# RE Audio SRX12D4 subwoofer



## ZAKOH (Nov 26, 2010)

Here is my short review of RE Audio SRX12D4 12 inch, dual 4-ohm subwoofer. It has 300watt RMS power handling and 18mm linear xmax. Perfect qtc is achieved in a ~1.28 cu ft sealed box.

Setup:

My car is 1999 Ford Taurus. The head unit is Kenwood KDC-X994, the front speakers are Alpine SPR-17S and the amplifier is 5-channel Jensen Power5500 (I know.. I know.. but it seems to work fine form me). The speaker channels are bridged to power left and right hand side components running approximately 160watts to each side. The subwoofer channel is rated for 250watts at 2ohms and 160 at 4 ohm. EQ is flat except for a slight boost in the upper most band. The subwoofer box is in a sealed Sonic Sub Box 1.0 hatchback style. With driver air displacement subtracted, the net air volume is approximately 1cu ft. The box is stuffed with 1.25-1.5 pounds of polyfill, although honestly, I could not pick up a pronounced difference with or without polyfill. The trunk has been deadened with a layer of raammat bxt2 and ensolite.

Review

First of all, the subwoofer looks fine and well built. I have had it for 8 months and can't complain about quality issues. SQ-wise, this is a fine subwoofer to achieve mirror shaking bass and beyond on modest power and with a fairly small sealed box. I listen mostly alternative rock music. It can really shine with rap music, hip hop, or bass heavy rock music. However, should you power it with much stronger amplifier, it should probably work fine if you don't do anything stupid. According to WinISD plots, you need to feed this subwoofer nearly 600watts before it exceeds its linear xmax limit at 20Hz. 

The subwoofer crossover frequency is 60Hz at 18dB. The front crossover frequency at 70Hz at 18dB. With this setup, this subwoofer is very transparent. The deep bass content, 50Hz and below, plays with strong authority and clarity. I was worried that my amplifier is rated for "only" 250watt RMS at 1% THD, but it turned out that there is more than plenty headroom. I have never run into issues with amplifier headroom. I can turn up the gains to make the sub stupid loud to be used for normal music content, and it's still going fine. So I am guessing that even 200watt RMS amplifier should be plenty for this subwoofer. 

Now onto the negative side of it. It almost feels like it is pointless to use a crossover frequency of 70Hz or higher. Most output above that frequency sounds weak, muddy, and less transparent. In other words, the SQ experience seems comparable to a lot of other car audio subs. This means that for best results, you need speakers up front that can play low enough to meet the subwoofer. In my case, I can't complain much about my Alpine SPR-17S. They handle midbass pretty well. It's been several times that when listening to a rock music recording, I'd think, "wow this bass guitar sounds awesome. Could the subwoofer be responsible for this?" Once I turn off the subwoofer from head unit, almost all of bass guitar is still there, but with a little bit less warmth and the bass drum is now completely gutless.

Summary:

Pros: Awesome deep bass sound from a small sealed box. Cheap. High efficiency. Good amount of xmax for more headroom. Good transparency and musicality when using 60Hz crossover frequency.

Cons: Midbass is weak and muddy. Should be crossed no higher than [email protected]


Would I buy it again? Only if my budget was $100 before shipping and tax. But with a little more money, you can buy a better subwoofer. I am breaking in a new Infinity Kappa 120.9w ($140 shipped) but I already feel like it has all the good features of SRX with a little cleaner, more transparent upper end. The new Alpine Type-R seems like another interesting "budget" possibility but I haven't heard it yet.


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