Cam's 8" Subwoofer Challenge

[CAMSHAFT]

OK, to consolidate the reviews I am making a thread just for them. After I have finished all of the 8's I will give a complete comparison. Please remember that this is all subjective. All of the review notes are my opinion.

Remember the criteria.

1) Great Sound Quality
2) No deeper than 6" mounting depth
3) Great authority down to 20 Hz
3.5) As close to a flat freq response as posible from 20 to 80 Hz (if published)
4) Great SPL
5) Can't cost more than $200
6) Optimum sealed enclosure size no greater than 0.65 cu ft

[CAMSHAFT]

Equipment: Clarion DRZ-9255, IXOS Rca’s and wires, Alpine PXA-H701, and an ARC AUDIO 4150 XXK.

First impression: When you first look at the little guy the first word that comes to mind is stocky. Each piece of the subwoofer contributes to that tough exterior. It has a relatively flat cone, beefy rubber surround, compact basket, push type terminals, and a nice magnet (with rubber cover). Overall it looks like it costs more than it actually does.

Tuning and Installation: I wired the dual 2-ohm version to get a 4-ohm load. I am running the power from two channels bridged on my 4150 for 320 watts output to the sub woofer. The speaker is enclosed in a 0.35 cubic foot, sealed MDF enclosure. The test box is sitting in my front passenger floor board. The box was damped on the subwoofer 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. The subwoofer level control was then blended to my usual reference level.

Listening: For listening material I went to my SQ disc wallet. In my SQ disc wallet I have 30 or so reference level recordings. I have SQ compilations like the Focal discs, original Alpine discs, Denon recordings, Telarc recordings, Sheffield Labs recordings, IASCA competition discs, and EMMA competition discs. I also keep single artist discs that are of the highest sound quality; to include XRCD, HDCD, and SACD recordings. There are multiple instances of well-recorded bass drum, string bass, synthesized bass, and other bass creating instruments. I listened to passages where the bass was; punchy, thick, distorted, fat, fast, slow, loud, and soft. Leading up to the Evaluation the sub was played for 25 hours for additonal break-in. Per eD the 9KV.3 is broken-in prior to delivery to the consumer. I spent over 4 hours of listening to form my opinion.

After listening I have come to the following conclusion; the 9KV.3 is a great sub. It creates music. It is not boomy or bloated. It is accurate. There is no coloration. It plays the musical information that is needed. Now, I need a sub that plays down to 20 Hz with authority, does it do that, NO? Could I live with that, maybe if I have a sub in the back playing 30 Hz and below that blends well enough with the front sub?

So did I find the sub for my front stage? I don’t know. The only way for a sub to better this one is to have an increase in output at sub 30 Hz while keeping the same HIGH LEVEL of sound quality. Overall high marks for the 9kv.3.

[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 beast. It is a man's man's sub. There is nothing dainty or delicate about this sub. It is very well made design with some over the top features. The first thing you notice is the surround, it is one of the stiffest I have ever encountered. The cone is the normal concave poly-pro design. The terminals are push type, however the tinsel leads are not sewn into the spider They put little covers for slap protection though. The basket is stamped. The magnet is large and intimidating. The most eye catching design is the cooling vent below the spider on the basket. You can see through to the VC. This is another sub that looks like it could go for a $100 more.

Tuning and Installation: I wired the single 2-ohm version the only way you can. I am running the power from one channel on my 2500 for 525 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 floor board. 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. The subwoofer level control was then blended to my usual reference level.

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. One thing that I noticed is there is some coloration on heavy string passages. It sounded a little heavy handed at times. I would have liked for it to be a little lighter on attacks.

For Hip Hop I have a few. When I played "Headsprung" by LL Cool J it pounded away like a happy little jack hammer asking for more. For "Born to Reign" by Will Smith it had nice extension as well. The SPL was very nice!!

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. It sounded very life-like and imaged well with the lower midbass. Sade's "Lover's Rock" sounded nice and exhibited good control.

For Rock I look for nice bass guitar and drum as well. Heart's "Straight On" is a beautiful drum track example. The sub got a great work out and accented the lower midbass nicely. Breaking Benjamin's "Breakdown" has a nice low growl from the electric bass as well as some nice drum hits. The fullness that this track asks for was well executed.

