Posted: September 6th, 2002
Written by: Justin "The Sheriff" Woods

The Powered Sub-woofer

The sub-woofer is the biggest I have ever reviewed. Shaped like a cube, and measuring 10"x10"x11&1/8th", it delivers 150 watts from an 8 inch, "long throw" speaker, which faces the floor. There are four small feet that raise the speaker off the ground about two inches. The "long throw" design refers to the driver's (speaker cone) ability to throw sound over a greater distance, which gives you a much more enveloped feel when sitting at your PC. The subwoofer is made of ½" wood panels, and is very sturdy. The connectors on the back panel attach to a metal plate, which actually gets warm to the touch after a few hours use. You can see from the pictures that all the connectors are clearly labeled, and any question you may have about setup will most likely be answered in the 17-page manual included with the speakers. Special note should be paid to the volume control connector: notice that it is a rj-11 connector. I didn't see any explanation for this, but assume it has something to do with the amp. One thing is for sure, it's very secure once plugged in.
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The treble and bass controls are used to raise and lower the amount of bass and treble based on individual taste and speaker placement in relation to your room and walls. Again, the manual explains this in detail. Basically, the closer to a corner, the more natural bass you get, so you will turn it down just a little, while placing the speaker further away from a wall would produce less natural bass, and you would turn it up. Generally the best placement for the sub woofer is about 4 inches from the corner of a room. I tested the speakers on a few different systems in different rooms and with several speaker placements. The setups range from optimum (4 inches from the corner) to less than optimum (sitting under a table in my living room), and in all cases, the speakers sounded very good. Also notice the inclusion of a fuse on the sub woofer. This is a great safety feature, and I was pleased to see it. These speakers are designed to be cranked to the max, and I tend to love loud music and gaming, though my neighbors don't seem to feel the same way. If you do manage to blow the 2.5 amp fuse, it is extremely easy to replace: all you need is a replacement fuse and a flat headed screwdriver. The manual gives detailed instructions, but you probably won't need them.
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Next Page - Testing the Speakers