Price Paid:  $0.00

Summary:
I am a custom audio installer specializing in home theatre.

I was always nervous of using an in-wall subwoofer that fits into a 2x4 wall cavity. I could not find any information on this sub from ANYONE on the net....just lots of "thoughts" about how it may or may not work.

I had it installed in a medium sized theatre room, being powered by one channel of a Rotel power amp. All crossover/equalization was handled by the Integra pre-amp. So here are my notes:

-The sound quality for listening to music was good. Decent punch and clarity with drums and bass guitars, etc. No complaints there. Had a little trouble keeping up to the SI-6000 centre channel and SI-760's that were installed for the front stage, but overall very nice.

-Power handling is good considering the limitations of the enclosure. Very good excursion on the driver and no break-up with power pumping to it.

-Home theatre use was fair, but for how much it cost to purchase the power amp, enclosure and speaker/grille combination was a bit much for the outcome. Deep, thunderous bass notes were a bit weak for a 10" driver. Placement has a lot to do with the overall outcome of these in-wall type subwoofers. There was quite a bit of port noise at the lower frequencies as well, which may or may not bother some people. Again that would depend on where it is placed in the room.

-Listening to some of the battle scenes on the movie "300" was good. Placed behind furniture this sub will give you great impact with movies. Also the bus chase scene on "Quantam Solace" produced good results also. It is when you get into the Jurassic park and Star Wars movies where you notice the struggle with the deep bass tones. It doesn't distort per say, it just doesn't seem put out enough volume for how much air it is moving.

-It is aesthetically pleasing for sure. And I should note - the included grille is NOT paintable. It follows suite with their Signature in-wall speakers and is made from MDF and speakercloth (black or white). And with most in-wall products it is prone to vibrating the wall, especially the wall that is on the rear of the enclosure.

-And also to note there is a circular cutout at the rear of the box, where the magnet sits. This cutout is to simply make room for the large (and I do mean large) motor structure of the speaker. So then there is a small square piece of 1/8" wood covering it to maintain enclosure performance. This means that the wall the backs the sub doesn't really fit great. The cover plate will slightly bow the wall on that side. That being said I would recommend using this in a 2x6 wall that is mechanically decoupled from the floor joists (if you are putting this in the basement) using some type of metal soundbar to fasten the wall to the floor. This would help with vibrations.

Overall a good sub just not what I was expecting. For more predictable results and less standing waves, use 2 of these, possible one in the front and one in the back of a theatre room. Or on opposing sides of the room.