Product Agent: Yousheng Meiying
Subwoofer, or subwoofer, is one of the most important components of a home audio-visual entertainment system.
Speaking of subwoofers, it is not surprising that many friends may first think of theater-related. First, because many theater speakers are not large in size, their low-frequency performance is not outstanding, the factory has set a higher low-frequency lower limit, and the subwoofer can make up for the thinner part of the low frequency of these speakers, so that the overall sound becomes fuller and dives deeper; second, many multi-channel movies and music are specially assigned to the LFE channel below 120Hz (part of 80Hz) when they are produced. Excellent subwoofer not only improves the ultra-low frequency, but also brings a good bonus effect to the overall sound quality of the theater.
But in fact, it's not just theaters that use subwoofers, but music can also benefit from the powerful low frequencies of subwoofers – not to listen to music in a home theater, but to connect subwoofers with a two-channel system. In particular, some small home environments are not suitable for placing large floor-to-ceiling speakers, and friends who can only play bookshelf boxes but want high-quality low-frequency, add one or a pair of super-bass, and can get a more shocking low-frequency performance than large floor-to-ceiling speakers. Is there any subwoofer that can be used in both cinema and stereo systems? The answer is yes! The BREV SW12 subwoofer sent to the audition room of this magazine is such a product.
Brev, the word Try HarderBREV comes from Brevity, which means simple, elegant.
What is brev? BREV is a sub-brand of Starke Sound officially announced in 2020, positioned in the market of fashion simplicity and cost performance. Born in 2009, Starke Sound has always aimed to create the best multi-channel cinema system, but for most families, dark AV rooms are out of reach. The factory also understands the needs of users, so it creates an extremely concise new brand: the Starke technology convergence, improve the ease of use and artistry of the product, so that the product can have a wider application space; at the same time, through reasonable design, mold opening and large-scale production, to greatly reduce the threshold of technology, so that each product of BREV can be easily integrated into a variety of home environments.
The thick cabinet ensures clean low-frequency SW12 subwoofers and also illustrates the meaning of the word well.
The SW12 is available in matte white and black, and this time the trial is a white version. Spray paint is even and smooth, easy to clean, not afraid of dust. Looking closely at the SW12's cabinet, you may have seen a more compact 12-inch subwoofer, but the BREV uses a thicker cabinet plate to make the low frequencies of the SW series fuller and the curves more straight. Moreover, the thick box has better performance in suppressing resonance, which can effectively reduce the adverse effect of box vibration on the low frequency, so that you can feel the deeper dive and a more real and clean low frequency.
Basic technical parameters
■ Power: RMS 450W, peak 900W
■ Frequency response (±3dB): 16-240Hz
■ Unit: 12 inch fiberglass sandwich unit
■ Maximum sound pressure level (1m): 112dB
■ Size: 400×380×445mm (with foot pad)
■ weight: 18kg
Powerful power The Swift Unit SW Series is a single-unit, sealed enclosure design. This kind of cabinet is relatively simple in manufacturing, and the low-frequency effect is also easy to grasp; it is characterized by low distortion, fast speed, can withstand greater power, excellent transient performance, but the power requirements of the amplification circuit are higher, but it is of course easy for Starke to double repair the speaker amplifier.
The SW12 has an RMS power of 450W, a peak power of 900W, and a maximum sound pressure of 112dB, which is quite a considerable volume. The bottom is equipped with composite rubber foot pads designed for the SW Series mold opening, designed to absorb low-frequency vibrations, which can be isolated while firmly fixing the SW12 subwoofer to the ground.
Remove the three-dimensional mesh cover on the front of the SW12 to see the 12-inch fiberglass sandwich diaphragm. In the previous Halo and SUB series, the woofer mainly uses carbon fiber composite diaphragm, but subject to cost, to the entry level to play the price-performance to the extreme, Starke has done a lot of work, so the factory for the SW series of newly developed glass fiber sandwich diaphragm unit, this diaphragm high rigidity, high power, can transmit clear condensation of low frequencies, to achieve accurate and reliable and stable frequency response curve.
Practical interface provides more possible to see the sw12 back of the interface: a pair of RCA interfaces and support LFE input, is a conventional configuration of subwoofer; XLR input is common in high-end subwoofer, because in some audio rooms, the distance between subwoofer and AV amplifier is more than 5 meters, so the use of balanced transmission can have a good anti-interference ability, and SW12 is very intimately equipped with XLR input, and provides XLR output, allowing SW12 to parallel more subwoofer. In addition, three knobs for gain, crossover point, and phase are provided. The sw12's crossover point is infinitely adjusted from 50Hz to 200Hz, which is a relatively wide range, and the low frequency of the main speaker can be more smoothly connected.
Phase adjustment is also 0-180 ° stepless adjustment, which can be well set according to the position of the subwoofer and the room situation, while some subwoofers often only provide 0, 90, 180 degrees and other options to switch, the adaptability is not very good. While the SW12's interface and setup are not complicated, they are practical enough.
Hi-Fi, Cinema Two Mistakes First we test the brev SW12 subwoofer in the theater. Playing "Pacific Rim", the author is looking forward to the pleasure of shaking the ground, as well as the stimulation of metal impact, SW12 can transmit a good sense of vibration, and the shock does not appear to be fat, which is a sealed advantage. The sense of speed is good, the low frequency of the part of the entanglement in the water is wave after wave, and it is not dragging, and the sense of impact is large and small, forming a layer.
