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Vegas 08: Wilson Thor's Hammer
Wilson Audio's display in the Mirage tower showed off their premier products and their new super sub, Thor's Hammer (middle, above). Thor's Hammer is a double 15" woofer with custom woofers featuring double spiders -- imagine a 10" woofer sans cone welded on the back of a 15" magnet (pictured left). Alas, the sub was only on static display and not bumping tunes and blowing out windows. Price is what one would expect from a statement Wilson product: $21,000.
Daryl Wilson, son of Dave Wilson, and I had a moment to talk about Wilson, SonicFlare and "sports cars for your living room." The Wilson image is, I'm told, modeled on Ferrari. The finishes, the lines, the identity -- Wilson wants to be the Ferrari of high-end audio and is aiming for prime time publicity in music videos and films. I hope they succeed -- the sooner one brand becomes mainstream and desirable, the sooner the entire industry gains recognition.
More Wilson pics in our gallery.
| Permalink | Subwoofers $4k and up , Vegas 08 | Posted by Josh Ray on Jan 25 '08
Velodyne 1812 Subwoofer
While not sporting the biggest drivers in the world, the Velodyne 1812 is probably the most advanced. The name 1812 refers to the 18" bottom driver and the 12" top driver making it, as far as I know, the only true 2-way subwoofer in the world (the Bladder Buster's second driver is passive). The concept is the 18" driver handles the deepest of the deep while the 12" takes the sub's response up to 120Hz.
The Velodyne 1812 also uses the incredible Digital Drive room correction system. The way Digital Drive works is you hook up a TV to the sub, connect a microphone, and the sub pumps out a series of notes in various frequencies. Using the visuals on the TV, you can see your room's bass peaks and valleys and then correct them using the digital equalizer. In the end, your bass is perfectly tailored to your room, solving probably the biggest room/speaker issue in all of audio.
Spec wise, the 1812 is listed at 15-120Hz and can put out a massive 101dB at 16Hz. A single 1250 watt amp drives each woofer. Size is 40" high, 25.5" wide and 18.5" deep and 385lbs. Price is $15k.
COMMENTS (5) | Permalink | Subwoofers $4k and up | Posted by Josh Ray on Jul 21 '06
Magico 18" Sub Sub
Magico's $22k bookshelf-to-end-all-bookshelves "Mini" speaker has the cover of this month's Absolute Sound, so why not look at the company's all out assault on subwoofers? The creatively named "Sub" uses an 18" Aura driver in a massive half ton extruded aluminum enclosure. Where the Mini is made of thin ply layers, the rest of the Magico line is built around excessive amounts of aluminum CNC sculpting and computer graphic modeling. The Sub also uses 1000 watts of ICEpower, just like everyone else in the super sub segment, it seems. The sub is a sealed box, so no ports. Unfortunately, no specs or price listed.
COMMENTS (1) | Permalink | Subwoofers $4k and up | Posted by Josh Ray on Jul 21 '06
Cabasse Saturn 55 Subwoofer
Continuing our coverage of subwoofers that break windows, here's Cabasse out of France with their Saturn 55 subwoofer. Rocking a 21" driver in a big ported box and 1000 watts of juice, the Saturn 55 hits a maximum output of 136dB at 100Hz/1m. Yeah, big bass.
Other than gigantic subwoofers, Cabasse is known for their line of eyeball speakers. Just gotta be different, they cram three or four drivers into a sphere so all drivers have a single "point source." We covered the wild $75k La Sphere speakers at Vegas, Cabasse's signature speaker. The La Sphere is a 4 way coaxial speaker with a 22" sub driver, 8" bass, 5" mid and 1" tweet with a range of 30-22k Hz.
Permalink | | Posted to Subwoofers $4k and up
Hemp Acoustics 25 Inch Subwoofer Driver
There's a heat wave ravaging the world, so what better time than now to look at more ridiculously huge subwoofers that draw enough current to crash the grid? The company today is Hemp Acoustics, the only company in the world that uses cannabis sativa to create standard speaker drivers, full-range drivers and massively huge subwoofers. Hemp Acoustics' pride and joy is the 25 inch (630mm) "Tsuzureko" subwoofer driver, the culmination of years of extensive engineering and repeated bong hits.
The Tsuzureko (the name of the world's largest drum) has a frequency of 18-1000Hz and can handle up to 3000 watts of juice. There is also a "high output" version in the works, no doubt for SPL competitions and impressing chicks outside of Fatburger. Hemp Acoustics also makes a full arsenal of green drivers from 18" down to 3" as well as a number of "full range" drivers for the DIY scene and speaker manufactures like Omega who uses an 8" version in their Compact Hemp, Super Hemp and Max Hemp speakers.
