Peavey Low
Rider
™
18
00479910
INTRODUCTION
The new Low Rider 18" driver is a
milestone in high-power subwoofer
design. An incredible 1,600 Watt program
rating and extra-long cone excursion add
up to amazing new levels of clean, deep
bass.
The Low Rider 18 is an superior choice
for the bottom end of any high powered
sound system, from DJ rigs to the largest
professional touring shows.
DESIGN
The Low Rider 18 utilizes a new cone
that is a variation on the existing Kevlar
®
-
impregnated cones used on all Black
Widow speakers. The new cone is
stronger and tougher and uses an
innovative asymmetrical-M surround for
superior excursion and motion control.
High quality spring terminals accepting
large gauge wire are attached to large
diameter, high current tinsel leads with
silver solder to withstand high current,
high temperatures and long excursion.
The massive new voice coil uses
polyimide-insulated copper ribbon wire,
edge-wound and bonded onto an
incredibly durable and heat resistant
polyimide composite former. The coil’s
winding length of 1.150" is an amazing
80% longer than Peavey’s standard 18"
Black Widow coil. The long coil has much
more surface area to dissipate heat, and
its increased length drives the cone to far
higher excursion. The coil is overcoated
with a tough thermoset epoxy for added
durability, abrasion resistance and heat
dissipation.
The coil wires are solderless diffusion
welded to high-conductivity OFHC copper
ribbon leads, which are embedded inside
the former assembly and soldered to the
tinsel leads with high temperature silver
solder. The solder joint is then coated
with a special thermally-conductive
silicone adhesive for encapsulation and
heat dissipation.
The voice coil assembly is bonded to the
Kevlar cone and new, incredibly tough
plastiseal-coated Nomex progressive-roll
spider using a thermoset epoxy originally
developed for attaching nose cones on
ICBM missiles – truly an aerospace-grade
adhesive. The spider and surround are
bonded to the frame with a high strength
toughened-cyanoacrylate adhesive, which
is also used to bond the dust cap to the
cone.
The magnet structure is all-new, and was
designed using extensive Finite Element
computer modeling. The back plate/pole
piece is cold-forged from a single
massive billet of ultra-low carbon steel,
includes Peavey’s patented Focused
Field Geometry, and is undercut to allow
greater coil travel. The pole is extended
beyond the front plate to improve
magnetic linearity and coil cooling, and
the front plate is a full 10 mm thick to
match the long voice coil and provide a
better path for heat and magnetic energy.
The result is fully 50% more total
magnetic gap energy than can be found
in the standard Black Widow Super
Structure magnet assembly.
A patent-applied-for vent plate adds
additional cooling for the voice coil. This
heat-conductive, ported and finned
aluminum ring delivers cool air pumped
by the spider directly to the voice coil to
keep operating temperatures under
control. The improved cooling increases
power handling and reliability, and
reduces power compression.
The cast aluminum frame is tough and
rigid, with the strength needed to hold the
cone and magnet in perfect alignment.
The deep dish design and large spider
clearance make high excursion and high
output possible.
These dynamic new drivers also utilize
the user-friendly Black Widow replaceable
basket assemblies with Rubatex
®
gaskets.
The result of all these specially designed
components is a loudspeaker that is truly
amazing. The extremely high power
handling and available 1.4" of cone travel
combine for astonishing low frequency
output, while the possibility of small
enclosures adds a new dimension in
compact, high output sound
reinforcement systems.
S P E C S
P E A V E Y
E L E C T R O N I C S
ENCLOSURES
Net Volume
Vent diameter
Vent length
Vb box tuning
F3, -3 dB
cubic feet/liters (qty) inches/mm
inches/mm
frequency in Hz
point in H
Small vented box
5.0 / 142
(2) 6" / 152
15.25 / 387
37
40
Medium vented box
6.75 / 191
(2) 6" 152
12.75 / 324
34
35
Large vented box
9 / 255
(2) 6" 152
12 / 305
30
31
Single reflex bandpass Sealed: 4.0 / 113
Vented: 3.5 / 85
(2) 6" / 152
5.0
65
40 - 104
Features and specifications subject to change without notice.
Peavey Electronics Corporation • 711 A Street • Meridian • MS • 39301
(601) 483-5365 • FAX (601) 486-1278 • www.peavey.com
©2001
Printed in the U.S.A. 6/01
80304779
ONE YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY
NOTE:
For details, refer to the warranty statement. Copies of this
statement may be obtained by contacting Peavey Electronics
Corporation, P.O. Box 2989, Meridian, MS 39335
Suggested enclosures
For those who want to build their own enclosures, but don’t want to go through the design process using driver
parameters, Peavey provides the following optimized designs:
1.
Small vented box
This enclosure is as small as many 15" cabinets, has better bass performance, and handles tons of
power. This design would be an excellent choice for large touring systems due to the increased number
of enclosures possible in the same load-out volume.
2.
Medium vented box
This enclosure is an exceptional compromise of deep bass extension, high power handling, and
reasonable size. It is capable of extremely high output below 40 Hz for excellent performance.
3.
Large vented box
The large vented box produces superb performance in the bottom octave for high level playback, movie
theater, special effects and permanent installation. The enclosure reduces power handling by about 15%
but offers useful output to 25 Hz.
4. Single-reflex
bandpass
Special enclosure design that uses the enclosure as an acoustic filter for shaped response. Not as
efficient as a vented system, but it doesn’t require a crossover for subwoofer use.
Kapton
®
is a registered trademark of DuPont.
Kevlar
®
is a registered trademark of DuPont.
Nomex
®
is a registered trademark of DuPont.
Rubatex
®
is a registered trademark of Rubatex Corporation.
REPLACEMENT OF SPEAKER BASKET ASSEMBLY
1.
Prior to replacement procedure, clean work area of all metal objects and other debris.
2.
With speaker lying face down, remove the three screws on back of magnet structure with 7/16"
nut driver.
3.
. After screws are removed, lift the magnet structure off the basket frame.
4.
Clean the voice coil “gap” before magnet structure is put on new replacement basket. (See
illustration.) Fold a piece of masking tape over on itself several times, sticky side out, and insert it
into the voice coil “gap.” Run it all the way around the “gap” several times to remove all particles of
metal and other trash before magnet structure is put on new replacement basket.
5.
Holding magnet structure in slanted position, gently lower the structure down into the basket so
that it rests inside the magnet structure counter bore, being sure to align the screw holes, and
lower the structure down into place. Insert screws and tighten.
STEP 1
STEP 2
STEP 3
STEP 4
