Rocket UFW-10 Listening Tests
In the opening thirty seconds of "Standing in the Shadows of Motown" (in DTS) a single electric bass lays down some beautiful lines. Played at volume levels which hit 104dB at my listening position on my Radio Shack meter this half minute riff is quite revealing of a subwoofer's low frequency control.
My reference sub plays this segment back showing excellent delineation of each low note as the baseman moves skillfully up and down the scale. He could be in the room with his big Marshall amp behind him. The illusion is pretty convincing and the control of a very powerful amplifier over a highly damped 12" subwoofer is evident. Though an electric bass sounds loose by nature, in the hands of a skilled player the initial attack of the ~40Hz to 50Hz notes is what gives this instrument its transient snap. If this note sequence were put on a 'scope the amp's entire 850 watts might be seen to clip. This test is that difficult.
Playing back the same 30 second sequence over the pair of UFW-10 was surprising. Yes, there was a small loss of control as evidenced in the initial string plucks but unless one could A-B one system over the other it would be hard to say. Set-up against the front walls under both the left and right front speakers respectively the AV123 subs blended beautifully with the satellite speakers and were able to attain the same 104dB peaks with their extreme bottom frequencies remaining full and tuneful.
Unplugging and resetting the overall sub system level for one sub showed a bit more looseness on initial string plucks as the single system was now struggling to output the same SPL as two UFW-10s. That and the loss of 1/2 of the piston area shrunk the apparent size of the bass man a bit. Still though, considering that the voice-over in this opening sequence now registered a too-loud 92dB the single UFW-10 put on a heck of a performance.
"Heat Wave" on cut five of "...Shadows..." showcases two great musicians playing fast low-bass lines on drums and electric bass. It is here that the value of parametric EQ shines best. Both single and dual set-ups of the UFW-10s could clearly delineate the tonal differences between the two bass instruments. Both set-ups were also able to powerfully convey the low frequency syncopation happening between two musicians while the rest of the very large ensemble played instruments above the subwoofers' range. In my experience this wonderful low bass musical nuance seldom, if ever, is found in subwoofers in this price class. Correctly set-up, single-band parametric equalization is the reason.
Moving onto movies and sound effects, one of my standard references is the submarine adventure classic U-571. The depth charge scene spotlights the fact that explosions heard close- up do in fact have a very sharp leading-edge wallop which can be very difficult to reproduce.
The total envelope of a well recorded explosion has a leading edge lasting perhaps 10 milliseconds after which the sound continues to build yet becomes a bit more blunted sounding as upper bass harmonics enter. Finally the explosion sound-envelope closes as the harmonics take over adding a "fuller" more rounded sound to the overall effect.
On lesser systems in the UFW-10s price class, and without parametric equalization, it is usually only the sound of these harmonics which are heard and perceived as "the sound of the explosion". Listening to a single UFW-10 the explosive leading-edge transient is still in evidence while the dual UFW-10 set-up portrays the whole explosive picture more clearly and convincingly.
