# Scanspeak 30W/4558T00 subwoofer,



## Donanon (Sep 13, 2013)

Ive been looking for a new sub for a while now and have spent several weeks reading reviews here on diyma exchanging PMs with those in the know and just doing due diligence. Ive had experience with scanspeak drivers in the home environment so i know their quality and value but Ive never used them in car audio.

When i added all that i had read and what i knew about scan quality it came down to two contenders, the 32W/4878T00 revelator and the 30W/4558T00 discovery. I have a small hatchback for a daily driver and the revelator seemed rather like overkill so i went with the 30W/4558T00 and man am i glad i did!

For now my system consists of a kenwood 796hu, Rockford Fosgate P1000X1bd sub amp on a 12inch kicker compvt and kenwood XR400-4 eXcleon amp on four polk db651 in the doors. Ive recently picked up a pioneer DEH-80PRS for a 3-way active system but not sure about the mid/tweeter amps yet.

Anyway on with the review. I ran the 30W/4558T00 in on tone sweeps for about 96 hours before installing it, i put it into a 34.5 litre (1.22 ft/3) net volume box with about 350 grams of polyfil. I had struggled for some time to make the kicker sound SQ and blend with the polks but it was just not jelled and i was quite unhappy with the sound...enter the Norseman! 

To say i was gob-smacked is an understatement, just a few minutes of fiddling with levels etc. and i literally started laughing out loud. Lower, tighter, gobs more detail and lightning transients. Plucked bass is startling, low registers on stringed insturments are just THERE with timbre, attack and decay intact. On krafwerk electric cafe the artificial space that the group creates around their music is huge and out side the limits of the car. 

Which brings me to the effects of the 30W/4558T00 on the midbass and upper-midbass, there is more detail retrieval on my system now and the lower midrange is smoother...this with a L/R-3 at 80 hz on the woof and coaxials. If anyone has thoughts about this please post them. Next week I will install my peerless 6.5 nomex mids with seas tweets in a fully active system so i am expecting even greater things to come.

Bottom line, this is the best $242 I have ever spent on audio, mobile or otherwise. IMO this scan subwoofer is a steal and highly recommended.

(Oh and PS. Kicker subwoofers and not bad and they do have thier place, Ive just found something that works better for me.)

Donanon


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## SkizeR (Apr 19, 2011)

ive also wanted to try scans subs, particularly the 32w


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## Donanon (Sep 13, 2013)

About a week ago I installed my Pioneer 80PRS and thought 'what the hell, I should have stereo subs' so I broke down and bought a second 30W/4558T00, built an identical box and have both woofers running in my hatchback. I've been tuning ever since and while I am still running the Polk coaxes at this point I like the the way things sound.

The detail in the bass is palpable with a large 'hall' effect (not quite sure how to describe that but I mean a sense of space) and no boom or overhang that I can detect, I'm waiting for a buddy to come over with his measuring equipment on the weekend at which time I think the real tuning will begin. Next month I hope to get the new front stage installed, if time allows.

Bottom line, I am absolutely sold on these subs.


D.


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