From: demaine@ee.ualberta.ca (Cal Demaine)
Newsgroups: rec.audio.car
Subject: Fear and Loathing w/Tube (read it!)
Keywords: bazooka, bass, SAS
Date: 14 Apr 92 00:48:58 GMT
Organization: University Of Alberta, Edmonton Canada

Hi ho!

I had an interesting weekend, and I'm going to share it with all of you.
It revolves around Bazooka bass tubes, shady deals, and quality control.

Saturday, I purchased (only because I wanted to play with it, and it was
cheap like dirt) a Bazooka T82 (8", single driver) for $110 CDN. (retail,
$275) My major reason for purchasing: For that price? To find out what they
are like in my car, to resell to some friend needing some quick bass for a
hot date, and to write about in rec.audio.car.

Once I brought it home, I discovered it had no serial number.  Nice.
Especially since I bought it from a liquidator as-is. So much for warrantee.
No big deal, though.

Until I hooked it up and it sounded _like_shit_!

I brought it back into the house, and ran a 20Hz to 120Hz sweep on the unit
and found there were severe problems with both the driver and the sealing
of the unit.  Not to mention the unbelievably low sensitivity.

Hmmmm.  The thing's busted.  I can't return it.  Now what?

TAKE IT APART AND FIX IT MYSELF!  Besides the fun, I knew that everyone on
rec.car.audio would love to hear what these things actually are made of.
So, with my trusty Robertson screwdriver, I discovered this:
          ________________________
         _____________________    |    Contents:
        |   .  .  .  .. .  .      |	1 8" diameter ABS pipe
	\    .  .. ... . .. .     |     1 6" diameter ABS tuned port
	 \    .. . . . .. . . .   |     1 8" driver of good quality
	 /   . . .. .. . . .. . . |     1 chuck of everyday fiberglass
        /     .. . .. .  .  .  . .|     2 very low grade wires
	|_________________________|     1 backpiece with terminal connections

Wow!  A very standard ported enclosure with absolutely no wild technology or
thinking behind it.  Designed, of course, to be corner loaded, but that's no
big deal.  By the way, there was no internal bracing, and no means to damp
any sort of vibrations.  If you ask me, the whole system was a bit weak for
handling low frequency pressures.

So much for revolutionary technology, but did anyone really believe it?

ANYWAY, I pulled the driver out, and _the_damned_thing_was_bent_!  So
seriously, I add, the the voice coil was rubbing all the time, and the
sealing gasket remained uncompressed in several areas around the rim.  Nice.
From the looks of things, it LEFT THE FACTORY IN THIS CONDITION!

So, bent on unbending, I pulled out a hammer and a vice, and got the thing
in reasonable (ha!) working order.  With the aid of window caulking tape, I
managed to seal the more serious air leaks, and I reassembled the systems.
Trying it out again, I discovered there was absolutely no output.  Whoops!
Forgot to attach the speaker terminals! (Brief scare) Once I had the thing
up and running, it sounded Ok at moderate levels, and terrible at anything
higher.

Having completed as much hardware repair as I could, I sat down at my trusty
word processor and fired off a letter to Jon C. Jordan of Southern Audio
Systems.  I am awaiting his prompt response.

BUT HOW DO I LIKE THE TUBE? You're asking?  Well, it's Ok, kinda noisy, and
had really bad power handling, and no low bass, but remember this unit is out
of spec.  Hopefully, they'll replace my driver before I start saying anything
too bad about them.

MY POINTS? There are several:

	1.  Don't buy stuff without serial numbers!
	2.  Don't buy as-is from dealers with no credibility.
	3.  Manufacturers _DO_ make mistakes. (Big ones!)
	    (Ones that could RUIN their credibility)
       	4.  Bazooka tubes contain nothing to make them different.
		(So much for damping internal resonances)
	5.  Make sure to re-connect the speaker terminals!
	6.  Don't be afraid to take apart your gear
	7.  Window caulking tape (from automotive glass supply) is great
		for sealing driver gaskets.

Despite all this, I'm not saying anything bad about SAS, provided they give
me some sort of acknowledgement/excuse/working driver.

Replies very welcome.


   - Cal

PS: So much for getting any work done this weekend.
Newsgroups: rec.audio.car