Canadian speaker works - black box sub

Shane Presley

Shane Presley

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Jan 12, 2011
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Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
www.bssproductions.com
Probably the stupid question of the day, but has anyone on the forum come across these subs (the black box). I'm hoping to secure a demo pair to check them out, and if all goes well, I would consider swapping them into my rig. Can any sub/speaker guru's take a look at the 18" driver and sub spec numbers for me, and maybe let me know what it might compare to (on paper) out there in the market....

I'd like to support Canadian manufacturing if possible, but I don't want to take a step backwards from SB1000Zs
I'm hoping they rock - they look similar in design to Randy's tour subs... I wish Evan was around to punish them... lol

Home - Canadian Speaker Works Pro
 
Re: Canadian speaker works - black box sub

I've tuned a few gigs with the black box sub. Good physical design, very loud, the hypercardioid pattern works as stated, drivers are very robust. You definitely want to have lots of watts to drive them! No complaints from me! And yes, they do rock!
 
Re: Canadian speaker works - black box sub

Ben Lawrence said:
The heck are they thinking with that grill?
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I was thinking the same. Looks like an interesting product, but the grill immediately makes me think of homebrew designs.....

They make claims of their custom driver being pretty bulletproof.....

If Arthur says good things then I'm inclined to believe that they're no joke. What's MSRP on these things?
 
Re: Canadian speaker works - black box sub

Jeff Babcock said:
I was thinking the same. Looks like an interesting product, but the grill immediately makes me think of homebrew designs.....

They make claims of their custom driver being pretty bulletproof.....

If Arthur says good things then I'm inclined to believe that they're no joke. What's MSRP on these things?
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Yeah, I'm hating the grill to, it looks like an old vox amp... And pokey pokey goes the sharp objects, but I agree... If Arthur is giving some thumbs up.... Jeff I'll let you know when I have some in house, I wouldn't mind your opinion and ears and smart skills... Hell if anyone wants to come over they are welcome....
I have sb1000zs and tx9s to put them up against. Qsc pl380 and lab g 10ks to push electrons...
Besides I need a ux8800 tuning. :)
Hoping to hear about demo models coming my way soon....
List is $2500.00 each
 
Re: Canadian speaker works - black box sub

They do a lot of export business to the islands, reggae groups seem to have a liking to these subs. They do make their own drivers, IIRC, they also do a lot of recone work for other manufacturers, so I'm sure they would be able to figure out how to make them last. I tech'd the first two nights of the Buckcherry tour a couple years back, I think we had a dozen or more of these subs a side, worked rather well with the KF760 line arrays, sustained 110 dB SPL levels throughout the night without any problems. Ouch! Where's the earplugs!?! :o

We also did the Rogers Bayfest a couple years ago with them, AC/DC, Kiss, Black Eyed Peas, Scorpions, etc, worked great. The Scorpions FOH guy was all smiles after the show (man, that guy knows how to work an incredible mix on an analogue console)!

And yeah, the grill looks a bit odd! LOL! I do recall one of my friends describing it as an "angry" sub, just not sure how angry compared to the growler sub!! :p
 
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Re: Canadian speaker works - black box sub

What were you powering with on that buck cherry tour and how many subs per ch?
Also do they have kick punch, or are they a rumble box (reggae). Also do they have any throw... If you had to do a comparison with a name sub, it would be....
Thanks
Sp
 
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Re: Canadian speaker works - black box sub

IIRC, they were using QSC 380's for the subs, one per box. I'd say more of a kick to this sub than rumble, but still a very solid bottom end, not as much throw as you would with a horn loaded sub. Hard to compare it with other subs, if you were to compare it to a SB1000, I'd say the CSW can go a bit lower, louder, and has the added hypercardiod pattern in it's favour. I wish I had more time to work on some processing settings for the sub, we were really pressed for time.
 
Re: Canadian speaker works - black box sub

Ben Lawrence said:
The heck are they thinking with that grill?
Click to expand...

Anyone who complains about how many great products there are that have difficulty in the marketplace would do well to read this quote. I don't mean to bash Ben here at all, his point is extremely valid. It also has nothing to do with how the box sounds, performs, transports, or what it costs. We're always looking for the scientific right answer, but in the end the audio portion of the product may only be worth 50% towards its final grade.
 
