Funky Waves FW 12.X Subwoofer Review Driver and Amplifier

The Driver (Subwoofer)

The driver used in this system is a TC-Sounds LMS-R 12” woofer.  TC Sounds is owned and managed byThilo Stompler.  Thilo is one of those journeyman engineers who has been in the middle of the bass pounding woofer wars for about as long as I have.  I consider him a respected colleague with a wealth of experience, and when it comes to making subwoofers, he has done and tried just about everything imaginable.  I am a fan of his work for the most part. For an off the shelf part, it's an almost perfect fit for such a very small box.  My main bone of contention with this driver  is its electrical to acoustic conversion efficiency.  According to TC-Sounds own numbers, it is 0.18% (Look again, that is not 18%,(0.18) that is 18 one-hundredths of 1% = 0.18% =0.0018) efficient. In short, it is a power hungry beast.  Compared for example, to a typical DJ box, even one with relatively low sensitivity for DJ gear might have for example, 94.5 db, and for a 12” speaker in the DJ market even 98 db for 1 watt@ I meter is not uncommon.  Consider the fact that you now need 1000 watts to power this where 100 watts would create the same SPL (at 60 Hz for example) in a DJ woofer.  (At 20 Hz of course, the DJ speaker is useless, while this driver is just hitting its stride).  This is the cost of making a true sub, that fits in a box that ALSO has true WAF (Wife acceptance factor).  If you have just got to have this speaker, make sure you have stock in your local electric company.  It is HUNGRY for watts, and its displacement capability is truly scary.  Its linear Xmax (voice coil outside the gap) is 1 inch, and before you lose 30% of your motor force (considered a distortion limited Xmax) you have already traveled 1.25 inches in each direction, or 2.5 inches peak to peak.  HELLO!  Despite the fact that it is much smaller size than the other monster cabinets, this woofer put out more bass at 20 Hz than any other in the shootout. (Of course, with all the lights dimmed at the time, I had to get really CLOSE to my monitor to double check those results.)

The Amplifier

Behringer is one of the best known names in professional audio despite being a relative newcomer.  It is known for very high value for the dollar products.  In short, if you need a big honking power amp, you get more watts for less dollars with a Behringer. (The secret to their success). Since it is designed for DJ and or PA use, the out of the box version has a fan as most DJ/Musician types will often run their amplifiers into clipping 50% of the time or more. That would put a lot of stress on the amp which audiophile subwoofer users would not. Since the Funkywaves user is likely to be crossing the product over at 50 – 60 hz, you will be using the power amp for a narrow band and therefore the difference between the long term RMS power and peak power draw will be substantial.  (Smaller bandwidths equal higher crest factors; crest factor = peak power/Rms power).  For that reason, Nate Funk offers a product modification to lower the fan noise.  If you have a location for the amp which is well ventilated, and not near your listening position, it is not likely you will need this modification. But, if you are an absolute perfectionist, and want the quietest room possible, the tweak is available. For an additional $50, Funkywaves will modify the amplifier fan for lower noise.  If the amp is dropped shipped to your location, prepare to break out the manual to set up the rear panel switch for proper use.

The manual for the amplifier can be found here:

http://www.behringer.com/EN/downloads/pdf/EP2000_P0A38_M_EN.pdf

The Behringer amp is nearly a perfect fit for the power demands of the TC sound driver, but while driving the system outdoors to find the maximum short term SPL's, I could hear the driver in distress at the 16 Hz, and 32 Hz band. If you foresee yourself running the FW 12.X to its output limits, it would be a good idea to implement a compressor to protect the woofer from over-excursion related damage.  According to Alex at Elemental Designs Audio, makers of the eQ.2 bass controller with tunable subsonic filter, the output voltage of this unit is limited to 2.2 Volts RMS.  Since there is no feedback loop, one will have to play around with the volume control settings on both the controller AND the Behringer power amp (front panel) before you can dial it in so that you are not running the amp with so much voltage gain so as to cause the driver to bottom.  The frequency of maximum excursion for this system seems to be in the 32 Hz range, which is where movie creators love to turn up those sound effects for maximum dramatic impact.   You will also need to be prepared to set the Behringer rear panel dip switches as per the manual directions if you expect to bridge this amp, and get all the power it has to offer, which according to Behringer is about 2000 watts RMS, and 4000 watts peak.  (The amp is rated into 4 and 8 ohms, but the TC Sounds driver itself is a 6 ohm device).  There are low frequency filters on the Behringer, but being for the professional market (where we roll things off at 40 – 50 Hz) you'll find the available filter frequencies a bit too high on the Behringer to be useful with this subwoofer.  

