Albumstomp 1 55 – A Powerful Album Design Appropriate

1. Albumstomp 1 55 – A Powerful Album Design Appropriate Performance
2. Albumstomp 1 55 – A Powerful Album Design Appropriate Gift
3. Albumstomp 1 55 – A Powerful Album Design Appropriate Category

1. Almost everyone has designed a poster or flier at some point. Whether it was for self-promotion or a client, posters can be a fun way to present a message and do some interesting things with design. Poster design starts with a common canvas. Common poster sizes are 8.5 by 11-inch letter (o.
2. Mp3 Music Player is one of the most powerful audio player, only for Mp3 music. Support most of audio formats: MP3, MP2, MP1, OGG, WAV, AIFF, MIDI, AAC, AAC, 3GP. With the Mp3 Music Player,You can manage your music easily.Mp3 Music Player will guide you easily to find all the music in your phone. This Mp3 music player is not only based on artists or albums, but also based on the folder.
3. White Noise was easily my favorite album release in all of 2014. There is a reason why this band blew up right after this album dropped. It's incredibly difficult to pick a favorite, or even a least favorite song, because every track is so well done. I am really impressed with how they kept the unique concept of the album consistent with each.

© Provided by What Hi-Fi? Best speakers 2020: budget to premium stereo speakers

Best Speakers Buying Guide: Welcome to What Hi-Fi?'s round-up of the best speakers you can buy in 2020.

Modern designs are our western style photo album designs. They have very few Indian design elements and motifs. The designs are heavily influenced by minimalism. Borders, shapes and frames play an important part in these designs. Please note that we do not use any pre fixed templates and all our designs are designed from scratch.

The best possible stereo sound quality still comes from a pair of speakers – no matter how good one-box wireless speakers might have become. Our round-up of the best stereo speakers you can buy, will ensure you get the best possible sound from your home audio system.

Whether you're on a tight budget or ready to splash the cash, take your pick from our selection of the best stereo speakers for music. We have both floorstanding and bookshelf speakers to recommend, as well as desktop, active and wireless stereo speakers.

So whether you're looking for your first pair of speakers as you build a music system, upgrading an old pair of budget speakers or going for broke with the best speakers your system, room and finances can accommodate, we're here to help. Read on for our round-up of the best hi-fi speakers on the market right now.

How we choose the best speakers

Here at What Hi-Fi? we review hundreds of products every year, including no small amount of speakers of all shapes, sizes and types. So how do we come to our review verdicts? And why can you trust them?

The What Hi-Fi? team has more than 100 years experience of reviewing, testing and writing about consumer electronics. We have state-of-the-art testing facilities in London and Bath, where our team of expert reviewers do all our in-house testing. This gives us complete control over the testing process, ensuring consistency. We always ensure we spend plenty of time with the speakers, trying them with different electronics, in different positions and with different music.

All products are tested in comparison with rival products in the same category, and all review verdicts are agreed upon by the team as a whole rather than a single reviewer, helping to ensure consistency and avoid individual subjectivity.

From all of our reviews, we choose the top products to feature in our Best Buys, such as this one. That's why if you take the plunge and buy one of the products recommended below, or on any of our other Best Buy pages, you can rest assured you're getting a What Hi-Fi?-approved product.

Elac's affordable standmounters are brilliant performers for the money. Solid and unfussy about placement, the Debut B5.2s have the dynamic expression, detail and tonal sophistication to handle anything you throw at them – not to mention enough stretch in their abilities to improve even further when hooked up to a high-end system.

The revised 5.25cm mid/bass unit uses a new blend of aramid fibres for the cone, combined with a different shape to improve stiffness and damping, while the tweeter claims a top-end response of 35kHz, adding plenty of sparkle to proceedings.

Tonally, they don't have the luscious midrange warmth of the comparable Dalis (below), but they're admirably balanced and capable of making the best of any recording – even those of poor quality.

Elac has been in the speaker business since the 1980s and has made many fine products in that time. It's fair to say that these new Debut B5.2 speakers should be considered one of the company's finest efforts. For this sort of money, they're exceptional.

