Subwoofer

There are many subs with 15" drivers, all sounding a little different from each other. Which gives "a more natural sound"? The one you own, of course ;-) ! The 12" and 15" Rythmik subs, both with aluminum coned woofers, sound exactly the same---not just very similar, but identical. The 15" just producers more output, due to it's larger cone area, longer cone travel, stronger motor, higher-watt amplifier, and larger sealed enclosure. But the sound characteristic? Indistinguishable from the 12". Rythmik designer/owner Brian Ding says so, as do Rythmik owners having both 12" and 15" models. But hey, feel free to "believe" whatever you want.

For me ( born perfectionist) audio is comparing and testing.....over and over again. This part never stops. In almost 18 years of time I have done thousands of tests in sound&vision. Only to find those products who give the best results. Because inferior products don't add anything to the world of audio.

For me audio is not about good, but only about the best. Because this way you will get only clients with a big smile on their face. 

In almost 18 years of time I learned that over 95% of all products in audio are not worth it's money. 

Bass is not supposed to be fast. If it were it would be treble. Bass has a much longer wavelength than treble or midrange and takes longer to develop. If your sub seems muddy it's probably because it's crossed over to high or turned up too high.

In addition a good sub will increase the size of the soundstage. A sub that can go down to 20hz or below can better produce 27 or 40hz much easier than speakers that go down to 27hz.

Particularly if the soundstage is a large reverberant church/cathedral or concert hall, RW. The ability to play really low makes possible reproducing the huge sound (long wavelengths and very low frequency reflections between walls, floor, and ceiling) heard in such enclosed spaces. And having two subs is important in being able to do that, as some of that very low frequency information contains out-of-phase (left minus right and visa versa) elements, which are cancelled when the left and right channels are summed to mono.

These days I can set subwoofers up to 140hz and higher. This is not possible with paper cones. This makes a huge improvement for the integration.

In the past I never went further than 80hz. Rel subwoofers could not even reach this level.

After a phonecall of a client of mine to use it till 120 hz, I tested it directly. And mannn this gave a new level and thoughts. I never had thought to use it this far. These days I set most sold subwoofers till 120hz.

What I said before; there are many ways to improve the interation of a subwoofer. Stealth low freq can only be reached by professional mic and lasers. By hand this accuracy is not possible.

In almost all shops and at shows I only audition low level of integration. This means that setting up a subwoofer is still difficult for most people.

Even with the roomacoustic systems a subwoofers owns you still have not the perfect integration.

When instruments and voices become bigger in proportion or less focussed, you know one thing for sure.....it doesn’t integrate as it should!