BillFitzmaurice.info

Thanks in advance for your help.

I've Got a Cambridge Soundworks Basecube 12 powered subwoofer and need to replace the plate amp in it. I spoke to CSW and they will repair it for a flat $175 but the entire subwoofer needs to be sent at an extra cost of $50 for shipping. If I could find a replacement plate amp for around $100+/- that would work as well or better that would be excellent. I have limited electronic experience and therefore defer to the expert advice of this forum. I would be most appreciative for any suggestion or advice for a subwoofer plate amp that will match the specs.

The manual PDF can be found here: http://www.retrevo.com/support/Cambridg ... dj592/t/2/

Amplifier power
(at 100Hz, <.5% THD) - 100 watts

Driver Size - 12 inches

Sensitivity for full output at 100hz
subwoofer level at max
Low pass frequency set at 160 (LFE):

Line Level Input (mono), millivolts - 110

Speaker level inputs (stereo), millivolts - 300

Low Pass Filter Response: 24dB/Octave

Frequency Response, Hz (+/- 3dB):
LP setting
60Hz - 27-58Hz
75Hz - 27-68Hz
95Hz - 28-90Hz
130Hz - 28-145Hz
160Hz - 29-170Hz

It also appears to have a hi pass filter around 30 hz.

I found one suggestion for a Foster WF-100k, but it doesn’t seem this amp is available for sale anywhere anymore.

Hope that’s enough information to start with.

Parts express has this on their deal of the day. It is 70 watts rms which will cost you about 1.5 decibels in total output, but it is less than $50 (plus shipping).
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdet ... er=300-784

Here is probably the closest exact replacement:
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdet ... er=300-802

Measure the opening in your sub box and see if either of them fit. Parts express is great to deal with and I think you get free shippping if you order more than $100.

Thanks 67baja,
I'll definitely look into those plate amps. Today I looked at the face of the actual plate amp on the subwoofer after reading a post by another Basecube 12 owner that said he thought his amp was of older vintage than the manual suggests and was actually 240 watts not 100watts, and after looking at the amp itself (not reading the manual) it's printed on the bottom left 120VAC, 240watts and 60hz. This would seem to indicate that it is a 240watt plate amp and not the 100watt referenced in the manual? It's clear now of my lack of knowledge about these type of things, not even being able to know for certain what I have.

If it is 240watts, would the 70watt and 100watt mentioned by 67baja be woefully under powered for the job (personally I'm not needing too much as now I'm married with two small girls, unlike my bachelor days, and use it now mostly for quiet home theater with the family.) I'm mainly interested in sound quality as opposed to volume, not sure if they're mutually exclusive though?

fixerch wrote: it's printed on the bottom left 120VAC, 240watts and 60hz.

That's power consumption. Output might be half that at best.

Thanks for your expert advice. With regard to the plate amp physical dimensions. The amps suggested earlier by 67baja will not span the hole. The hole size is larger than the Parts Express SA70 & SA100. The hole is 8.25x8.25. I was thinking to go up to the SA240 240W because of this, is this a valid reason? I would have to cut the hole a 1/4" more on two sides to accomodate the SA240, whereas with the SA100 there would be a gap, actually it wouldn't even span the hole's distance. I guess therefore I should look at the SA240, is that correct? The enclosure tightness is important in subs, is that correct? Do you think the SA240 would be a good or better plate, do the tech's match closely enough (besides the watts difference) and will the driver be able to handle it?

You could build an adapter plate using ply to fit the smaller amp. As Baja pointed out watts are pretty meaningless since you would be hard pressed to hear a 1.5db difference with music/content. I would think an adapter plate would be easier than reaming out the box to fit a larger plate.

Or build a tuba if you want sound quality.