Read the full review:Elac Debut B5.2

The B&W 606 bookshelf speakers feature a typically smart design, come in the perfect medium-sized speaker form, and ultimately deliver an exciting, engaging and perfectly-poised sound.

Building on the all-conquering B&W 685 S2s, the five-star 606s are set to be an even bigger hit. Like other speakers in the esteemed company's 600 range, these use B&W's Continuum cone technology, as seen on the company's more expensive models. Since this is the cheapest range on which the material appears, the 606s are something of a bargain.

Around the back of the speaker, you'll see B&W's Flowport vent and a pair of twin banana plugs for bi-wiring. We found build quality to be excellent throughout, as reflected in the premium price.

A great size and price for anyone with more than a passing interest in music, the 606s will breathe new life into cherished recordings. Their faultless timing, excellent insight and stirring dynamics deliver an upbeat, energetic punchy and punchy performance.

If your budget allows it, the 606s will reward with class-leading levels of detail.

Read the full review: B&W 606

Although in its infancy as a brand, Fyne's seven-strong management team represents a kind of supergroup of industry minds. It has more than 200 years of experience - and delivers results that total the sum of its parts, if the first of its loudspeakers to arrive in our test rooms are anything to go by.

It's rare to find a pair of sub-£500 floorstanders able to compete in every respect with the wealth of quality standmount speakers available at the same price, but the F302s manage to tick all the boxes and more.

Superb all-rounders, they feature a two-way, rear-ported design that houses a 25mm polyester dome tweeter and 15cm multi-fibre mid/bass driver in each cabinets. Build quality is impressive for the money, with a choice of understated wood-effect finishes – described by Fyne as 'superior vinyl'.

Overall, the company has done a sterling job of balancing sound quality with affordability. If you want a pair of floorstanders that won't break the bank, look no further.

Read the full review: Fyne Audio F302

We loved the first Ruark Audio MR1 wireless desktop speakers when they emerged in 2013. The retro looks, the intuitive design, the superb Bluetooth sound – it was a winning combination that earned two successive What Hi-Fi? Awards. Duplicateviewer 3 3 – easy to use duplicate file finder.

For a while the MR1s were toppled from their perch by the gorgeous KEF Eggs. But it was only a matter of time before Ruark Audio unveiled the MR1 Mk2. And sure enough, Ruark Audio is back with a vengeance, having regained its crown for the last couple of years.

These compact bookshelf speakers are packed with features and hugely versatile. Bluetooth apt-X active allows you to stream music to the speakers in CD-like sound quality, an optical inpt means they're easily connected to a TV. Prefer analogue? You can always use the AUX input to partner them with a turntable or plug in some headphones.

The step up in performance in impressive, and the Ruark MR1 Mk2s manage to be even more appealing than their predecessors. Quite simply, these are superb speakers if you're short of space.

Read the full review:Ruark Audio MR1 Mk2

The Q Acoustics 3030is are the largest of the three standmounters in the 3000i range and latest to receive a glowing five-star review.

Give these boxes a few days to settle and they produce a sound that's familiar yet surprisingly muscular compared to other Q Acoustics speakers. Like the other speakers in this 3000 range, these are impressively cohesive performers with a smooth tonal balance and easy-going nature.

There's impressive weight at the low-end, but bass remains well integrated and controlled. Dynamics are impressive and they stay composed when asked to work hard at high volume. Detailed, rhythmic and ultimately rewarding, they're a great addition to the speaker market at this price.

Read the full review: Q Acoustics 3030i

Having given these speakers' smaller siblings a What Hi-Fi? Award at the end of 2019 (you'll see those at the top of the page), we were eager to hear the bigger brothers. And we weren't disappointed.

There's a larger driver here, as well as some changes to the tweeter design and port placement. Inside the cabinet has been further braced for a more rigid structure - reduced resonance and distortion is the aim. They do feel solid as a result, though the style remains simple.

While their looks are understated, and even sonically they refuse to beg for your affection, the Elac B6.2s are mature, transparent performers that confidently outline just what the rest of your system is doing. It is hi-fi mentality at a price that only just nudges into the midrange.

We're big fans of this new Debut series. The B6.2 speakers take what we loved about their Award-winning siblings and build on it with an even fuller-bodied and more mature presentation.

