The Low End of Things

First, a word about Kevlar; Kevlar has been found to have useful acoustic properties for loudspeaker cones, specifically for bass and mid-range drive units.

There are three grades of Kevlar; Kevlar, Kevlar 29 and Kevlar 49. Typically, Kevlar is used as reinforcement in tyres and rubber mechanical goods.

From the perspective of the 3.5" full range cone used, things are really quite good with again not a hint of distortion at the highest of volumes. This is really good to see from a product not costing an arm full.

For the testing of lower-mid and upper bass frequencies, any sort of good percussion music is usually a good start. I enjoyed the way these speakers imaged the often hard to cope with range between 1-5KHz which can be a real pain in the neck for designers of smaller systems because quite simply there must be some compromise between good high-end and muddy bass due to the work required by the bass unit.

On the whole though, I found myself engaged in the drums and percussion; though as I felt in my initial testing still found it a little sterile towards the timber of the sound, perhaps just lacking a little warmth which can really mask a lot of shortfalls of drivers. The subwoofer's enclosure itself is a nice unit which as stated earlier just lacks that slightly larger 8" driver to duck under 50Hz which makes a lot more of a visceral experience with regularity, leaving subs with smaller drivers....well....not really feeling like they are fulfilling the purpose they were intended to. However this is a topic that's been raised constantly by myself so I will not harp on.

Overall, the subwoofer is a sturdy unit that does not sound overly boomy when taken to the limits, but it just lacks real low end punch. So in this department my only really complaint is lack of mid-range warmth and the ability to extend below 50Hz; all in all not a bad day at the track though.