Wi's Driver Showdown, JL 13w1v2 vs. Dayton 15" DVC in 24"THT

I originally started this thread on BFM, but I brought it here to show the differences a driver can make. Official charts and measurements are tough when the only environment is indoors in Rochester NY this time of year but I will do my best. The following is a summary of the thread so far, and I'll also keep this one updated with my progress.






I will be retrofitting a 15' Dayton DVC into one of my 24" THTs to see just how much a difference this driver makes vs. the existing JL 13w1v2.

I will have 2 identical cabs with 2 different drivers, so it will be apples to apples.


I go to my front door, and what do I see but a big ol box.




Bring her in and unpack...











First thing is tighten one of the 5 way posts, ok minor detail, but still.

Secondly, I used a AA battery to check each coil's polarity due to Dave's factory polarity issue and then both coils in series. Checked out.





Here is a direct comparison between the DVC and the JL 13w1v2s I was using:





Then I got my processor, an amp, and a stiff bit of wire and hung it up in the basement.





Then I sealed the 4 spaces in the gasket. I just used a tube of caulk.





Unfortunately I seem to have misplaced my multimeter so I'm giving it 20hz at a good amount of excursion. It is presenting a 16ohm load to a single channel at the moment so if it is getting any more than 350w I'd be surprised. I'll let er rip till tomorrow, when I plan to fabricate a plate and retrofit this DVC into one of my existing THTs.

Here are the glam shots:








An absolute tragedy has struck this project.

I was breaking in the driver and tonight I came home from skiing and was sitting here on the laptop and heard a SPANG from downstairs. Only one thing could have made that noise.

Here is where the driver was:




Here is where it is now:




Here is the spider and motor structure, basically it took a fall and bent the basket knocking the whole driver out of line.





It wore through the wire hanging it up and crashed to the floor.

So I highly doubt PE will be able to do anything about it, but I'll call tomorrow and see. This sucks.

Needless to say I will have a different arrangement for hanging drivers fro break in now. I'll still try and fabricate the plate tomorrow and install it as I have the driver for cutout and bolt pattern, but I won't have it running Saturday like I had hoped. I'm leaving for Michigan Sunday and returning Thursday. So the whole thing has been delayed at least a week.

I'm not happy.





Called PE, new one will be here next week. I am far too honest for my own good. I should have simply said, it arrived and when I opened it was scraping and didn't move. But oh well, costly mistake.


So in the meantime, lets have some fun with X-Ray vision.









Well I think I devised a pretty neat solution to getting this done effectively. Pics will explain but it involves turnbuckles haha.

I have to measure and cut a plate, and cut a section out of the baffle for this to work. I do have the added advantage of having just the woofer basket available to test fit holes and such.

But first I need AA batteries to juice up the digi cam.

Progress reports as I go as usual.




So here is some more X-Ray vision to tide you over till I get the DVC in. This is a 13w1v2 that I torched last year being stupid. I hooked it up to someone else's system to help them out in a spot and it got blown up.







Detail of the burned pole and coil:








Here is the plan and progress for the retro so far. It has been colder than a witch's tit and snowing for the last week. I was fortunate to catch a weekend of 40 degree weather for the DRwiK project. Basically anything I can do in the garage that the 38 degrees I can get it up to in there with 2 space heaters is the limit of my progress.


Here I have the baffle plate dimensions laid out inside the driver chamber:





And I have the plate laid out and ready to cut:




Because of the space restriction I'll be roto-zipping the square out:




The plan is to lay a bead of PL all around the perimeter of the new hole, lay the baffle plate over the hole, and clamp with 8 turnbuckles against the top of the driver chamber:





I'll be home from a trip on Thursday so hopefully I can make progress by next weekend. The new DVC is on it's way so I'll break that in and try to get it running by mid next week.

As embarrassing as it is to admit to completely destroying a brand new driver in such a knucklehead way, hopefully it will prevent a mishap for someone else.





Settle down kids! I know the ad reel is boring as, but that is no reason to start throwing things!

Please expand on your opinion with some data supporting the fact that driver performance does not at all change over time to validate the above statement.


A loudspeaker is a highly dynamic device whose physical properties significantly change in the first 10 to 20 hours of use.


Break in is not 100% necessary, but 100% reccomended for maximizing initial subwoofer performance. You can by all means wait for your driver to settle, but I am slightly less patient.

In a low excursion environment like a horn, at average voltage levels proper settling can be extended far beyond the timeframe achieved in freeair.

I have been debating on obtaining WT3. May be a good exercise to measure before and after to see just how much change is instilled.


The main advantage to break in as I see it is a stabilization of performance.

Here is a theoretical time line(assume 20hrs of break-in):

3hrs of use a night equates to approx 7 days.

If you use the system 3 days a week, that is potentially 2 weeks that your subwoofer will take to stabilize.



Again, I'm not trying to say it is completely a required procedure, just a recommended one.



P.S. - My intention is not in any way to argue, just curious as to your position on it. I prefer to see data on all sides in order to formulate my opinion on issues.

One more thought on break in, then back to the comparison.


Someone signs up for the forum, sees everybody building THTs and wonders what is so great.

Buys plans.

Builds it, and just plops the driver in and hits the gas, no break in.

If his/her cab is down 3db because the driver is brand spankin' new, it may give him/her a false initial impression of the cab.

Would 3db be alot of variance? Yes, but a 10% variance on T/S is alot in a horn as well, even bordering on driver suitability.

This chain of events is avoidable with a simple overnight break in. There are less performance variables to contend with and worry about.

Just don't hang it from the ceiling.

Alright, let us try this again.

Polarity check passed.




Sealing up the gasket, done.





Breaking in using a bucket this time, closer to the floor and nice and stable. She will cook at 20hz just below non linearity till Friday afternoon when I hope to mount in the modified THT.





Tomorrow I'm going to cut the plate and driver mounting hole and modify the THT. Hopefully if all goes well I'll be able to clamp and glue the plate for testing on Friday.


More glam shots