Anyone have experience with the Acoustic Visions Denali or Kilimanjaro? (1 Viewer)

[Rob Bird]

I'm trying to find comparisons of these subs against the obvious competition (SVS). Does anyone know of any, or have first hand experience? The construction and driver selection seem phenomenal.

 

[Edward J M]

PM Craig Chase; he owned a Denali for a while.

 

[David Keith]

I bought the Denali from Craig, for my brother. I hooked it up and it is a very very sweet sub for what Craig sold it to my brother for, but if you're buying it new, there are much better subs out there for that kinda $$$.Craig will tell you the same thing. And, since he has reveiwed SO MANY subs IN HIS THEATERS this year, he will guide you on which is best for you. His opinion is free, and worth listening to !

 

[Michael R Price]

That's kind of different from what you'd think about a sub with that driver. What's better about other similarly priced subs?

 

[kevin tate]

Hi Dave, so how many subs you're going to purchase from Craig this year? By the way, the VTF3 II is working out very well.

 

[Kyle Richardson]

And how many of those let you choose the wood veneer that you would like on the sub? Custom built units will always cost a bit more than mass produced items.

 

[Craig Chase]

To follow up on the Denali, and my findings with it... It is a pretty nice subwoofer in the configuration I had, but the Passive Radiators seemed to be the limiting factor.

I had several people mention it was due to the Kiega (sp?) amp...

This PR problem only showed up with torture tests like the Deep Bass in the Hsu CD ...

The Tumult itself is a GREAT driver ... If I had it to do over, I would get a Kilimenjaro, calibrate it, and let er rip ... The Tumult in a sealed design just plain works great...

 

[David Keith]

Kevin,
That HSU is a great sub too. I would put it in the same class as the SVS all day long. Maybe even a step higher because of the cool blue light on it! I was completely amazed at the sound from it for the $$$ ! But their customer service flat out sucks ! SVS has great customer service, as long as you never post anything negative about them, then you will be on their "most disliked" list.
I was just adding up how many subs I have bought from him and it is scary.
I LOVE trying different gear so I can offer an EXPERIENCED FIRST HAND opinion. Craig actually has a few more subs that I hope to end up getting to buy/try.
Dave

 

[David Keith]

Kyle,
Good point there. The finish is nothing shy of gorgeous !
It is NOT for a house with kids tho', being it has no speaker covers/grills. That I would change if it stayed at my house. The 18" dual radiators are unreal too with MDF centers. The tumult driver IS a weapon !
Dave

 

[Craig Chase]

With the Kilamenjaro, a grill is an option. I think it is $25 ... You can also get the Denali with one grill, for the Tumult...

 

[David Keith]

That's the only one I would see a need to cover. I'll get him one at a local place and install it, when I get time. He hasn't got any kids yet, so no hurry.

 

[Kyle Richardson]

You're right. It's quite difficult to grill the PR's since they have so much excursion. You would need to add about 4" to the total width of the sub and it would look pretty goofy too with 2" thick grills on each side.

On a side note: For 2005 there will be some changes on these subs such as a better amp with built in parametric equalization and a ported design in place of the PR design. The main driver will remain the same as well as the frequency response (very similar anyway). Pricing and availability are yet to be announced.

I personally really like this design as well. Its VERY potent, reletively small at just under 20" on all sides, and sounds wonderful. The only "drawback" is that its a sealed design and wont hit the super low stuff quite as hard as a ported/PR design unless some low EQ is added (which will be possible with the new amp...down to 16Hz). Of course thats all reletive too because it will still be very loud at those levels but there are those that want the subsonics to shine through and that is where the Denali or even Everest would possibly be better choices.

 

[kevin tate]

Dave, SVS seems to have great services based on all the responses from Ron and Tom.

 

[David Keith]

Kevin,
SVS's customer service is top notch. I have owned a total of 6 SVS subs, including the current B4+ (for sale) and I had only good service from them. They personally delivered a replacement sub for the first one that blew. Their shop is about 45 minutes from me. I thought they went above and beyond their duty doing that. One of their assembly guys delivered it and set it up. I have never posted the following and was never going to, but here goes:
When the guy brought the replacement sub, he also brought along the Avia dvd . Tom told me to use it and send it back when I was done with it ! After a week of using it, I called to send it back and Tom told me to just keep it, he had plenty more !!!!!!! I was very very very impressed with that. It was a $40.00 dvd ! FREE !
However, since then they have done something to a freind of mine that so irritated me that I am selling the B4+.
I will never mention what it was so don't ask. If I didn't take things so personal it wouldn't even matter, but I can't forget it.
Other than that, they build fantastic subs, and customer service is top notch, really. As disgusted as I am with them, I sure wouldn't say that if it weren't true.

 

[dave alan]

To my knowledge, no one but Kyle has utilized the Tumult to anywhere near it's full potential, or in so many different configs.

He is a super person and does excellent work.

The Tumult is the cleanest, heaviest, highest quality, longest throw, highest power handling, beastiest subwoofer driver I've worked with (including 33 drivers, and counting).

I admit that PR and ported subs aren't my thing, but I guarantee that any sub you purchase from Mr. Richardson that's loaded with 1 or more Tummies will be a keeper.

 

[Edward J M]

I'll second that. I just wrapped up the Acoustic Visions MRS-10 subwoofer review, which will be posted at Secrets in the near future. Kyle was great to work with, and the MRS-10 is a good start to the Music Rendition Series.

I'll be starting a separate discussion thread (both here at HTF and at the Secrets forum) on the MRS-10 review once it goes public.

Regards,

Ed

 

[Michael R Price]

It can't be too bad if a pair of 18" PRs are the limiting factor.

 

[Rob Bird]

I wonder how the Axiom Audio EP500 stacks up. I emailed their tech support and was told that down to about 17hz their DSP system will keep essentially flat anechoic response. That's damn impressive for a 12" driver with a 500 watt amp. Nice price too...very manageable. Anyone heard this thing? I wonder how that driver stacks up to the Tumult (or not).

 

[dave alan]

The Axiom EP500 was measured flat to 17 Hz in a review by Audioholics. The catch is that the output was 86 dB with that response.

A single Tummy in a sealed L/T config, powered by 500 watts, will yield the same flat-to-17 Hz response, but...at 15+dB higher SPL, and, with extremely low distortion.

The Tumult can be coupled with 3 times that amount of power in a sealed L/T box and never break a sweat.

The Axiom is a great-looking, well engineered sub, but the Tumult towers over the driver used in the EP500 as a simple matter of fact.

 

[Brian Bunge]

Yeah, with flat response to 10Hz in room with a Tumult in a sealed enclosure I can sure feel it in my "tummy"!