ACI Force vs. Adire Rava (1 Viewer)

[Rich.S]

I'm looking to get some recommendations on the best sub to add to my system. Right now, my system is as follows: Hales Concept 2 (mains), Hales Revelation Center, Arcam AVR 200 Receiver, no rear speakers. My listening is probably weighted 60% music, 40% movies. I've had the Hales for about 7 years now, and have been very satisfied, but, with the addition of a Pioneer Elite 53" RPTV I'm getting more interested in movies and feel that a sub would be a welcome addition. I listen mostly later at night after the kids go to bed, so high SPL is not that important.

I'm most interested in high quality, accurate bass. The room is 12' wide and about 20' long - and open at the back. The stereo is on the short wall. I've been reading reviews and what people have been saying on the forum and have narrowed it down the the Adire Rava and the ACI Force. Size of either isn't an issue for placement. I've got enough saved to buy the Rava now, but am considering waiting a few months to buy the Force.

Has anyone compared the 2 side-by-side, or upgraded from the Rava to an ACI sub? I'm struggling with the double the price factor, but don't want to compromise the sound of my system either. $750 is at the top of the price point I'd like to spend - does anyone have any other recommendations that should be on my short list?

Thanks in advance.

Rich Smolen

 

[Tim Ranger]

Rich:

I've never heard the Rava, so please keep that in mind. I did listen to a LOT of subs in my hunt over a year ago. Many different Velos, Vandies, B&Ws, M&Ks, RELS, the list goes on. I took a number of different subs home but wasn't really pleased with any until I demoed a REL Strata III. That was the first time I could get the sub to really "disappear". Around the same time I became aware of the ACI Titan. I ordered one and to say I've been pleased is a gross understatement. It disappears like the RELs do, but offers significantly higher output. We did some serious comparisons with the REL and felt it also allowed more information though. I think the dual 12db/oct filters really help compared to the RELs single 12db/oct filter. A while back, a friend bought a Force. Because his system wasn't ready, I got it for nearly two months During this time I found it to equal the Titan in everything except sheer output, and here it was pretty darn close! So, I'd just say that the Force is one of the few subs I've found to be up to high-quality stereo use. I noticed from your equipment that you have a good system, you don't want to take away from that. Will the Rava be up to the task? I can't tell you. I would say to go for the Rava SE as it has 24db/oct filters compared to the 12db/oct filters in the regular Rava. The lowest crossover point is 50 vs. 35 for the Force, this might or might not be a serious disadvantage. Best of luck!

 

[Rich.S]

Tim,

Thanks for your feedback! I too have been doing a good bit of listening and has very impressed with a REL I heard, but I wasn't ready to cough up the cash of $1,000+ for the sub. Did you ever listen to any Sunfire subs? A local dealer I know really swears by them, but I haven't heard much about them.

I was planning on using the crossover in the Arcam. I believe it is at 100 Hz and is 12 dB/oct. Would that be a mistake? How important is the slope of the crossover? How do the dual filters work in the Force? Any advantage to having 2 separate filters rather than one?

Rich

 

[Tim Ranger]

Rich:

I auditioned a couple of different Sunfire woofers. They went loud for their size, but I could never get them to blend in properly. They always called attention to themselves. The quality of bass just didn't seem right either. YMMV

I prefer to use the crossover in the sub with one of ACI's passive high-pass filters at the input of my power amp. I use the 85Hz filters in my setup. I have both of the filters on the Titan adjusted to the same frequency. I had some dialog with Mike at ACI about that. He said most people would do best to set the filters at the same frequency. Said that you'd probably need instruments to fine tune the filters differently. I'm real pleased with my setup. Good luck!

 

[Rich.S]

Has anyone out there done a direct comparison of the Rava and Force? Are the two in the same league? I'd be curious to hear how well people think the Rava integrates into their systems. One of the strengths of the Force seems to be it's ability to blend with almost any speaker - anyone have difficulty integrating a Force into their system?

Thanks.