SSA Xcon prototype.
Posted: Thu Aug 14, 2008 7:22 am
First off, if the PG heads would prefer to close the topic, I am totally fine with that, just posting it up because I know a few people have followed our progress some.
Now, this is a new direction for our flagship line. At first, we prototyped and tested some very high power, extreme output drivers. We went through 2 different versions of it, and a pair of 18's are still being used in Arizona and are impressing the heck out of people who love the loud! But we did some soul searching and realized that was not the true ideal of SSA drivers. That brought us back to what we have in a hit with the Icon, of a stout driver that sounds great in a variety of boxes, but the challenge is that many people that love their Icon(s) want to send 1300+ watts to them and the Icon is not designed to take that much. In addition, the market segment of the super sub (high power, strong output, high xmax, crisp clean sound, can be used with great results in both sq installs or the occasional SPL competition installs) has thinned out some what.
>RE XXX has changed design and gone way out of average joe's price range
>Adire Brahma is no more
>Ascendant Audio Havoc is dealer based only
>Crystal CMPx2 essentially gone
>Orion HCCA has had issues and fallen somewhat off the map
>JL W7 is still priced out of reach for too many
>ID MAX does not quite have the power handling or the price
>AudioPulse pricing sky rocketed on the 5400 and they are still shut down as far as I know
>Sound Splinter RL-s is an excellent driver, but much more at home in home audio
>Stereo Integrity has drastically changed direction with the MAG
>PG Ti Elite off the market
and so on. This will be a challenge for us to dial this monster in, but when it is ready for production....
At the moment, Mark the other half of SSA, is doing some heavy abuse testing to make sure it can hold up well beyond the range we set for it and the limits stated. When he is finished, I will begin sound and box testing, to make sure it can reach the high level of clarity the Icon has. This will effectively give us the metaphorical Enzo (Xcon) to our F430 (Icon). We are still working on a higher xmax decent power handling SQ 8" sub, but we are still awaiting newly tooled baskets as the standard 12 spoke 8" basket is limiting the mechanical travel of the initial prototype.
On to the initial Xcon pictures, hope you like:
Now, this is a new direction for our flagship line. At first, we prototyped and tested some very high power, extreme output drivers. We went through 2 different versions of it, and a pair of 18's are still being used in Arizona and are impressing the heck out of people who love the loud! But we did some soul searching and realized that was not the true ideal of SSA drivers. That brought us back to what we have in a hit with the Icon, of a stout driver that sounds great in a variety of boxes, but the challenge is that many people that love their Icon(s) want to send 1300+ watts to them and the Icon is not designed to take that much. In addition, the market segment of the super sub (high power, strong output, high xmax, crisp clean sound, can be used with great results in both sq installs or the occasional SPL competition installs) has thinned out some what.
>RE XXX has changed design and gone way out of average joe's price range
>Adire Brahma is no more
>Ascendant Audio Havoc is dealer based only
>Crystal CMPx2 essentially gone
>Orion HCCA has had issues and fallen somewhat off the map
>JL W7 is still priced out of reach for too many
>ID MAX does not quite have the power handling or the price
>AudioPulse pricing sky rocketed on the 5400 and they are still shut down as far as I know
>Sound Splinter RL-s is an excellent driver, but much more at home in home audio
>Stereo Integrity has drastically changed direction with the MAG
>PG Ti Elite off the market
and so on. This will be a challenge for us to dial this monster in, but when it is ready for production....
At the moment, Mark the other half of SSA, is doing some heavy abuse testing to make sure it can hold up well beyond the range we set for it and the limits stated. When he is finished, I will begin sound and box testing, to make sure it can reach the high level of clarity the Icon has. This will effectively give us the metaphorical Enzo (Xcon) to our F430 (Icon). We are still working on a higher xmax decent power handling SQ 8" sub, but we are still awaiting newly tooled baskets as the standard 12 spoke 8" basket is limiting the mechanical travel of the initial prototype.On to the initial Xcon pictures, hope you like:
