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Budget bass for baby boomers?

Can DB Dynamics make budget bass with taste?
By Max Christoffersen

July 2002

Boom on a budget? Is it true? Can 700 South Pacific Pesos get subwoofing in the typical Kiwi home?

That seems to be the pitch of the DB Dynamics active subwoofer. And they might just have a point.

DB Dynamics have been making some in-roads into many Kiwi homes because they have been able to manufacture good looking, good sounding speakers to a budget price.

That new tradition continues with the DBS1000X subwoofer.

All the same DB Dynamics trademarks are on show. There is the good fit and finish of the cabinetry and while built to a budget, here is another Aussie-made DB Dynamics speaker that simply doesn’t look like it.

A quick look round the back to check the amplifier and connections and you have a typical range of line in (stereo and mono) and speaker in connections and a phase control that means connections are a snap. A big healthy heat sink says the Class A/B amp is likely to generate some heat - but at 100 watts not too much!

The impressive part comes with what appears to be a good 10” paper cone driver impregnated with resin to stiffen the cone. There’s plenty of excursion potential and a beefy rubber surround all in an air-tight cabinet.

Add to that an auto power on and off function (that switches the amplifier off if there is no signal after 15 minutes) a five year warranty and you have to scratch your head and ask how do they do it at this price?

Rounding out the cosmetics is a crossover, volume and power on controls at the top of the box. It looks good, it’s sensible placement (no rummaging around back there in the dark with this sub!) and deserves 10-out-of-10 for simplicity.

So introductions complete and a quick read of the owner’s manual and it’s down to business. On paper there is a 35Hz-150 Hz frequency range that suggests this may be a good unit to use with a pair of book shelf for mini-monitor style speakers that could use the extra help down low.

Big Gun Bass
So out came the big guns of bass to see what this small lightweight sub is capable of producing.

One of the finest examples of bass recording (and playing) is that on Chris Isaak’s albums. Pick any one and you’ll find a beautifully rounded bottom end with great extension and warmth. It helps when you have an instrumentalist as capable as Rowland Salley. So out came Lie to Me, Kings of the Highway and You Owe Some Kind of Love , Wrong to Love You and the case was made fast and simple.

This little sub may be a budget bass - but it rocks. There is significant cone excursion that suggests the design-math has been done correctly, and the bass weight is convincing enough to kick the stomach and remind you that bass playing and kick drums alive with Isaak’s band The Silvertones. Not bad!

Depth charges and bottom end
While thinking about challenging the performance is about when the depth charge scene of the DVD of U571 was brought out. And the fact the DBS1000X survived is good enough. I wasn’t brave enough to take the volume level to gut shaking levels - but it’s easy to see this sub winning a place in first-time home theatre systems that just need a little more rounding out of the bottom end. There is a trace of one-note bass coming through, but this is also true of DVD soundtracks and other subwoofers costing many times the price of this consumer friendly box!

At this price you could be forgiven if you thought this was going to be pretty nasty bass - and you’d be wrong. The DB Dynamics subwoofer does everything it says it will. Match it carefully to your own expectations of bass and the system it’s in and this little sub is sure to bring a smile.

No, it won’t scare you witless like a big Velodyne, Energy or Paradigm will - but you could buy three of these to just one of them.

Well done DB Dynamics! Yet another speaker that has ‘hit’ written all over it. I think Kiwis are going to part with their Pesos if they give this one a try!

Put the DBS1000X in the right room with the right system, and this is entry level home theatre subwoofing done right!

Click here for DB Dynamics dealers

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