Tuesday, January 22, 2008

DIY Subwoofer - Rythmik Audio DS12 kit - Listening Impressions

After living with the Rythmik Audio Subwoofers for a few months. I have come to the following conclusion:

This DIY subwoofer has exceeded my expectations. They are perfect for my Home Theatre setup... rattles the furniture and ceiling boards when the need arises. I have the subwoofers crossed at about 80Hz using the AV receiver.

However I am still working on integrating them into my Hifi setup. For my Hifi setup I rely on the plate amplifier's cross over adjustments. I have the crossover set at about 100hz. I am still experimenting with the subwoofer placement, but right now, it is sitting in front of the room right in between the ESLs. For Hifi purposes, there is no doubt that the subwoofer produces non bloated, accurate and articulated bass notes. On most pieces of music, integration with my ESLs are seamless where I don't even know if they are turned on or not. However on certain pieces of music, commercial pop mainly, the producers mix an awful lot of bass and when played thru the ESLs and the subwoofer, the bass sounds over emphasised and exagerated.

Here are more of my observations:
1. Clarity of the bass is top notch. No boom or just a deep rumble... you can actually tell the instrument and the note that is being played. This alone quality alone sells the subwoofer!!
2. The subwoofer adds a lot of "atmosphere" to the music. The music seems "fuller bodied".
3. The subwoofer produces bass that is "tight and fast" enought to keep up with my ESLs.
4. The ESLs and subwoofer setup sounds best on accoustic pieces, classical (pipe organ music is fantastic) and some slow rock pieces.
5. Bass extension is great despite the size of the driver and the cabinets... roughly 2.1cuft. Saves space while not sacrificing extension or SPL.

I don't have any real testing equipment except for the ratshack analog sound analyser. And from some of the frequency sweeps I have done, the frequency response is flat down to 13hz 3-5db when damping set to High and extension set to 14hz.

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