sundownz

This line will have 18s, yes.

Working late tonight on e-mails... several weeks behind on some messages. Sorry guys - finally have a moment to actually catch up a bit now, though.

Merry Christmas everyone

JJ (my boy) and I came up to the shop for a bit today to do paperwork *laughs* He is currently going through some boxes.

Yes. At first they will be launched on standard platforms (4-spoke and standard cones, spiders, etc) like the thread I posted recently for the X-12... the other sizes will be rated 1000-watts RMS. It will be a year or two to get all frame sizes, new spiders, and new cones tooled in this frame to match the X-8

They are rated 600-watts RMS -- thermal capacity will be quite similar to the SA line (10/12/15)... and as I'm sure most folks on any of our forums know what those are capable of.

Might sound like alot of money at first glance but in reality it's not as it has the same motor size as most 10s, 12s, 15s, and 18s in this price class and that is the #1 expense on a woofer. Not to mention the custom tooling. Traditionally 8s are cheaper as they have much smaller motors, spiders, etc. Not the case with this driver... we are talking a ~30+ lb total weight due to the double stacked 200mm diameter magnet slugs (7.87" for those that aren't metric inclined). Most big SPL subs like our Nightshades and Z v.2 are 220mm slugs -- think about that and you'll realize how large this thing really is It's certainly not for everyone; nor was it intended to be -- the SA-8 will remain in our line and is less than half the cost

Has not been talked about yet as I'm not sure yet

Got the information I was unclear on -- it is leaning towards the $300 MAP side. I will still be looking at the mid 225-250 pre-order, though ! So I advise picking them up early to get the best deal as it will be the new king of 8" woofers

For pre-order I will be around that. Regular is going to be 285-300 -- that is not subject to change. I would make several hundred SA-8s with the tooling cost in this driver

Basically... initial estimates are coming in pretty well identical to the X-12 woofer (285 MAP). http://www.stevemeadedesigns.com/board/topic/94289-sundown-x-12-prototype/ Not a huge surprise as this has the same motor size... considering all the custom tooled parts above that it's actually a deal, IMO I am going to call later to confirm all the estimates I got this morning as I'm not 100% clear on all the details without the call. I may be able to pre-sell them for in the area of 225-250 or so with possible discounts on multiples. ---- Worst case if my estimates need some adjusting we may have to go to ~$300 MAP on this driver. But... lets think about it and compare to the other "king" of 8" woofers on the market today : Linear x-max is identical to the 8W7 @ 19mm one-way... X-8 has a shorting ring which the W7 does not. Will handle WAY more power than the 8W7 does thermally... much stronger motor so way better for SPL... will weigh nearly 2x more due to that fact. Funny enough.. exact same mounting dept @ 6.83" -- OD of the 8W7 is 8.5" and ours is 8.9" -- so actual SD is nearly identical to the 8W7 due to their surround attachment method. Our cone will make theirs look sickly in strength as it's a high carbon fiber paper blend with molded ribs. We will have coil options which the W7 does not have (D2 and D4 for us) Lowest price I can find on an 8W7 is $275 from OCS with a 30-day warranty... pretty well the same as our authorized price with a 2-year warranty and our driver has many advantages as listed above. Authorized on the 8W7 at Crutchfield you are looking at $440 -- the X-8 is a steal by comparison. ---- I will confirm pricing estimates as soon as I can... but I am very pleased so far.

I may have pricing for you guys before the Holiday Will check back in later once I make a call towards the end of the day.

The real secret is I don't even sell speakers at all -- the are all holograms that just APPEAR to make sound.

Until we get caught up from the pre-orders we are just buried on all fronts -- after the Christmas weekend I'll get caught up on the emails.

My e-mails are about a week backed up... it'll take me some time to dig out.

I guarantee nobody is more excited than I am about this driver -- so I won't hold out when I get information. I'll be sure to post it up right away !

*laughs* I am still waiting for some quotes... things are pretty crazy over in China as CES and a few other trades shows are coming up + end of year reports, inventory, etc. It may be after CES before I get much more information. I'll be meeting with the sources at CES, though.

Working on a bunch of 3500s and 4500s today -- still have some 2500s to ship but those are mostly done. Some mixed orders still in the stack for various items as well. I am trying to finish them all by tomorrow... we'll see how much we can get done.

We've started on amps -- quite a few have shipped already; mostly 1500D v.2 and 2500Ds We will be cracking more into the 200.4s, 3500s, and 4500s as the week goes on.

Anyone waiting on an e-mail reply may experience delays as we are still working pretty much 8 hours solid each day on pre-orders. I do as many as I can on my BlackBerry in the evenings but haven't had much time @ work to catch up -- I'll do as many as I can after hours tonight. I haven't lost any e-mails and not ignoring anyone -- but getting out the orders has been prioritized.

Working on new amps and more new subs We got a new phone system too... and will actually have someone to answer it and check messages full time once we get in the new shop too!

Indeed -- I think the new site will be a huge improvement with more information Has been under construction for a bit so the old site is missing some key information. It is nearly complete.

Yes, we are building a new site now and we are working on including all the missing information on it.

w00t

Team Sundown Russia FTW