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SUBWOOFERS
Today, almost all subwoofers are powered and have a fair bit of electronic control and possibly even servo feedback. With the incredible processing and adjustment capacity of the digital equipment currently available and arriving imminently, there is no reason for a subwoofer to consist of anything more than a woofer driver and an enclosure. Shades of 1985!
This digital gear will go several steps beyond what any self contained subwoofer is capable of. The complete audio system will be adjusted in the room and the subwoofer will be integrated accordingly. This is the now possible with the Tact system and on a slightly lower level with the Behringer UltraCurve and other similar devices.
The new Behringer 2496 DSP crossover promises to be the ideal subwoofer crossover and EQ device and when mixed with measured room response should provide musical performance well beyond what a stand alone subwoofer can deliver now.
Robert Greene wrote an excellent review on this subject in Absolute Sound. He discusses the advantages of digital room equalization in the context of the Behringer UltraCurve in the February-March, 2003 issue #140. Note that he used the analog input and output model and did not have the all digital connections. The all digital upgrades would only have enhanced his already favourable view of the product.
When Newform worked with the UltraCurve at the 1999 CES we were amazed at how little degradation there was in the sound and what an improvement flattening the room response made. Those with memories of the very hoary artifacts inflicted on sound quality by 10 band electronic equalizers will be pleasantly amazed at what you don't hear with the new digital devices.
So what does this leave you with? A subwoofer with a standalone DSP device and a stand alone amp. Is this as slick as an all-in-one sub? No, but it works a great deal better and it is a highly scalable system.
Picture a single used Bryston 3B amp fed by a Behringer 2496 and driving a single Attack Sub 10. The cost is about $1600 and it gives excellent musical performance. For totally crushing home theater bottom end umph, you can just add more Attack Subs to a maximum of 4 for the Bryston (2 per channel in parallel for 500w total output).
These can be stacked in the corners or placed around the room to reduce room nodes and put less stress on the room EQ system. Total cost is $3300. Killer.
Of course, with the Tact system, you don't need the Behringer devices.
NEWFORM RIBBON LOUDSPEAKERS
BRYSTONTACTSUBWOOFERS
R630v3 & R645v3 CABINETS
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