Start the music/movie
It soon became apparent that the control and the ease with which this sub plays is extraordinary. I started the party in stereo music mode with some classic recordings. A test of a subwoofer requires appropriate music pieces, of course. The “Passacaglia in C minor”, BWV 582 by Ton Koopman and-in a performance of J.S. Bach approaches in my opinion the culmination of the organ works of this composer. My favorite listening part used my very directly sounding Fostex Horn speakers that, however, have the disadvantage that their extension in the layer is too limited for some work. Church organ is of course one of them, with some organs show up to 16 Hz. a subwoofer than offers effective outcome but only under strict conditions. The speed and definition of the horns should be able to be matched by that of the sub. A non obvious satellite-subwoofer combination. My reference sub, a REL Strata III al little aged and specially purchased for his musical performance, is able to offer outcome here.
After comparison showed the DXD-12012 more than capable to match in speed and detail with the REL Strata III. The horns are capable of a wide bühne dropping but if the sub is not good enough the instrument remains “small” sounding. However not with the Kreisel, which showed the organ of the Grote Kerk Maassluis life-sized. Church organs are more felt than heard for a specific part, also for example, moving the air masses in the huge pipes created this is tangible if the sub can handle. And in this case ; it certainly is. Also more modern music, for example in the form of the blues number “Life will be better” of Sugar Ray Norcia and Charlie Musselwhite from the album “Blues for a rotten afternoon”, shows that the DXD-12012 without blushing is capable of, especially by his apparent absence, the focus of the music to put on the total experience. The “sub” saves not only ultralow, but also refers to the “subtle” way with the volume button should be handled. It is not always easy to find a good balance and also a good placement of a subwoofer is crucial. A corner placement is actually optimal but not always easy to achieve with subs of this magnitude. A ” vibration-proof” plant and a table doily can possibly help.
And then on to motion picture. The classic film version of Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” put on heavily in the soundtrack. This takes on a starring role and must then also be dropped with the necessary aplomb. The Fostex FE208 E Sigma based horns were replaced by 5 smaller satellite speakers of own construction, but with a limited depth. The Kreisel made here from the default 80 Hz and lower for the necessary details and pressure. The movie must have more of the music than of the effects but there was already evidence that the DXD-12012 can handle it perfectly. The sub was clearly better than the homemade satellites.
Rounding the circle the test was then ended with “Star Wars Episode 1, The Phantom Menace”, original also mastered with Kreisel equipment. The effects here are extremely spectacular. The sub brings me in the delusion to sit in the middle of the action. The reserve is clearly bigger than my well-being and occasionally I must turn the virtual crane a bit. The sub is able to pretty larger rooms than my very limited 20m² big movie room of lifelike effects, if you at least in this specific case equally forgets that there is actually no sound effects in space to experience fall.
