Blast (and boom!) from the past - TC Sounds TC2+

[jhaider]

I recently pulled something out of deep storage that some people here may find fun: an old TC Sounds TC2+ woofer, sold by the long-defunct company "Oaudio." Oaudio had their own a nifty plate amp (maybe 500W/4 Ohms, BASH topology, with a band of analog PEQ) and sold TC2+ woofers. I bought this one as they were clearing out their stocks. It was only used briefly upon purchase and sat for years in its original box (complete with a bespoke hemispherical foam cone protector piece) until last month, when I retrieved it for use. (For further background on why, see the sad story here..)

For some history, TC Sounds was at one point synonymous with "subwoofers." TC2+ was one of the first wave of large subwoofer drivers that had a strong motor and long excursion, but also good inductance control. At the time, I thought the comparatively inexpensive TC2+ were better than TC's other drivers (3HP/4HP, one of which was sold by Stryke - currently Acoustic Elegance - as the "HE15," TC9, TC3000, and others) of the time, because they had much better inductance control. I even preferred them to TC's super-linear LMS/LMT for the practical reason that the flagship had so much more motor than suspension - you could drive the former right into the backplate! - and such low distortion that they gave no warning prior to catastrophe.

I'm happy to report that despite spending at least a dozen years in an un-conditioned Atlanta basement, it seems to work just fine. My T/S measurements were in reasonable tolerance of factory specs (last column below).

(Source: oaudio.com via Wayback Machine. Don't you love the thorough explanation of the specs?)

It has higher Q in the cabinet I'm using (roughly 45L closed box, well-built by Del Won - best known for his work on Philharmonic Audio's early flagship speakers for @Dennis Murphy), prior to retirement) than the Aurasound NS15 did, but it's EQ'able and is more than capable of filling the role I have for it.

If we're honest there has not been a whole lot of progress in home subwoofer drivers since then. (Pro drivers have taken off, by contrast - the hulking neo-motor subs from B&C, BMS, 18Sound, Eminence, and so on did not exist.) I think the biggest change is newer drivers may be longer-lived or able to handle more power due to more extensive and consistent voice coil ventilation. But this old TC2+ had a decently linear overhung motor with well-engineered inductance control, and a suspension that can handle lots of throw. One could do a lot worse.

 

[neRok]

deep storage

I bought some sub drivers back in those days (~2005, as per the sticker on your sub), and even though it took me ~17 years to do a build with them (=last year), they both seem to work! I kept them in the shed in their card board box, but even though the shed probably goes 50°C+ on hot summer days, they still seem to work fine!

 

[tktran303]

These were excellent woofers. And near state of the art. I have a pair of LMS-R in 2 cu ft sealed cabinets. And very difficult to characterise/measure; simply because they play insanely loud.

It was a shame when the company went under.

Just goes to show that a technically superior product won’t always win. But being good enough, any dominating the market by any/all avenue and generating revenue does help success.

Blows and their small full range drivers in teeny tiny plastic cubes must have been about 1000% profit. These days it’s bearpods…

 

[jhaider]

These were excellent woofers. And near state of the art.

They were definitely elite for their time - off the top of my head, the only clearly better woofers at the time were the Aurasounds, and JBL WGTi "car" line with their Differential Drive motor. I would personally rank TC2+ better than TC's LMT designs because of the margin of safety they have. Later on I'd say they were more "par" with, e.g. the Dayton Reference stuff.

Alas, it seems like in recent times there's some backsliding, with companies like Dayton re-releasing bad ideas from the past such as drivers with long overhung voicecoils and no inductance controls.

It was a shame when the company went under.

Which time?

I have no inside knowledge, but based on the public facts it is likely there were business related reasons as well as product related reasons TC Sounds did not survive.

 

[tktran303]

They were one of the first drivers manufacturers to combine ultra long throw eg. >1" excursion by BL 70% critera with low inductance motors.

Here's the frequency response of the my LMS-R 15" in a 2 cu foot box.

Here's the harmonic "structure" thanks to the low Le(x) motor:

You could use it as a woofer up to 800Hz if you wanted to.

As for distortion, well in lay terms, you'd hear your rooms/walls/bookshelves/cupboards vibrating like an earth quake because you heard any "distortion" coming from the driver. A little birdie told me that QC wasn't great, which in part was responsible for their demise. I wonder what Thilo is doing these days. I hope he's doing ok.

The LMS-Ultra 18 was king of the hill for a long time. Some recent drivers that may surpass it include the Eminence NSW series or IPAL capable drivers, but these are outdoor festival units, far more than what's needed in a domestic environment...

 

[Svend P]

I have 6 of the 18" LMS Ultras. I stated out with 2, which should be sufficient for anyone, but a friend of mine moved across the continent, and I bought his 4 pcs. as well. I have had them for 13 years now, and I don't think I am ever going to replace them. I had to take them apart when moving them into my house, since each driver weigh 39 kg/86.2 lbs without the cabinet.