Crystal Acoustics Subwoofer

[theJman]

Hi, Jman. Nice review! You should consider making your own threads in the "Write Your Own Review" section. More people might see them there then if they are inside of a dedicated thread like this.

Ya know, I have thought of that in the past, but for some inexplicable reason I never seem to remember it when I have a new review to publish. The perils of getting old I suppose...

 

[theJman]

Review Update

I realized for the initial review I didn't detail how the measurements were derived. Since you can't edit a post on Audioholics I'm not able to correct that omission, so I decided to clarify it with this post instead.

The measurements were taken using XTZ Room Analyzer II Pro, all of which were close mic'ed. The sub was indoors, physically positioned in the center of my livingroom. No other speakers were running; the Room Analyzer handles all the input signals, so nothing else is needed. The review was sent to CA prior to publishing, and was verified for accuracy by them (analysis and numbers included).

For the driver I had the tip of the microphone pointed directly at the center of the dust cap and on the same plane as the leading edge of the surround. For the ports the mic was pointed at the gap between the two of them and positioned 6" from the back panel.

The drivers graph is shown with the original review. Unfortunately, I can't post the graph for the ports because the forum is telling me I've already upload 1 meg of files, so I apparently reached the maximum allowed.

 

[theJman]

a) Jman's room - - imo is small to medium and unless open to other spaces should relatively easy to pressurize by single 12" ported sub

On one wall there's a 3' wide opening to the hallway. On the opposite wall, but not directly opposed to the 3' opening, is a 4' opening to the dining room. The room has standard accoutrements otherwise; carpet, couch, end tables, etc. In most respects it would probably be considered a fairly typical room.

b) The price $769 is not exactly conversion from it's euro price -549,00 € which is according to XE is $663.87

The retail price for the sub in the US is $750, so your conversion is pretty darn close.

c) They claim THX Ultra certification, but in reality this sub performance seem to be significantly below ID competition priced in similar price points aka SVS/HSU

The THX certification is legit - I verified it before doing the review. You bring up an interesting point...

THX certified equipment generally comes at a premium, so it's really not targeted to the "bang for the buck" individuals. There are numerous things that must be adhered to in order to get the certification bestowed upon your subwoofer. From what I can tell a very small percentage of subwoofers have achieved THX Certification. Whether that's due to the fact it's considered irrelevant, or it's simply too difficult to comply with all the regulations, is certainly a matter of debate. To me it's seems more laudable then useless, but that's just my 2 cents.

Without question though, Crystal Acoustics does not make a cheap (or inexpensive) subwoofer; the TX-SUB12 is anything but low end, in parts, materials, construction quality or any other tangible way. Whether or not it's worth the price depends upon your individual needs of course, but for those who want more then a generic looking black box sub I think the TX-SUB12 should be one they consider.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

On one wall there's a 3' wide opening to the hallway. On the opposite wall, but not directly opposed to the 3' opening, is a 4' opening to the dining room. The room has standard accoutrements otherwise; carpet, couch, end tables, etc. In most respects it would probably be considered a fairly typical room.

Whats the total volume of open space?

The retail price for the sub in the US is $750, so your conversion is pretty darn close.

549,00 € to $663.87 -> $750 (US retail) is not close - there is obvious markup for US market - I don't know why - maybe due to higher shipping charges

The THX certification is legit - I verified it before doing the review. You bring up an interesting point...

I never doubted it's actually made thru the certification process...

THX certified equipment generally comes at a premium, so it's really not targeted to the "bang for the buck" individuals. There are numerous things that must be adhered to in order to get the certification bestowed upon your subwoofer. From what I can tell a very small percentage of subwoofers have achieved THX Certification. Whether that's due to the fact it's considered irrelevant, or it's simply too difficult to comply with all the regulations, is certainly a matter of debate. To me it's seems more laudable then useless, but that's just my 2 cents.

THX Cert does indeed come at premium and you are right - I'm not the individual who's willing to pay extra for it. There plenty of subs which most likely pass the cert process with flying color offered without it, but in same price bracket...
My point is - I will buy product with best performance and value. THX Cert by itself is not always required as long as manufacturer keeps their product to high internal standards and consistently produces high quality products.

Without question though, Crystal Acoustics does not make a cheap (or inexpensive) subwoofer; the TX-SUB12 is anything but low end, in parts, materials, construction quality or any other tangible way. Whether or not it's worth the price depends upon your individual needs of course, but for those who want more then a generic looking black box sub I think the TX-SUB12 should be one they consider.

Each to his own ... For example my colleague who was shopping for sub which could match with interior but still offer solid performance got this sub Boston Acoustics VPS 210 Cherry - Open Box Dual 10-Inch High Power Subwoofer, In Stock at OneCall.com
(it was new and priced at $600 from different vendor) and he's quite happy with both appearance and performance

I never said or implied that TX-SUB12 is bad sub, not at all - it's could be in fact deal of the century if it had a bit less fancy looking box, minus the THX cert and sold at $400-450 - it's could be very decent sub for smaller rooms