Stereo Integrity Mag v4
12-20-08, 01:48 PM
#1
NorCal 7's Co-founder
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Stereo Integrity Mag v4
Ok, here's my review for the Stereo Integrity Mag v4.
http://stereointegrity.com/mag.php
To start, the Mag is in a 1.25 ft^3 sealed box and seeing 500 watts RMS. I have it LP'd at 50Hz with an 18db/oct slope. The car is an '05 Scion xB and the sub box is in the cargo area in the back right corner of the vehicle. I gave the sub a full week of listening time to break in before doing my test.
The Mag is really a great sub. I have been enjoying how clean it is no matter what music you're listening to or what volume levels you're listen at. There is absolutely zero overhang, every note is clear and well defined. This is a much more efficient sub than I'm used to. I've mentioned it before, but I'll do it again. You don't need 500 watts for this sub to overpower any front stage out there. 300 would more than do the job and make 95% of SQ guys out there happy. But headroom never hurt right? The Mag has incredible authority down low, but can still play up higher without any drawbacks. I had the Mag LP'd as high as 100Hz just to see what it could do and it didn't let me down. Blending this sub to my midbass drivers was a piece of cake. I had a couple of people sit in my car (not really saavy audio guys though) and look very confused as the bass was coming from the center of the dash/windshield. I'd say that was the compliment I had hoped for. For my own listening tests I used the following tracks:
Alice in Chains Unplugged - No Excuses
This song starts with strong kickdrum and it's easy for subs to really sound artificial here. The Mag reproduced each beat perfectly and still maintained a natural sound/feel to the notes. Each note was well centered and in front of me. All the transient passages and the lowest notes from the bass guitar in the song followed this same routine. Everything was precise and as I would want it to be.
Disturbed - Deify
As lots of you know, Disturbed loves the use of their dual kick drums and theirs seem to be tuned lower than most bands. So a sub ends up having to reproduce VERY rapid double kicks. There is a drum solo right around 3:30 of this track. The Mag reproduced everything perfectly. I don't even remember the DIYMA R12, which has been my reference sub for SQ, reproducing that solo as well.
Brian Setzer Orchestra Live in Japan - Caravan
This song is an instrumental with TONS of drums and a stand up bass being some of the focal points in the song. There is not only a lot going on, but it's live and in a large venue. The notes aren't forceful or overpowering at all. Granted, my front stage is doing the majority of work on this recording, but a sub that can't blend or be transparent would really screw things up. The Mag excels here as it blends in just fine. There's a great stand up bass solo where the guy is prodcing notes about as low as stand up can produce. The entire thing sounds real and stays out in front of you no matter the volume level. We're talking LOW bass during this passage, yet the Mag doesn't draw any attention to itself.
Wagner - Ride of the Valkyries
This is a complex piece of music that isn't easy to reproduce well. The Mag showed it's ability to be light and agile during all of the fast paced music, making sure to only add the nuances that were supposed to be there without adding any unrequired heft or force to the notes. On the crescendo passages the tympany drums thundered to life with realism that I've not heard in a long time. This was an incredible track to listen to and gave me chills.
From there I went on to lots of random music to see if I could find a way to strain or trip up the Mag. That didn't happen. I went from White Zombie, to Fear Factory, Lil' John, Michael Jackson, DJ Dara, and ended up with the 1812 Overture. I went through all these tracks at normal volume, then went back through them at a HIGH volume level. Everything came through beautifully. If anything, I just wish my car didn't have so much cabin gain. I have the Mag at -12.5db on my DRZ to keep it blended in with the rest of the system. I guess that's a good problem to have though. This sub just plays what you ask it to play and it stays linear doing it.
I do have one gripe about the sub and that's about the trim ring around the outside of the sub. It's very thick and is fairly difficult to deal with when mounting the sub. I almost put my screwdriver into the surround twice when mounting this thing to the box. I guess I'm just a fan of the old school look though. That's honestly the only negative I have about the sub. All in all, a HUGE thumbs up needs to go out to Nick and the crew at SI. You've got a winner on your hands here!