At the same time, the sound is condensed, and the diffusion of the low frequencies can be felt, and the middle and low frequency bands remain full and clear, filling the audition chamber of more than a dozen square meters. The author in the AV machine will be the volume of the subwoofer to increase again, -2dB is more moderate, 3dB or so is very fierce, about to 8dB or so is still acceptable, low frequency is still relatively regular will not be scattered, and the sense of vibration is also increased, feel SW12 has a good endurance and dynamic control.
Some subwoofers in the volume is relatively large, the fuselage vibration is also increased, will cause some noise, and sw12's suspension foot pads and thick fuselage greatly reduce this problem, put the hand above the fuselage, the vibration will not be very large. Although the body size of this design will be larger, it does work.
There is quality and quantity, we began to feel the price of SW12, replaced by "John Wick 3", a movie where the gunfire is so dense that it looks like firecrackers. But what I want is not to set off firecrackers, I want to hear more realistic gunshots, which is accurate and clear low frequencies. I have experienced it in the outdoor shooting range before, and the real gun sound is very loud, and the overtone is very long (although the type of gun is different from the one in the film). In the movie, it is not really shooting, those are special effects sounds, and can "trick" my ears, that is, the film sound effects should have the work, at this time the sound of the theater system can not be inaccurate.
The GLASS FIBER COMPOSITE UNIT OF THE SW12 IS CLEAR AND FAST, THE SOUND IS ACCURATE, THE GUNSHOT SOUND IS NEAT, THE KNOTS ARE VERY COHEAL, AND IT DOES GIVE THE SENSE OF POWER OF THE SMALL EXPLOSION WHEN THE GUN IS FIRED. With the StarkeSound speaker's excellent low- and medium-frequency connection, the overtones of the gunshot and the echo in the room are also quite in place, which can really give us the feeling of actually shooting, which is excellent.
Cinema with subwoofers is a matter of course, while two-channel plus subwoofers what do you think? For example: watching movies with the 2.1 or 3.1 system, or listening to music with the 2.1 system? Listen to the brev SW12 subwoofer on the stereo system performance, because there is no dedicated bass manager in the audition room, so only the BREV SW12 subwoofer can be connected to the pre-output of the stereo system, where you can not only swing the subwoofer, set the low pass on the end, but require a certain amount of experience and patience to adjust to get excellent results. After some adjustments, the overall sound performance is matched, and the SW12 cooperates seamlessly with the bookshelf box in the audition room. Many friends will worry about the integration of the subwoofer and the stereo system will have problems, but thanks to the SW12's stepless phase adjustment and crossover point adjustment, the subwoofer and the stereo system can be well connected.
The 2.1 system does not hear any curved faults or low-frequency redundancy, and the instrument is still alive and vivid, without any "enhanced" or "modified" feeling, as if the sound of the system is what it is, so natural, SW12 has been fully integrated into the system. The texture of the instrument has not changed at all, the "quality" has been completely improved, and the quantity is not exaggerated, it is just right.
Finally, with the 2.1 system to try out the theater, many Blu-ray/4K UHD discs now retain the 2.0 PCM format in addition to providing a variety of immersive sound effects, which is designed for users who only use TV or stereo systems to enjoy. And on the 2.0 system to add super bass, play a piece of "Ace Agent 2" in the hot scene with lively music clips, when the theater sound quality is good, it does not sound noisy or chaotic, but a kind of enjoyment. Sw12 has a very high speed, feel the low frequency "smashing" at me, and the sound and picture work well together, which is the most important. In fact, for friends who do not have many living room locations and limited budgets, watching movies with a 2.1 system can also have a high-quality feeling.
The BREV SW12 takes the whole system up a notch, and the low-frequency performance is greatly improved, and the texture of both the dive and the low-frequency texture is better than the original low-frequency performance. The bookshelf speakers in the audition room themselves are not low in value, and the three-frequency performance is quite outstanding, and the low frequency is also good. Although the price of SW12 is only one-fifth of its price, it can still be improved after joining and is a comprehensive improvement, which shows its high quality. If you are not satisfied with the low-frequency effect of the bookshelf box, but due to the limitations of space, you can not upgrade the floor-standing speaker, you can consider adding a BREV SW12 subwoofer to enhance the performance of low frequencies. Of course, if the budget is sufficient, add two SW12 subwoofers to form a 2.2 system, such a low frequency will be more sufficient, and the low frequency details will be more refined. Weakly speaking, two subwoofers are easier to adjust than one superwoofer.
The following is some real user feedback on the use of Mr. Lin: over the years of playing the theater, the use of Huiwei, Yamaha, Jays, Weilideng and other brands of subwoofers, Weilideng is a low-end version, although their prices are different, but once replaced with the BREV SW12 subwoofer, it is felt that this cannon is powerful without dragging, the sound is clean, and it is a veritable "small steel cannon".
Mr. Ho: The deepest impression on starke Sound's products is that they have a first-class performance in speed and strength, and even this brev fashion type product maintains Starke's consistent level.
Brev SW12 subwoofer, whether it is the naturalness and delicacy of the bass sound, or the diving and dynamics, it is very well grasped, well balanced and has a very good price performance. In my theater room with a certain degree of acoustic treatment, brev SW12 has such excellent performance, I believe that in the general home environment can also achieve very good sound effects.
Summarizing as the first subwoofer of the BREV brand, the SW12 positions the entry price point and lowers the purchase threshold of high-quality subwoofers. From the price, technology and material configuration, we can feel the intention of the factory, but the actual performance is more surprising to us.
Sw12's low-frequency stability, clarity and accuracy not only meet the requirements of home theater in terms of shock, but also for users who are more critical of sound quality in stereo systems. The new unit, amplifier and cabinet work together perfectly, performing well, while controlling costs while achieving excellent sound quality.