Read the full review: Elac Debut 2.0 B6.2

On paper, there's little to differentiate Dali's new Spektor 2s from any of their main rivals: the speakers stick to the classic budget standmounter formula like Superglue sticks to fingers. They offer everything we would expect from a typical £200/$200 box here, from two-way driver configuration and ported bass tuning right the way through to the 25mm dome tweeter and 13cm mid/bass driver.

But these Dalis are much more than simply the sum of their parts: they ooze sophistication and offer a degree of entertainment that even their most talented rivals struggle to match. Powerful vocals are delivered with nuance and passion, grabbing the listener's attention, and dynamics are handled with subtlety and class. They're particularly composed at high volume, too, which is always an encouraging sign.

Mission and Q Acoustics offer similarly-good options, and both have their relative strengths and flaws. But if Spektor 2s match your budget, these affordable standmounters deserve an audition.

Read the full review: Dali Spektor 2

We've long been fans of Dynaudio's Contour 20 range and the Contour 20i speaker successfully raise the bar. On the surface, little seems to have changed, but start to look closer and the improvements emerge.

There's a revised 28mm Esotar tweeter, which aims to reduce distortion and give the tweeter a smoother, flatter frequency response, and a new suspension for the 18cm mid/bass driver. Dynaudio has also been able to deliver a simpler crossover network.

Now these speakers aren't cheap and you should only be considering them if you have a system with components of similar quality (and, as a result, similar price). But if you do have such a hi-fi set-up, then you can enjoy what the Contour 20i speakers have to offer.

Perhaps what you'll notice first, is impressively powerful bass, with a sense of weight and punch that seems out of keeping with a box of this size. Yet, despite this rich and full-bodied approach to lows, these boxes still have enough in the way of agility and tunefulness to satisfy. There's authority, scale and class-leading insight, whether dealing with subtle, delicate moments or songs requiring soaring dynamics.

It's a competitive price-point, with a number of supremely capable contenders, but when it comes to delivering music that sounds rhythmical and cohesive, these Dynaudio speakers are very hard to beat.

Read the full Dynaudio Contour 20i review

These are the biggest and priciest offerings in the Wharfedale's Evo range and are packed full of so much technology that we had to double-check the price. The Air Motion Transformer tweeter is normally reserved for much more expensive speakers, while the dome midrange and twin Kevlar bass drivers also set these floorstanders apart from the crowd.

It won't come as a surprise that these relatively big speakers produce a large-scale sound with plenty of authority that's capable of going nice and loud. But they also deliver transparency and subtlety, helping to ensure a natural, easy-going presentation.

There are three finish options – black, white and walnut. Build quality is good for the price, and the elegant curves of the cabinet add a touch of class. Some clever bracing and damping minimise resonance.

Rivals such as the excellent Fyne Audio F501s might sound a little more exciting, but over a longer listen the Evo 4.4's easier-going presentation is more natural and convincing. A superb pair of premium floorstanders that get better with every listen.

Read the full review: Wharfedale Evo 4.4

For much of the last decade our default choice for the best sub-thousand pound floorstander was a Q Acoustics model, which in the company's current range, is the 3050i speakers. But no more.

In the Oberon 5, Dali has delivered a brilliant alternative, one that is an even better buy – despite a £50 price premium and substantial size deficit.

There are no magic ingredients here, no bleeding-edge technology to explain the Oberon 5s' talented performance – just skilful engineering and steady refinements over the course of many years. Standing a mere 83cm high, they manage to sound notably larger than they are, offering a great sense of fun, dynamic subtlety and rhythmic precision.

These well-constructed speakers are brilliantly musical and will fit into most rooms with ease.If you have a large room, the Q Acoustics 3050is would be worth auditioning, but in most other circumstances the Dalis' greater sense of fun gets our vote. You won't be disappointed.

Read the full review: Dali Oberon 5

We're surprised that a brand like Revel hasn't made a bigger impact on the UK speaker market. All the ingredients for success seem to be in place; the products are well made, solidly engineered and, in our experience, tend to sound good.

The results speak for themselves: the M16s are a bundle of fun. Sure, they may not be the most refined choice around, but they entertain in a way few price rivals can match.

