Audioholics Ultimate Subwoofer Shootout Planned

[billy p]

I agree my article does come off a bit whiny but as owner of this site, I feel a sense of entitlement every so often to vent a small fraction of the BS I deal with on a daily basis to bring our readers FREE content. Plus it's a great place to link when we get bashed on the various forums for whatever reason(s) folks don't care for the results of one of our product reviews, or more specifically our product shootouts

Alternatively, if I actually wrote a more enthusiastic article about how great many of the companies we deal with on a daily basis are, I am sure we would get accused of pandering to our advertisers

touche'.....

 

[gene]

Manufacturer Threatening to Sue is if we Publish a review of their product

This is part of the latest correspondence I have had with the manufacturer I mentioned in this article threatening to sue us if we publish a review of their product after they submitted us a sample for this shootout and cleared us to compare it against other larger products in our shootout. What is interesting about this response is none of the subs in our comparison are sealed!


Once again you do not have any authorization to print this review as we do disagree about the method of measurements which is biased toward sealed enclosures. Also I suggest that you consult with your attorney prior to posting any of these communications unless you know about the risk you are assuming.

Here is a list of the products that will be in our shootout:

• RBH Sound 12-SE
• Rythmik FV15HP
• Earthquake MKVI-15BLK
• Funkywaves FW12.X_SA1000_Brindle
• SV Sound PB12-Plus
• Salk Sound Song Sub
• HSU VTF-15H

One of them will likely not be in this comparison unless I want to battle them in court which I neither have the time nor resources to do. I will likely retract the product from the review to save a lot of heartache but I would encourage readers to be mindful of this company's business ethics when making their purchasing decisions going forward.

 

[Matt34]

This is part of the latest correspondence I have had with the manufacturer I mentioned in this article threatening to sue us if we publish a review of their product after they submitted us a sample for this shootout and cleared us to compare it against other larger products in our shootout. What is interesting about this response is none of the subs in our comparison are sealed!


Once again you do not have any authorization to print this review as we do disagree about the method of measurements which is biased toward sealed enclosures. Also I suggest that you consult with your attorney prior to posting any of these communications unless you know about the risk you are assuming.

Audioholics
"We bring the drama, one lawsuit at a time"

 

[Patrukas777]

This is part of the latest correspondence I have had with the manufacturer I mentioned in this article threatening to sue us if we publish a review of their product after they submitted us a sample for this shootout and cleared us to compare it against other larger products in our shootout. What is interesting about this response is none of the subs in our comparison are sealed!


Once again you do not have any authorization to print this review as we do disagree about the method of measurements which is biased toward sealed enclosures. Also I suggest that you consult with your attorney prior to posting any of these communications unless you know about the risk you are assuming.

I can't believe this...man, some companies have no class!

 

[GranteedEV]

How can a method of measurement be biased toward sealed enclosures?

I can understand a method of measurement displaying how a sealed enclosure might be better than a bass reflex enclosure for an application.

But biased towards? Hrm? most of the commercial subwoofers out there are classic vented subs... it's not like we're talking about a danley tapped horn which is somewhat unique.

On a side note, I bet that company threatening legal action is elemental designs!

 

[gene]

What is strange to me is their sub actually outperforms some of the others in the comparison at least in terms of SPL output. I was really enthusiastic about promoting a smaller but potent sub in the mix.

 

[gene]

On a side note, I bet that company threatening legal action is elemental designs!

Nope they are not in this shootout and simply didn't enter b/c their product wasn't ready. They are a nice bunch of folks and I will definitely include them in another shootout should we ever host one after this nightmarish experience.

 

[GranteedEV]

Nope they are not in this shootout and simply didn't enter b/c their product wasn't ready. They are a nice bunch of folks and I will definitely include them in another shootout should we ever host one after this nightmarish experience.

I just figured it was them because of how they market stuff like their so-called "EFS".

Based on the list, I'd guess out of the VII brands that seem to be "in", if you shuffled them, it would always be the 6th option that wasn't happy about the review?