Hemp Acoustics also runs a full fabrication facility for building custom drivers out of hemp. The advantages of hemp are said to improve cone stiffness, reduce weight and provide a "more natural sounding tone, when compared to paper, kevlar, kenaf, aluminum, magnesium, ceramic, carbon fiber or any material we have researched." Or, as one person told me, "dude, it's Mary Jane for your ears!"
The Tsuzureko runs a sensitivity of 96dB, 4 ohms, weighs 62 lbs and lands in rap videos everywhere next month. Be prepared.
Permalink | Comments (5) | Posted to Subwoofers $4k and up
Bladder Buster Subwoofer and Peter Jackson's Fluids
Yes, Bladder Buster is the name of this super subwoofer from Arvus out of New Zealand. What makes it a bowel burster, you ask? If you look at that little picture, each of those six tiny drivers is actually a 12" subwoofer. That big black eye in the center is a 27" "non-linear compensator." Here's what Arvus says of the Bladder Buster:
"This 2 Metre tall generator of bass will force all fluids to vacate your body when used at levels that will put the foundations of your house under stress!"
Yeah, I'm afraid too. In any case, the "non-linear compensator" is, I believe, a passive bass radiator. A passive radiator is a normal driver cone without the magnet or the watts pumping through it. Those little 12" drivers move the air inside of the sealed box causing the big 27" bubble to pulse in tune. Passive radiators are a good way to get deeper bass but some feel only a fully sealed active subwoofer can be tight and controlled on the bottom end.
Frequency is said to be from 12-200Hz (+/- 4dB), power is 1000 digital watts and total size in good ol' American measurements is 79" high (6 1/2 feet), 31" wide and 17" deep. Weight is 368 lbs. Remote control is included to perfectly tailor just how much fluid you want vacated.
Did I mention Peter Jackson owns one of these bad boys? For those who wondered how Jackson lost so much weight between Rings and Kong, now you know the answer. Price is $8710 and Arvus will ship these cave trolls anywhere in the world. They'll even include adult diapers. Seriously. Cryoed too. Not seriously.
Permalink | Comments (8) | Posted to Subwoofers $4k and up
Contest!
It's time for an audio "what is it?" contest. Yes, impress your friends and peers with your bottomless knowledge of esoteric audio equipment. The prize? A SonicFlare t-shirt come HE2006! And unlike normal audio t-shirts, this one you'll actually want to wear in public!
So what is that little black contraption with the toilet seat lid? It's actually a very cool product, not just some random rice cooker. First person to name the device, brand and model wins!
Update: slightly larger picture.
UPDATE 2: Mike has won! The black bucket is actually the Wilson Benesh Torus Infrasonic Generator. Don't call it a subwoofer, the Infrasonic Generator doesn't use any normal woofer to hit the low notes, but a double magnet generator mechanism. While WB's description is packed with confusing details, image an 18" doughnut with a magnet on either end and a pole through the middle. Then, like a Vegas stripper, the doughnut slides up and down the pole for serious excursion.
And like most everything from Wilson Benesh, the Torus is wrapped in carbon fiber. Price runs 5240 Brit pounds, so don't expect this showing up at Best Buy. Once again, congrats to Mike for his encyclopedic knowledge of obscure audio devices!
Holding the motor structure...
Permalink | Comments (24) | Posted to Articles | Subwoofers $4k and up
Hansen Audio's Royal Speakers
What better way to end the week than gazing at loudspeakers we will never own. With two reviews and a number of positive comments from Vegas, new kid Hansen Audio is coming out swinging. The $55k King is their first offering and both Superior Audio and Audiophilia gave gushing reviews. Phil Gold of Superior Audio offers up this awesome quote:
Lars (of Hansen) holds there is only so far you can go with conventional panel based speakers, and he admires just how far Wilson Audio, B&W and others have taken the concept.
That's like saying, "you throw pretty well...for a girl." Of course, you could read it as a nice little compliment but somehow I don't think that was the intention. In any case, Hansen showed their new Prince speakers (pic next page) at Vegas. With a price of $28k, you're getting all the same goods as the King but with only one mid driver and one bass driver. As you would expect, there's also a Queen speaker but, surprisingly, no Jack or Ace speaker. Instead of courting rich poker players, Hansen decided to go after the foolishly wealthy Dungeon and Dragon crowd by naming their center channel and subwoofer Wizard and Dragon Slayer, respectively. I don't care what it sounds like, I want a sub called the Dragon Slayer.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Posted to Speakers $20k and up | Subwoofers $4k and up
Most Outrageous Loudspeakers of 2005
2005 was a big year for audio and what better way to sum up the craziness than a roundup of the most outrageous new speakers of the year. Ranging from $1,299 to $250,000, these speakers are on the cutting edge of technology and audible design. Keep reading for all the audiophile madness...
