Content Wrapper

[CAMSHAFT]

Equipment: Alpine DVA-9861, IXOS Optical, RCA’s, and wires, Alpine PXA-H701, and an ARC AUDIO 2500 XXK.

First impression: When you first look at the subwoofer the first word that comes to mind is huge. It is tall and stout. The surround is very thick rubber and cone is paper. The dust cap is bulbous. The basket is stamped. The mounting flange has a thick rubber cover. The terminals are basic, but not the same size. I am a fan of having both terminals be large. I always feel like I am going to break the little terminals. The motor is huge and daunting. All in all the design is very basic, although well built.

Tuning and Installation: I wired the single 4-ohm version the only way you can. I am running my 2500 bridged for 1050 watts output to the sub woofer. The speaker is enclosed in a 0.5 cubic foot, sealed MDF enclosure. The test box is sitting in my front passenger floorboard. The box was damped on the mounting surface with B-Quiet Ultimate. The crossover on the H701 was set at 50 Hz. My mid-bass is very capable all the way down to 50 Hz, so why not let them do their job. I then had to do some equalization in the sub-bass frequencies to get any authority down low. The Assassin has a very low sensitivity, which would explain my need for the EQing.

Listening: For listening material I went to my SQ disc wallet. Read above for what I have. In the days leading up the to Evaluation there were 35 hours of break in time. Prior to listening I put a 40 Hz tone on the sub for 20 minutes to warm it up. I spent over 2 hours of listening to form my opinion. For this test I will give examples of tracks from a few genres.

For Classical I took a trip through my John Williams Greatest Hits CD. There are quite a few heavy drum and low string bass movements in there. I thought that the assassin did very well with string movements. I also felt that that the Assassin did well when playing multiple instruments.

For Hip Hop I have a few. When I played "Headsprung" by LL Cool J it moved very nicely with the music. This track asks for allot of excursion which the sub gave it. For "Born to Reign" by Will Smith the Assassin did well on this track also. I was very happy with sound quality exhibited while giving great amounts of SPL.

For Jazz / R&B I like great bass guitar and nice snappy drum hits. Ramsey Lewis's "People Make the World Go 'Round" has very nice extended low electric bass. I thought that the notes were defined and had nice control. Sade's "Lover's Rock" was nice, however the control exhibited in other tracks seemed lacking in this track.

For Rock I look for nice bass guitar and drum as well. Heart's "Straight On" is a beautiful drum track example. The authority in the drums was spot on with zero overhang. Breaking Benjamin's "Breakdown" has a nice low growl from the electric bass as well as some nice drum hits. The track was well executed by the Assassin. There are few low rumbles that the AA extended down to but not completely.

For examples of music below 30 Hz I listened to Limp Bizkit's "Behind Blue Eyes", "The Vikings" from Pomp and Pipes!, Alicia Keys' "Piano & I", and the famous "Jurassic Lunch" from The Great Fantasy Adventure Album. For these selections the AA was able to extend fairly, but not all the way.

So after spending time with this sub I can say that for the price it’s a gem. It looks daunting but plain, which for some that steer them away. Musically it performs, which is what you want. I thought that this sub has quite a bit going for it.

So did I find the sub for my front stage? You can make your own determination on this one, and then wait for my comparison and see what my final decision is.