Bully 15" by Bully Subs:

This is an update to the Titanic MKIII comparison.   The Titanic has been beaten up by the new kid on the block, yes the new kid is a bully!  I did new measurements of the Titanic MKIII along side the Bully to maintain same conditions.   I dropped the stimulus voltage from 20 vrms to about 18.5 vrms because I just don't like the noise the Titanic makes at 20 vrms at 20 Hz.   Note:  20 vrms on the Titanic as a pure tone is ok but with the modulated tone measuring 20 vrms it's starting to sound like a thrashing machine. 

The Bully 15" driver distortion data:  

The Titanic MKIII 15" driver distortion data:

The Bully is still noisy and probably not the best choice for open baffle but for closed box or vented box subs it's definitely a first rate choice.  Because it can easily be used to 100 Hz+ with very low distortion it's probably a better overall choice than the DPL-12 unless you just want to stay with 12".   The Titanic MKIII is still a good choice if all you want to do is rattle the walls with your Home Theatre and you are wanting to keep cost low.  You can buy two Titanic MKIII 15" drivers for only a little more than a single Bully.  If on the other hand you want something to use with a set of Orions for critical listening and you really want to keep distortion low in the sub on par with the low distortion of the Orion then the Bully is definitely worth the difference.   Or if you just want more realistic sound effects in your movies instead of just random wall rattling then again, the Bully will be worth the difference.  

So, the box I'm building will be getting the Bully.  I'm not sure what I will do with the Titanic.  I still might build another box for it and do something with it or you may see it show up on Ebay.  

Homework assignment for Parts Express (Dayton Audio):  Start working on the Titanic MK IV.  Keep distortion on par with the Bully and noise on par with the XLS or better yet with the TC-Sounds.   That's your assignment, if you get it done you get an automatic A+.

10-16-05:  Homework Assignment complete!   The new High Excursion Reference Series 12" Hi-Fi woofer has completed the above assignment with a very definite A+!  Comparable distortion with the Peerless XLS in most areas, lower distortion than the Peerless XLS in other areas, and quieter than the Peerless XLS.  It's also cheaper than the Peerless XLS and has better cosmetics.  

Ok Peerless...you know what your homework assignment is...

Ok, the below is just what was already posted before the Bully measurements...

Dayton Audio Titanic MKIII 15" ... my opinion.

Overall I have to say I was disappointed right out of the box when I saw how small the spider was.   Initial listening test on the Agilent 33120 wave generator were also disappointing.   The problem is that the thing is still noisy!   I was hoping the third generation of the Titanic driver would be better.   Now don't get me wrong, it's not horribly noisy.  I compared it with an XLS 12" at an input of about 20 v rms @ 20 Hz.  This drives the XLS close to it's 12.5 mm peak excursion and the MK III to only about 60% of it's maximum.   At this level the XLS is just a little quieter than the MK III.  Above this level the MK III becomes increasingly noisy.  It would be nice if it could remain quiet to near it's maximum the way the XLS does.

I believe  a larger better designed and better vented spider could possibly improve this driver.   One nice thing about the driver is that the pole vent is larger than the MK II Titanic thus greatly reducing the air compressor puffing noise associated with small pole vents.   Also it sounds fairly pure up to above 200 Hz meaning odd harmonic distortion is at least reasonable.  This can be seen in the distortion data below.    The driver would be useable well above 100 Hz if someone so desired to use it that high but I personally wouldn't.

Distortion results...good.

20 Hz @ 31 vrms in open air pushes the driver to near it's maximum excursion limit of 41 mm p-p.  At this point distortion is quite high but come on, what do you expect with that much throw.   Click on the thumbnail below...

20 Hz @ 20 vrms results in lower distortion.

The follow data was taken with the Fluke Scope meter measuring just over 15 vrms on a 100% modulated tone.  The modulation frequency is 10% of the fundamental so for example @ 20 Hz the modulation frequency is 2 hz.

These results are not really bad.  Note that the third harmonics are consistently about -10 db or better lower than the second.  This is why it sounds very pure.

Ok, now to put it into perspective...

The Peerless XLS 12"...

The following data was measured with the same 15 vrms input like the Titanic MK III data.   This will of course yield a lower output because the 12" is smaller.  However, if two 12" drivers were used you could get about the same output as the MK III 15 and still have lower distortion.

At 20 Hz the XLS is really no better than the MK III but note what happens especially to the higher harmonics as we go up in frequency.   Overall, the XLS is by far the best driver.   Another driver, the DPL-12 looks something of a reverse of the XLS, that driver has very low distortion significantly better than the XLS at very low frequency but becomes pretty bad above 50 Hz or so.

Conclusion:  This box originally intended for the Titanic MKIII ended up housing the Bully.

Still, it's not that the MK III is a bad woofer it's more just that the XLS is an excellent one.   For some reason I keep rejecting the XLS thinking I can find something better but every effort at this fails.   With the exception of the DPL-12's superior very low frequency performance the XLS is still by far the best woofer.   When the MK III was announced I really hoped it was going to give the XLS a run for it's money but unfortunately it's failed to do this.   Go back to the drawing board PE and try again.   Let's make the MK IV the one that finally beats the XLS!  (As an update to this, the TC2+ already beat the XLS)