Seas L26ROY 10" Subwoofer - D1001-04 - 4 ohm

'I just moved my setup to a new room and was having difficulty with the bass. My current subwoofer is a Paradigm 2100. I replaced the amp with an O-Audio Digital 300 watt some time ago. This sub has always had a large bump at 30 Hz and in this room had a bass suck out at 45 - 60 Hz so I was pretty unhappy with the sound. I bought this subwoofer speaker to replace the original Paradigm as the box specs were appropriate (1.5 cf with 3" x 12" port). I can't say enough good things about this speaker. I now get a nearly flat frequency response down to 25 kHz (with a few bumps, nothing more than 10 db). I get measurable 20 Hz. The bass is tighter and much more detailed. This has totally changed my experience of this subwoofer and has far exceeded my expectations. I measure with a Radio Shack Db meter and Rives audio CD. (20 Hz - 71 db, 25 Hz - 80, 31 Hz- 82 db, 40 Hz - 85, 50 Hz - 80, 60 Hz - 74, 80 Hz - 84). Not bad for a stock cabinet. Highly recommended!' Review by Drew Hutchinson. Posted by Madisound.

I built a ported box according to the recommendations from SEAS with some minor modifications. For example, they recommend 1" MDF and all I have available near me is 3/4" so that is what I used. I included the optional internal brace and also braced front to back. Additionally, I put 3/4"x3/4" strips in all the corners and also in a + configuration on each internal wall. Surprisingly, I used nearly a full bottle of Titebond glue as I was sure to saturate each joint completely and went back to run a bead in each seam. I used a few 1-1/2" brad nails just to hold the assembly in place while I prepared clamps. These nails were counter sunk and filled with epoxy. Finally, I used Dynamat on all flat internal surfaces, then attached the provided foam. Initially, I used the stuffing as well, but did not prefer it so I took it out leaving only the foam. Two coats of sanding sealer, two coats of primer, two coats of base color and when I was about to put on a clear gloss, my wife says she wants a different color! Women! Still waiting on a final color but right now they are pumpkin orange, which in my opinion looks great with the black and silver front firing driver.

The overall port length was specified as 9.2" but with that length I experienced a lot of port noise in the form of 'chuffing' (but only when playing bass heavy material). I opted to go a little longer at 12" which resulted in less noise and slightly lower notes heard. For most music, this sub is amazing. Kick drums are extremely tight and well controlled. Bass guitar is deep without being boomy. However, on some tracks, I think I could use a bigger driver. On Trey Songs 'Bottoms Up" there is a low frequency passage that some distortion can be heard. Is it the driver or the Keiga amp? I can not tell but this is only at 90 db, c weighted, fast response. "Bass I love you" is another track that can show the drivers shortcomings. As well as Boston Acoustics "woofer cooker". At low volume levels, (less than 90db) it sounds incredible. For example, in "Bass I love you" there is a part where there is a 17Hz note that feels like the air is being vacuumed out of the room, but it does this almost silently. At above 90db, there is noise at that same part of the track but it sounds like chuffing and cone break up, it just isn't the same as at lower volume levels.

BUT, I usually do not listen to that music regularly. I am running single ended 10W 300b tubes on small speakers and just needed a little bottom end and for that they are perfect. I mostly listen to Reggae and chill music like Morcheeba and Thievery Corporation. I think I may build some 3 ways and use this as the woofer in a sealed enclosure along with Seas excel for the mids and highs. Of course that will need solid state power and I am not sure I want to give up my 300b tubes just yet.

In summary, if you are looking for a musical driver that can go high in frequency, this may be your choice. If you are looking for high SPLs and sub 25Hz bass, you need to look else where. I wish SEAS would make a 12" and 15" version of this driver, I would buy it in a hearbeat.