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. The SS82 was able to give me loads of music with great authority. High marks!

I listened to the above tracks on the 9KV.3, so I want to reiterate that to keep an even keel I will use all of the same tracks for the remainder of the Challenge.

After listening I have come to the following conclusion; the SS82 is an excellent sub. It is very versatile, able to play all genres of music. It doesnt play all genre's equally well, but the high marks in some areas make up for the low marks in other areas.

So did I find the sub for my front stage? I don’t know on this one either. I want the sub that does it all. This sub was excellent, not perfect. Overall awesome sub with some minor musical imperfections.

[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 SPL. It is built the way a SPL sub should be. An interesting feature is the tall surround. It almost looks weird. The magnet is beefy. The cone is nice and stiff. The basket is adequate. One thing that I am not sure is if I like the 8 gauge pre-wired terminals. DD claims a decrease in power loss at the VC because of this. A nice install feature is the pull back cover that goes over the mounting screw holes. All in all, it’s a nice looking sub.

Tuning and Installation: I wired the single 4-ohm version the only way you can. I am running the power from bridged channels on my 2500 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 floor board. 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. The subwoofer level control was then blended to my usual reference level.

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. First off, the word that comes to mind is defined. The mallet strikes on the kettles and large bass drums have a more defined hit than a boom. For low string bass there was also a defined striking of the bow across the strings. High marks!!

For Hip Hop I have a few. When I played "Headsprung" by LL Cool J it hit every note as loud as I wanted it to. For "Born to Reign" by Will Smith it performed nicely on this track. SPL is DD’s bread and butter and you could definitely tell why with these tracks.

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. The 1008a exhibited very nice control and clarity without any coloration. Sade's "Lover's Rock" sounded very nice as well.

For Rock I look for nice bass guitar and drum as well. Heart's "Straight On" is a beautiful drum track example. With each hit of the drum I could feel the note in my chest, very nice impact. Breaking Benjamin's "Breakdown" has a nice low growl from the electric bass as well as some nice drum hits. The fullness that this track asks for was not executed well. There are few low rumbles that the 1008a just could not extend down to with authority. There was a definite lack of presence.

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 1008a was only able to give authority on the Alicia Keys track. For everything else there was a noticeable break-up or zero music at all when the sub was attempting the very lowest notes.

After listening I have come to the following conclusion; the DD 1008a is Sound Quality / Sealed Enclosure capable Subwoofer. It has the ability to give you authority, clarity, and presence at most sub bass frequencies.

So did I find the sub for my front stage? I don’t know on this one either. I want the sub that does it all. This sub was excellent, not perfect. The DD 1008a is a very impressive sub with Near Perfect SQ that does not give any LFE in a sealed enclosure.

NOTE: This was not burned in to DD's specs. To comply with DD's wishes it would need ten times more hours of playing time. I chose to go ahead with the EVAL so that I can keep my deadline for final install.

[CAMSHAFT]

Equipment: Alpine DVA-9861, IXOS Optical, RCA’s, and wires, Alpine PXA-H701, and an ARC AUDIO 4150 XXK.

First impression: When you first look at the subwoofer the first word that comes to mind is weird. It is small and looks basically made. Then there are a few marketing features on it. The surround is rubber and cone is poly. The dust cap is bulbous with a RE logo on it. The basket has a basic design and is stamped. The mounting flange is also basic with a dense foam barrier for reverse mounting. The terminals are basic also. With its dual 4 ohm VC's I would have liked dual terminals on each side. The motor is small with chrome (why?). All in all the design is basic with a few shortcuts.

Tuning and Installation: I wired the dual 4-ohm version for a 2-ohm load. I am running the power from one channel on my 4150 for 160 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. The subwoofer level control was then blended to my usual reference level.

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 10 hours of break in time. Per RE Audio the Break-In time needed for this subwoofer is only 4 hours. 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. First off, the word that comes to mind is muddy. The sub-bass notes in each of the tracks were never clearly defined. The sub-bass "spilled over" into the other instruments and made for a very confusing musical experience.

