# Clarion 32" Thunderdomes...



## MikeT1982 (Jul 6, 2011)

Hey guys, i long admired these subs and wanted one ever since i heard one in person back around 1999 or so. I want to use one for home stereo purposes and for the wow factor involved and the super low's that i remember it doing so well. I heard one in a demo room of a shop and fell in love. Even with it's super low power handing it is an amazing sub. Anyways i never could find anyone knowledgeable on these. So i'm starting this thread, and also wondering if anyone knows if they're still available anywhere or have they become extinct from their unfriendly size or people killing them off from overpowering.....eBay doesn't seem to be of any help...very unusual!!! LoL.


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## XtremeRevolution (Dec 3, 2010)

MikeT1982 said:


> Hey guys, i long admired these subs and wanted one ever since i heard one in person back around 1999 or so. I want to use one for home stereo purposes and for the wow factor involved and the super low's that i remember it doing so well. I heard one in a demo room of a shop and fell in love. Even with it's super low power handing it is an amazing sub. Anyways i never could find anyone knowledgeable on these. So i'm starting this thread, and also wondering if anyone knows if they're still available anywhere or have they become extinct from their unfriendly size or people killing them off from overpowering.....eBay doesn't seem to be of any help...very unusual!!! LoL.


I doubt you're going to find one, and the amount you will end up paying will make it not worth it compared to what you'd get out of other available 18" subs. 

Honestly, how low do you really want to go?


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## azngotskills (Feb 24, 2006)

I know where 3 of them are and have seen them in person, so they do exist 

One is located at a shop here in Dallas, but they are not willing to sell it because it is a display piece and mounted to a 1" thick plexi front and back board. The other is being used by a friend of mine in his shop test bench as well as one in is custom car project. I could ask for you just because it never hurts, but how much are you willing to spend for one???


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## UNBROKEN (Sep 25, 2009)

I heard one years ago in a walled off VW Bug....I remember it being pretty impressive.


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## hybridspl (May 9, 2008)

Those subs were great! We put one in a '65 Austin Mini with an a/d/s/ front stage at the shop I worked for and it was surprisingly great for SQ but usually prompted some "thunder from down under" after, because it played so low. Sounded like a 10 but dug deep like a IB 15's. Good luck finding one! One of our customers had his stolen twice, because he always showed it off at Hampton beach like a goon.


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## willdabear (Oct 18, 2010)

32" is pretty crazy.


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## thomasluke (Jun 10, 2011)

I know were an audiobahn 32 inch is the one with the aluminum cone.
Dont know if the owner would be willing to part with it but im sure it has to have a price and before anyone else chimes in yeah audiobahns are a pice of **** but this thing gets low as hell off of about 300 watts.


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## UNBROKEN (Sep 25, 2009)

****ers were kinda big. lol


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## smgreen20 (Oct 13, 2006)

I've seen one but never heard one. I'm a collector of Clarion and that is at the top of my subs list. I want one so bad I don't even care if it works or not. People say they'll take 1000 wrms, nope, not for to long and It's because of its size. They require a huge box sealed even at 5 cubes iirc, the ideal ported box is q staggering 18 cubes. CA&E or AS&S did a test review on one, I'm going to have to dig it out this weekend. And for those that want to Google ot, It's the SRW8000


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## PottersField (Mar 18, 2011)

I heard one in a demo room, the guys at the shop had dubbed it the "big bad woof" or some corny **** like that. Supposedly they were putting a pair of them in a wall but I never did see the install.


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## mears (Jul 27, 2009)

What was the msrp back in the day?


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## sqshoestring (Jun 19, 2007)

UNBROKEN said:


> ****ers were kinda big. lol


Lol, like an illegal Mexican boob job.

If I did an IB HT here right now, I'd buy a whole bunch of these pyle 15s I have in my car. They were 40 each, 8 of them would be a good start.


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## smgreen20 (Oct 13, 2006)

mears said:


> What was the msrp back in the day?


