Steals and deals page

"Cult of the Infinitely Baffled"
IB Subwoofer (aka IB subs)

Steals, Deals, Recommended Hardware,
Software & Other Stuff

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Speakers: very good value and very good performance

www.aespeakers.com/ is up and running once again. John J is offering his special of 4-IB15"s for $400
There is a forum for AE Speakers, here's a LINK

www.diycable.com Kevin has entered into the higher-end speaker market with XBL^2 technology Exodus branded drivers designed by Dan Wiggins.
There's a forum for DIYcable, here's a LINK

www.FiCarAudio.com A new company, but Scott's been designing drivers for a long time. When ordering ask him to optimize your drivers for IB use. IB Cult forum members get a discount when buying 4 drivers.
There is a forum for Fi Car Audio here's a LINK

www.mach5audio.com offers very low cost drivers. These maybe the best deal going for Canadians. US customers can buy the Mach 5 drivers from http://www.soundsolutionsaudio.com
There is a forum for Mach 5, here's a LINK

www.SoundSplinter.com: offer drivers made by TC-Sounds
There is a forum for Sound Splinter, here's a LINK

www.PartsExpress.com: The 600lb gorilla of DIY audio
There is a forum for Parts Express, here's a LINK
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Amplifiers: Note these are fan cooled pro-sound amps and the fans are loud. Those wanting quieter fan cooled pro-sound amps should look to the Samson brand.

Nady XA 900 at MusiciansFriend.com
HERE'S a link to an interior shot of the Nady XA 1100, and some discussion about changing out the cooling fans for quieter units.

Here's a brief description of the fan mod.

A) I had to cut the pos/neg wires because the fans I bought didn't have the right connectors to connect to the PCB on the amp itself. I then soldered the wires and appropriately insulated the connections.

B) The fans I purchased were from my local Micro-Center store. 25MM computer fans. I found the models with ball bearings, as I didn't want the sleeve bearings to fail in a year or so, as typically happens.

C) The fans I picked out have a 25/26dB noise rating, much, much lower than the stock Nady fans.

Fan manufacturer: Cooler Master
Fan model #: SAF-B83
Fan size: 80 x 80 x 25mm
Rated voltage: 12V
Rotation speed: 2,500 RPM
Acoustical Noise: 26 dB(A)
Life expectancy: 50,000 hours

D) I can only hear a very slight amount of fan noise when I get within 2 feet of the amp. Again, it's a very slight noise.

E) The fans do a more than adequate job of pushing the heat off of the heat sinks for the amp. My Nady never even gets slightly warm and stays cool all the time.

Other Amplifiers: passively cooled

BKA-1000-4A Google or check Amazon for the best prices. Although these are being used for subs, the company doesn't recommend them for that purpose. Tests of their output and distortion show why....LINK

Other Amplifiers: fan cooled, with loud fans

Behringer EP-1500 at zZounds.com

Behringer EP-2500 at MusiciansFriend.com

Although missing a couple of pictures, HERE'S a link to an interesting review of a EP-2500

Here's a link to Chuck W.'s website for quieting down the cooling fan on either the EP1500 or EP2500
http://www.cwitt.com/epfanmodification/index.html

PLEASE NOTE: The big DIP switch on the back of the EP-1500/2500 amps have +/- marks molded into plastic housing. On some amps these molded in markings are opposite the settings that are screened in graphic on the back of the amp.

If you're using one of these amps and you don't think you're getting enough low frequency output CHECK THE POSITION of the selector switches on the back of the amp.

DIP switches #3 & #8 need to be turned OFF, since there is confusing information as to which position is OFF, try both positions. In one position there's going to be a lot more bass than the other.

When #3 & #8 are OFF, it doesn't matter what position the 30Hz/50Hz switches (#2 & # 9) are in since they're deactivated.

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Misc.

DIY outboard phase controller PCB is available from Rod Elliot, it's his Project 103

DIY outboard /subsonic rumble filter PCB is available from Rod Elliot, it's his Project 99

For convenience and cost savings these can share a chassis and power supply.

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Parametric Equalizers:

1 )Behringer DSP1124P currently available for $99 almost everywhere. 10 stereo channels each with 12 filters
2) Behringer FBQ2496 easier to program than the 1124. One stereo set of channels with 20 filters/channel

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Stand alone testing units

For those people that don't want to bother with using a PC based testing system, the Behringer DEQ2496 UltraCurve Pro is a compact all-in-one unit. It doesn't include a mic, so use either of the mics described below.
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Measurement Microphones:

1) Behringer ECM-8000 at zZounds.com
2) Nady CM-100 at Musicansfriend.com

If one wants work with a calibrated microphone, Kim Giradin will create a .cal file for any microphone sent to him. The fee is $40

Kim Girardin
Wadenhome Sound
1400 Homer Rd. Suite 2
Winona, MN, 55987, USA
Phone: 507-454-8844
E-mail: kmgrdn@luminet.net

Here's a LINK to a generic .cal file for the ECM8000, this should be usable for the Nady CM-100 since they're the same mic
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Mic preamp w/ phantom power

1) Rolls MP13 Mini-Mic $60 at Music123.com

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Software:

1) TrueRTA is a great measurement program for the beginner. The program contains a generic .cal file for the Behringer ECM-8000

2) ETF 5.0 is a much more powerful and therefore more complex measurement program. To assist those brave souls wanting to play with ETF 5.0, I uploaded the Tag-Mclaren 33 page "ETF Room EQ Case study" it's available at this LINK

3) Room EQ Wizard is a great freeware program. It supports exporting settings for some models of the Behringer 1124P and all the FBQ2496 equalizers using a MIDI interface.
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LINK back to the main FAQ page
LINK back to the forum