Spec is standard fare for the price, with a 25mm dome tweeter and a ported 16cm mid/bass drive in each box. The speakers are single-wired, but the upside is you can concentrate on a single pair of good quality speaker cables rather than splitting your money between two cheaper alternatives.

Fire them up and it's clear that Revel's engineers have worked hard to optimise those fairly unremarkable ingredients. Sound is expansive and enthusiastic, refusing to doesn't harden at high volumes. There's no lack of authority and presentation, either.

They may not be the most refined speakers, but if you want large-scale dynamics, you came to the right place. In that sense, these speakers can stand toe-to-toe with the best sub-thousand pound standmounters.

Read the full review: Revel Concerta2 MI6

Essentially, the Rubicon 2 Cs are an amalgamation of Dali's five-star Rubicon 2 passive speakers (they borrow the drivers and cabinet construction) and the 2018 Callisto active speakers, from which they take the company's capable Class D amplifier technology as well as the third box in the set-up, the Dali Sound Hub.

The Sound Hub is essentially the brains of the system – a streaming preamp that connects to the speakers wirelessly. There are two opticals and a coaxial feeding a Burr Brown PCM1796 DAC, a pair of stereo RCAs, a 3.5mm socket and aptX HD Bluetooth. It also supports the BluOS streaming platform, which supports the likes of Spotify, Tidal and Qobuz, and will connect to other BluOS wireless multi-room devices (such as Bluesound).

Sonically, the Rubicon 2 Cs' presentation is wonderfully cohesive across the frequencies: highs, lows and mids are distinctly defined, yet never stray from their seemingly effortless coordination with one another. Such seamless integration is complemented by a pleasing tonal balance that's solid through the midrange and bass and crisp up top. Vocal delivery is a speciality of the Dalis thanks to the sheer warmth and clarity offered.

Turning a great pair of passive speakers into a great active wireless system is no easy feat but Dali has done a fine job of it here.

Read the full review: Dali Rubicon 2 C

Boxshot ultimate 5 0 85. Bitperfect 3 2 0 1. French audio brand Triangle has come up trumps with the Borea BR03s. These sophisticated standmounters deliver a huge sense of scale, much larger than rivals such as the formidable B&W 607s, and boast impressive separation to boot.

There's detail and insight across the frequency range and, given their size, the quantity of bass is perfectly acceptable. Even better, where previous Triangle speakers may have sounded hard or bright, these are perfectly balanced.

The BR03s are the largest of two pairs of standmounters in the Borea range and boast a distinctive design that's finished to a decent standard. They stand 31cm tall and feature a 25mm silk dome tweeter sat above a 16cm midrange/bass paper driver. Single-wiring is the order of the day, with a neat pair of terminals for 4mm banana plugs on the rear of each cabinet

Overall, the Borea BR03 are savvy musical performers with a great sense of scale and an even greater appetite for presenting music in a transparent and mature manner. Well worthy of your consideration.

Read the full review: Triangle Borea BR03

It's difficult to think of an amplifier/passive speakers combo that could better these Acoustic Energy active speakers for the money – they do everything with a flourish.

And that's not only by the standards of directly competing active speaker alternatives, but also by what we've been able to achieve in any price-comparable amp/speakers combination.

Each drive unit is driven by a dedicated 50W class A/B power amplifier module, while dials at the back of each cabinet allow for treble adjustment and bass cut up or down by 2dB.

Unlike the Ruark Audio MR1 Mk2s (above), there's no built-in Bluetooth. If you want to stream music to them wirelessly, you'll need to attach a separate module – such as a pre-amp or streamer with wireless capability – post-purchase.

It's rare to find a pair of active speakers at this price that leave us struggling to come up with alternative separates that can match their talents. You owe it to yourself to track down a pair to discover that for yourself.

Read the full review: Acoustic Energy AE1 Active

Such has been the consistency of B&W's design approach that it's easy to dismiss recent generations of the 800 series as just more of the same. The general look has hardly changed over the last decade or so, and those curved cabinets have gone from looking futuristic to almost classical, though they still look attractive.

This B&W 805 D3, which we reviewed back in 2017, hardly goes out of its way to dispel the ‘more of the same' notion, but start delving and you'll find B&W's engineers have left little unturned in their bid to improve performance.

