Mellow Yellow (Pioneer TS W 12)

Member Name: GUDGE

Product:	Pioneer TS W 12
Date:	30/06/04 (434 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Solid sound, Power handling above rated for speaker, Looks good

Disadvantages: Depth of speaker could be an issue for those with limited space for enclosure

I recently tested this sub woofer for a client before he was to purchase it. The test was conducted in a sealed enclosure (made for this particular speaker) and connected to a powerful 1000-Watt (RMS) amplifier (all my tests are conducted using this particular amplifier). Both music and basic signals were passed to the speaker by either CD or by signal generator.

The speaker does not look like any other of Pioneers creations, mainly due to the yellow Aramid cone. It really is quite stunning to look at and looks very impressive in a custom install. The highly polished design of the huge magnet makes it look like a real performer, but this almost oversized rear-end is needed for the Voice Coil Cooling System (VCCS). Pioneer has rated this speaker at 1200W (peak) and 300W (RMS), which is about average for this design of speaker. The tests that I conducted on the speaker exceeded the nominal 300W and the speaker responded quite well.

Sound quality was most impressive, especially at really low frequencies. I ran the speaker continuously between 15 and 20Hz and 300W, slowly moving between the two frequencies for about 5 minutes, and it took it well. I would have expected the speaker to have lost efficiency by the third minute, but it kept going. This is probably due to the VCCS and the Aramid cone.


The Aramid Cone is well formed (Aramid fiber is an aromatic polyamide, better known by trade names such as Kevlar (Dupont) and Twaron (Akzo Nobel)). Many manufacturers have used these fibers before and they always prove to be very affective.

Aramid characteristics are

-Usually yellow in appearance
-Low density
-High strength
-Good impact resistance
-Good abrasion resistance
-Good chemical resistance
-Good resistance to thermal degradation


This really shows in the overall performance of the speaker.

The final install that this speaker was used in contained two of these units dri
ven by two separate, adequately powered, amplifiers. The sound was tight, yet smooth.

I would defiantly recommend this speaker to all ranges of audio enthusiasts. It is not the best by far, but is way above the average.

Summary: