UPS tries to destroy the precious...but they failsiss

**Ricci** · **02-06-08, 04:26 PM**

So I ordered a sub a few days ago and have been waiting patiently for it. I've already got 3 other sub projects on the back burner but I just couldn't help myself with this one. It was too good of a deal to pass up. Anyway I get home to find my sub had arrived. Everything looked fine on the outside as the cardboard had no holes or major tears in it. Then I moved it and heard what sounded like a bunch of loose stuff floating around in there and the sub shifting heavily. I cut the card board open and noticed that the lid to the wooden tube crate that this sub comes in was not secured. It was supposed to be screwed down. I also notice a bunch of wood chips, dust, and debris. I lift up the lid and see this...

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f.../boxdebris.jpg

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...boxdebris2.jpg

I'm freaking out imagining the horror I'm going to have to go through to get it replaced and file a claim.

They apparently dropped it off of the truck at least once. The whole thing shipped was about 100lbs. The people that I bought it from are reputable and the lid was screwed down and the whole thing solid as a rock when it left them. It was jolted hard enough to completely break the lid off of the allen bolts and crack it nearly in half, break the glue joints from the wood blocks the driver was mounted too and leave mounting screws floating in the bottom of the tube to get sucked up by the magnet. http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f.../liddamage.jpg

I was prepared for the worst but after I took the driver out of the shipping box and cleaned it off...Lo and behold it is none the worse for wear.

Did a quick test and no scraping or bad noises.

http://i241.photobucket.com/albums/f...rthTweeter.jpg

**atledreier** · **02-06-08, 04:36 PM**

I'd still

though

**Otto** · **02-06-08, 04:47 PM**

Yep, that's UPS. I know they don't care, but I avoid them whenever possible.

**tonyvdb** · **02-06-08, 04:52 PM**

I'll tell you, UPS had better be careful with my SVS PB13 Ultra that I'm getting. Or they will get an earful from me. They have damage allot of things that I have shipped with them in the past and I wont be a happy camper if anything happens.
Glad they did not damage the subs you got.

**Ricci** · **02-06-08, 05:27 PM**

Yes as soon as I heard UPS from the seller I was like

. I always get insurance and I'm really glad I did this time. I did file a complaint with them anyway, because it did have "fragile handle with care" stickers on it. The only reason that it was undamaged is because of the super duty packaging and overall subwoofer beef-itude. That thing is built like a tank!

**bonehead848** · **02-06-08, 05:34 PM**

HAHA, took me a couple minutes to read the thread cause I was laughing so hard at the title! Good to hear it worked out though!

**cfrussin** · **02-06-08, 06:58 PM**

Oh I feel your pain........I have sold quite a few sets of high end speakers on Ebay and Audiogon. But my first one was a Rel Stadium II. Top dollar. Packed like a tank. Cost a ton to ship. Buyer saw driver of UPS coming up yard. The UPS guy dropped it on it's corner. You guess the rest. In over $40,000 of USED speaker sales, I've never had one problem with Fedex ground. And I've shipped from here in NH to CA. Good luck with filing a claim with UPS.

**vinculum** · **02-06-08, 08:36 PM**

I've had good luck with UPS & USPS. Fedex Home, however I really do avoid at all costs. They find any excuse to skip delivery (gate wasn't open, it might snow, ect) It's basically Roadway Package Service (RPS) whom them bought out and service is just awful. Note that Fedex Express is a totally seperate division under different management. I trust them!

Glad that driver made it, looks great!

Is this the special something you had on its way?

Dr V

**Ricci** · **02-07-08, 10:20 AM**

I guess the moral of the story is always insure your stuff and package it to survive a 3ft drop off of a truck if possible

.

Quote:

Glad that driver made it, looks great! Is this the special something you had on its way?

Dr V

Yes it is. It was a purely impulse buy. Here is another shot of it...

corona shot.JPG

**vinculum** · **02-07-08, 12:18 PM**

Yeow! Thats a deep basket and steep cone!

What are your plans for it?

**Picture_Shooter** · **02-07-08, 12:22 PM**

WOW!!

**Geoff St. Germain** · **02-07-08, 12:23 PM**

It's impressive that the driver survived the apparent beating seemingly unscathed. Looks like a beefy driver. The motor reminds me of the Tumult/Avalanche.

