# Older TC Sounds 3 ohm, 10"sub



## mrgreenjeans71 (Jun 14, 2010)

Need some help to ID an old 10" TC sounds sub I bought about 4 years ago. First of all, it's 3 ohm (2.9 ohms DC). It looks a lot like your average TCS woofer, black aluminum cone, rubber surround, grey painted cast aluminum basket, and a magnet wrapped in black rubber and a beveled hole in the bottom to reduce air noise.
I think it's about 7-8 years old. I vaguely remember the seller saying that he got it from a friend who worked at TCS, at that this might have been a one off. It's a single VC and he said it should handle 500-600W. The 3 ohm rating is a little annoying since my current amp only bridges into 4 ohms minimum. Any thoughts? I don't have the gear to do a T-S parameter measurement and I'd like to know more about this woofer because it looks like I'm going to sell it. Aside from a little sealant residue from a temporary installation, it's practically immaculate and has a lot of life left. I know, a pic would help but I can't take one at the moment. 
Thanks.


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## vwdave (Jun 12, 2013)

Maybe an audiomobile sub? Sounds like it's meant to run in 3s. I'm not familiar enough with audiomobile to know if they came in a 3 ohm configuration. Pics would help for sure though.


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## mrgreenjeans71 (Jun 14, 2010)

Yeah, forgot to mention it's a car sub. One of those really inefficient subs designed for a small sealed box.


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## cubdenno (Nov 10, 2007)

What motor?

The 3 ohm DCR is fine. Most 4 ohm coils are not 4 ohm but 3 ish.

If it was rated at 500-600, prolly a TC9 motor or the smaller one... I forget. Prolly a TC1000 sub

Those were usually not necessarily rated for uber small boxes. They usually used the 3hp motor for small enclosures.

And low sensitivity was not a big deal. The sensitivity was taken at 1k hertz which is meaningless for subs.


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## mrgreenjeans71 (Jun 14, 2010)

Thanks. I did a picture search and it looks like the TC1000, but I'll check out the TC9 parameters. Funny, while dusting off this driver I took an actual measure of the cone diameter. It's only 7". Now I know that it was a 10" sub that I bought, and that those big roll surrounds take up over an inch, but 7"? It should be advertised as a 9" sub.


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## vwdave (Jun 12, 2013)

A lot of those crazy subs have a 2" surround...well then a 10" sub would have a 6" cone on it. It's not that uncommon (ie, W7, eclipse Ti, sundown I think)


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## mrgreenjeans71 (Jun 14, 2010)

Right? Back in the day when I first learned about this stuff from Dickinson's Loudspeaker Cookbook, I learned that the actual cone diameter is what matters when pushing air. Ah, the pre internet days when my high school algebra came in handy working out port dimensions with a pencil. But I guess the long excursion makes up for some of that. Can't get around the physics.


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## vwdave (Jun 12, 2013)

You are right on both accounts. Cone area and excursion matter on speakers. Finding the right balance is the age old question. Beyond those parameters you also have magnet strength, voice coil diameter and length, as well as cooling properties and build materials. They all play a roll and companies have tried different approaches over the years.

Right now the trend is larger surrounds with a relatively smaller cone and insanely sized magnets. Modern technology has allowed for subs to handle more power, dissipate heat better, and produce a louder, cleaner sound.


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