SEALED BOX

All Arendal subwoofers start with optimally damped, low Q sealed box design. Low frequency performance is accurately damped delivering a tight impulse response – the time the driver takes to stop moving after the signal has passed is very short – and rolls off at the natural sealed box rate of 12dB/octave below the combined box and driver resonant frequency. This frequency (quoted as the -3dB point for the bass extension) is somewhat higher than a vented alignment, but the roll off below a vented subwoofers -3dB point happens at 24dB/octave. So the vented alignment does stretch deeper, but it rolls off sharper than the sealed box which may have a roll-off that is more in tune with your room gain.

As with Arendal speakers, but even more so because of the even lower frequencies involved, the sealed alignment naturally suits smaller rooms and positions closer to a wall. Room gain really kicks in hard below the rooms lowest resonant frequency, delivering 6-12dB of extra gain per octave below about 40Hz. This dovetails in nicely with the sealed alignment to give a surprisingly extended and naturally flat, in-room response and in the right room, will register output down into room shaking single figure Hertz!

Of course, many will be quick to realise that this extra lift can also add additional bass in rooms that don’t really need it, turning action movie sound tracks into a bombastic bass-fest! We deliver the choices, you use them to suit your taste without worry, because our sophisticated DSP has your back protected.

VENTED BOX

By removing the foam plug from the big slot port on our vented subwoofers, low frequency output can be extended with different bass character. Damping is slightly less optimal than the sealed alignment, but the compensation is sheer sound pressure level. Maximum extension is more or less the same as in sealed operation, but at all audible frequencies, there is a lot more output.