The rear panel of the Behringer amp has a red “Dip” switch which must be properly set so you do not filter out the very lowest frequencies or run the amp without compression.  It is also necessary to set the switches properly in order to operate the amplifier in Bridged mode.  Your speaker will need to be connected to both red terminals in order to get all of your 4000 watts of available peak power.

Nate Funk (Owner/proprietor of Funkywaves) was kind enough to send me some sound effect wave files to test his system with. Finding music with true 20 Hz content is not so easy.  Nate, of all the entrants in the Shootout was by far the easiest to talk to.  (Perhaps it's a British Columbian Canadian thing or not, but if Nate was any more relaxed, I might be tempted to check his pulse.)  If you like buying from small companies, and being treated special, then Funkywaves won't disappoint you.  I suspect it is currently a one man operation, so if you have to call to complain, you are sure to get the boss.

Now in the event you buy this and find in fact the eQ.2 does not stop the input from overdriving the subwoofer, you do have another option.  Since the compressor circuit in the Behringer amp is not suitable for this particular woofer/box combination. With the right kind of signal, the amplifier has enough power to cause the loudspeaker to bottom.  It is unlikely, but not impossible. To make it impossible, one needs an outboard compressor. The compressor I use at home (so as to not get blown out of my chair by the directors and sound engineers who decided than gunshots and explosions need be recorded at levels 30 -40 db hotter than the vocal tracks on my blu-ray discs) is a simple unit made by Alesis, the model 3630 which sells for around $100 retail.  If you are not familiar with the concepts of attack time, decay time, gating, threshold and the “knee of the curve”, be prepared to spend an hour playing around with this until you get a feel for how a compressor works, and figure it out.  While this is unnecessary if you are planning on using a lower powered amp to drive the FW 12.X, you will not be able to get every last bit of the output the system has to offer.  If the subject of compression or compressors is new to you, be prepared to read through the entire manual before you start hooking things up. 

PLEASE NOTE: This recommendation comes from me, and not Funkywaves.  Neither Audioholics, Funkywaves or I myself have any association with Alesis, and in no way gain from your product purchase.  My sole point is, a subwoofer system with this much raw available power is prone to self destruction UNLESS A COMPRESSOR IS USED, and NONE was provided with the Funkywaves FW 12.X.

The compressor I use at home, and can recommend from personal experience can be found here: (http://www.alesis.com/3630)

The compressor overview here:

(http://www.alesis.com/stuff/contentmgr/files/0/a1d7ab93fcad62d1a738e3a7fd6ad6e6/file/3630_2008_alesis_product_overview.pdf)

and product manual here:

(http://www.alesis.com/stuff/contentmgr/files/0/3cc655bd8252b3248e88913d155a2bbd/file/3630_manual.pdf)

The Alesis 3630 – A compressor specialized for use with professional level inputs such as those needed to run the Behringer amp to full output without running it into hard clipping. The Alesis unit, like the Behringer EP-4000 power amp is suited for a 19” standard rack mount chassis.  Its proper use will insure that you can run your tracks without concern about the TC Sounds woofer, suddenly leaving the beautiful wood box, and joining you in your listening room. (Or at your local speaker reconer's shop.)

If the above recommendations regarding the need for filtering and compression have you feeling like your head is about to explode, and you are not sure if you will need to do these things or not.  Gene Dellasala has written some excellent articles on the topic of bass management systems, which can be found here:

• Hometheater Multiple Subwoofer & Setup Guide
• Bass Management Basics - Settings Made Simple
• Basic Subwoofer Setup Guide Not for Dummies