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Peavey Low Max 18 18" Subwoofer Speaker
Specifications: Size: 18"
Power Rating: 1200W AES
Frequency Response: 35-2kHz
Sensitivity: 97.1db
Impedance: 8 ohms
Voice Coil: 4"
Voice Coil Material: Polyimide coated copper ribbon wire Polyimide-impregnated fiberglass former Nomex® stiffener Solderless diffusion welded OFHC copper leads
Resonant Frequency: 33.5 Hz
Weight: 33.4 lbs.
Peavey Part No: 00560400
Finally, there’s a subwoofer driver that just might be stronger than your biggest ampli er. With an almost inconceivable power program, the Lo Max has more real world power handling than any other commercially available sound reinforcement loudspeaker. A no compromise design combines this power capacity with high efficiency, excellent frequency response and low distortion for revolutionary performance. It even works well in compact enclosures.
DESIGN
The Lo Max utilizes the same strong Kevlar composite cone and dustup used in the Low Rider series.
The cone is strong and tough, and uses an innovative asymmetrical-M surround for superior excursion and motion control. High quality gold on brass spring plunger terminals accepting large gauge wire are attached to large diameter, high-current tinsel leads with silver solder to withstand high currents, high temperatures and long excursion. The tinsel termination is coated with an elastomer material to improve ex life.
The massive 4” diameter voice coil uses polyamide insulated copper ribbon wire, edge wound and bonded onto an incredibly durable and heat resistant polyamide composite former. With a winding length of 1.150”, the long coil has much more surface area to dissipate heat, and its increased length drives the cone to a far higher excursion. The coil is over coated with a tough thermoset epoxy for added durability, abrasion resistance and heat dissipation. The coil wires are solder less diffusion welded to high conductivity OFHC copper ribbon leads, which are embedded inside the former assembly and soldered to the tinsel leads with high temperature silver solder. The solder joint is then coated with a special, thermally conductive silicone adhesive for encapsulation and heat dissipation.
The voice coil assembly is bonded to the Kevlar composite cone and new, incredible tough plastiseal coated Nome progressive roll spider using a thermoset epoxy originally developed for attaching nose cones onto ICBM missiles — truly an aerospace grade adhesive. The spider and surround are bonded to the frame with a high strength, toughened adhesive.
The stunning, 28lb. chrome- plated Lo Max magnet structure is all new and was designed using extensive Finite Element computer modeling. The back plate/pole piece is cold forged from a single massive billet of ultra low carbon steel and is a prime example of form following function. The pole is extended well beyond the 12.5 mm thick front plate to improve coil cooling and make it more magnetically linear. The magnet structure is powered by two full size Black Widow ® magnets in stacked configuration.
A specially designed vent plate greatly improves voice coil cooling. This heat conductive, ported and finned aluminum, ring delivers cool air pumped by the spider directly to the voice coil to keep operating temperatures under control. The improved cooling increases power handling and reliability and reduce power compression. The cast aluminum frame is tough and rigid and has the strength needed to hold the cone and huge magnet assembly in perfect alignment. The deep dish design and large spider clearance make high excursion and high output possible.
These dynamic new drivers also utilize the user friendly Black Widow replaceable basket assemblies with Rubatex ® gaskets. The results of these specially designed components are truly amazing loudspeakers. The extremely high power handling and more than 1.5” of available cone travel combine for astonishing low frequency output, while the possibility of small enclosures adds a new dimension to compact, high output sound reinforcement systems.
APPLICATIONS
The Lo Max is specially designed for subwoofer use, with extremely high output capabilities and almost inconceivable power handling. While most subwoofer applications are below 150 Hz, it is usable to frequencies as high as 500 Hz. The compact enclosure designs are ideal for instrument amplification and high portability applications such as DJ and small touring bands. They provide solid bass performance in extraordinarily small enclosures. The very small size offers interesting possibilities to large touring systems due to reduced load out volume. The medium sized enclosures are smaller than usual and have more bass extension and much higher output capabilities than conventional designs. They are excellent choices for high performance sound reinforcement.
