Happy New Year, everyone! Special thanks to STAR readers who sent me wonderful wishes for the holidays, and kept me updated on audio during my short vacation from column-writing.
My much-needed downtime was not for naught. I was able to celebrate with family and friends, and got to listen to a lot of sealed LPs which I bought during the last Hi-Fi Show. It was pure musical bliss that revitalized these old, tired bones of mine.
But the most rewarding audio experience I had was the opportunity to try out the new sub-woofer in town, the Rythmik Audio. (There’s nothing wrong with the spelling, folks. It’s the designer choice of name, maybe for greater recall). It was love at first hearing! With the pair of subs instantly integrating seamlessly with my system, the rhythm of whatever music genre I played got me big time.
Rythmik is actually a direct-servo 12-inch driver, with an enclosure compact enough to be placed in any listening environment. Now, there is a lot of debate in the audiophile community over the use of subs in a two-channel system. Some audiophiles believe that subs are strictly for home theater use, and many are turned off by the subs’ inability to assimilate with the main system.
Only those who are extremely patient in moving around their speakers to get the right placement for best sound quality are rewarded. Subs actually complete the whole audio spectrum. We are supposed to hear from 20Hz to 20 KHz, and book-shelf speakers (which I’m sure most of you own) simply cannot re-create music with the complete discernible bandwidth.
But do we really have to hear or feel sound at 20Hz or even lower, say, at 14Hz? The simple answer is yes. To be more precise, it depends on your type of music.
Dance mixes, for instance, contain enormously high bass contents that one can be happy listening to even without the added lows. High bass content leads to what is often referred to as the ”masking effect” which crops up when a high-range signal plays in chorus with smaller-range signals. What our brains perceive as loudness in smaller-range signal is significantly reduced. Also, a human ear’s understanding of sound diminishes in the lower frequencies. For lovers of this type of music, it doesn’t matter much.
But in genres such as jazz, vocals and classical, one can clearly hear and feel the difference when your system dives below the 20Hz depth. There will be an instant enhancement in ambience and dynamics: A superbly-recorded LP, for one, benefits from the added lows. Excellently recorded sources contain an awful lot of ambient information which is primarily composed of bands in the lower frequency. So the more bass extension, the more open your sound stage becomes.
Also, during musical transitions, expect much non-harmonic content being re-produced. If your system is lacking in the lower bands, most of these contents will be filtered out since most of them hover in the sub-low frequency range.
This is what Rythmik brought upon my system. I’ve always maintained that a good-sounding system is one that is built around the main speakers. We constantly look for the ”supporting cast” to our speakers to enhance sound quality. Adding subs as supporting crew is certainly a step in the right direction.
What is good about Rythmik is its ease of use. Unlike conventional subs, Rythmik easily blends with your main system. In mine, it’s a match made in heaven, and the direct servo technology may have a lot to do with it. Rythmik direct servo boasts of ”fast bass,” unlike other servo systems. In its website, Rythmik claims that other servo systems based on accelerometer have a response time, but with direct servo the response time is zero.
Its damping factor, or the ability of its drivers to control air, is close to infinity. Higher damping factor value is always preferred because it implies a tight and punchy bass.
Rythmik did not disappoint. During the holidays, I played long hours of several music types, and the Rythmik subs were always up to the task. You wouldn’t even notice their presence. It’s the rhythm of the music that’s going to get you. Playing second-fiddle to my main system, my music room suddenly became host to sounds so unbelievably real. The vastness of the soundstage was breathtaking to the point that you’ll lose yourself in it. This is one product that is worth taking a look at — user-friendly and easy on the pocket; highly recommended to newbies and those who want to bring their system to higher levels.
* * *
For comments or questions, please e-mail me at audioglow@yahoo.com or at vphl@hotmail.com. You can also visit www.wiredstate.com or you can tweet audiofiler at www.twitter.com for quick answers to your audio concerns.