Tang Band W5-1138SMF 5-1/4" Subwoofer – Specs all over the place?

Keymaster

@hipath I have never measured a W5 with that high of Fs. One quick question. When you measured the T/S parameters, did you have the vent pole off the ground?

February 3, 2021 at 7:11 am #12557

Participant

Hi Nick, thanks for replying mate. I do not know what you mean by the vent pole being of the ground. I just placed the speaker on a table, firing side up, connected the DATS clips to the terminals and proceeded to measure the open air properties. Should I have done something differently?

February 3, 2021 at 7:17 am #12558

Keymaster

No worries. having it completely on the table might be part of the problem. If you look at the back of the subwoofer, you will notice a hole in the magnet. This is the vent. You typically want that off the ground, unobstructed about 1.5″. You can use anything to lift it off the ground. just make sure it is supported on both sides without anything covering the center. Here is a video I queued up for you that should help.

February 3, 2021 at 7:27 am #12559

Participant

Thanks, I repeated the measurements as advised, no change at all. Guess I have a bad unit then.

February 3, 2021 at 7:32 am #12560

Keymaster

It’s possible. I would go ahead and do some basic breaking in overnight and retest it. Just make sure to take off the amplifier before testing. But that FS is really high.

February 3, 2021 at 7:33 am #12561

Keymaster

Wait one last thing to check. Do you have you settings correct in your computer? https://youtu.be/dARRX-tZpg4?t=77

February 3, 2021 at 7:35 am #12562

Keymaster

Also make sure if you are using DATS V3 you have the correct revision selected: https://www.trueaudio.com/dats/downloads/DATS%20V3%20Quick%20Start.pdf

February 3, 2021 at 8:03 am #12563

Participant

DATS is fine, I have the one with the H mark at the bottom. Also measures other speakers within specs, so I have an indication the installation is ok and everything is working as it should. I will try the break in suggestion as you recommended. Thanks again.

February 8, 2021 at 2:56 pm #12607

Participant

Further reporting, the burn in session I performed did not yield any improvement in the drive. Furthermore, I purchased a second similar unit from a different supplier for putting my mind at rest, and guess what! The second drive also had similar bad measurements in DATS, especially the Fs which in this case registered at 59HZ not even close to the 45HZ advertised by Tang Band in their specs!

So based on my experience on buying two different similar speakers from different suppliers and both measuring bad either (a) Tang Band has very bad quality control, or (b) it lies on the advertised specs to push sales, or (c) it sells at discount the speakers that do not pass quality control to dealers which subsequently sell them to innocent consumers without a reference that they are buying a defective product.

I do not care if (a), (b) or (c) is true, or all of the three, but in any case Tang Band is not a brand I will ever trust again as a consumer. I plan to post a video on youtube to expose their shortcomings as a brand.

Thanks again Nick for your help. really appreciated.

February 8, 2021 at 3:42 pm #12608

Keymaster

You’re Welcome. Although I must admit I think you got a bad batch or there is something off with your testing equipment. I use the W5’s often and they have always been close to their specs. I just pulled one I had in stock to remeasure it to see if something had changed, but mine measured normal. Yours are way off, which is why I am so confused.

April 28, 2021 at 5:12 am #13258

ttan98

Member

Hi,

I built a subwoofer based on this woofer W5-1138SMF, Put into an existing cabinet is about 7.0litres, and the port diameter is 2″ dia and 4″ length flare both ends. I seem to get chuffing at a higher level.

1. Is the port dimensions adequate or need to be longer?

2. DO I need to improve Internal reinforcement to improve the Bass response?

thanks.

April 28, 2021 at 5:54 am #13259

mistersota

Participant

@ttan98 You need a different port for sure. That port in that size box is tuned to like 80hz, which is really high for that driver. Overall, the best method would be to make a whole new enclosure. Something a little larger and tuned much lower, 35-40hz. Download Winisd and play around with the driver and find something that you think works. Heres a few pics of a simulation I made for the driver to get you on the right track.

Check out @123toid’s videos on how to use winisd. It’s not too bad once you know what you’re doing.

April 28, 2021 at 7:38 am #13261

ttan98

Member

Thank you.

April 28, 2021 at 9:18 pm #13263

Keymaster

@ttan98

I agree, that I like to have 10L for best results. However, 7 liters is basically the original Voxel. The Voxel used this subwoofer and two of these ports glued together in a 7 liter cabinet. If you can buy these ports, then you would have a really well designed subwoofer. You still may get chuffing at loud volumes. That has always been the downfall of the sub and the design in general. But you can’t beat that performance.