Re: Canadian speaker works - black box sub

Bennett Prescott said:
Anyone who complains about how many great products there are that have difficulty in the marketplace would do well to read this quote. I don't mean to bash Ben here at all, his point is extremely valid. It also has nothing to do with how the box sounds, performs, transports, or what it costs. We're always looking for the scientific right answer, but in the end the audio portion of the product may only be worth 50% towards its final grade.
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I was thinking the same thing, but more cynically.
"This is not exactly like everything else I like."
"So I don't like it."

On the other hand, the little information they do have about the sub, at least they address truck pack.
Now, how are the handles/wheels?
 
Re: Canadian speaker works - black box sub

They look like they thought about handle placement, although, I'm not a fan of the twisted handle....
if you're going to do this, add a thrid handle....but I'm not going make any observations, until I move one.
I'm excited to hear a demo... and maybe they'll consider a grill SUBstitution wan wan wan
 

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Re: Canadian speaker works - black box sub

Bennett Prescott said:
Anyone who complains about how many great products there are that have difficulty in the marketplace would do well to read this quote. I don't mean to bash Ben here at all, his point is extremely valid. It also has nothing to do with how the box sounds, performs, transports, or what it costs. We're always looking for the scientific right answer, but in the end the audio portion of the product may only be worth 50% towards its final grade.
Click to expand...

Excellent post. Yes, sound quality is an important consideration in what boxes to buy, but that should be far from the only consideration. How it transports is something that is often overlooked. 2 boxes that perform similarly, but one has great handles and is sized for truck pack, and comes with a protective cover for the front grille would win over the box that may sound slightly better.

The other thing that is important, that is very often overlooked is how the boxes look. These DO have that hombebrew look to them with the goofy grill design. Maybe that works for some people, but I'm not a fan. Yes, I do buy gear based on how it LOOKS assembled as well as how it sounds. And for speakers, my preference is that they are to be heard more than seen, so a loud grille isn't what I'd be looking for.
 
Re: Canadian speaker works - black box sub

Arthur Skudra said:
the hypercardioid pattern works as stated, !
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So how do they get the cardioid pattern? I don't see any cancellation drivers-or any large boundaries- or any exit the rear that would be time/polarity sensitive?

At what freq is this pattern effective?

Are they any measurements available?
 
Re: Canadian speaker works - black box sub

Bennett Prescott said:
Anyone who complains about how many great products there are that have difficulty in the marketplace would do well to read this quote. I don't mean to bash Ben here at all, his point is extremely valid. It also has nothing to do with how the box sounds, performs, transports, or what it costs. We're always looking for the scientific right answer, but in the end the audio portion of the product may only be worth 50% towards its final grade.
Click to expand...

The website says it's a "Custom Laser Grill". Freakin LASER's man! With these subs you don't need a barricade! Think of all the money that will save!
 
Re: Canadian speaker works - black box sub

Shane Presley said:
They look like they thought about handle placement, although, I'm not a fan of the twisted handle....
if you're going to do this, add a thrid handle....but I'm not going make any observations, until I move one.
I'm excited to hear a demo... and maybe they'll consider a grill SUBstitution wan wan wan
Click to expand...

Great, THOSE handles and not flush-mounted. How...90's Peavey of them :D
 
Re: Canadian speaker works - black box sub

Ben Lawrence said:
I think they are flush mounted. Picture is just a little deceiving.
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At second glance, you're probably right.

I just like so many of these better:

http://img.diytrade.com/cdimg/551001/3663830/0/1179669799/professional_loudspeaker_handle.jpg

My preference is "TB09" as it lays the whole "what way to put the handle"-thing to rest. It doesn't allow you to "grab over" so it has a shortcoming there, but anything is better than "wedging" your hand into those "90s Peavey-style handles" right before the speaker slips...
 
Re: Canadian speaker works - black box sub

Hey Ivan!

I sent a message to the folk at CSW, hopefully they'll join the forum and respond here to your specific questions, and to others here regarding the construction/function of the box. To be honest, when I was tuning this system with the CSW subs, time was extremely limited (as it is at the start of most concert tours), so my observations of the hypercard feature were more anecdotal. I was hoping to spend more time with these subs when my schedule slowed down and could arrange a day to visit their facility with my test equipment, but alas it hasn't happened yet (more due to my part being too busy, not theirs). Maybe I should set some time aside when things supposedly slow down this winter because they certainly piqued my interest! And no, there isn't room at my house to test it out here! Gotta clean up my garage/workshop soon before my wife starts to complain! So much to do, so little time! Story of my life!!

Arthur
 
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