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RT-12d & RT10d Peer Competitors


Raider

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Before I pull the trigger on an RT10d or RT12d I wanted to make sure that they represent a solid value among their peer competitors. Opinions from those with the experience and/or knowledge is appreciated.

Let me ask the question two ways.

First, how do these subs compare with other products at the same price points in regard to output, sound quality and extension?

Second, are there any subs that equal these in terms of output, sound quality, and extension, but at a lower price point?

DIY designs you have actually built would be of interest as well, but please be specific as far as driver, enclosure size and type, porting, amp used, DSP used, etc....

Just trrying to get the "pecking order" established in my mind, but I haven't had a lot of experience with home subs.

Thanks for any contributions.

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RT family subs integrate better than most subs in their price range,this is most important.The auto calibration work,and well.

For mid sized rooms a single RT-12D should be fine(output wise).Again only you know your listening habbits,you have to try one at home.

Extension,strong to 25hz and some energy can be had near 20hz with some placement experimentation.You have subs at this price much more capable (in output) down deep(SVS for example).

All things considered,and knowing they can be had well below full retail,very competent subs.From woofer quality to amp quality and cabinet,passes my tests.

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SVS doesn't have a product that comes with the auto-eq feature, but a very popular stand alone sub eq unit is the Velodyne SMS1. For the retail price of a RT12d, you can get a SVS PB12plus/2 (in wood finish) and get a SMS1 and will come within the retail price of RT12d. I know we all love Klipsch speakers, but there are better subs out there.

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SVS doesn't have a product that comes with the auto-eq feature, but a very popular stand alone sub eq unit is the Velodyne SMS1. For the retail price of a RT12d, you can get a SVS PB12plus/2 (in wood finish) and get a SMS1 and will come within the retail price of RT12d. I know we all love Klipsch speakers, but there are better subs out there.

Id keep my rt12 over any svs by far.
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In pure output I think an ISD equipped sub would be close(overall) and a PLUS sub using one woofer would best the output of a RT-12d.Again output is one of many factors in subwoofer performance.

If output was the only factor we would only buy bass bins and DANLEY subs,as all other would lack power(output).

The RT are better quality than the ISD SVS subs,the only case the SVS would fit better if it was only to be cut very low and take care of 40Hz down.

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In pure output I think an ISD equipped sub would be close(overall) and a PLUS sub using one woofer would best the output of a RT-12d.Again output is one of many factors in subwoofer performance.

If output was the only factor we would only buy bass bins and DANLEY subs,as all other would lack power(output). excuse me! I think if output was only the matter we would be using just tc sounds 5200 cp or the XXX

The RT are better quality than the ISD SVS subs,the only case the SVS would fit better if it was only to be cut very low and take care of 40Hz down.

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RT family subs integrate better than most subs in their price range,this is most important.The auto calibration work,and well.

For mid sized rooms a single RT-12D should be fine(output wise).Again only you know your listening habbits,you have to try one at home.

Extension,strong to 25hz and some energy can be had near 20hz with some placement experimentation.You have subs at this price much more capable (in output) down deep(SVS for example).

All things considered,and knowing they can be had well below full retail,very competent subs.From woofer quality to amp quality and cabinet,passes my tests.

Ear, interesting you mention that "some energy can be had near 20hz"... That was not the impression I got from other owners of the RT subs, Are you refering to the RT10-d or the RT-12d? I mean the mini RSW-10d was able to go down to 27ish hz with power, before rolling off . the flagship only goes as low as the RSW15? I dont follow, I would be very dissapointed in the RT-12d if it rolled off after 25hz. In any case I'll find out first hand soon enough when I get mine hopefully sometime the end of this week.

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So if it had trouble going down to 20hz in a small room like you're saying, in a larger room forget it? It would be nice to know how deep it can go, the Soundbroker reports -3db at 17hz in an install he did recently over on avs forums, that seems really impressive - perhaps required some special room treatments or special room.

I will be happy if i can get it to 20hz with some authority - doesn't have to be the same rediculous output as 30hz, but being -12dB down from 30hz would be of no use to me anyways...

- Ed

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I've done two setups with RT series subs (10 and 12) and was able to get flat in room response down to 20 with plenty of headroom in both spaces for the clients. I did have some leeway on both setups to move the subs around to find the sweet spot. The auto EQ function does help since it allows you to find a spot that loads the room well and then compensates for any large scale peaks that location might have. Not a substitute for a lot of hours with a BFD and a test suite...but darned impressive considering it takes all of a minute. Also, as mentioned before, the integration of those subs is darned impressive. Right out of the box, they achieved a more seamless transisition into the mains than any other subs I've played with (the older RSW-12 came close). The last setup I did where we got response down to 17 had the subs rolling up into a set of PMC DB-1 transmission line monitors which are super fast in the bottom end and don't take kindly to any sub that isn't capable and smooth up top. After a bit of position fiddling, we simply could NOT identify the location of the sub. Darned impressive. The space is a pretty large area (big beach condo, probably 800 ft2 in the main area where the sub is located). Obviously, having a common wall, we didn't need 120 db of output, but there was more than enough output for reasonable to high listening levels.

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