Permalink | Comments (6) | Posted to Articles | Speakers $10k-20k | Speakers $1k-2k | Speakers $20k and up | Speakers $2k-5k | Speakers $5k-10k | Subwoofers $4k and up
Von Schweikert VR-S/7 Subwoofer
That black box of death is Von Schweikert's new VR-S/7 super subwoofer. I heard their $60k VR-9 speakers at the Los Angeles (and OC!) Audio Society's Von Schweikert demo and, let me just say, those things made my face bleed. They played "The Battle" from the Gladiator soundtrack and, yeah, there were babies crying, women screaming, old men clutching their arms...it was awesome.
Albert Von Schweikert, for those who don't know, is kind of like the Caroll Shelby of the audio world. He has tricked out dozens of speakers for other major brands before branching off with his own hyper-performance stable. His VR-4 Jr is a major player in the $4000 bracket and his whole line has won buckets of awards.
The VR-S/7 uses the same 15" driver as the VR-9 monsters combined with 1000 watts of ICEpower for claimed performance of 10-100 Hz +/- 2dB. No prices yet but it ain't gonna be cheap.
Von Schweikert VR-S/7 Subwoofer
Permalink | | Posted to Subwoofers $4k and up
Eminent Tech TRW 17 Part 3
Here is part 3 of our Eminent Tech TRW 17 coverage (part 1 and part 2). Now, some disbelievers seem to think that all this is just a hoax. First, RTFA before you open your yap. Second, RMAF drew tons of visitors (Rocky Mountain Audio Fest, FYI). Third, OMG was how everyone described the TRW 17.
Read the rest of the article for some exciting news from the maker of the TRW 17.
Permalink | Comments (24) | Posted to Subwoofers $4k and up
Eminent Tech TRW 17 Part 2
Welcome everyone who read our article over at OhGizmo! If you're not familiar with Sonic Flare, we provide daily updates on the wide world of high-end audio and shine a light on awesome gear from small companies who get overshadowed by the electronic giants (and, no, not all of it is insanely priced. We're also on a quest for killer budget gear).
Our post on the Eminent TRW 17 is traveling rapidly across the internet so we did some digging and found even more information on this beast to send your way. Read the rest of this article for pictures of installations, reviewers running for their lives and links where you can find out more.
[UPDATE: part 3 is now up]
Permalink | Comments (53) | Posted to Subwoofers $4k and up
Eminent Tech TRW 17 - The Most Powerful Subwoofer in the World!
[UPDATE: part 2 of our coverage of the TRW 17 is up]
[UPDATE 2: part 3 up as well]
Hyperbole galore, the Eminent Technology TRW 17 is, as you shall see, the most powerful subwoofer in the world, achieving FLAT response down to 1Hz. 1Hz! Human hearing is rated from 20Hz to 20kHz but you can actually feel sound way below that -- and so can your neighbors and your neighbors' neighbors.
Click the link below to read our take on the most revolutionary bass product this century.
Permalink | Comments (29) | Posted to Subwoofers $4k and up
Escalante Pinyon Speaker and Uinta Subwoofer
Enjoy the Music takes a look at Escalante Design's first offering out the door - the Pinyon monitor and Uinta subwoofer. Stereo Times covered these guys back in March, giving them a glowing review, and Enjoy the Music follows in like.
The Pinyon runs 34Hz to 50kHz with a price tag of $6990 while the Uinta subwoofer sports 2 12" drivers 500 watts and a bottom depth of 18Hz all for the price of $5490. Not cheap, but you can get these guys in any color combo you want.
Check out the reviews for more dirt on why Escalante's first offerings fair so well. Part of the pedigree that goes into these monitors is from Wilson Audio and Talon Audio, two giants of the high end world. Just looking at the slot-loading, bass extension and overall design gives a pretty clear picture of who these speaker's grandparents really are.
Escalante Pinyon and Uinta Review [Enjoy the Music]
Stereo Times Escalante Review
Escalante Design Home
Permalink | | Posted to Speakers $5k-10k | Subwoofers $4k and up
Meridian Digital subwoofers
Mighty impressive looking, isn't it? Not very, but what the new Meridian subwoofers do is pretty unique. As far as I know, they are the only "digital" subs in the market. Meaning, rather than send a sub-line out or connect them between the speakers and amp, you connect the Meridian right to your source.
Contained within the black box is a DAC and a G-class amplifier. Truth be told, I have no idea what G-class is, but it's got it. Meridian champions the DAC/amp approach inside all of their speakers and usually gets pretty high reviews for it. Not sure what this means for a subwoofer, but if a digital sub is what you've been dying for, then die no more. Single 12" driver SW1600 runs $3945 while the double 12" SW5500 goes for $4995.
Meridian [via Soundstage]
Permalink | | Posted to Subwoofers $1 to 4k | Subwoofers $4k and up
