# Dyn Audio Esotar2 1200



## jayhawkblk (May 29, 2007)

OK boys and girls I got them broke in and decided to test one of them out before it goes in the BMW. I am going to compare it with the Morel Ultimo 12 which currently resides in my xB. I have a box built already for this comparison. The box has an internal volume of 1.7ft^3. The amp that will power the 2 subs is a Tru S500. I did not change any of the setting that I had on the amp from sub to sub to keep all things equal.

Let me first state that I absolutly love my Ultimo. It had quickly become my favorite sub that I have owned and I have owned a lot. Like most of you here constantly changing things to find that perfect combination. The Sub prior to the Ultimo was the Millie just for reference sake.

I chose a few disc to conduct the review. Micheal Jacksons Thiller, 3 Disc from Steve Head, and to see if this thing would just flat out pound Busta Rhymes Genesis cd.

The Morel was first since it was already in the car. like I said I love this sub so I went in a bit bias to it. It has great control. It seems to shine in the 50-80hz area. I did not play it higher than that. It has some peakiness in the 50 below range. It is fast, accurate, at low to moderate volumes. The out put is decent at those levels as well not great but very very good. At high volumes it got a little loose not much but enough that i would notice. This sub works great on all types of music.

Now with the love for my Ultimo being so high I was a bit skeptical about how this Dyn was gonna do. Lets face it the MSRP on this sub is very very high imo. With that being said I was ready for a let down because in life that is always how it happens. Lets say that the Ultimo is a prize fighter, maybe Mike Tyson in his prime. Then the Dyn is Muhammad Ali. Stirs up a bunch of hype before the fight and then proves it in the ring.

I think I had an orgasim right there in the car. This sub performs so flawlessly and with out effort it is scary. The bass responce is spot on and linear. Like the Morel it is nothing short of perfect in the 50-80hz range but 50 and down it is in a league of its own. There were no peaks in the response in those freq. At least not to my ears. The output is greater than the Morel's. The tale of the tape was when I put the Busta in. The Morel shook stuff in the house a few pics on the wall and what not. The Dyn knocked them off the wall. I kept them at the same volume to keep things honest.

I am going to try to get access to a RCA and term lab to verifiy what my ears was hearing and my butt was feeling.
IMHO the Dyn is a sub to be recon with. It out performed my Ultimo and spanked the **** out of my Millie. I would be interested to see how it compares to the Peerless and Seas since I know that conversation will come up. If someone wants to send me one I would be glad to do the comparison. But for the moment, the sub totally surpassed my expectations. Ok thats all for now gotta go listen for a few more hours.


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## Kenny_Cox (Sep 9, 2007)

****, I didnt know you got one of these too! Good god lol. I am glad you like it, now Don needs to hurry up and get his installed, so that I can have my UL12!


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## 6spdcoupe (Jan 12, 2006)

Kenny_Cox said:


> ****, I didnt know you got one of these too! Good god lol. I am glad you like it, now Don needs to hurry up and get his installed, so that I can have my UL12!


He didnt get one. He got two ! 


Yea, yea Im workin on it.


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## Kenny_Cox (Sep 9, 2007)

Two of them?! I thought you said there were only a couple of them, holy crap you are a madman!


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## jayhawkblk (May 29, 2007)

yes I am a mad man. muhahahahahahahahha


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## cetla (Feb 20, 2007)

Looks like esotar2 1200 has set a new benchmark , hopefully the rest of line up will live up to the expectation. 

cheers


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## Autophile (Nov 10, 2007)

Good review. Once again Dynaudio sets the benchmark. This time in subwoofers which was a long overdue.


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## jayhawkblk (May 29, 2007)

Yes they did set the benchmark IMO. They are a unique company. They spend a long time and I mean a Long time doing R&D. If you look they are probably one of only the speaker company that does not put out a new driver every year or every other year. They dont just take there home drivers and put them in a box labeled for car use. They are designed specificly for the car. I have never been happier with a set of drivers. I dont care what they cost. The proof is in the listening.

I got them installed in the Bimmer last night! Wow all I got to say is Wow!!! Those things are so fast it is crazy. It made it sound like my subs were on my dash with the rest of my sound stage. this in a trunk car. I am only sad that I only have 2 of these. I need another one for my xB


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## Dangerranger (Apr 12, 2006)

Glad to see Dyn making improvements in the lineup finally, I'd gotten pretty disappointed in them for a while cuz the market just kind of walked away from them. They improved the things they needed to, giving more linear excursion and enlarging the spider on the midbasses, they really needed the extra control there(3" coil the spider is obviously going to be smaller and necessitate a very precise suspension). 

