# Diyma Reference 12"



## demon2091tb (May 30, 2005)

Diyma Reference 12"

After building my box, carpeting it and such, i finally got some listening time on the sub, probobly around 5hrs at the minumum, and i'm thouroughly impressed so far.

For those who said this sub cannot get loud......there wrong, Output potential isint as good as the Tempest i had before, but this sub gets pretty loud, is VERY clean on double bass kicks and has a very flat response, Talk about extension for a single 12, i'm still amazed. .

*Enclosure*

First off i have it in a ~1cf before displacement, so i'm thinking actually around .85-.9cf and i really beleive is ideal for this sub, for the mix of low end extension, and powerhandling. I have a Next 2.400 running on it at 4ohms, so [email protected] Over points are 63hz, 24db and it blends very well with my Extremis 6.4's. You NEED some pretty beefy midbasses if you plan on using it in a ~1cf enclosure as the upper end seems to slightly drift off, but is still very audible. I have 160rms @ 4ohms per Extremis and they match very nicely.

Inside the enclosure i layered it up pretty good. 1.5cans of Cascade Quiet Kote VS-1Pro, probobly 1/16-1/8" thick, 1 Layer of ensolite throughout, and on flat areas inside the box 1 layer of 1" Acoustic Eggshell.

I don't have very many subs that i've tested, the best being the Tempest i'm currently using in my HT, soon to be the pair. But this is a new monster for me, and i'm very very much enjoying it.

*Build Quality*

This sub is HEAVY, for a 6' tall, 135lb guy, this sub is more than a 1/4 of my own weight......coming in around 37lbs, this sub is overbuilt for the purpose, and i love it.  Dual faraday rings to cut distortion in the motor making it the cleanest sub i've heard (granted low amount of high end subs that i've heard). But the build quality is top notch, and i love the look of the black Magnet slugs between the top and bottom plates. Its a SVC 4ohm sub, so wiring impendences are set in stone, but in some ways i beleive this was done to keep the actual SQ of the coil at a consistant. Anyway i don't have much knowledge on design so there probobly is another reason for this if any.

As soon as the sub came out there was some talk about a "popping" noise, which in reality was a clipped signal........i've yet to hear it. I'm sure if i tried hard enough i could easily get it to clip, but what would be the point in that........it gets plenty loud for me, and even at my loud listening levels i've heard nothing of the sort.

*EQ*

With messing around with EQ settings and such on the sub, and blending it into my midbasses i've noticed that i need a cutt or two in the 40-50hz region to blend the best, and to give the smoothest response to my ears. Not sure if its a fxn of the car enviroment or just the box, but it sounds like sex to my ears after the few cutts. 

*My Music Preferences*

*Chill*
ALOT of the music i tend to listen to is either Metal, or Electronic Ambient Chill types. I have a CD of burned Shulman tracks and on each track they have a good range of bass as well as the rest of the spectrum (fairly full range) and i can honeslty say that on some of the sine bombs/drops that are put into the music they are powerfull, accurate and deep. Any lesser sub would be tripped up on the speed of some of the portions of the double bass/drops, my tempest sometimes had problems doing both, but it might have also been associated with a lack of midbass presence, as the DIYMA really only plays the lowest of lows, 63hz and down.

*Metal*
With metal, specifically Job for a Cowboys "Entombment of A Machine", theres a few rather strong bass drops that are very accurate, no overhang at all, with double bass kicks over it that you can just feel all over your body.....very fun. The sub keeps up without a hitch, VERY fast sub, most likely due to the low weight of the VC/aluminum cone.

*SQ tracks*

I have probobly less than 10hrs total listening and tuning so far on the entire car, but from what i can tell thus far, this is an amazing SQ sub. I just want another lol.

BTW if anyone is a fan of RAP type music with highly bloated low end (3-6 Mafia, LilJon etc), the sub pulls it off with no hitch, actually have noticed note changes with the Diyma that i havn't noticed before. I was demoing some different type music to a friend of mine at work (playing 3-6mafia), and he told me to cutt the sub off, and was amazed at how low my midbasses were playing, the sub only plays the lowest of lows, and really isint missed untill theres a huge bass drop, then its definently noticed. 

