Clear-counting readers noticed a bevy of subwoofer-related features of late and likely wondered when I'd put a lid on those. Having made my choice, today could be that day. Hence the header. Whilst canvassing the tangled web for a compact upstairs sub, I came across two more worthy suspects which some readers might like to know about. One is for Germans only, the other for all others; and Germans. Let's start with the first. It's from Saxx Audio who design in Teutonia but build in China like Vincent. By selling direct and just domestic though with a generous 4-week home-trial guarantee, only German residents can currently take delivery.
The Saxx deepSound DS 150 DSP is a 15" affair with 1000-watt DSP amplification and comprehensive PEQ facilities. Five different profiles can extend the response up to -3dB/14Hz, there are high-gloss black and white options, a top-mounted display with controller knob and magnetized grills. Weighing 44.5kg, Mr. Saxx is no pushover. At 65x71x64cm WxHxD, he's no dwarf either. To shrink him a bit, there's a 12.5" junior version at 500Wrms. That measures 54x61x54 and knocks weight down by 7kg.
Casting our eyes a lot farther north, there's Arendal of Norway. Those folks also design in their country but build in the Far East for the usual cost savings. In their 1723 range, two subs are of my favored twin-woofer persuasion, one sealed, one ported. Unusually, those throw in four finish options (satin or gloss black and white), then a 41.4kg HDF cab with dual 13.8" woofers, magnetic grills, a reversible 2.6" color display for 3 EQ modes and 7-band parametric EQ plus 1'200Wrms of power. As one reviewer learnt, the latency of their intense digital signal processing is 8ms. That's equivalent to nearly 3 meters. If you run a pre/pro in an A/V setting, you can easily compensate for that in your processor's DSP. If you run a music-only system off an analog preamp, you can't. You'd now have to do it purely physically. But few are likely to set their music sub three meters closer to the seat than the main speakers. So there's that. But when it comes to featurization, finishing and fiscal matters, both Saxx and Arendal deserve close attention.
For more on the Arendal, we also get a 30-160Hz low pass filter variable in 1Hz increments plus a choice of 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th-order slopes. The subsonic filter adjusts from 12-31Hz at 6dB/12dB per octave. The amplifier's 32-bit microcontroller exploits 5 channels of A/D conversions to monitor both halves of the bridged amplifier, the power supply rails and the temperature sensor. These clearly are very full-featured electronics including the 7-band parametric EQ to tailor the response against room interference. The PEQ window spans 12-200Hz, selectable Q for each band is 0.3 – 10, cut is up to -10dB, boost is up to +3dB. The Arendal 1723 S2 seems to be a Viking berserker of very high IQ.
