TC Sounds LMS5200 - small sealed or small ported? Original manual? Never powered Sub

[RealNapster]

I am sure some of you have heard of TC Sounds. I happened to be a friend of a friend of the owner (let’s not discuss what happened to the company and why, I don’t have details). 
 

Back in the day, as a favor for some work I had done, he built me a custom 18 inch sub. I have no real idea what it is capable of (other than he said it could hit 10k). It does not have the normal TCSounds cone or any markers of model. That said, the design appears to match the LMS-5200 with quad 1.5 ohm 4 inch VC and magnet specs etc. i do not believe any parts were from the LMS-5400. The speaker has been stored in a sealed plastic bin for many years and was never powered, I opened it recently and it is in perfect condition. I finally decided on what to do with the sub. Which has led me here because of limited data on the sub. 
 

My question, I’m running a vital power VP700.1 and should make decent power but I want the lowest possible notes and the feeling where the sub sorta takes your breath away. Unfortunately I have little space (car is Mazda RX-7 with almost no trunk). With dimensions ideally limited to 14x30x18 is it possible to port the box and get better lows or seal the box? Will I get similar lows sealed compared to a small ported box with this sub? If I go sealed box, should I build it super small (just a bit larger than the speaker itself)? Is this a dumb install and a waste of a LMS-5200?
 

Does anyone happen to have a copy of the original LMS-5200 manual? 
 

I’ll send pics when I pick up the sub from my friends shop tomorrow. 
 

Thanks for any advice!

 

(also curious if I should swap to a taramps or a smaller amp but that will probably be a different post location) I need quite a bit of help I think. 

[djdilliodon]

Tc sounds was a great company but unfortunately Milo wasn’t the best when it came to finances lol. Would have to see a pic of the sub in order to see if anything jumps out to give a clue as to what it is. One thing I can say is when you get it, push on the cone and feel how stiff it is.  Many of the tc sounds subs ran suspensions on the loose side which made them amazing in sealed enclosures and allowed them to hit low notes with pure violence! If it feels this way ported will most likely not be well suited unless you tune it low.  Pulling TS specs would be the ideal way to go, klipple charges about $200 per driver plus the shipping to and back from them. I’d do it for you free plus return shipping but currently am doing way too many custom sub builds (spl geared 15’s) at this time plus building a demo car as well. 

[RealNapster]

Very curious if he changed much on it compared to the 5200. As much as I would love to get real details, also not keen on shipping in case anything happened to it. Been holding on to this thing for many years. I’m hoping some of the pics will shed light on the model but I am about 90% it’s a 5200. If that is the case, sounds like the lows would be there even in a super small enclosure?

[djdilliodon]

23 minutes ago, RealNapster said:

Very curious if he changed much on it compared to the 5200. As much as I would love to get real details, also not keen on shipping in case anything happened to it. Been holding on to this thing for many years. I’m hoping some of the pics will shed light on the model but I am about 90% it’s a 5200. If that is the case, sounds like the lows would be there even in a super small enclosure?

if it’s a 5200, no need to go ported, small sealed is all that would be needed and it will be flexing everything playing 20 hz 😂. For power you will need 1500w rms minimum (2000 rms is ideal, more for added headroom won’t hurt just use common sense). With the dimensions you have, that 18” dimension I assume is where the sub will mount to? If so I’d try to make it at least 19” or ideally 20”.  The space you have available is more than enough sealed for a 5200. Ideally you want the sub to face back but if you must face it up, it is what it is, it’s still gonna be sweet!

[RealNapster]

How small of a sealed can I get away with? One of the data sheets I found on it said it was impossible to create a sealed enclosure that was too small based on the sub specs. Would something just larger than the sub itself work? If I go sealed maybe maximize space? 
 

2k RMS - I am waaaay overkill if that is really what is needed. The 700.1 is more like 6-9k. Super small box I would need more power but how much more? Smaller the enclosure, more power needed yes? 

