents don't due the job of unloading the dustcap cavity the magnet has a pole vent to help it out.
The spider is moderately sized, fairly see through, and fairly stiff. The voice coil leads seem to be soaked and stitched from the back of the spider. They terminate into a screw type block with allen type screws, pure sex.
The cone is some sort of paper pulp. Very smooth on the outside but very rough on the inside. The surround is a bit beefier than it looks in the pics. I can't tell whether the protective rubber right around it is the same piece. At the basket spoke location the surround extends out. Interestingly enough the back of the cone terminates abruptly in these places and the surround takes over. Not sure what this pentacone technology is supposed to do, maybe reduce standing waves. The small dustcap is unusual but makes for very radical concavity. From the side these cones look really really good just like a concave car wheel looks way sexier than than a flat surface one. 3d vs. 2d.
Next I'll put everything at my disposal in service to do a full on comparison between the outgoing AE IB12 and the new Vifas. For now the weight difference is astounding. The Vifas are hella curvaceous by comparison too. Just how I walk past my car somedays and just drool at the body lines I will drool at these Vifas in ways I've never drooled at speakers.
Pics of the Vifas on the same baffle as the AEs were. I added the home brew grilles this time. I cut the carbon fiber strips and drilled them. The screws hold both the grilles and the subs. It's an elegant, cheap, light and does the job kinda method, imo.
Naturally it would have been too nice to stick with what I have. Since I drew up the plans for the S2k new speakers came out, and I've learned a thing or two more. These revisions are improvements of the original plan.
New subwoofers: Vifa NE 315W-04 12"
Compared to the outgoing AE IB12:
6lb vs. 15lb
11.9mm xmax vs. 10.8mm xmax (Klippel verified values -VC mag July 2010 and DIYMA, my driver as tested by Matt Bogart)
Sexy vs. rugged
The big difference is the weight, in triples the new Vifas weigh only 18lbs together whereas the AEs are at 45lbs. Make no mistake, the AEs are some of the beefiest subs at their weight but the Vifa's clever use of neo motors and aluminum spokes in a classy industrial design beats it easily.
Performance wise both subwoofers cover the same market. High quality subwoofer that can be crossed really high. I would have no problem crossing either up to 1khz in a home audio design. The Vifa has a minor edge 20hz-40hz with better venting, low end sensitivity and large displacement suspension. The AE shines over that with a beefier coil, lower and flatter inductance, and more motor strength. Take your pick, both are fantastic.
Overall I saw this as an opportunity to save 27lb, get a sexier looking sub, and keep the performance envelope just as high.
Cost? $0. The Vifa's were on clearance on PE for $119 shipped. Sold the AEs and used some PE coupons for more savings = [winner].
Current price is $326 a pop:
Vifa NE315W, 12" Woofer, 4 ohm: Madisound Speaker Store
Vifa has a heatsinked version in the pipeline too. It makes use of aluminum fins to cool off the motor just like a car transmission, oil pan and differential have aluminum fins for cooling. Power handling goes up but personally I haven't had a problem heatsoak wise. The aluminum spokes never heat up either which is a good sign since they help cooling as well.
First off the pictures:
Build quality impressions based on the glove work:
The basket is built around the neo motor. I'm guessing by design the magnet can't shift due to the way the aluminum spokes grab onto it. Faital keeps mentioning this about their speakers so I do too haha. The spokes are rounded off inside and outside, incredibly well vented is the way to describe them. The benefit of the small neo motor is actually bellow the spider where again it's incredibly well vented. The lip has no felt treatment but it has a very subtle edge pronunciation. Perhaps it digs into whatever surface it's mounted on to make an even more airtight seal. The screw holes are countersunk, in a driver with this much high frequency extension I bet it helps. Whoever designed this basket really loved his job, you can see they even took the time to countersink the logo into the basket.
