Xds Double Subwoofer System
Xds Double Subwoofer System
2
cone, suspension geometry and materials,
enclosure geometry and materials, absorp-
tive materials, etc. The result is a dramatic
improvement in clarity and with a much more
neutral sound (a lack of coloration) with the
loudspeaker system maintaining its sonic
integrity from the very-lowest sound pres-
sure levels to the very-highest sound pres-
sure levels. This means that the front-of-
house engineer will not have to retune the
EQ and level settings as the SPL is increased
throughout the show. This also means that
the sound-system performance will remain
consistent in different array configurations
and from venue to venue.
The Xds utilizes a double-wide X-Array
™
enclosure shell. The height of the Xds is iden-
tical to the standard, full-size X-Array
™
en-
closures (like the Xf, Xn and Xb); however
the footprint matches that of two standard
X-Array™ enclosures sitting side by side
with their sides parallel. Thus, two standard
X-Array
™
enclosures (like the Xf, Xn, Xcn
or Xb) may be stacked on top of the Xds.
The Xds does not have rigging hardware for
flying.
The durable Xds enclosure is constructed of
18-mm, 13-ply birch plywood and has a
wear-resistant black, textured paint finish.
The system is trapezoidal, forming a 36°
wedge and includes a heavy-duty steel grille
with a water-resistant charcoal-gray foam in-
terlining. The enclosure features vinyl
bumper pads on the front corners to and feet
on the bottom to resist wear.
A variety of accessories are available for the
X-Array
™
loudspeaker systems, including
rigging hardware, dollies, covers, electronic
crossovers, amplifier racks and speaker ca-
bling. Consult the X-Array
™
Accessories sec-
tion for a complete listing of the available
accessories
Applications
The X-Array
™
loudspeaker systems were de-
signed for optimal performance in both con-
cert-sound and permanent-installation appli-
cations where studio-monitor sound quality
is required at concert-sound levels. The X-
Array
™
loudspeaker systems work well in-
dividually, in small arrays and in large ar-
rays. The high acoustic output from these
compact, lightweight systems provide the
highest acoustic-power-to-weight ratio, the
highest acoustic-power-to-frontal-area ratio,
and the highest acoustic-power-to-bulk-vol-
ume ratio in the industry. That means that
X-Array
™
systems will be considerably
smaller and lighter compared to competitive
systems having equivalent acoustic output.
With its response from 32-200 Hz, the Xds
is recommended for subwoofer and low-fre-
quency applications where extremely high
levels of bass are required. Specifically, the
Xds has been optimized to provide sub-
woofer reinforcement for all of the X-Ar-
ray
™
loudspeaker systems. Typically, the Xds
would be crossed over to provide subwoofer
reinforcement from 80 Hz and below in par-
allel with the full-range systems (made up
of Xf, Xn, Xcn, Xb and Xcb systems that
cover 40 Hz and above). However, the Xds
may be crossed over at 125 Hz and used as a
combination subwoofer/low-frequency sys-
tem in place of or in addition to the standard
low-frequency systems (like the Xb and
Xcb). The Xds may be used individually or
in multiples to construct subwoofer/low-fre-
quency arrays, or may be used with the full-
range X-Array
™
systems to construct full-
range, large-scale arrays. The double-wide
Xds enclosure footprint matches that of two
standard X-Array
™
enclosures sitting side by
side with their sides parallel, allowing two
standard, full-size systems to be stacked on
top of the Xds. The Xds does not have fly-
ing hardware and is intended for stacking
only. The Xds would be well suited for front-
of-house, front-fill, and side-fill applications.
The Xds is intended to be used with other
X-Array
™
systems for a full-range response
as an active system that requires an active
electronic crossover. Both the Electro-Voice
Dx38 and Klark Teknik DN8000 digital
crossovers are recommended for signal
control. (See the Crossover, Equalization
and Signal Delay Controller section.) The
Electro-Voice P3000 amplifier is recom-
mended for powering the Xds. (See the
Amplifier Recommendations section.)
Power-Handling Capabilities
The Xds systems are rated as per the “ANSI/
EIA RS-426-A Loudspeaker Power- Rating,
Full-Range Test,” which uses a shaped-
random-noise signal to simulate typical
music to test the mechanical and thermal
capabilities of the loudspeakers. A digital
crossover was used to provide the appro-
priate filtering and equalization. The test
parameters are as follows:
Subwoofer Section (Pins 1 and 2 paral-
leled):
P
E(MAX)
:
1,200 watts
Test Voltage:
58.7-volts rms
117.4-volts peak
R
SR
(1.15R
E
):
2.88 ohms
Amplifier Recommendations
Power amplifiers with the following ratings
are recommended for use with the Xds loud-
speaker systems:
SUB:
800 watts per channel
into 8 ohms
93-volts rms short term
132-volts peak
Xds loudspeakers may be paralleled with
other Xds systems as long as the amplifiers
can drive the lower impedances. To main-
tain a sufficient damping factor with long
cable runs, amplifier loads of four ohms per
channel are recommended. The Electro-
Voice P3000 amplifiers are ideal for power-
ing the X-Array
™
systems.
Crossover, Equalization and Signal
Delay Controller
The Xds is intended to be used with other
X-Array
™
loudspeaker systems (like the Xf,
Xn, Xcn, Xb or Xcb) to construct full-range
arrays as an active system requiring an ac-
tive crossover, equalization and signal de-
lay controller. For basic applications, the
Electro-Voice Dx38 2-in/4-out controller is
recommended. For more sophisticated ap-
plications, the Klark Teknik DN8000 2-in/
5-out controller is recommended. Linkwitz-
Riley crossover filters with a minimum slope
of 24 dB per octave at 80-125 Hz are rec-
ommended, and infrasonic filter protection
at 34 Hz or higher with a minimum slope of
12-dB/octave is recommended. Both the
Dx38 and the DN8000 offer appropriate fil-
tering, equalization and signal delay capa-
bilities to provide optimum performance of
