Audiophilepure

https://www.soundandvision.com/content/starke-sound-sw15-subwoofer-review

The opening salvo of Hans Zimmer Live in Prague is a medley consisting of “Driving”, “Discombobulate” and “Zooters Breakout.” Those three set the tone for the rest of this disc. They slowly build to a towering crescendo, beautifully crafted by the 70+ musicians that grace the stage by the end. Inevitably I’m playing this one loud. To put it more accurately, I’m playing this one loud. As the musicians start coming in the sound gets hectic and lively, yet the SW15’s seemingly enjoyed the challenge. The upright bass and electric bass guitars, drums, and tympani are all recorded on the hot side, but not excessively so. They underpin this composition, producing a sound that was rich, warm and inviting.

Forgoing what was fast becoming a trend in this evaluation—live recordings—I opted to close out the music section with a studio track instead, featuring a song from a very long time ago. From Pink Floyd’s seminal album Dark Side of the Moon, I went with “Time.” That pulsating double-beat that occurs at the beginning was lush and striking, despite the other instruments being recorded louder. The plucked strings from the bass guitar rang out with authority, immediately grabbing my attention. At first they have a very Rickenbacker sense to them, with the more trebly tone that bass guitar is known for. When the song kicks into the rhythm itself, it quickly becomes apparent Roger Waters is now using his more customary Fender Precision, with its meaty sound. The Starke Sound SW15 handled all of it with poise.

https://www.soundandvision.com/content/bowers-wilkins-db3d-subwoofer-review

Flashback to 30 years ago, when I bought my first Bowers & Wilkins subwoofers—a pair of Acoustitune passive subs. From then onward, I have religiously checked out Coil’s track “Her Friends the Wolves” from the album Stolen and Contaminated Songs. When the track gets going — which takes a while — a dry, growling, “edge of the infrasonic threshold”-type bassline settles in. A lot of systems miss it altogether. The effortless rendering of the full bass palette of this classic track represents endgame-quality fidelity.

With music, one DB3D makes a great pairing for a 2.1 sub/sat system featuring a pair of the 705 S3 speakers. For even more impact, a pair of DB3Ds offer just the right amount of oomph when matched up with the 703 S3 towers I used for my two-channel music sessions

Three subwoofers and six pairs of Maggies later, I’d finally found what for me was the perfect sub: a REL T9. The REL was a UK-designed, Chinese made subwoofer that offered a very different experience from the other subs I’d owned: it produced shockingly musical and thunderously subterranean bass in a compact package. And for such a small format subwoofer, it seemingly had limitless power reserves, and blended seamlessly with the Magneplanars. It was, quite literally, an audio match made in heaven—that is, until it died a couple of weeks ago! In high-end audio, twelve years of perfect service is always a gift, but I still wasn’t ready to assign the REL to the scrap heap. After reaching out to their North American distributor, considering the age of the unit and type of damage it apparently sustained, repair wasn’t an option. Replacing the REL wasn’t an endeavor I was quite prepared to undertake—I didn’t even know where to start.

https://www.stereophile.com/content/wilson-loke-subwoofer

I expected bass to be bigger, deeper, and more fleshed out with the LōKē. That it certainly was. What I did not expect was the ability of Wilson’s smallest subwoofer to enhance every aspect of the listening experience—especially the sense of space. As the soundstage grew deeper, wider, and more coherent, as soundstage boundaries became more evident, as air between and around instruments and voices increased and the quality of music reproduction rose to mesmerizing levels, my appreciation for the transformative potential of the LōKē grew exponentially.

Audition the LōKē. Throw all your favorite music at it, and give it a major bass workout. Turn it on and off and on again and discover for yourself what a difference it makes. If your room and speakers are appropriate for its size and power and your budget allows, it’s hard to imagine that you won’t be tempted to invite Thor’s little brother into your system for a long stay. My highest recommendation.

https://www.soundandvision.com/content/klipsch-rp-1600sw-16-ported-subwoofer-review

If I’m honest, there was a time when I wouldn’t consider recommending a Klipsch subwoofer to anyone. That time is no more, the RP-1600SW surprised me; it can play very loud without losing composer, has impressive dynamics, it’s almost impossible to trip up this thing. The protection mechanisms are all but bulletproof, you can experiment with impunity. Even at the limit it sounds totally in control, composed despite your best efforts to force it not to be.

Bass was always sharp and distinct, each note and effect clearly defined. There was no overhang, nothing sounded out of place. When it wasn’t necessary to do anything the RP-1600SW didn’t, when it was time to get serious it could and did. The Klipsch Reference Premier line of subwoofers is definitely worth adding to your short list