 

[billy p]

Hah huh I say it's Paradigm or Klipsch just reading between the lines....

 

[gene]

Hah huh I say it's Paradigm....

Paradigm or Klipsch wouldn't waste their time on nonsense like this. They are a legitimately run organizations with excellent product distribution.

 

[Gov]

Maybe I missed it somewhere, but did Epik pass on this?

 

[gene]

Maybe I missed it somewhere, but did Epik pass on this?

Epik was waiting on a new product development as well. Next round....

 

[GranteedEV]

Epik was waiting on a new product development as well. Next round....

Except epik has product turnover like every 6 months @_@

 

[mike c]

Here is a list of the products that will be in our shootout:

• RBH Sound 12-SE
• Rythmik FV15HP
• Earthquake MKVI-15BLK
• Funkywaves FW12.X_SA1000_Brindle
• SV Sound PB12-Plus
• Salk Sound Song Sub
• HSU VTF-15H

One of them will likely not be in this comparison unless I want to battle them in court which I neither have the time nor resources to do. I will likely retract the product from the review to save a lot of heartache but I would encourage readers to be mindful of this company's business ethics when making their purchasing decisions going forward.

let's not name names on who this company is ... let's move on.

so, Gene, can we have the updated list on who really wants to join the party?
go ahead and delete the ones that are not joining.

 

[gene]

let's not name names on who this company is ... let's move on.

so, Gene, can we have the updated list on who really wants to join the party?

Yes, this is the updated list of entrees for our subwoofer shootout:

* RBH Sound 12-SE
* Rythmik FV15HP
* Funkywaves FW12.X_SA1000_Brindle
* SV Sound PB12-Plus
* Salk Sound Song Sub
* HSU VTF-15H

 

[its phillip]

I don't get it. How can somebody threaten to sue AFTER they sent a product and AFTER they agreed to have it reviewed and compared to other subs? That makes no sense :/

 

[GranteedEV]

let's not name names on who this company is ... let's move on.

so, Gene, can we have the updated list on who really wants to join the party?
go ahead and delete the ones that are not joining.

Let's see

Gene is an RBH fanboy and they don't want to risk the only potential buyer for their next $50,000 status acoustic tower spending all his money on lawyers
Rythmik FV15HP probably had the least raw output which contradicts what gene said about output.
Funkywaves would probably lose money hiring lawyers plus this is free advertisement even if they were to have the worst showing which they wouldn't because I know the drivers they use well.
SVS had a ton of input on this shootout anyways.
HSU was the last addition and their sub may not have arrived yet.

That leaves two, and I highly doubt it's Jim Salk.

 

[shadyJ]

I'm guessing they didn't fully understand how the word "bias" is used, and intended to say that there is a bias against their product which is sealed. I'm guessing either RBH or earthquake, as subs with passive radiators could arguably be called sealed, and judging from their specs they would be at a output disadvantage against the other subs, especially the RBH sub. It's obviously not Hsu, SVS, Funkywaves, or Rythmik, all companies that would relish being in a shootout like this, even though SVS was a bit reluctant to participate at first. And I don't think that anyone from Salk would send a email like that, they have a pretty good reputation, and their bread and butter doesn't come from subs anyway.

-Lol, wrote all the above before Gene revised his list!

 

[mike c]

Yes, this is the updated list of entrees for our subwoofer shootout:

* RBH Sound 12-SE
* Rythmik FV15HP
* Funkywaves FW12.X_SA1000_Brindle
* SV Sound PB12-Plus
* Salk Sound Song Sub
* HSU VTF-15H

knew it.

no great loss IMO. actually, none at all. carry on with the great shootout!

 

[GranteedEV]

knew it.

no great loss IMO. actually, none at all. carry on with the shootout!

Kind of peculiar that RBH is the only brick and mortar company left on this list though - and they'll probably rerelease the 12-SE as an EMP sub with a slightly modified driver material. THeir es10i is nice and all but I think just rely on a 10 incher!