Every aspect of the Diamond dome tweeter has been redesigned, while this was the first B&W speaker to move from Kevlar to Continuum material for the mid/bass driver. There's now a front-facing port and of course the design looks as elegant as ever.

Sonically, it's a superbly focused image, nicely layered and stable. These B&Ws sound open and dynamic, and while best when really pushed they can do subtle and finesse, too. In fact, levels of low-level detail are class-leading. Though the price of the 805s has crept up over the years, this latest generation is without doubt the most capable we've heard.

Read the full B&W 805 D3 review

Entry-level is a relative term. In Wilson Benesch's world, it refers to the new Precision range, which includes these not-remotely-cheap P1.0 speakers. Happily, there's plenty of clever engineering inside to justify the high price.

While most speakers are made from MDF, these cabinets are a hybrid construction of aluminium and birch plywood. The drive units are no less exotic. The mid/bass driver uses an Isotactic Polypropylene cone driven by a powerful, heavily optimised Neodymium motor system, while the 25mm soft dome Leonardo tweeter borrows its construction from the much pricier Geometry series, and has a 3D-printed, elaborately-shaped faceplate to reduce distortion.

The looks aren't to everyone's tastes, but there's no debate when it comes to performance. Provided you feed them a signal of appropriate quality, and partner them realistically, they won't fail to impress. These are insightful and composed performers that work well across a wide range of musical genres.

Top it off with a balanced, integrated and dynamic sound, and you have a pair of speakers that set sky-high standards for the price.

Read the full review: Wilson Benesch Precision P1.0

Part of the company's premium R series, the R3s offer a large chunk of the pricier Reference 1's engineering content and sonic performance at a fraction of the cost.

And that's a winning combination. The R3s are brilliant all-rounders and arguably the most complete standmounters available at this price. At the heart of the speakers sits KEF's distinctive Uni-Q driver array. While it may look like a single drive unit, it's a two-way arrangement where the tweeter is set into the midrange driver, in an effort to improve dispersion and integration.

Aside from the terrific build quality and finish, it's the sonics that set these speakers apart. They deliver a level of detail and insight that outclasses most rivals, and have an even-handed nature that gives them exceptional balance.

The R3s work well across a wide range of systems, but give them a top class feed and they will deliver a sound good enough to worry most standmounters below the two grand mark. This is one to buy with confidence.

Read the full review: KEF R3

It's been a few years since we last reviewed a ProAc speaker. Having spent some time with the new Response DT8 floorstanders, we wish it hadn't been so long.

We have no complaints when it comes to build, which is as good as we've come to expect from ProAc. The 98cm tall cabinet feels immensely solid, and is blessed with crisp edges and neatly applied wood veneer.

You'll notice that the DT8s use two different types of 16.5cm mid/bass driver working in tandem. The idea is to get the best of all worlds - a polypropylene cone in the top unit shoots for natural mids, while a stiff poly mica diaphragm in the lower to deliver powerful-but-articulate bass. The trick is to get the two working seamlessly, which isn't easy.

While not perfect, these towers turn in as musically cohesive a performance as we've heard around this price. Slightly odd appearance aside, we really like these speakers. They deliver such an entertaining sound we can't help but recommend them. Take a bit of care with system-matching and they will impress.

Read the full review: ProAc Response DT8

The big brothers of the A-Line series, these A7s are superb floorstanders that sound great, look great and are compact enough to fit into most homes.

Build quality is of a high standard, with crisp edges and impeccably smart wood veneer finishes in a choice of black ash, dark walnut or natural oak – there's also a satin white option (for an additional fee).

Each speaker has an 18cm mid/bass driver and a 22mm tweeter with a wide surround to disperse the sound even further. Performance is refined yet entertaining, combining stunning precision, clarity and subtlety with hugely enjoyable dynamics and rhythm. They time with pinpoint accuracy and are immensely transparent – without straying into 'clinical-sounding' territory.

It's worth taking care when partnering them, though. The A7s will work happily with most capable amplifiers, but something like the powerful-yet-poised Roksan Blak amplifier (£2800) will add a touch more warmth to the overall sound.

