About six car sound competitors and over a handful of high end shops are installing in cars Raven home audio subwoofers, distributed by Orca Design & Mfg.
Nick Wingate of Orca won a Aggieland sound competition using the home audio speakers a couple of years ago. Musaic, the ultra high end car audio division of Sound FX, DE recently chose the subwoofers as part of an $85,000 audio build in a Cadillac Escalade.
The subwoofers were developed for home audio use with the aim of producing very low distortion and high volume. They fit in the same enclosures as the Illusion C10X and C12X, 10- and 12-inch subwoofers, but they have many differences from the Illusion subs including dual magnets, said Orca Senior Engineer Alan Hulsebus.
“If someone wants a little better than what currently exists, it’s an opportunity for less distortion and better loudness in a car environment,” said Nalaka Adikari, Orca Sales Director.
The Raven 10XL and 12XL woofers are used in $200,000 home audio systems, he said.
“We sell to the folks who want a subwoofer that doesn’t require as much power and they want something to work in the same size enclosure that has a lower distortion level,” said Wingate.
Raven has been a home audio brand since the 90s, notable for its use of ribbon tweeters. The Raven woofers have three copper Faraday rings, “which dramatically reduce intermodulation distortion,” Hulsebus said They use two magnets instead of one to increase efficiency and allow a longer voice coil. The subs’ dual gap voice coils deliver plus or minus 18mm of Xmax .
Magnets include one neodymium and one ceramic.
Hulsebus said, “Another thing that is unique is most companies tune the subwoofer for minus 3dB around 50Hz. We tune this for minus 3dB at 40Hz in a 1 cubic foot sealed box. That means deeper bass.”
Built in California, the Raven 10XL and 12XL, 10 and 12 inch woofers weigh in at about 10 pounds. Suggested retail price is $1,249 for the 12 inch version.