I can't remember off hand but I think it was on the $1800 region.


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## Slate evenson (Oct 5, 2011)

I love when people dog these things when I KNOW they've never heard one.
Oh only 1000 watts, Oh how stupid, my little 18 can pound that, blah blah.

I've owned one since '03. I've powered it with as little as a 250w Soundstream HR4, and as much as a 6000W Earthquake PHD3. 
I had one in my mini van with the 250w amp and I couldn't listen to it with out holding my ears at 1/2 volume.
Right now I have 2 for my home audio and the plaster is starting to crack on my walls. Action scenes in movies......forget about it​
I can have pics soon but the mods wont let me cause I'm new. RETARDED


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## andrave (Jan 20, 2011)

I believe msrp was $1300. They had a relatively small motor structure for their large cone size so they were not spl monsters, though iirc they were relatively efficient for a given wattage. I think rms power was only around 350 watts, which is surprisingly low for such a large structure. Box requirements were out of this world... I think to make use of their low fs and get an enclosure tuned to 20 hz required something in the area of 20 ft^3. 

One sold on ebay about a year ago and I believe it sold for around $400. I had to sit on my hands to keep from bidding on it... I really have absolutely no use for one except as the obvious conversation piece. If you are interested in gigantic old school subs, I think atomic used to sell 24" ones, and then audiobahn had a very large one for a while, somewhere around 30". The only thunderdome I ever saw installed was in a boat, they mounted it in a weird dome over over passenger compartment. 

They are on my list of "if I won the lottery and could fill a room with the craziest car audio gear," along with the phoenix gold cyclone...


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## andrave (Jan 20, 2011)

smgreen20 said:


> I'm a collector of Clarion and that is at the top of my subs list.


Tried to send this as a pm but keep getting error messages, so here goes:

I saw you were an old school clarion collector. Do you remember the clarion subs from back in the day (97 or 98 probably) that had purple cones? I've been looking for a set for a while now... they were not even the top of the line if I remember right, I think the pro audio ones were black, but I just have this memory of being 16 and sitting in a van that had 6 of the 12's in it, and I guess its mostly nostalgia. I haven't been able to find any info on them, and though I have a handful of vintage clarion brochures I must not have any literature from whatever year the purple cone'd ones are from.


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## Slate evenson (Oct 5, 2011)

[post #2. 3 more and I can show you my subs]


along with the phoenix gold cyclone...[/QUOTE said:


> I wanted one of those so bad, but I think they had like a 12% distortion raiting. CRAZY.
> 
> When I first seen the sr8000 back in 99 I think it was around 4999. (at my audio place)
> Last I checked there was a website in the UK that says they have a NOS for 4K in euros. That converts to just a little over 5300 bucks.
> Now that's retarded, but I'll drop 800 for one on eBay without a thought.


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## smgreen20 (Oct 13, 2006)

I still want one, but I'm flat out broke right now. I went on a Clarion spending spree and finished up the wife's audio system and those 2 things combined broke me. 

Slate, Save me one if you ever decide to sell them/one.


Andrave, The purple ones first came out in '97 and they too are the Pro Audio line as are the black ones. their model numbers are SRM2591 (10") SRM3091 (12") The difference is that the purple ones are Multimedia ready, for what ever reason??/ It's just another sub, but the purple ones are the top of the line for that year. 

I've got brochures from '93, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2010, 2011 and pdf's of 2007, 2008, and 2009. 


Collector?..... Okay, I am.






















































Some things are not pictured. 
APA4320 amp
DXZ615 HU, Blue face- in wife's car
DRX7576 HU
A1200 amp


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## AAAAAAA (Oct 5, 2007)

Speaking of cheep pyles

Pyle Pro PDW21250 21" High Power Subwoofer 292-2526

Definitly interesting.