If you're in the market for a new pair of top-notch floorstanding speakers, these elegant Spendor A7s should make their way to the top of your list.

Read the full review: Spendor A7

The 600 Series is the most affordable range in B&W's catalogue of stereo speakers and, standing just 30cm tall, the 607s are the smallest and most affordable stereo pair in the line-up. And for a pair of standmount speakers costing less than £400, you'd do well to beat them. These B&W speakers are energetic, insightful and riotously entertaining.

To those familiar with B&W's previous 600 Series speakers, the most obvious difference is the lack of iconic yellow drivers. B&W's instantly-recognisable Kevlar cones have been replaced by silver Continuum units first seen in the high-end 800 Series.

And judging by the performance, it's worked a treat. Snappy timing is combined with plenty of punch, detail and textural insight. What's more, these standmounters are capable of deeper and more authoritative bass response than their diminutive form would suggest.

The larger 606s (above) sound predictably bolder and richer, but for those on a tighter budget, the 607s offer many of same (instantly likeable) talents at more accessible price.

Read the full review: B&W 607

Never heard of Fyne Audio? Don't feel bad or in any way out of the loop - this is a new company. The F501s are an extremely confident calling-card, and it's testament to their ability that they picked up a What Hi-Fi? Award back in 2018, the firm's first year of business.

At 98cm tall, the F501s are of unremarkable dimensions and offer decent build quality and finish for £1200 floorstanders. They're sturdily made, with chunky locking spikes and MDF-beneath-real-wood-veneer cabinets. There's some interesting technical details, too. The tweeter – a rigid titanium dome – sits in the throat of the mid-bass driver in an arrangement Fyne is calling IsoFlare.

All pretty impressive for a company that started from scratch, but it's the sound that really enthralled us. The F501s deliver unified tonality, plenty of dynamic prowess and exceptional timing for the money. Treble is assertive, to say the least, but never hardens. And while the 501s lay out every last scrap of detail, they remain wonderfully coherent and musical.

A 'Fyne' buy – and fantastic value for money.

Read the full review: Fyne Audio F501

There are some great high-end speakers on the market, but most of them need larger rooms to shine. So, what if you have a generous budget, but a compact listening space? We think we've found the answer in Audiovector's R1 Arreté.

Not only are they great as they are but they can also be upgraded. The speakers can be returned to the factory for conversion to either the Avantgarde or the range-topping Arreté spec we have here. The changes are wholesale, involving better drive units, higher-spec crossovers and even improvements to the cabinet, depending on the level chosen.

The Arreté specification represents the pinnacle of Audiovector's technology. It features an open-backed version of the company's in-house AMT (Air Motion Transformer) tweeter. The 16.5cm carbon fibre cone mixes aramid fibres with artificial wood resin to create a well-damped but rigid structure. The claim is of improved resolution and dynamics over alternatives. A carefully calibrated crossover network links the two drivers.

There's no shortage of excellent rivals at this price level. KEF's Reference 1s sound even more authoritative and are capable of greater tonal neutrality. Equally, Bowers & Wilkins 805 D3s have a sweeter top-end coupled to an impressive degree of resolution while Dynaudio's Contour 20s take a more muscular approach.

Yet, even against such talented (and larger) competition, we think these Audiovectors posses an utterly convincing blend of talents, particularly their musical cohesion, expressive dynamics and rhythmic nature. If you have a smaller listening room, we would argue they deserve top spot on your shortlist.

Read the full review: Audiovector R1 Arreté

It's testament to Acoustic Energy's AE309s that by the time we had finished running these speakers in, we'd almost forgotten that we'd swapped them for our usual ATC reference speakers. And that is some compliment.

We think they look great and they have a slim, room-friendly profile. The tweeters have been developed specially for Acoustic Energy's 300 series, using the company's Wide Dispersion Technology waveguides to better match dispersion to the woofers, with the aim of widening the listening sweet spot.

The result is a versatile pair of floorstanders with range and scale beyond their relatively modest dimensions. Sonically, they're musical and dynamic, with the bonus of plenty of bass weight. They're fun, too, delivering a sound that's as enjoyable as anything we've heard at this price.

The Fyne F501s (above) deliver a bit more space and detail, but if you're in the market for something of this size and price, the AE309s should be on your shortlist.

