Speed match

One funny memory from my recent attempt to build a subwoofer for my listening rig at home was the advice I got from other builders to steer away from certain open baffle designs because they “are for music and not for home theater.”

Which of course made me chuckle a little. Made for music, and not for home theater? What does that mean? A good sub should be able to handle both, right?

It turns out that the expectations for a subwoofer are very different if you’re only using it for music, as I was intending. I thought all subwoofers should be accurate, nimble and should be able to plumb the depths at a moment’s notice.

After some research I realized it’s more about cost and “you get what you pay for.” A basic ported sub could do just fine in a home theater, since the LFE output of most multichannel movies is mostly there for thumps, door slams and explosions.

For music though, I prefer a sealed subwoofer design that doesn’t toss out-of-phase low end around the room.

It’s difficult to make a “musical” sub that mates well with nimble bookshelves or floorstanders. REL is one of the only brands I think really gets everything out of a sealed cabinet without resorting to servo control.

That’s why my ears lit up when I fired up this little B&W beauty. Its price is a fraction of a good REL, but it reminded me of a REL when fed a diet of quick-moving jazz like Jacob Collier’s In My Room.

Quick-footed and musical is how I would describe this subwoofer. It would be a great mate with a pair of Dynaudio or B&W monitors.