John Garcia
Senior HTF Member
CSX-15
A friend of mine who previously had a Cadence X-sub gave me a call to let me know that he had purchased one of the new CSX-15s and offered to let me borrow it for a few days to give it a listen. Who am I to refuse an in home audition? Size wise it seems pretty typical for a 15” sub, which means relatively large – not massive, but not small by any means. One nice thing about this cabinet though is the piano gloss grille because it is attractive enough that it will likely pass WAF. I fired it up and started things off with music. Even after calibration, it initially sounded a bit boomy I think because it maybe didn’t do so well around the 80Hz crossover point in my room, so I had to spend a little time tweaking to get it to blend well with my mains. I had it in the corner near my sub and ended up adjusting the position and volume and got it sounding pretty good in relatively short time. I tried a wide variety of music with it, from jazz to techno and it handled everything well, showing no signs of strain at any time even when pushed. It has a fairly punchy sound to it, with little bloom and it kept up well with everything but the most complex stuff I threw at it (drum and bass). It filled my fairly large room well (23x13 with high sloped ceiling) though it didn’t seem to have a ton of tactile response – it actually has a sound that is more like a sealed sub rather than a vented one.
I moved on to movies and it scored well here for me also. Trying all the standards such as Master & Commander, WOTW, Ratatoullie, and one that I’ve been using a lot lately, Nine Inch Nails Beside You In Time on Blu-ray (True HD). Master & Commander – it handled elevated levels with the cannon scene well, lacking only the deepest bits of the cannon fire. With WOTW it handled the storm and pod emerging scene very well, leaving little to be desired. With NIN, there is both fast and deep bass, and it showed no signs of strain with this disc, even at very elevated levels. I also used another favorite track of mine from the animated film Jin-Roh which has one scene that has a deep sustained bass line in the background music – this one is tough for most subs, hovering for about one full minute in the low 20s. Based on the chart I saw, this sub does have output down to the teens, though it gradually drops off below 25Hz – with this scene, it again managed to get everything but the lowest tactile portion with good output and no strain.
CSX-12
My father is looking for a new system which I am in the process of looking for now, but my mom doesn’t want something in the size range of the 15 for the sub. Based on the performance of the CSX-15, I thought, what the heck, I’ll try the CSX-12 and see how it does. This one arrived mid week so I still had the 15 as well and could try them out back to back. I was immediately surprised with the CSX-12 for the output it had with music. So much so, that I skipped right to Master & Commander to see what it would do. According to numbers I saw, this guy actually has a bit more headroom than the 15 surprisingly, and I honestly wasn’t sure how that could be possible until I heard it. Right out of the box this sub was able to activate my room well – calibration showed I had to bring it down from the level of the 15. With music, this one isn’t as articulate as the 15, with a bit more bloom, but with proper tweaking it should do more than adequately. With movies, I was never disappointed, trying all of the same passages as the 15. I believe this one drops off more steeply below 25Hz, though this showed with only the lowest material, since this sub has good output.
So, in summary, in the world of budget subs, it seems we have a few more to add to the mix when it comes to recommendations. Thumbs up to Cadence, the CSX-15 is one solid sub for the price, and I think it is going to ante up pretty well for the $400 market. It won't rattle your foundation, but it will give you a lot to smile about. In the budget sub arena, the CSX-12 is probably going to turn the $300 sub market on its ear with this offering, so to speak. For the value minded, these guys should definitely be on your list, not to mention the free shipping right now.
The 15 has since gone home but I still have the 12 at this time, so I will continue to put it through its paces and continue to provide my thoughts on it as long as I have it.
SUBWOOFERS - Cadence Sound Systems, Inc.
A friend of mine who previously had a Cadence X-sub gave me a call to let me know that he had purchased one of the new CSX-15s and offered to let me borrow it for a few days to give it a listen. Who am I to refuse an in home audition? Size wise it seems pretty typical for a 15” sub, which means relatively large – not massive, but not small by any means. One nice thing about this cabinet though is the piano gloss grille because it is attractive enough that it will likely pass WAF. I fired it up and started things off with music. Even after calibration, it initially sounded a bit boomy I think because it maybe didn’t do so well around the 80Hz crossover point in my room, so I had to spend a little time tweaking to get it to blend well with my mains. I had it in the corner near my sub and ended up adjusting the position and volume and got it sounding pretty good in relatively short time. I tried a wide variety of music with it, from jazz to techno and it handled everything well, showing no signs of strain at any time even when pushed. It has a fairly punchy sound to it, with little bloom and it kept up well with everything but the most complex stuff I threw at it (drum and bass). It filled my fairly large room well (23x13 with high sloped ceiling) though it didn’t seem to have a ton of tactile response – it actually has a sound that is more like a sealed sub rather than a vented one.
I moved on to movies and it scored well here for me also. Trying all the standards such as Master & Commander, WOTW, Ratatoullie, and one that I’ve been using a lot lately, Nine Inch Nails Beside You In Time on Blu-ray (True HD). Master & Commander – it handled elevated levels with the cannon scene well, lacking only the deepest bits of the cannon fire. With WOTW it handled the storm and pod emerging scene very well, leaving little to be desired. With NIN, there is both fast and deep bass, and it showed no signs of strain with this disc, even at very elevated levels. I also used another favorite track of mine from the animated film Jin-Roh which has one scene that has a deep sustained bass line in the background music – this one is tough for most subs, hovering for about one full minute in the low 20s. Based on the chart I saw, this sub does have output down to the teens, though it gradually drops off below 25Hz – with this scene, it again managed to get everything but the lowest tactile portion with good output and no strain.
CSX-12
My father is looking for a new system which I am in the process of looking for now, but my mom doesn’t want something in the size range of the 15 for the sub. Based on the performance of the CSX-15, I thought, what the heck, I’ll try the CSX-12 and see how it does. This one arrived mid week so I still had the 15 as well and could try them out back to back. I was immediately surprised with the CSX-12 for the output it had with music. So much so, that I skipped right to Master & Commander to see what it would do. According to numbers I saw, this guy actually has a bit more headroom than the 15 surprisingly, and I honestly wasn’t sure how that could be possible until I heard it. Right out of the box this sub was able to activate my room well – calibration showed I had to bring it down from the level of the 15. With music, this one isn’t as articulate as the 15, with a bit more bloom, but with proper tweaking it should do more than adequately. With movies, I was never disappointed, trying all of the same passages as the 15. I believe this one drops off more steeply below 25Hz, though this showed with only the lowest material, since this sub has good output.
So, in summary, in the world of budget subs, it seems we have a few more to add to the mix when it comes to recommendations. Thumbs up to Cadence, the CSX-15 is one solid sub for the price, and I think it is going to ante up pretty well for the $400 market. It won't rattle your foundation, but it will give you a lot to smile about. In the budget sub arena, the CSX-12 is probably going to turn the $300 sub market on its ear with this offering, so to speak. For the value minded, these guys should definitely be on your list, not to mention the free shipping right now.
The 15 has since gone home but I still have the 12 at this time, so I will continue to put it through its paces and continue to provide my thoughts on it as long as I have it.
SUBWOOFERS - Cadence Sound Systems, Inc.