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## tomtomjr (Apr 24, 2008)

I have 3 of them. My favorite sub. Msro was $3.8k. . Usuall when I see someone install one of these, the box is too small. That is why they get the bad rap for sounding bad. In a 20 to 24 cu box, these subs will amaze you with 200/300w. I also have one of the monster audiobahn subs. In the right box, this thing will pull your car apart. Only problem is the power required to do it. As for now, I have only one of the 32's hooked up to 150w of Zapco in my shop to play low tunes. I have a quick video on youtube of the awt34x in the car for a semi install just to see what it would do. Took it out to go with a Clarion 32 instead. Will get back to the project one of these days. If anyone has a clarion 32 or audiobahn awt34x they would part with, I am interested.


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## azngotskills (Feb 24, 2006)

so there you are Tom...let me know if you need some help moving them LOL


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## totalmayhem (Apr 14, 2011)

Slate evenson said:


> I love when people dog these things when I KNOW they've never heard one.
> Oh only 1000 watts, Oh how stupid, my little 18 can pound that, blah blah.
> 
> I've owned one since '03. I've powered it with as little as a 250w Soundstream HR4, and as much as a 6000W Earthquake PHD3.
> ...


you HAVE to make a video with them playing!!. I would love to own one


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## sqshoestring (Jun 19, 2007)

Is this thing any good?
Incriminator Audio Death Penalty 21" Subwoofer - Vertex Audio


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## totalmayhem (Apr 14, 2011)

sqshoestring said:


> Is this thing any good?
> Incriminator Audio Death Penalty 21" Subwoofer - Vertex Audio


That woofer and it's big brother the warden are absolute beast. No other way to put it. True spl woofer that doesn't sound bad on music at all!!!


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## tomtomjr (Apr 24, 2008)

I have tried as little as a harrison 25x1 amp 3"x4"x1, and it still pumps (the clarion 32). Does not take much power at all for the 32" to get going. The AB34 is complete opposite. That one sounds awful on 1000w. Takes bare minimum 1500w to get it to start moving. A real power hog. That is why it sits in a crate.


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## envisionelec (Dec 14, 2005)

PottersField said:


> I heard one in a demo room, the guys at the shop had dubbed it the "big bad woof" or some corny **** like that. Supposedly they were putting a pair of them in a wall but I never did see the install.


Stereo Sound Studios is the only Clarion dealer in the area that had one. It was in a massive wedge-shaped box that was supposed to fit a truck. I ended up buying a TON of their stuff when they bit the dust back in 2001.


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## 00goobs (Nov 14, 2010)

UNBROKEN said:


> I heard one years ago in a walled off VW Bug....I remember it being pretty impressive.


I saw a walled bug with one at a dbdrag event in L.A. In 2001, maybe the same bug...


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## smgreen20 (Oct 13, 2006)

Found one for sale about an hour away. Guy wants $750 firm for it. It has a few issues too.


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## Slate evenson (Oct 5, 2011)

totalmayhem said:


> you HAVE to make a video with them playing!!. I would love to own one


So I made a vid and put it on Youtube for you all, but I have bad news.....

They still won't let me post links so search for:
"Largest home audio sub needs help!! clarion srw8000 32"
(I had to go down to the bottom of the page and hit repeat search if I didn't pull up)

*Need Help*


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## The Tube Doctor (Nov 24, 2009)

Slightly OT, but another example of the big-inch woofer brigade:

Fostex FW800HS, 31.5" Super Woofer: Madisound Speaker Store


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## rockunlimited2 (Nov 6, 2011)

Hay SMGreen, if you collect Clarions, have you ever heard of a clear plastic faced HUs? I had one back in 1996, but it went away one night and I have never seen one since. Maybe a display unit?


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## Rexrode (Jul 1, 2008)

Here's a link to one my buddies shop near where I live did. that thing was INSANE to have above your head!!!!

installPorsche


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## smgreen20 (Oct 13, 2006)

rockunlimited2 said:


> Hay SMGreen, if you collect Clarions, have you ever heard of a clear plastic faced HUs? I had one back in 1996, but it went away one night and I have never seen one since. Maybe a display unit?