Zach
http://stereointegrity.com/mag.php
To start, the Mag is in a 1.25 ft^3 sealed box and seeing 500 watts RMS. I have it LP'd at 50Hz with an 18db/oct slope. The car is an '05 Scion xB and the sub box is in the cargo area in the back right corner of the vehicle. I gave the sub a full week of listening time to break in before doing my test.
The Mag is really a great sub. I have been enjoying how clean it is no matter what music you're listening to or what volume levels you're listen at. There is absolutely zero overhang, every note is clear and well defined. This is a much more efficient sub than I'm used to. I've mentioned it before, but I'll do it again. You don't need 500 watts for this sub to overpower any front stage out there. 300 would more than do the job and make 95% of SQ guys out there happy. But headroom never hurt right? The Mag has incredible authority down low, but can still play up higher without any drawbacks. I had the Mag LP'd as high as 100Hz just to see what it could do and it didn't let me down. Blending this sub to my midbass drivers was a piece of cake. I had a couple of people sit in my car (not really saavy audio guys though) and look very confused as the bass was coming from the center of the dash/windshield. I'd say that was the compliment I had hoped for. For my own listening tests I used the following tracks:
Alice in Chains Unplugged - No Excuses
This song starts with strong kickdrum and it's easy for subs to really sound artificial here. The Mag reproduced each beat perfectly and still maintained a natural sound/feel to the notes. Each note was well centered and in front of me. All the transient passages and the lowest notes from the bass guitar in the song followed this same routine. Everything was precise and as I would want it to be.
Disturbed - Deify
As lots of you know, Disturbed loves the use of their dual kick drums and theirs seem to be tuned lower than most bands. So a sub ends up having to reproduce VERY rapid double kicks. There is a drum solo right around 3:30 of this track. The Mag reproduced everything perfectly. I don't even remember the DIYMA R12, which has been my reference sub for SQ, reproducing that solo as well.
Brian Setzer Orchestra Live in Japan - Caravan
This song is an instrumental with TONS of drums and a stand up bass being some of the focal points in the song. There is not only a lot going on, but it's live and in a large venue. The notes aren't forceful or overpowering at all. Granted, my front stage is doing the majority of work on this recording, but a sub that can't blend or be transparent would really screw things up. The Mag excels here as it blends in just fine. There's a great stand up bass solo where the guy is prodcing notes about as low as stand up can produce. The entire thing sounds real and stays out in front of you no matter the volume level. We're talking LOW bass during this passage, yet the Mag doesn't draw any attention to itself.
Wagner - Ride of the Valkyries
This is a complex piece of music that isn't easy to reproduce well. The Mag showed it's ability to be light and agile during all of the fast paced music, making sure to only add the nuances that were supposed to be there without adding any unrequired heft or force to the notes. On the crescendo passages the tympany drums thundered to life with realism that I've not heard in a long time. This was an incredible track to listen to and gave me chills.
From there I went on to lots of random music to see if I could find a way to strain or trip up the Mag. That didn't happen. I went from White Zombie, to Fear Factory, Lil' John, Michael Jackson, DJ Dara, and ended up with the 1812 Overture. I went through all these tracks at normal volume, then went back through them at a HIGH volume level. Everything came through beautifully. If anything, I just wish my car didn't have so much cabin gain. I have the Mag at -12.5db on my DRZ to keep it blended in with the rest of the system. I guess that's a good problem to have though. This sub just plays what you ask it to play and it stays linear doing it.
I do have one gripe about the sub and that's about the trim ring around the outside of the sub. It's very thick and is fairly difficult to deal with when mounting the sub. I almost put my screwdriver into the surround twice when mounting this thing to the box. I guess I'm just a fan of the old school look though. That's honestly the only negative I have about the sub. All in all, a HUGE thumbs up needs to go out to Nick and the crew at SI. You've got a winner on your hands here!
Zach
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