New from Hybrid Audio Technologies introduces the Imagine Series I6SW subwoofer
The Imagine I6SW is the culmination of an inordinate amount of time and resources spent testing and refining this product to the exacting specifications of Hybrid Audio Technologies and their long heritage of quality speakers.
The Imagine I6SW is the first subwoofer ever offered by Hybrid Audio Technologies. Originally designed to suit saddle-bag installations on touring motorcycles, the efficacy of the design was quickly proven in a wide variety of installations in virtually any automobile, where a small vented enclosure subwoofer could be used where space was at a premium. In Spring 2009, the first I6SW prototypes were developed by company founder and lead designer Scott Buwalda, and the concept of an Imagine subwoofer line-up was born. The I6SW is the first in a series of subwoofer offerings in the Imagine line-up.
The Imagine I6SW is a 168mm (6.6-inch) subwoofer driver to compliment a wide variety of front stage system designs. The following are the I6SW’s design attributes:
Basket
The basket of the I6SW is a stamped steel design with semi-gloss black powder coating. The frame includes spider venting for improved thermal power handling. The frame includes reverse-roll surround tooling proprietary to Hybrid Audio Technologies, allowing for close-tolerance flush and isomounting to easy grille clearance and locational clearance (such as underneath a seat, in a touring motorcycle saddle bag, or in a center console enclosure).
Motor and Voice Coil
The motor of the I6SW is conventional dynamic with a large, 96-ounce (2.72 kg) high-grade ferrite magnet assembly with bumped and vented pole piece. The voice coil diameter of the I6SW is 51mm (2-inch) for elevated power handling, dissipation of heat (thereby lowering power compression), and maximizing the size of the magnet around the voice coil for enhanced motor compliance. The voice coil is a four-layer, high-purity aluminum, which is superior to copper for heat dissipation, as well as significantly reduced moving mass. The result is an extremely light weight winding with good power handling.
Suspension, Cone, Tinsel Leads, and Terminals
The inverted surround is butyl rubber which is highly consistent, and does not suffer the variance of natural rubbers. This rubber surround terminates mechanical vibrations well, having a low stiffness for positive damping of resonances. The spider material was chosen for optimal performance; the spider is a 90/10 cotton/Nomex blend with single-dip low viscosity phenolic. This material provides the stiffness desired without being overly brittle or stiff, where vibrations in the spider are well damped and do not translate into the former or the cone. The I6SW is a cone-type driver consisting of a polypropylene diaphragm with low moving mass. Polypropylene provides a good balance of strength, moving mass, and water resistance, in the event the I6SW is used in touring motorcycle application. The tinsel leads are bonded directly to the former and brought out to the terminals, which keeps tinsel lead slap to a minimum and does not compromise the structural integrity of the cone. The I6SW comes equipped with heavy-duty PCBmounted male blade-type terminals that are nickel plated to optimize contact, and give the end user
flexibility in tinned wire or crimp terminal terminations.
Summary
The Imagine I6SW is the ideal small-diameter multi-purpose subwoofer speaker driver. Mechanical and electrical parameters are amenable to a variety of vented enclosures. At home in virtually any arrangement, the I6SW is Hybrid Audio’s Stage I small-format subwoofer, boasting exceptional performance and a design philosophy that goes hand in hand with true high-fidelity playback. Imagine I6SW subwoofer – three-dimensional design drawing
Imagine I6SW Thiele-Small Parameters
Overall Diameter f168 mm (6.6-inch)
Mounting Depth 85 mm
Bolt Circle Diameter f160 mm
Mounting Hole f148 mm
Recommended Subsonic Crossover Frequency 22 Hz at 24 dB/octave highpass
Pnom Rated Power Input (No Crossover) 60 watts (AES Standard)
Pmax Rated Power Input (No Crossover) 120 watts (AES Standard)
Pmax (With Recommended Subsonic Crossover) 180 watts
Frequency Range 32 Hz – 800 Hz, +/- 3 dB
Sensitivity 90 dB at 2.83 volts/1meter
Mms 39.7 g
Cms 435.75 um/N
BL 13.8 T*m
Voice Coil Diameter 51 mm (2-inch)
Impedance 4 E
DC Resistance 3.9 E
Fs 38 Hz (free air)
Qms 7.7
Qes 0.18
Qts 0.17
Xmax 7.75 mm (one way)
Vas 9.6 L
Sd 12.269 Kmm2
For more information on application of the I6SW, please visit www.hybrid-audio.com
Related Articles
Throwback: 5 MORE Vehicles from PASMAG in 2003
Natural and Effortless: Brian Gill's 2014 Mercedes-Benz CLA45 AMG
2019 MECA SQL World Champion: Robert Corwin's 2003 Lexus GS 300
Hybrid Audio Technologies & Zapco Competitors Receive Top Honors at the 2019 Car Audio Championships
“Black Betty” and Hybrid Audio Technologies - The Best, Still.
Surf City SoundOff 2019: Lincoln City, Oregon
