A thread for testing $2000-$2500ish subwoofers (1 Viewer)

[Craig Chase]

Hey guys - Time for an update. I was busy with some most promising business avenues most of the week, but did get a chance to watch the 2016 version of "The Magnificent Seven" last night.

It has some incredibly good bass scenes! One of note is when the army hired by Bogue to wipe out the good town's people is riding into town, it felt as if our floor was rippling with the herd. Gun shots were not quite as well done as in Open Range, but it was still impressive.

It looks as if the V3601's may start shipping soon, too.

This thread will get a lot more interesting when there is actually some competition.

 

[Craig Chase]

The Power Sound Audio V-3601 has shipped!

 

[Mike Frezon]

Does anyone else get the sense that Craig is really looking forward to receiving shipment of the V-3601?

Maybe it's just me...

 

[Craig Chase]

The dancing bananas were a bit too much, right? Doggone dancing bananas get me EVERY time.

 

[Mike Frezon]

Dancing bananas have gotten us all at one time or another.

There's no shame...

Just be sure that they're ripe when you use 'em!

 

[Brendostunes]

To cool, I think the bananas under estimate the excitement. Hopefully it can cause similar vibrations to those you've got with the Axiom.

 

[Craig Chase]

Mike - You make a good point. One should never have one's banana dancing prematurely.

Brendotunes - You hit on something: I was REALLY tempted to get an S-3601, but when the spec of -3 dB was quoted at 16 Hz on the vented cabinet, which is an anechoic specification, it became clear that the vented sub should hit well into infrasonic bass. A 13 Hz in room floor, with Audyssey engaged, is quite possible. It will be fun to run the sweep after a couple of weeks of burn in.

Also - after the experience with the old Chase VS-18.1, which had a cabinet VERY close to the size of the V-3601, but with one driver instead of two, Tom and Jim seem to have hit the sweet spot I wanted to hit - getting two drivers in a cabinet that size flat to the teens. As my "design team" pretty much quick working after the first year, it was a fruitless effort on our part. Before any eq was applied, if memory serves, the VS-18.1 was about +/- 5 dB from 19 to 80 Hz.

Go look at other subs, and you will typically find competing subs claiming a "16-17 Hz tuning point" in a dual 18 inch vented sub are in a much larger overall cabinet. It took some serious work on the part of the PSA team to get this sub tuned as low as they did with a slot vent as large as it has.

You can look for lots of tests to ensure the V-3601 lives up to the claims made for it.

 

[theJman]

Mike - You make a good point. One should never have one's banana dancing prematurely.

Are we still talking about emoji's here?

 

[Craig Chase]

Are we still talking about emoji's here?

Of course we are.

 

[Mike Frezon]

 

[Craig Chase]

The V-3601 is scheduled to be delivered today. The only bad news is I am leaving for a business conference and will be gone for a week. It won't be hooked up until next Thursday.

 

[Craig Chase]

The conference ended early, I am home and the V3601 has been installed into the system. I have not bother calibrating it in any way. Right now, it's using the same Audyssey settings (and same room location) that the EP800 had.

Tron:Legacy is the movie tonight, and this beast can HIT. It will be the weekend before any critical listening starts, but in terms of power, this guy has it.

Fit and finish is REALLY good - the slot vent is massive. Running some 5 Hz and up sweeps on the Omni Mic disc never resulted in any chuffing.

 

[Brendostunes]

Wow to cool that's really low.
Sounds like an exiting weekend ahead.

 

[Craig Chase]

Brendo - As the V3601 is vented, and tuned to the 16-17 Hz range, the amp's DSP is likely to remove the 5-12 Hz information, we will run a sweep this weekend.

The issue with this massive slot vent is it appears to be the largest vent in these large subs. I know another sub that tested well at Data-Bass also made chuffing noises. The vents on this sub that was chuffing look smaller than the vent on the PSA sub.

Chuffing is a FAR more audible issue than is distortion. CEA-2010 does not address this - so a sub could be "killer on paper", but in reality, chuffing is lowering the performance.

 

[Brendostunes]

Do hope it doesn't chuff.