For Hip Hop I have a few. When I played "Headsprung" by LL Cool J it had very nice authority and extension, however had some added coloration. For "Born to Reign" by Will Smith it perform this fine also, but exhibited some noted coloration. The SPL on both tracks were nice but without good SQ.

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. This was the best track for the RE8 during the entire evaluation. The RE8 exhibited nice control, however there was a slight bit of unwanted presence during sustained notes of the electric bass. Sade's "Lover's Rock" had great authority however sounded bloated.

For Rock I look for nice bass guitar and drum as well. Heart's "Straight On" is a beautiful drum track example. The RE8 did ok with this track. Breaking Benjamin's "Breakdown" has a nice low growl from the electric bass as well as some nice drum hits. The fullness that this track asks for was executed adequately. The authority was good but not exciting. There are few low rumbles that the RE8 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 RE8 was able to extend most of the way down but did not completely extend.

After listening I have come to the following conclusion; the RE8 is a SPL subwoofer. I wasn’t impressed with the SQ of this speaker at all. It never blended with the rest of my speakers. It sounded very out of place. However on a positive note I was very impressed at the amount of authority it gave with only 160 watts. The target market of RE Audio is SPL. It definitely meets and exceeds that demand.

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.

[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.

[CAMSHAFT]

In an attempt to have my choice make as much sense as possible I will be objectifying my subjective results in a numeric fashion. I will start compiling the results in the days after the Assassin review is completed. It has come down to the wire and it is time for me to make my decision. I hope this will clear up any ambiguites.

[CAMSHAFT]

Grading Scale will be 1 to 10. 1 being awful, 5 mediocre, and 10 being perfect.

The areas being judged will be

1. Build Quality
2. Installation
3. Individual Genre Performance
4. Overall SQ
5. Overall SPL
6. LFE

I will place each sub in score order from 1st to last, in each criteria. I will give a brief reason for each score.

[CAMSHAFT]

1. Critical Mass = 9 Well engineered, and attractive speaker
2. Elemental Designs = 8 Nicely put together speaker with great features
3. Digital Designs = 8 High quality product
4. Ascendant Audio =7 nicely built minus terminals
5. RE AUDIO = 4 basic design with some design shortcuts

[CAMSHAFT]

1. Digital Designs = 9 Mounting flange made best seal, screw cover also nice
2. Elemetal Designs = 8 Push terminals DVC on same side for wiring options
3. Critical Mass = 6 Push terminals, didnt like screw hole size
4. RE AUDIO = 5 not a fan of the terminals
5. Ascendant Audio = 4 not the best seal, didnt like the terminals

[CAMSHAFT]

1. Digital Designs = 10 great definition, zero coloration
2. Elemental Design = 9 accurate driver
3. Ascendant Audio = 8 great performance
4. Critical Mass = 6 some noted coloration
5. RE AUDIO = 3 poor performance

[CAMSHAFT]

1. Digital Designs = 9 nice presentation
2. Ascendant Audio = 8 great authority
3. Critical Mass = 7 nicely done
4. RE AUDIO = 5 great output with some noted coloration
5. Elemental Designs = 5 great sound, not allot of authority when pushed

[CAMSHAFT]

1. Digital Designs = 9 great definition, authority, and control
2. Critical Mass = 8 great performance
3. Elemental Designs = 7 Great sound quality, needs authority
4. Ascendant Audio = 6 was not able to handle both tracks equally well
5. RE AUDIO = 4 nice output, however very poor sound quality

[CAMSHAFT]

1. Critical Mass = 7 nice performance
2. Ascendant Audio 7 = near perfect authority could have exhibited better extension
3. Digital Design = 6 did not perform both tracks equally well
5. Elemental Designs = 6 great sound quality, could have exhibited better authority
4. RE AUDIO = 6 did not perform both tracks equally well


* Toughest Genre to Compare

[CAMSHAFT]

1. Digital Designs = 9 near perfect
2. Elemental Designs = 8 zero coloration in most genres
3. Ascendant Audio = 7 great capability
4. Critical Mass = 6 noted coloration in some genres
5. RE AUDIO = 3 poor sound quality