[djdilliodon]

13 minutes ago, RealNapster said:

How small of a sealed can I get away with? One of the data sheets I found on it said it was impossible to create a sealed enclosure that was too small based on the sub specs. Would something just larger than the sub itself work? If I go sealed maybe maximize space? 
 

2k RMS - I am waaaay overkill if that is really what is needed. The 700.1 is more like 6-9k. Super small box I would need more power but how much more? Smaller the enclosure, more power needed yes? 

pretty much true, if you can fit an enclosure around it, it still is gonna be nasty down low! I personally would give it 3.5 cubes net sealed min. If you want to go smaller than you listed, do the 20” on the 18” dimension you listed, keep the 14” on depth and take away from the 30” dimension. 2k rms is all that is needed! These things aren’t built with multilayer nomex spider packs (super stiff). They used 2 layer poly cotton spiders (soft but be aware these wear out in time) so they are pretty efficient subs for the amount of power they can handle and xmax they have.  With 6-9k rms you got a ton of headroom 😂.  

[Joe X]

5 hours ago, RealNapster said:

I am sure some of you have heard of TC Sounds. I happened to be a friend of a friend of the owner (let’s not discuss what happened to the company and why, I don’t have details). 
 

Back in the day, as a favor for some work I had done, he built me a custom 18 inch sub. I have no real idea what it is capable of (other than he said it could hit 10k). It does not have the normal TCSounds cone or any markers of model. That said, the design appears to match the LMS-5200 with quad 1.5 ohm 4 inch VC and magnet specs etc. i do not believe any parts were from the LMS-5400. The speaker has been stored in a sealed plastic bin for many years and was never powered, I opened it recently and it is in perfect condition. I finally decided on what to do with the sub. Which has led me here because of limited data on the sub. 
 

My question, I’m running a vital power VP700.1 and should make decent power but I want the lowest possible notes and the feeling where the sub sorta takes your breath away. Unfortunately I have little space (car is Mazda RX-7 with almost no trunk). With dimensions ideally limited to 14x30x18 is it possible to port the box and get better lows or seal the box? Will I get similar lows sealed compared to a small ported box with this sub? If I go sealed box, should I build it super small (just a bit larger than the speaker itself)? Is this a dumb install and a waste of a LMS-5200?
 

Does anyone happen to have a copy of the original LMS-5200 manual? 
 

I’ll send pics when I pick up the sub from my friends shop tomorrow. 
 

Thanks for any advice!

 

(also curious if I should swap to a taramps or a smaller amp but that will probably be a different post location) I need quite a bit of help I think. 

 

From what you say the motor will be from the 5200, coil, cone, suspension are  all different, you should definitely seek to measure parameters, but anyways, if I remember right those were recommended for up to 4 cubic feet net SEALED, I would also probably reverse mount the sub since it needs to dissipate a lot of power that is supposed to be rated for, hopefully you will like it in sealed but if not the box will be a good way to break in the sub, which is needed before measuring parameters.

 

 

[audiofanaticz]

For $130 you can buy the Dayton Audio DATS and measure all the T/S parameters yourself, it's a great tool if your dealing with custom 1 off built woofers!
https://www.parts-express.com/Dayton-Audio-DATS-V3-Computer-Based-Audio-Component-Test-System-390-807

[RealNapster]

I found some specs on the 5200 and some pictures. Based on what I see, looks more like an exact replica of the 5200. It is possible this sub was a proof of concept for the 5200. It has a magnet on it with a different company but looks exactly the same. Makes me think they may have white labeled a few parts?

 

but anyway, thank you for the advice. Is there someone on the site who makes killer boxes or is that better left to the person doing the install locally?

 

i am definitely going to do the sealed enclosure, now just need to decide how much trunk I want left, keep or swap amp, and if I use supertweeters - going to post there next to find out how to make a decent sound stage.
 

I will post pics, was coaching baseball tonight and ran late so didn’t run by the shop. 

5200 specs.pdf