I posted a reply in the thread over at the CA.com site. But yes, tinted clear, not fully transparent as you describe.


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## mikelycka (Apr 4, 2008)

sm love helping you out on your collection!!!!. back in 99 vision electronic did a van with 2 of them in a bandpass box. it was soooooooo stupid how big the box was and how loud they were
i think my focal kx40 16" is going to be to much for my civic...lol the good old days


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## theeaudioboy (Jun 3, 2011)

MikeT1982 said:


> Hey guys, i long admired these subs and wanted one ever since i heard one in person back around 1999 or so. I want to use one for home stereo purposes and for the wow factor involved and the super low's that i remember it doing so well. I heard one in a demo room of a shop and fell in love. Even with it's super low power handing it is an amazing sub. Anyways i never could find anyone knowledgeable on these. So i'm starting this thread, and also wondering if anyone knows if they're still available anywhere or have they become extinct from their unfriendly size or people killing them off from overpowering.....eBay doesn't seem to be of any help...very unusual!!! LoL.



hi yes i remember these subwoofers ! seen and heard a few in person first was in miami in late 1998 ! then a friend of the family bought one and installed it in a tahoe ! but a few months later he upgraded his clarion amp that powered the sub to a soundstream tarantula 2000.1 and that was the end of it sadly !! he still has it in his house but is still blown ! but they were nice speakers !!!


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## theeaudioboy (Jun 3, 2011)

One sold on ebay about a year ago and I believe it sold for around $400. I had to sit on my hands to keep from bidding on it... I really have absolutely no use for one except as the obvious conversation piece. If you are interested in gigantic old school subs, I think atomic used to sell 24" ones, and then audiobahn had a very large one for a while, somewhere around 30". The only thunderdome I ever saw installed was in a boat, they mounted it in a weird dome over over passenger compartment. 

They are on my list of "if I won the lottery and could fill a room with the craziest car audio gear," along with the phoenix gold cyclone...[/QUOTE]


yes Atomic did make 24" sub ! matter of fact they were the first to make a super sub bigger then 18" back in 1988' and still to this day ! i like how other companies with 21"s or 22"s claim to have the biggest in the industry exspecially when there sub came out in the 2000's !??? but i know this cause im a proud owner of 2x Atomic 24"s !


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## Thumper88 (Dec 1, 2006)

Looks like Cadence is trying to get in on the bandwagon...
DCX34W - Cadence Sound Store


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## theeaudioboy (Jun 3, 2011)

Thumper88 said:


> Looks like Cadence is trying to get in on the bandwagon...
> DCX34W - Cadence Sound Store


 ya ! its funny after the clarion thunder dome came out, then audiobahn made the 34" few yrs after and now cadence got the same sub and size and wattage as the audiobahn ! they look exactly the same ! lol course id never buy audiobahn its just flarey china made stuff ! but the clarion thunder dome id like to have !!! but i got 2x 24"s so im happy !


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## SHAGGS (Apr 24, 2011)

Brock_Landers said:


> LoL. There's even a truck/van thing with 10 of those in it. ...


Master Blaster 8000 @ Car+Sound - Sinsheim 2008 - YouTube

It's too far away for me(across the pond), but man would I like to get a peek/listen of that.


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## GlenH (Aug 22, 2014)

smgreen20 said:


> I still want one, but I'm flat out broke right now. I went on a Clarion spending spree and finished up the wife's audio system and those 2 things combined broke me.
> 
> Slate, Save me one if you ever decide to sell them/one.
> 
> ...


Purple clarion subs 12" were $800.00 new i got two and i had to get rid of one they were to powerful together in my small car that was in 1997 and i had the purple amp's to go with it looked nice.. I would like to find more if anyone knows where to buy 2x 10" and 1x 8" but must be purple pro audio email [email protected]


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