RSL Speedwoofer 10S Subwoofer Sound Quality Tests

My listening took place in a large open room.  The majority of my listening consisted of two Speedwoofer 10S running in tandem, one placed in each front corner.  Compared to a single subwoofer, this provided slightly more dynamic headroom and, of course, better seat-to-seat bass consistency.  That said, the overall sound character of a single sub remained similar to my notes for dual sub listening.

For movie listening, I fired up the final installment of the Hunger Games series, Mockingjay Part 2.  There’s nothing like a futuristic war movie to offer up some punchy, impactful bass thanks to explosions big and small.  I found the Speedwoofer 10S to provide a tactile experience, with dynamic bass that you can feel in your chest.  It’s that “feel” that imparts realism in a movie going experience, and RSL delivers.  While the Speedwoofer 10S may not have the deepest rated extension with a -3dB point at 24Hz, the low-end reproduction is better than expected at this price point, and the quality and quantity of the midbass is superb.

 The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 Official Trailer – “We March Together”

My music listening started with one of my favorites, “Be Brave” by My Brightest Diamond.  I choose this track because a solid kick drum and tom beat allow me to hear how accurately subwoofers reproduce organic sounds.  Subwoofers that value big dynamics at the expense of articulation will reproduce a dull “thump” instead of a clean, fast, “real” sounding instrument.  The Speedwoofer 10S was properly weighty with the aforementioned impact that you can feel, but also had a nice tight decay and could handle more subtle bass microdynamics.  In short, it sounded “real.”

 My Brightest Diamond - ALL THINGS WILL UNWIND: Be Brave

Still, there’s nothing quite as exciting as a big, in your face, bass line, which is why I went through several spins of Bjork’s “Hyperballad.”  No only does this track feature a huge, powerful chorus, but there’s a steady, low 3-note bass pattern that is just this side of a sine wave torture test for subwoofers.  Thanks to the use of multiple subs, no one frequency rang noticeably louder than another, either at the main listening positions or at the secondary positions.  Having a compact and capable, yet affordable sub like the RSL Speedwoofer 10S dramatically drops the entry price for multiple subwoofers setups allowing more audioholics to get accurate, even sound in every position.

 Björk - Hyperballad