I'd love to see some objective testing on these and see how they compare to subs like the XXLS, JL W6v2, etc.


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## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

Im also interested to see how they stack up against some of the betters of the industry. I'd like to see them up against an IDMAX, and a W6v2 as well.

Whats the msrp on these things anyway?
Good looking numbers I see though...Nice to hear that they add up to great sound as well.


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## Mooble (Oct 21, 2007)

You must have golden ears. I can rarely tell the difference between any sub, other than output. Maybe I should buy some uber-cheap Visonik to see if I can hear a difference. Tweeters and mids, yes, but subs all sound pretty much the same to me.


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## captainobvious (Mar 11, 2006)

Its easier to tell if you know what to listen for. I dont have by any means the best ears, but I can hear differences. Especially with fast kick drum beats where the sub has to move quickly and accurately, it easy to tell when a sub cant keep up. Also with test tones, you can find what frequencies the sub peaks/drops out at.


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## Dangerranger (Apr 12, 2006)

^x2. It isn't a "golden ear" thing, anyone without permanent hearing damage hears the same thing. 

Say some guy's car has a ticking noise, and he knows nothing about cars, he hears the ticking just the same as anyone else, but an experienced mechanic can listen and from his experience tell you exactly where it originates, what is causing it, and what needs to be done to fix it. Same goes for audio, people aren't just born with it.


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## Mooble (Oct 21, 2007)

captainobvious said:


> Its easier to tell if you know what to listen for. I dont have by any means the best ears, but I can hear differences. Especially with fast kick drum beats where the sub has to move quickly and accurately, it easy to tell when a sub cant keep up. Also with test tones, you can find what frequencies the sub peaks/drops out at.


I guess I've never heard a "bad" sub other than OEM subs so I have no frame of reference. The subs I've owned are a/d/s/ 310rs.2, DLS Ultimate 10, Soundstream Exact 10, and a/d/s/ 310px. Only the DLS seemed to sound any different to me and just barely. I'd be very hard pressed to tell any difference between the a/d/s/ and the Soundstream, but all of them are highly regarded SQ subs so maybe that's a good thing. I guess I need to buy a really crappy sub just for kicks to see how bad things can sound.


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## MrDave (May 19, 2008)

I'm interested.


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## 6spdcoupe (Jan 12, 2006)

MrDave said:


> I'm interested.


Indeed you are Dave.


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## MrDave (May 19, 2008)

And waiting....eagerly


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## CAMSHAFT (Apr 7, 2006)

More droolage.... Dynaudio website updated.

http://www.dynaudio.com/eng/auto/esotar/esotar1200.php


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## BLD MOVS (Sep 23, 2007)

CAMSHAFT said:


> More droolage.... Dynaudio website updated.
> 
> http://www.dynaudio.com/eng/auto/esotar/esotar1200.php


Thanks CAMSHAFT, I've been checking their site often trying to wait patiently.


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## CAMSHAFT (Apr 7, 2006)

No problem....


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## CAMSHAFT (Apr 7, 2006)

Break in was finished long ago....how are they doing?


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## CAMSHAFT (Apr 7, 2006)

bump


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## LexusLover (Oct 14, 2017)

I know this thread is over a decade old but these subs and the ones comparable to them are still produced. I would like to know if anyone has anything new to contribute. I'm in the market for subwoofers right now(and a front stage and a DSP and some amps and also a new car) and had my eye on a couple W7's, but these dynaudio's are really calling my name. I am going for great SQ but love to jam out at higher volume levels. Any input/advice would be much appreciated.


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## foreman (Apr 18, 2007)

There are several good subs of that caliber out now. Look at FI, the w7 is also a good choice in the right enclosure, audio development, and some newer stereo integrity offerings. You can buy new subscribers for the price of an esoteric 1200 used. My $.02


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## LexusLover (Oct 14, 2017)

I also saw people talking about the esotar2 running really good in IB setup. Which is something I would like to try. Please correct me if I am wrong but I don't think the W7 is any good at running IB? What about the Fi? Also is 12 inch even the right direction for IB? Or should I be looking at a 15 or 18 inch?


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## LexusLover (Oct 14, 2017)

These stereo integrity woofers are very interesting to say the least. They look like overall SPL only driver's and take 2000 watts rms, but they only come specked for a very small sealed enclosure, which leaves me kinda confused.


