RBH Sound I-12/e Ported Subwoofer Review

[gene]

For years I've been suggesting that RBH Sound build an affordable HUGE subwoofer to compete with the ID subwoofer greats. Not only has RBH succeeded with the I-12 and I-12/e subwoofers, but they've managed to do so in an attractive package that goes beyond just the standard square box. Both subs feature the same 12" aluminum driver while the I-12/e sports a 500 watt amplifier and DSP boost to earn our Large Bassaholics rating.

Read on to find out more and be sure to check out our YouTube video preview.

Read: RBH Sound I-12/e Ported Subwoofer Review

 

[gene]

 

[nickboros]

Nice review Gene. I agree with your assessment that RBH might want to be a little less aggressive with the limiter on this sub. The direct competition for this subwoofer seem to be the Hsu VTF-2 mk5 and the SVS PB 2000. If the RBH sub can eek out about 3 dB more without significantly increasing the distortion, then it is pretty comparable to the Hsu sub. While the Hsu sub is cheaper, the RBH looks much better. I would definitely spend the extra money on the RBH sub for the nicer looking finish, if the performance between the two are quite close. If the performance of the Hsu it a bit better in terms of raw output, then the extra cost of the RBH becomes a tougher sell. Also of note, the price of the RBH sub is very close to the SVS PB or PC 2000, which has a lot more output, that is clean. But, it doesn't have port tuning capabilities. I am only comparing these two subs to the RBH subwoofer, since they were recently reviewed and measured on Audioholics.

Yet another comparable subwoofer would be the Rythmik LVX12, that also has port tuning capabilities and is quite close to the price. The finish isn't as as nice as on the RBH, but I think it has more output and has servo technology in the sub. This leads me to believe that the Rythmik might just be a better sub in a least a couple of performance areas. The subwoofer market is a competitive market right now. This is excellent for us thinking about purchasing subwoofers, since each year the subs that we could get per dollar is getting better and better and sometimes there are even more budget friendly options like the RBH that also look great.

 

[shadyJ]

Nice review Gene. I agree with your assessment that RBH might want to be a little less aggressive with the limiter on this sub. The direct competition for this subwoofer seem to be the Hsu VTF-2 mk5 and the SVS PB 2000. If the RBH sub can eek out about 3 dB more without significantly increasing the distortion, then it is pretty comparable to the Hsu sub. While the Hsu sub is cheaper, the RBH looks much better. I would definitely spend the extra money on the RBH sub for the nicer looking finish, if the performance between the two are quite close. If the performance of the Hsu it a bit better in terms of raw output, then the extra cost of the RBH becomes a tougher sell. Also of note, the price of the RBH sub is very close to the SVS PB or PC 2000, which has a lot more output, that is clean. But, it doesn't have port tuning capabilities. I am only comparing these two subs to the RBH subwoofer, since they were recently reviewed and measured on Audioholics.

Yet another comparable subwoofer would be the Rythmik LVX12, that also has port tuning capabilities and is quite close to the price. The finish isn't as as nice as on the RBH, but I think it has more output and has servo technology in the sub. This leads me to believe that the Rythmik might just be a better sub in a least a couple of performance areas. The subwoofer market is a competitive market right now. This is excellent for us thinking about purchasing subwoofers, since each year the subs that we could get per dollar is getting better and better and sometimes there are even more budget friendly options like the RBH that also look great.

Not much is known about the LVX12, so I am not sure why you would think it would have more output. The I/12-e is not doing badly in this area. In many frequencies it is neck-to-neck with the subs you mentioned in burst testing. The standard I-12 looks to be an interesting value proposition since that extra 150 watts isn't likely to amount to much more than 1 dB difference, yet it is $200 less expensive.

As for the limiter, on a sub like this it has to be aggressive because there isn't a way for the sub to know how many ports are plugged. If RBH had a way to adjust the amplifier to know how many ports are plugged, they could better optimize the performance for those operating modes (let's see that feature on a mk2 model, RBH!)

Another thing, that nice gloss finish is not likely to be cheap. If you wanted to beef up performance and keep the same price, something has to give. Hsu made this trade-off going from the VTF-2 mk4 to the mk5, they discarded the satin black for a black vinyl finish.

 

[shadyJ]

One more thing I want to add is the I-12/e wouldn't be an easy subwoofer to fairly measure with respect to some other subs in its class because its ports on the opposite side of its driver. I am not a hundred percent sure of the method used to measure it, ie the sub's orientation, any type of compensation used, or the environment and mic positioning, -these things will all affect the test results- but if the tester just placed the mic 2 meters in front of the driver and ran the bursts and the long term sweeps, that type of testing puts this sub at a disadvantage in port-generated sound. This can knock off a significant amount of dB measured in deep frequencies. The I-12/e may just be a bit more potent in-room than what is shown the measurements in this review.

The problem of measuring subwoofers that have ports or passive radiators on different sides than the driver can be mitigated a bit by placing the mic further away from the subwoofer, so the extra output that the mic gets from being closer to the driver is reduced by closing the distance gap from the ports. Another thing that can be done is using a sub with a single point of acoustic emission, ie. a sealed sub with one driver, testing it outdoors to establish a reference point for its performance, and then placing it indoors and running the same tests. This establishes a compensation curve that can be used for further indoor testing with other subwoofers. By doing this, the total output of any sub from all points of acoustic emission, no matter where they are on the subwoofer, can be more fairly measured.

 

[Rick Ross]

Some problems I have with Gene's review. In the video, he stated he would probably do testing from 2M, obviosuly due to the port and driver orientation. Then in the actual review it was done at 1M. As has been mentioned, this can kind of "short change" a sub with ports on one side and driver on the other.

Then, to further add to the unfair treatment of the I-12/e, it's compared to dual JL E112's, which are around $1800/each. What in the world is this all about? Would have made MUCH more sense to compare it to a single, comparable sub like the PB-2000 or HSU VTF-2 MK5. That's like comparing a Chevy Malibu to a Corvette ZR1 that has even been heavily modified.

I can also attest to the outdoor numbers, from the questionable testing method, don't reflect the same in room. I have the I-12/e and can say the difference in 3 port to 2 port output at 20Hz does not drop off so steeply in 3 port mode. The difference is actually very minimal. The sub with the ports reinforced by the wall keep the output much stronger than the over 7dB drop from the max burst test.

Finally, how this sub only get 4/5 stars in this price range for fit/finish and build quality is hard to fathom. The I-12/e is easily 5 stars in these categories for this price range. One of the best looking, well built subs you can get for less than $700. Needless to say, a lot of this review doesn't reflect the true character of this sub.