When I started had cheap Subs that would, From my minor experience, Seems if it does the usual grunts and farts of the ports are too noticeable. As soon as it starts could always hear it and ruined all the rest of the sounds. Although those little 150 200 watt ers with their little ports are pale in comparison.

Here's hoping you don't notice any once you start listening after the break in.

 

[Craig Chase]

Here is a timeline for the first night with the V3601:

6:45 ... carry into house with my son. Bust son's cajones because he needed to rest once (he is a power lifter) while the old man (who is old enough to be scary) didn't need to rest. Temperature in garage is 46 degrees. Subwoofer is cold.

7:00 ... Fire up Omni Mic sweep on "repeat" ... let V3601 thaw out. Go for walk with son.

8:15 ... Son heads home, still whining at me about how much the subwoofer weighs.

8:16 ... Fire up Tron: Legacy

The scientific approach last night was to turn up the bass until it was fun. When one has had over 150 different subwoofers, and done years of measurements, one learns a few things - such as having a pretty good idea that one is running the subwoofer "hot" ... which means at a higher volume than the rest of the system.

Besides the EP800 from Axiom, which is both sealed and DSP controlled, the V3601 is the first subwoofer NOT to make an ugly sound when Sam enters the world of Tron. The Rythmik and Hsu subs both made large "port farting" noises on this scene. Last year, during the $1000 test, I ran the Hsu and Rythmik in tandem, stacked and they STILL made the farting noise on this scene.

The V3601 just smiled. It was still cold, and just smiled. The room felt like it was caving in. So far, the only down side is I have two new "room rattles" to eliminate.

The flying machine scene in Tron (when Sam is taken into the game grid) is a standard test, and again, nothing but pure, deep, visceral bass.

The motorcycle scene has more percussive, 40 Hz bass, and once again, everything was tight. This suggests a driver with a fairly low inductance, and a well thought out, researched approach to its design.

As mentioned earlier, critical listening will be this weekend, with the unit getting lots of the Omni Mic treatment to handle any break in issues. The V3601 is off to a great start.

 

[Craig Chase]

Nothing to report this morning ... I just ran the Omni Mic disc to let the subs break in more while we watched TV in the family room. I am hoping to fire up a good bass fest movie tonight, and by Saturday afternoon, we should be ready for some graphs showing the response curve along with some pictures.

 

[Craig Chase]

UPDATE TIME !!

The V3601, after 4 days of break in, has finally had its own calibration with the curve posted in the opening page in this thread.

The -3 dB point in room is 14 Hz. Interestingly, the Axiom EP800 is specified at - 3 dB at 13 Hz, and posted an 11 Hz - 3 dB point.

Power Sound Audio specifies the -3 dB point at 16 Hz, and it hit 14 Hz in room - which suggests its specs are accurate.

Tonight will be the first movie post calibration: X-Men Apocalypse.

 

[Craig Chase]

The thread has been updated on page 1 with comments about the experience of X-Men Apocalypse on the LaScala II's and the V-3601.

I enjoyed the movie immensely, despite the "so-so" reviews. More to the point of this thread, the V-3601 was STELLAR in its presentation of bass. Apocalypse has deep bass scenes throughout the movie, and there were so many times that the room was shuddering that I lost count.

The "deep percussive" bass was also excellent - it would hit hard, then stop, as a well designed, linear subwoofer will. When we hear "sloppy" bass, it's typically from a subwoofer with a 40 Hz peak, and the V-3601 has none of that. It's just clean, powerful and accurate.

 

[vidiot33]

The thread has been updated on page 1 with comments about the experience of X-Men Apocalypse on the LaScala II's and the V-3601.

I enjoyed the movie immensely, despite the "so-so" reviews. More to the point of this thread, the V-3601 was STELLAR in its presentation of bass. Apocalypse has deep bass scenes throughout the movie, and there were so many times that the room was shuddering that I lost count.

The "deep percussive" bass was also excellent - it would hit hard, then stop, as a well designed, linear subwoofer will. When we hear "sloppy" bass, it's typically from a subwoofer with a 40 Hz peak, and the V-3601 has none of that. It's just clean, powerful and accurate.

How much of an effect do you think the v3601's high efficiency has to do with its performance? Can't seem to find anything but praise for its subwooferage.