Rocket UFW-10 Subwoofer First Impressions

[Nick250]

My new Rocket UFW-10 arrived right on schedule yesterday, My first impressions are:

[Speakers: Paradigm Mini Monitors V2.]

1. Wow! is this thing beautiful or what!

2. While the UFW-10 going in the upstairs den but I first hooked it up to the main system on the first floor. Three Paradigm Studio 20s as LRC, BA surrounds, six year old Hsu VTF-2 sub. It's in a large area. I set the sound level and first played some cuts from Eagles HFO and then the opening sequence from U571. Bearing in mind that I had not dialed in the UFW-10 the old Hsu was better than the UFW-10 in both music and the movie. That being said, I have had a long time to dial in the Hsu. And while it maybe ugly and old VTF2 is one terrific sub IMO.

3. I carried the UFW-10 to the upstairs den and while it's smaller than the Hsu it's also heavier. I placed it on a side wall. I hooked it up to the 2.1 system and threw the crummy old Paradigm PDR8 out the window. I have long disliked the PDR8. In the past I have always set my sound levels by ear but this time I used a Radio Shack analog sound meter. Based on the meter reading the set sub level ended up too high. I may need work on my sound meter skills. (I using a tripod, I set the weighting to "C", slow mode,range to 80 and since the first speaker went to 4dbs I adjusted the other speaker and the to UFW-10 to 4db as well. Comments welcomed.

4. As I mentioned above the sub was too hot so I readjusted down it by ear.

5. I first played BB and Eric on Riding With The King. Some cuts sounded great, but on others the bass was a bit boomy. Since by this time it was late I needed a quieter test CD so I played Carol King's Tapestry. The bass on Smack Water Jack was great and the rest was fine, but there was not too much bass content in Tapestry.

In summary it's not quiet a "wow" factor yet, but neither was the Hsu when I first got it. So, for now I need to work on integrating the UFW-10 into my music only 2.1 system. The first step will be finding the best location.


Thats it for now.

 

[Nick250]

First successful tweak, I pressed my ear against against one of the Paradigm Mini Monitors and and damned if there there wasn't significant boomy mid bass coming from it even though they are set to small. I increased my cross over from 80Hz to 100Hz and darned if there wasn't at least a 75% a reduction in the boom factor. The bass has tightened up nicely now that the Minis are not trying to reproduce the 80Hz to 100Hz level. We are now into "wow" territory.


Nick

 

[ExtraCheese]

Great Review! Well wrtten.

Do you still prefer the Hsu?

 

[muncybob]

I also started at the "THX" 80 crossover with my Mirage sub and thought something wasn't right. The very next day I read an Audioholics article that suggested a crossover of at least 90 should be entertained. I am happy with 100 also.

 

[Nick250]

Great Review! Well wrtten.

Do you still prefer the Hsu?

If I could keep only one it would be the Hsu. I am really glad I don't have to make that decision. Bear in mind I have not completely dialed in the UFW-10, so things could change things.

There will be an UFW-10 update in a bit.

Nick

 

[Nick250]

First impressions update. The boomyness is not the UFW-10, it's a room acoustics issue more related to the speakers then the sub.

1. Turned off the sub and the boomyness increased.

2. Dragged the BA VR940s upstairs and hooked them up. Dialed them in a bit and first ran them with no sub. Big time boomyness.

3. Set the VR940s to small, crossed over at 100Hz and engaged the UFW-10, and boomyness 90% gone.

So I have some room acoustics issues to deal with. I can move the sub around pretty easily, but with the speakers I do not have as much flexibility. They are on a side wall and I can move them a foot or two to the left or right.

What I find myself wondering is, if it's a room acoustics issue, why can the sub can reproduce certain frequencies with no adverse consequences but the speakers can not and is this a situation where bass traps are in order?

Nick