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Enter the Subterfuge from Jupiter Audio. This sub is almost totally unique in the marketplace: enough clean output of low bass for home theaters, and enough musicality for even the most demanding two channel systems. All in a cabinet that doesn't look like it came from an army surplus store. How? Simple, address all the shortcomings of all the other subwoofers in the marketplace. Excellent cabinet quality. Excellent amp section. Excellent woofer. Excellent spikes. So what do other subs do that is so wrong? A number of things, but here are some of my biggest peeves:
(a) not enough power. Say what? The Subterfuge is only rated at 175 watts RMS, what about all those other subs with power ratings of three, four, five hundred watts? Most subwoofers cheat--they use woofers with 3 or 4 ohm nominal impedances to "goose" as much power out of the amp section as possible, and make the numbers look good. Unfortunately, both signal to noise ratio and damping factor suffer as a result, resulting in loose, dirty bass. Blech. The Subterfuge uses an excellent 8 ohm woofer from Peerless in Denmark. There were other woofers I could have used with lower impedances that would have resulted in a higher quoted power rating, but then the sound quality would have suffered, and who the heck wants to spend hard earned cash on that?
(b) The cabinet quality is inadequate. What does this mean? It means the cabinet either looks bad, sounds bad, or both. The Subterfuge is finished in real oak veneer. Sorry, vinyl isn't an option. It also has a feature that I've never seen on any subwoofer at any price: a sand-filled base. Why? The trick with any speaker, and subwoofers in particular, is to allow the cabinet some ability to "breathe", i.e. transmit some energy to the listening area, but not enough to color the sound. A subwoofer generates a lot of energy, and the sand helps bleed some of that off without killing the sound quality the way so-called inert cabinets do. Then, as the coup de grace, robust spikes further drain excess energy into the floor. Personally, I cringe when I see some of the cheesy plastic and rubber feet that many of the currently available subwoofers have. That automatically disqualifies it as an audiophile product.
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(c) Equalization. Another way that subwoofers cheat is buy adding copious amounts of EQ to extend the lower limit of woofer. I'm not going to lie: the Keiga amp module that I use employs some EQ as well, 4 dB at 25 Hz to be exact, but without this the Subterfuge already has a minus 3 dB point of 27 Hz. I have never seen a powered subwoofer quote either the amount of EQ used, nor the unequalized frequency response. And I probably never will. Those guys don't want to tell you that stuff, because it gives you a more legitimate way to gauge the unaccentuated performance of the subwoofer.
So what's the bottom line? The Subterfuge is a great sounding, great looking sub at a very fair price, one that is equally adept at reproducing T. Rex footsteps in a home theater, or T. Rex music in a two channel system.
10 inch, 8 ohm long throw Peerless woofer
175 watt RMS amplifer section
Frequency range: 22 - 200 Hz
Low pass filter section (defeatable) 50 - 100 Hz
High- and low-level inputs and outputs
Curb weight: 85 lbs.
Heavy duty spikes
Base of subwoofer filled with 15 lbs. of sand
Cabinet dimensions: 17" W x 23.5" D x 19.5" D
regular price: $1250 including free shipping anywhere in the continental United States
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