The voice coil former is titanium and it has loads of thermal relief vents. Titanium is used presumably to prevent the coil from unwinding under extreme temperatures. It happens to have very good magnetic properties. In case the former vents don't due the job of unloading the dustcap cavity the magnet has a pole vent to help it out.
The spider is moderately sized, fairly see through, and fairly stiff. The voice coil leads seem to be soaked and stitched from the back of the spider. They terminate into a screw type block with allen type screws, pure sex.
The cone is some sort of paper pulp. Very smooth on the outside but very rough on the inside. The surround is a bit beefier than it looks in the pics. I can't tell whether the protective rubber right around it is the same piece. At the basket spoke location the surround extends out. Interestingly enough the back of the cone terminates abruptly in these places and the surround takes over. Not sure what this pentacone technology is supposed to do, maybe reduce standing waves. The small dustcap is unusual but makes for very radical concavity. From the side these cones look really really good just like a concave car wheel looks way sexier than than a flat surface one. 3d vs. 2d.
Next I'll put everything at my disposal in service to do a full on comparison between the outgoing AE IB12 and the new Vifas. For now the weight difference is astounding. The Vifas are hella curvaceous by comparison too. Just how I walk past my car somedays and just drool at the body lines I will drool at these Vifas in ways I've never drooled at speakers.
Pics of the Vifas on the same baffle as the AEs were. I added the home brew grilles this time. I cut the carbon fiber strips and drilled them. The screws hold both the grilles and the subs. It's an elegant, cheap, light and does the job kinda method, imo.
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UPDATE
I decided to go all out sound quality at the cost of weight and well low budget went out the window when I bought the P99 deck. In this update I change the subs once more with something, well out of the ordinary:
Pictures:
I decided to go all out sound quality at the cost of weight and well low budget went out the window when I bought the P99 deck. In this update I change the subs once more with something, well out of the ordinary:
Pictures:
WOW! Never know what to expect when I check out CV's builds. Love that there is still plenty of usable trunk space left.
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So these guys are a pair of Tympani LAT700. It's sort off like a speaker engineer's wet dream. The LAT700 is a one of a kind push-pull design. There are 6 7" cones in each cylinder. Each group of 3 face the other 3, this way they create an equal and opposite force against eachother. The benefits? The big one is a 90% reduction in vibration. Conventional speakers work by exerting a force on the baffle they are mounted on. To produce output the baffle must resist movement from the speaker. So the baffle will be warp under load, vibrate, and resonate. The LAT design overcomes this huge drawback by canceling the mechanical force almost entirely. This is especially useful in a car where the baffle is never sturdy enough. In my case I have a full fiberglass cage that holds the woofers and the vibrations are still fairly apparent at loud volume with conventional speakers.
Here is a picture of what they look like inside:
There are two motors opposing eachother, kinda like a boxter engine. Each motor pushes three 7" cones through a trio of carbon fiber rods. Carbon fiber is used to keep moving mass low and make the speaker more efficient. The rods must go through the entire assembly so it must also go through the 3 cones that it does not move through a series of low tolerance openings in the cones.
The frame itself is aluminum to withstand the force of all 6 subwoofers. In turn the baffle you mount them on hardly has to do anything more than separate the front and back wave. It does not have to be all that sturdy. I'm using one 3/4" MDF baffle, instead of 3 layers of it like I did in my previous setup.
Here is a picture of what they look like inside:
There are two motors opposing eachother, kinda like a boxter engine. Each motor pushes three 7" cones through a trio of carbon fiber rods. Carbon fiber is used to keep moving mass low and make the speaker more efficient. The rods must go through the entire assembly so it must also go through the 3 cones that it does not move through a series of low tolerance openings in the cones.
The frame itself is aluminum to withstand the force of all 6 subwoofers. In turn the baffle you mount them on hardly has to do anything more than separate the front and back wave. It does not have to be all that sturdy. I'm using one 3/4" MDF baffle, instead of 3 layers of it like I did in my previous setup.
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From: Houston