**Ricci** · **02-07-08, 04:31 PM**

It's an RE XXX18. Weighs every bit of 80lbs

and it uses split coil tech. Pictures just can't convey the girthatude of this thing. It makes my Treo SSI 18(41lbs) look almost average! Not real sure what I'm going to do with it yet. They like BIG volumes and BIG power. Got an incredible deal on it though, couple of hundred below dealer cost, brand new, in-store display model and just couldn't pass it up. I was going to get an Acoupower, but Dr V. and Illka look like they're going to finally get some good impressions on those. Figured I'd try something nobody else was using. Here's an up close shot of the spiders & motor...

spidershot.JPG

motorview.JPG

Back of the driver...

back view2.JPG

side view2.JPG

**Kevin Haskins** · **02-07-08, 06:07 PM**

I like the way they run the tinsel leads under the spider. Cooling looks good too.... If I'd have spent the big dollars on tooling that basket I'd have made the spider landing a bit bigger but otherwise that looks really killer.

**Picture_Shooter** · **02-07-08, 06:48 PM**

I read about the RE XXX and RE SE sub all day in the car audio forums. These subs are monsters!!

Wish I could get my hands on one of these

**Geoff St. Germain** · **02-07-08, 07:25 PM**

Yeah, that thing's enormous. I'd love to see the BL vs x curve for that driver.

**Ricci** · **02-07-08, 09:46 PM**

I got to play around with it a bit today.I hooked it to my Crown CE4000 and just ran it free air with some songs that have low bass and test tones. Here are some impressions/observations.

It is not damaged by UPS

.
The cooling on it is really good with lots of air flow around the coil.
I don't know if it really does the claimed 54mm xmax, but over 30+ each way is nothing for this thing

.I actually clipped the 1 channel of the Ce4000 that was hooked up to it with the coils in series for a 4ohm load. That's probably 1000watts and the freq was 20hz

.
There is some suspension noise at large excursions,but if the driver was actually in an enclosure it would have been diminished and the bass=very loud.
Even in free air it was transferring a lot of energy to the room and floor on the song I ran into it, which has a big sustained 25hz note. I think that the sheer mass of the cone and coil on this thing may have contributed to this effect.

**bonehead848** · **02-07-08, 10:30 PM**

54mm of xmax on an 18?!?!? Any idea how much displacement that adds up to?

**bamaboy** · **02-08-08, 08:18 AM**

congrats man, im really waiting to see some build pics for this

this is one of the first 18s ive seen of the new XXX's, seen a good bit of 12s and some 15s

great buy

**Sonnie** · **02-08-08, 10:09 AM**

Quote:

Geoff St. Germain wrote:

It's impressive that the driver survived the apparent beating seemingly unscathed. Looks like a beefy driver. The motor reminds me of the Tumult/Avalanche.

This is exactly what I was thinking... how amazing it is that the sub survived the stress it had to have encountered.

**Ricci** · **02-08-08, 01:03 PM**

It is pretty much overbuilt all around. The surround is really thick rubber, double 10" spiders, and the frame looks stronger than any other I've seen. Each spoke of the frame has 2 screws down into the motor. Looks like a recone would be a simple affair. The frame is actually 19" across, so I guess this is an oversized 18. The depth is 14.75"

!

Here are the manufacturer's TSP's.
Electrical Q Value -Qes: 0.68
Mechanical Q Value -Qms: 2.82
Total Speaker Q Value -Qts: 0.55
Free Air Resonance -Fs: 15.60 Hz
Equivalent Compliance -Vas: 482.0 liters
One-Way, Linear Excursion -Xmax: 54 mm
Efficiency -SPL 1W/1m: 86.20 dB SPL
Effective Piston Area -Sd: 1210 cm^2
DC Resistance -Re: 4.2 ohm
Nominal Impedance -Znom: Dual 2 ohm
Thermal Power Handling -Pe: 2000 W
Force Factor -Bl: 18.16

**Itay** · **02-09-08, 06:14 AM**

Actually the spiders look like 8 inches not 10... a bit small considering the xmax they say it can do.

**Ricci** · **02-09-08, 09:44 AM**

Just measured them. The yellow that you can see is a little over 9". The rest of both spiders are clamped under what appears to be a snap ring. I have subs with the standard 8.5 inch spider. These are bigger and the corrugations are way deeper. I called RE Audio yesterday to see if they would give me a Xmech spec and the reply was ....Ummmm.....We're not real sure exactly... somewhere north of 5" P2P the suspension runs out of room....

If you would like to see the excursion from one of these, I urge you to check out some of the free-air video's on Realm of Excursion

**ISLAND1000** · **02-09-08, 10:44 AM**

I hope you get some compensation from UPS, the *******s! Send them some of the pictures of the damage. That really ****** me off that they repackaged the driver and never said anything to anyone just hoping you'd accept the delivered box without complaint!!
Your photos are excellent. They give a real good idea of the build quality of the driver. I can almost feel how heavy that thing really is!
Common Ricci,at least build a sealed box for this behemoth! Give us a treat!! Looks good modeling in a 16 cubic foot box, approx. 30X30X30.

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