There Is Always Room For BIG Bass

There seems to be a serious case of vanishing interior space in today’s vehicles. This is a concerning issue for all the true bassheads out there. For real, what is a true bass aficionado supposed to do when for whatever reason, they just don’t have the room to add a little boom to their system? Well don’t fret, because DD Audio is hard at work making sure there’s plenty of bass to go around.

When there’s limited space allowed for a dedicated sub enclosure you usually have to make a choice whether to go with less subs or smaller subs, which generally results in less or smaller bass. We hate this kind of compromise, so DD Audio decided to tackle this issue head on and and design a sub that allows you to keep your space and have your bass too.  

The culmination of our research and development efforts concerning this dilemma has yielded the SL Series of subs. The SL-710 and SL-712 are true shallow mount subs that can be used in a sealed enclosure. We know a shallow sub in a sealed enclosure doesn’t sound like a very DD thing to do, because if you’ve ever listened to any shallow mount subs in sealed enclosures you know the output is generally lackluster. However, the REDLINE SL-700 subs are no run the mill shallow subs.

Most shallow mount subs like to highlight how great their sound quality is because they are notorious for low output, but our end game was different. We wanted a shallow mount that was actually capable of big bass from a little space. So, we started looking at all the things that limit the the standard shallow sub (motor, cone, spider, voice coil), and we quickly realized it was pretty much the whole design that needed to change. We decided if we wanted a product that was able to provide the type of output DD customers were accustomed to, we had to use real parts that were already proven to make great bass.

For starters, you need a motor assembly that can keep the moving parts under control when the volume is cranked up, but big ferrite motors are way to bulky for a shallow design. We opted to develop a front mounted neodymium motor with a vented voice coil gap. This type motor design allowed us to keep the weight and physical size of the motor down while allowing for a mounting depth of only 4.125″ on the SL-712.  The vented voice coil gap keeps things running cool.

The next step was to optimize the soft parts. For this we used a highly rigid, yet lightweight, pulp cone along with a SL specific version of our EROM surround. Then, we matched the EROM surround with a pair of progressive roll, polycotton spiders, to give the suspension 50mm of peak to peak travel allowing for the high excursion ability of a standard subwoofer. Lastly, to give the subs the power handling needed to produce real bass, we used a 3″ high temperature voice coil.

This impressive package is able to perform in 0.5 to 0.8 cubic foot of sealed airspace, or in compact vented box designs. This makes it perfect for behind or under seat applications (see photos below). Its rated power handling is 400-800 watts RMS and 1600 watts peak. The SL Series is offered in a 10” or 12” frame size, and as a DVC 2 Ohm or 4 Ohm impedance.

So, if you were one of the many who has been searching for a solution to your “got no space for bass blues” look no further than the SL Series shallow subwoofers.

Click here for detailed information on the REDLINE SL Series.

Compact space examples featuring the SL Series Subs.