Review: Subwoofer Offers Massive Low End with Punch

The RCF Sub 8006AS subwoofer puts out some serious low end.>

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Due to my live sound engineer background, I am always looking for new loudspeakers and subwoofers that perform well above their competition. There are only a handful of subwoofers out on the market that perform well above the competition.

I always enjoy finding a sub that provides serious low frequency performance while keeping the bank full. RCF is/has been a leader in loudspeakers and subwoofers, founded in 1949 in Reggio Emilia, Italy. They not only design all their loudspeakers and subwoofers, they also manufacturer/design their own drivers.

RCF recently released their HDL-20A, a high output, extremely cost-effective 2 x 8-inch line array system. There is now a new subwoofer in town and it puts out some serious low end. The Sub 8006AS features 2 x 18-inch low frequency drivers, featuring a 4-inch inside/outside voice coil. This relatively compact size of this sub puts out 2,500 watts RMS and 5,000 watts of peak output power. The sub is powered by a Class D 2,500 watt amp module. We could go on and on about the new design of the drivers, etc., but this is a serious sub!

The question is, how does this sub actually sound?

We recently borrowed a demo unit to take a listen to it and were blown away by the performance of the Sub 8006AS. It reminds me quite a bit of the DB Technologies DVA-S20DP. One of the major differences between the two is the Sub 8006AS features an all new ceramic driver which is much lighter. This sub provides plenty of low end and faithfully reproduces right down to about 30 Hz.

We played a variety of source material through the sub and paired it up with three boxes of HDL20 and NX23L line array boxes. Both paired quite nicely with this sub. The sub sounded great on a wide variety of music sources and gave plenty of chest-pounding bottom. This sub would seem to be a good fit for rock music and work just as well for any genre with plenty of percussion.

The kick drum was solid and penetrating through the 8006AS. It has plenty of horsepower, so for smaller venues, less of these would be required over many of its competition.

Overall the Sub 8006AS is a real winner. The bass is tight, punchy and extremely well balanced. For the price, this is a great box. If you have a chance to check RCF and the Sub 8006AS out at Infocomm 2013, I highly suggest you do!

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