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Electro-voice 30 inch woofer [message #15689] Sat, 28 June 2008 17:47 Go to next message
DanR is currently offline  DanR
Messages: 44
Registered: May 2009
Baron
While touring the Electro-voice manufacturing facility in Michigan, in mid 1967, one of the new products that was displayed as being readied for production was a 30 inch diameter woofer.

Does anyone know anything about that speaker? Was it ever released for sale? What were its specs? How much did it cost or how much was it to cost?

Re: Electro-voice 30 inch woofer [message #15690 is a reply to message #15689] Sun, 29 June 2008 15:02 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Wayne Parham is currently offline  Wayne Parham
Messages: 18670
Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)

Here's a thread about the EV 30" woofer from 2003:

Fostex makes a 31.5" woofer too, the FW800N. Ever seen that one?

Here are speakers with 27" woofers:


Re: Electro-voice 30 inch woofer [message #15691 is a reply to message #15689] Sat, 05 July 2008 00:51 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Bill Wassilak is currently offline  Bill Wassilak
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Registered: May 2009
Illuminati (1st Degree)
The speaker also had a styrofoam(sp) cone. In the EV30W plans the full size speaker enclosure was 72cu.ft. but you could build a smaller version of it at 54cu.ft. I forget what the tuning frequency was for each enclosure. I had a chance to buy a set of these back in the mid 80's in the smaller enclosures, but it was kind of hard to justify 108cu.ft. of subwoofers in my living room at the time. Besides the cones were rare so if anything ever happened to them, or if I needed to get them re-coned I was SOL.

Re: Electro-voice 30 inch woofer [message #15692 is a reply to message #15689] Sat, 05 July 2008 11:10 Go to previous messageGo to next message
DanR is currently offline  DanR
Messages: 44
Registered: May 2009
Baron
Bill and Wayne - thank you for the information about the EV 30 inch woofer, the Fostex speaker, the Opal system, and the DIY project. Most interesting.

An academic question: Is the need for high power and/or a huge speaker in order to "move air" so that low frequencies can be heard caused by the need to compensate for the ears' inadequate air conduction to the ear-drum?
The Fletcher-Munson effect?


Another memory check:

Do you recall, from the early 60's, a project in one of the electronic hobbyist magazines called "The Sweet Sixteen"?

Sixteen run-of-the-mill small diameter speakers were mounted in a single large enclosure. The thought was that together they could move a lot of air with little distortion because the cone movement of each speaker was reduced. My neighbor at the time built one and I remember that it sounded really good.

Re: Electro-voice 30 inch woofer [message #15693 is a reply to message #15691] Sat, 05 July 2008 11:13 Go to previous messageGo to next message
DanR is currently offline  DanR
Messages: 44
Registered: May 2009
Baron
Thank you, Bill!



Re: Electro-voice 30 inch woofer [message #15694 is a reply to message #15690] Sat, 05 July 2008 11:14 Go to previous messageGo to next message
DanR is currently offline  DanR
Messages: 44
Registered: May 2009
Baron
Thank you, Wayne!

Re: Electro-voice 30 inch woofer [message #15695 is a reply to message #15689] Sun, 06 July 2008 10:35 Go to previous messageGo to next message
colinhester is currently offline  colinhester
Messages: 1349
Registered: May 2009
Location: NE Arkansas
Illuminati (3rd Degree)
I seem to recall these 30" drivers had high distortion and very low sensitivity.

How about multiple smaller subs? [message #15696 is a reply to message #15692] Mon, 07 July 2008 14:24 Go to previous messageGo to next message
Wayne Parham is currently offline  Wayne Parham
Messages: 18670
Registered: January 2001
Illuminati (33rd Degree)

I would opt for more subs, not larger. That will allow you to smooth room modes. My suggestion would be to use four smaller subs and position them where CARA shows will give you the smoothest bass throughout the room. An example would be four LAB12 woofers in 4ft3 cabinets.


Re: Electro-voice 30 inch woofer [message #15697 is a reply to message #15689] Fri, 11 July 2008 07:37 Go to previous messageGo to next message
John Chleapas is currently offline  John Chleapas
Messages: 35
Registered: May 2009
Baron
I still lust for a pair of E-V Patrician 800 speakers that used those same 30" woofers. The woofers can be had occasionally in singles on fleabay and/or audiogon usually for $1000 to 1400. I remember reading somewhere that the last few kits to rebuild them were bought up by one speaker rebuilding company in the last few years. To make it worse I remember reading that not all of the rebuild kits were usable sadly. John

Re: Electro-voice 30 inch woofer [message #15698 is a reply to message #15697] Sat, 12 July 2008 16:04 Go to previous messageGo to previous message
DanR is currently offline  DanR
Messages: 44
Registered: May 2009
Baron
John;

Thanks for sharing the dream. I heard the Patrician over 40 years ago and just remember how clear it sounded. But, that was then ...

How they would stack-up next to an equivalently priced speaker today would be an interesting thing to hear.

I recall that the EV factory tour-guide (1967) said that the retail price was actually inflated over what they could have sold it for at a reasonable profit because price was associated in the audiophile's mind to quality (still is). I think they retailed for around $700. each back then.

Looking at the various opinions of their sound quality, on-line, it appears that the series got mixed reviews. Interesting how one's memories compare to others.

DanR

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