My Review of the Rythmik FV18

[Danzilla31]

I've owned and have had these set up for 3 weeks now. Figure it was time to share my experience

 

[Danzilla31]

Reasons for buying: I needed 4 subs to help smooth response in my theater. The room modes are challenging

Originally was going with GSG Audio shout out to those guys! Awesome company. Was going to build my own. But a family situation changed and I no longer had the time

So looking commercial I needed something that could keep up with my 2 RBH subs. In doing research I'd long had my eye on Rythmik Audio. I'd researched heard from owners and observed they're data at data-bass.com.

I thought 2 of there FV 18's would be a perfect fit for my room and with my RBH

They are local about an hour and 15min away in Austin. I could pick up myself. With the savings I got from not shipping plus the dual sub discount I received it was a no brainer to give them a shot

 

[Danzilla31]

Packing. I've bought a lot of subs from a lot of companies. SVS RSL RBH to name a few. These were the best packed subs I've ever seen. And those companies were no slouches on packaging either. They were double boxed and completely packed in the thickest densest Styrofoam I've ever experienced. These beauties are not getting damaged shipping across the country for you.

The instructions were clear easy to understand on opening

They came with a power cord and operating manual a quick setup guide

 

[Danzilla31]

Size and weight. At 33 inches tall 21 inches wide and 22 inches deep these subs are MASSIVE.

They weigh 165 pounds each. Definetly bribe your friends to help you get these up any stairs be very careful make sure to protect your back!

 

[Danzilla31]

Appearance. I ordered in the black matte finish. Glad I did they blend very well with my speakers and room.

They look way better then the pictures can show. They come in aluminum or paper cones. I went with the paper. They give you up to 3db higher output from around 30 to 50hz on up but don't sacrifice extension. They do have slightly higher distortion tho.

They look sweet with the grills on the grills are somewhat transperent so you can see the drivers with the lights on. Nice sheen to the grills.

They look way better standing upright then laying on they're side but they measure better in my room on they're side so that's how they go

Getting tired in the morning I'll finish this up.

 

[Danzilla31]

Set up

These have a 18 inch paper cone driver with a 900 watt RMS servo controlled amplifier.

I know some people rave about servo control I honestly just care about sound and performance. I'm not one of those who has an opinion either way

They come with a quick setup guide I thought the choices would be overwhelming but really thanks to the guide it's pretty straightforward

 

[lovinthehd]

So head to head with the RBH subs how do they do? Size advantage?

 

[Danzilla31]

So head to head with the RBH subs how do they do? Size advantage?

Sorry!!! Didn't mean to dissappear I had some friends over I'll be getting to that real soon!

 

[Danzilla31]

Set up continued

The file uploader on audioholics is so annoying. I can't upload the file of of this phone. Basically you leave the limiter on. Turn the PEQ functions to off. Turn the rumble filter to on. I found leaving them 3 ports open with 14hz extension mid damping optimal in my room. You have 3 settings on extension 18 hz 3 ports open: 14 hz 3 ports open: or 12.5hz 2 ports open one port plugged.

You can turn the limiter and rumble filter off only amp I've seen and sub company I've seen that allows you to bypass the amps limiter. I wouldn't recommend it tho. They give you all the output and extension you need with those protections for the amp and sub set to on.

You can set it at high damp mid damp or low if you can go on data-bass.com you can go to the different extension settings and damping options graph and play around with them to see which one might be optimal for you to try.

With the good manuals and a good layout on the back of the amp this sub is not hard to set up at all.

 

[Danzilla31]

Performance:

Ahhh here we go. These subs kick some serious a$%%. And I've played with a lot of subs from low budget to high end and these subs are some of the best I've ever enjoyed. You can't beat them until you go way up in price JTR level and above. They have extension they have serious output and great midbass that 30hz on up region. Great chess punch tactile response.

They are cleeeeeaaan the bass is so cleeaaan and very very accurate they are very detailed. With music I was hearing bass lines on certain songs with detail I'd never heard before hearing each note on a level only heard before with my beloved RBH

They are fast accurate but powerful damn the output is so massive when the content especially in movies calls for it.

The Auto feature is so good the best on any sub I've owned to date. Its silent when activated and just instantly comes on when needed and stays on for a good period even after the movie gets quiet

 

[Danzilla31]

And I love the options thanks to the different extensions and damping options you can shape your response curve any way you want.

 

[Danzilla31]

I love the analog amp it's so nice since I don't like my Yamahas room eq so I do mine manually in the theater to not have to compensate for room delay

On a analog amp 13 feet is 13 feet. This isn't do bad if the AVR sets delay but manually figuring the distance out is more of a pain in the butt do its nice to not have to worry about it

 

[Danzilla31]

It's also awesome the output and quality these can put out with a 900 watt amp. I love these new dsp subs that have like 2000 watts on tap but it gets old putting in dedicated circuits to tap all its potential

The Rythmik you can run it to its full potential without breaking you electrical circuits bank which is nice

although in all fairness with cabin vessel gain in most rooms I don't think most of us ever even need to drive any subwoofer to its full potential. I suspect we use far less power then we actually think we do.

 

[Danzilla31]

So head to head with the RBH subs how do they do? Size advantage?

So how do they compare in performance to the RBH?

They hold they're own. They are one of the only subs that can match the RBH's monstrous output and yet stay so detailed and accurate.

The RBH look nicer and can do it in a smaller form. BUT they cost way more which is how they are able to do it. The Rythmik FV18 matches the performance of the RBH 1212 NR and PR.

Both the RBH and Rythmik handily outperform the SVS PB 16ultra. Just to give you a baseline. But the Rythmik does it costing way less then the SVS or RBH models

 

[Danzilla31]

To give you a reference on how much headroom all these subs give you the RBH nearfield in the back are at -8 on the Yahama CX A5200 and the Rythmik in the front are at -5 in the AVR

I like my bass about 5db hot after calibration and to pull that off all I needed was the gain on the Rythmik FV18 set to 1 o'clock and on the RBH near field set to 11 o'clock

I could turn them up more and did for fun and got no port noise or distortion but I was knocking off pictures downstairs all over the house! AWESOME!

 

[Danzilla31]

Tommorow I'll give you my final thoughts. But here's a quick version. These subs are AWESOME! They are not going back the boxes are broken down because they are hear to stay. They are not going anywhere

 

[ryanosaur]

So now you need to get a monolith 16 to compare to the new Rythmik!

 

[Danzilla31]

So now you need to get a monolith 16 to compare to the new Rythmik!

No way my friend no more lugging big subs upstairs for awhile . It's hard to put into words how happy I am with these Rythmiks. If anything were to happen to my RBH subs down the road I would replace them with Rythmik and be super happy. And that's saying a lot because I love those RBH subs

 

[Timforhifi]

Congratulations! Incredible setup, at times I miss my fv18pc subs. This is one of those times.

 

[lovinthehd]

Congratulations! Incredible setup, at times I miss my fv18pc subs. This is one of those times.

PC in that model also refers to a ported column like SVS? Didn't know Rythmik did those....