For permanent installations and applications requiring extremely deep bass performance, the large vented enclosures are ideal. The >extreme, deep bass and high sound pressure levels these systems can produce are almost beyond comprehension. Due to the Lo Max’s high output capabilities, excessive levels may cause structural damage to buildings or induce permanent hearing loss, nausea, vertigo or intestinal disturbances in listeners. Please be cautious when setting maximum sound pressure levels.
ENCLOSURES
To assist with the growing interest in home built enclosure designs, Peavey provides complete parameter data on these drivers, as well as several recommended enclosures for each model. This information and much more can be found at www.peavey.com Lo Max drivers are intended for use in vented enclosures only. Other enclosure designs such as sealed, horn-loaded, bandpass and infinite baffle will result in reduced performance and/or possible driver overheating and failure. Since vented enclosures allow driver over-excursion at frequencies below vent tuning, active filtering absolutely must be included with amplifiers greater
than 750 watts. This later should be a high pass 24 dB Butterworth at a minimum of 32 Hz for the 15”. Filtering is also recommended below 750 watts in order to conserve amplifier power. Failure to use high pass filtering with high power operation may cause driver damage that could void your warranty.
Enclosures should be built of best quality 3⁄4” to 1-1/4” (20mm to 32mm) marine, 7-ply birch or other high grade plywood. Use of construction grade plywood is strongly discouraged, but if no better material is available choose grade BC or better and don’t use wood with loose plies or voids. Use quality wood glue and fit joints tightly. Dado corner joints are highly recommended. Wood screws or a pneumatic nailer should be used to assemble the enclosure during gluing to maximize joint strength. The strength of the completed enclosure has a great effect on the bass performance of the finished system. Internal bracing will be required to improve the
structural stiffness of the cabinet the Lo Max drivers will generate enormous forces inside the enclosure, and panels that aren’t stiff enough will vibrate and cancel bass output while producing undesirable resonances.
Vents shown in the examples require standard schedule 40 PVC pipe for vent construction. The pipe should be dadoed tightly into the back of the baffle and glued firmly in place with high quality epoxy or high strength industrial grade hot glue. Rough up the outside of the pipe to improve the glue bond. Radius the inside of the vent ends to improve air flow and reduce vent noise. Lo Max drivers generate huge amounts of heat at high power. This heat is transferred to the air in the enclosure as it is dissipated. For long term (i.e., greater than 15 minutes) high power operation, this heated air must escape and be replaced by cooler air. Enclosure vents should be placed at the top and bottom vents. Enclosures not designed in this way will be thermally de-rated, and will not be capable of sustained operation at high power due to heat build- up. Vents for these enclosures are much longer than typical for a sound reinforcement subwoofer. This reflects the special characteristics of the Lo Max’s design that make it possible to combine a large, high excursion woofer with an unusually small enclosure. For best performance, the inside ends of the vents should be a distance of at least one vent diameter from any interior wall of the enclosure. The vent should be straight, without elbow fittings or other methods to bend it for greater length. Vent diameter should not be decreased, as high air velocity will result in noise and reduced power handling.
Be sure to allow for the displacement of the vent, bracing and woofer in your enclosure design before building it. Mistakes in net volume will mistune the enclosure and can drastically reduce performance. This will require considerable planning before construction, but is well worth the extra effort.
Line the inside of the enclosure with polyester fiber batting such as quilt stuffing. The batting material should conform to California bedding fire codes. Attach the batting with spray adhesive or staples and keep
material away from the end of the vent tube where it can be pulled in by air flow. Handles, protective corners, cabinet covering, grille materials and crossovers are available through Peavey Accessories. Take particular care when positioning the handles, as subwoofers tend to be large and heavy.
Do not use 1⁄4” phone plugs or jacks in the construction of your enclosure. The power capacity of Lo Max drivers is well above safe limits for phone plugs and jacks, and their use may constitute a fire hazard. Neutrik ® Speakon ® connectors are highly recommended, and internal cabinet wiring should be at least 16-gauge stranded copper wire. These instructions are a general guideline for design. Proper construction techniques, good
planning and common sense will result in a reliable, high quality, performance system.
More information here.
- Download a PDF spec sheet here.
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Features
- 4” Voice Coil
- 4800 Watts Peak Power Handling
- Ferrite Magnetics
- Die Cast Aluminum Chassis
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