Thanks for the Awesome sub Dang. Will update more with more specific songs and titles and review of each song. Wish i had a few people in my area that were SQ nuts and could really give it a listen.

A finished pic from my Build Thread

Rest of my Setup is in my sig.


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## OGJordan (Sep 26, 2006)

Great review, but the most interesting thing is



> for a 6' tall, 135lb guy


   

So THAT'S how you fit in the TC!! I test drove one, couldnt do it!

But really, great review, very convincing commercial for the sub!


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## Chaos (Oct 27, 2005)

Awesome work on the enclosure 

Nice review too, I hope to audition one of my own in the near future...


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## ecojet (Oct 4, 2006)

great review, very convincing.
forgive my ignorance  but has anyone compared this sub to the sw300 lotus?? i ask cause i was looking to pick one of them up but saw this sub in the site, looked up some reviews and its got big praise... how does it compare to the seas?


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## WLDock (Sep 27, 2005)

Nice review! Appreciate it. Love the kicks and the sub enclosure. I think your install talked me back into doing a side panel sub enclosure and maybe the Dayton domes in the kicks...pretty DAMN cool that you can still use your dead pedal!

B.T.W. how do you feel about the using the fiberglass enclosure with the sub? Sounds like you got it pretty dead.


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## strong*I*bumpin (Oct 3, 2005)

Nice work demon


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## demon2091tb (May 30, 2005)

I wouldn't hesitate at all doing a side firing enclosure, in fact i'm trying to find a place for another 500rms amp, hopefully to do another diyma on the other side, granted the single diyma is more than enough(in fact i may need to decrease the enclosure size for my single to match the same size as the other side, but it should equal out in some ways....If not i have Plenty of EQ ability, but the dual 12 just would look so damn integrated and nice, i can't not do it. Anyway the SQ in tremendous, and i really hope that i gave a decent review for the sub, as i really think i don't even do it justice. The sq is phenominal, and i actually demoed it tonight to a few random people, friends of friends that i knew, at a local bar. They all agreed that the sub was very clean, crisp, and deep, all things that i think justify what a sq sub should be, but also commented on how loud it does get....even being a SQ sub, and only 500rms, somewhat wondering what people would think if i had 2. 

Anyway i really hope the review does it justice, even though majority of the people can't really hear it. It sounds like a million bucks, can't wait to get another and really get some power to the pair, which i may need to redo my alternator with already over 1krms going to the setup. 

BTW i also beleive fiberglass with appropriate deadening and acoustic treatments is more than enough, i layered plenty of FG matting for my enclosure, mainly on flat surfaces, as curved surfaces really take advantage of FG strength. If you look on my installl thread on page 5, there are a few pictures specifically of the level of acoustic treatments i used, and it realy shows and sounds like alot of care was taken. FG in curved shapes is alot stronger than MDF and the appropriate deadening and reinforcement to the box should give it plenty of support. can't wait to get another....and really get them into VERY low xmax/distortion levels and get the bass really going, when i need it, not that i even do need it, just to have when i need , granted the high bass levels/low distortion is a plus..............you all know that feeling right........sorrta like reserve tanks, you have it when you need it not that you ever will, but if theres a VERY low rumble, you have it covered throuroghtly..  I love them so far 

Woudlnt' get rid of them in a heart beat, time to get another though, now if i can only get it into a 1cf enclosure, before displacemnts, to match the other side, i'd be happy.........but i might need to reconsider the origional sizeing, to match the new side.

You might hear from me in a few weeks Dang if there are any DIYMA's Left.


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## WLDock (Sep 27, 2005)

OK, I hear you on the fiberglass...I think I will give it a shot. I have only done one before and it was a spare tire well tub connected to a shallow box. I did about SEVEN layers on that tub as my skills were not that great at the time...I had a lot of air pockets. I think I better understand the correct way to glass after watching how to videos, reading, and doing other small projects.

I was very close to picking up a DIYMA 12 myself but came across a used Entasi Audio (TC SOUNDS TC9 based) sub. Like the DIYMA, this thing is a beast! By far the heaviest sub I have ever used(I think the PPI Pro was second?) I guess this would be my first SQL sub.

Anyway, I guess fiberglass is the best route to take for space savings....


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