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## ckirocz28 (Nov 29, 2017)

LexusLover said:


> I know this thread is over a decade old but these subs and the ones comparable to them are still produced. I would like to know if anyone has anything new to contribute. I'm in the market for subwoofers right now(and a front stage and a DSP and some amps and also a new car) and had my eye on a couple W7's, but these dynaudio's are really calling my name. I am going for great SQ but love to jam out at higher volume levels. Any input/advice would be much appreciated.


I'd also look at Adire Audio Brahma subs and CSS Audio SDX's. I have CSS SDX 12's, they get really loud and sound spectacular. Both of my suggestions are XBL^2 designs.


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## dgage (Oct 1, 2013)

The Dyn 1200 and AE SBP series (especially the 15) are two of the best IB subs on the market. I’d recommend the SBP15 if you want the best IB experience. You’d get clean deep bass that blends well into the mid bass and strong output wouldn’t take much power; 300w or so since IB is so efficient.


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## dgage (Oct 1, 2013)

LexusLover said:


> These stereo integrity woofers are very interesting to say the least. They look like overall SPL only driver's and take 2000 watts rms, but they only come specked for a very small sealed enclosure, which leaves me kinda confused.


In full disclosure, I have done business with Stereo Integrity for my home theater subwoofer business since 2015. Nick makes very good drivers that also happen to be good values. I wouldn’t hesitate to put them up against any sub on the market within their class (type, not price). You can take a look at my website (www.deepseasound.com) as I use their subs in my “premium” Internet direct home theater subwoofers. I will also be revealing an inwall sub using quad BM mK V subs. I compared the BM mK V to the JL 12TW3 and the SI sub was better in a smaller enclosure with the same amount of power (https://www.diymobileaudio.com/foru...ow-sub-comparison-jl-12tw3-vs-si-bm-mk-v.html).

There are many quality products out there but SI is definitely up there for subwoofers.


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## foreman (Apr 18, 2007)

Ive also heard good things about the esotar IB, but FI makes a great IB sub. And the W7 can also be IB. Ive heard FI free air and i would buy them myself if i was going IB. Thats my opinion.


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## LexusLover (Oct 14, 2017)

This is another brand that I have never heard of. Very good looking driver's tho. Makes me wish so bad that I was rich! I would buy every single brand just to swap and try. This one specifically has interesting specs. The recomended sealed box is from 3 to 8 cubic feet! Ive never even heard of a sealed enclosure that large. So a major question this leads me to is which would hit harder and sound better, a sealed enclosure or an IB setup? I get so confused when people start talking about specs like Qes, Vas, Fs, Xmax.


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## LexusLover (Oct 14, 2017)

I'm sure these are all excellent driver's but I have never heard, or heard of 1 of them. I would really like to get some input from someone who has some real world experience with, and can say why a certain driver is good in any certain enclosure or setup. I wish I could just pick something and go with it but if it sounds like **** I don't have the money to just buy something else and start over. That's exactly where I'm at after buying 2 sundown SA 12's.


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## miniSQ (Aug 4, 2009)

LexusLover said:


> I'm sure these are all excellent driver's but I have never heard, or heard of 1 of them. I would really like to get some input from someone who has some real world experience with, and can say why a certain driver is good in any certain enclosure or setup. I wish I could just pick something and go with it but if it sounds like **** I don't have the money to just buy something else and start over. That's exactly where I'm at after buying 2 sundown SA 12's.


If you are looking to buy something and be happy, i can easily recommend the Audiofrog GB10 or GB12. They work great in either ported or sealed boxes.

Its up to you how much space you want to give up, how much money you want to spend, and how much bass you need to have. 2 of either will be more bass than most people need in a daily driver. 1 of either would be enough for most.

I am in the middle of testing out one of the new RM-12's from Stereo Integrity. In a very unscientific test if i had to go ported i would choose Audiofrog. I am about to try it in a sealed box later today. I expect better results sealed.


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## LexusLover (Oct 14, 2017)

I have been looking very closely at audiofrog and plan on using them or dynaudio for my front stage. I'm not convinced the GB will.have enough output for my sub stage tho. That's why I was looking into the W7 for my sub stage, I'm just worried they won't have the SQ of the GB or esotar2. I don't want to use a ported box for sure and want to go either sealed or IB.


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## LexusLover (Oct 14, 2017)

I would be very interested in seeing your results from your test. You should post a video of it for sure! Looking forward to it.


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