Read the full review: Acoustic Energy AE309

JTR Captivator RS1

• Product Name: Captivator RS1 Subwoofer
• Manufacturer: JTR
• Performance Rating:
• Value Rating:
• Review Date:August 09, 2020 12:00
• MSRP:$2,599

• Frequency +/- 3db: 16-157hz (under 10hz in-room performance)
• Alignment: Sealed
• Driver: ultra-low distortion 18″ subwoofer with 35.5mm Xmax each way, +4″ peak to peak
• Amplifier: 2400 watts RMS, class D, DSP optimized
• Dimensions (HxWxD): 21″x21″x18″ (HxWxD)
• Weight: 117 lbs.
• Construction: 18mm, 13ply, void-free, Baltic Birch
• Exterior Finish: Matte black lacquer paint designed to benon-light reflective for home theater
• Connectors: RCA and XLR
• Optional 3200 watt amplifier with 240v input +$300
• Warranty: 5-year Manufacturer defect (amplifier 3 years)

Pros

• High output across entire bass range
• Real infrasonic output
• Extremely low distortion
• Great time-domain behavior
• Tremendous performance for enclosure size

RS1 Subwoofer Introduction

Among home theater enthusiasts, JTR Speakers has carved a name out itself as the go-to subwoofer manufacturer for high-output at ultra-low frequencies. If you want serious bass in the lowest part of the audible frequency spectrum, JTR Speakers is the first name that crops up in any discussion of capable brands. It was that reputation for deep bass performance that made me leap at a chance to review a JTR subwoofer. In for review today we have the Captivator RS1. The Captivator RS1 is the smallest sub that JTR makes, but that doesn't mean it is a weakling. With a high-excursion 18' woofer and a 2,400-watt amplifier, this 'entry-level' sub from JTR is far more powerful than the flagship subs from most other subwoofer manufacturers. At $2,600, the RS1 is not an inexpensive sub, so what is it doing that commands that kind of price tag? Let's dig in to find out…

Appearance

The RS1 comes shipped in a double corrugated box with 2' thick polyethylene foam pieces in 500 lbs.- rated packing, so it is well-protected against rough shipping conditions. Upon unpacking, we can see the RS1 doesn't make a point of looking fancy. The aesthetic of the RS1 is very much a matter of function over form, and not much concession is given to making the sub pretty or stylish. That isn't to say it looks bad; on the contrary, I like its simplicity. It is a simple black oblong shape with somewhat rounded edges and an 18' driver mounted on the front. It is finished in a somewhat coarse matte black that is designed to be non-light reflective for dedicated home theater rooms. It is not a small subwoofer by most people's standards, but it could probably disappear in the corner of many rooms thanks to its muted color, especially in lower lighting conditions. A grille is provided to mask the driver which makes the sub look even less conspicuous, but for those who like the show of force of the high-excursion 18' driver, it does have that, sans grille. The massive driver has a very large surround encircling a smooth black cone with a carbon-fiber dustcap in the center. This is a subwoofer that looks like it means business.

Design Analysis

Albumstomp 1 55 – A Powerful Album Design Appropriate Performance

The JTR Captivator RS1 is a powerful sub but, as with many other sealed subwoofers, it is not a tremendously complex design. It mounts a powerful 18' driver into an optimally-sized cabinet and feeds it plenty of power. The more noteworthy aspects of this construction are in the details of the components. The driver design, for example, has gone to great lengths to control inductance. Inductance has long been the enemy of linearity and thus fidelity in subwoofer drivers. Inductance is voltage that is produced by the change in the electromagnetic field from the motion of the voice coil. It runs counter to the electric current being dumped into the coil by the amplifier and in doing so it diminishes output, especially in higher frequency ranges. Inductance also contributes to distortion quantities. It is a serious problem in really massive subwoofer drivers that have a lot of voice coil such as is used in the RS1. To combat inductance, JTR has added a 400-gram aluminum shorting ring in the motor which can help short out the induced voltage. The result should be a more even frequency response with more output in mid-bass frequencies as well as less even-order distortion over the entire frequency range.
The driver motor is a sight to behold with a stack of three 1' thick and 8 ¾' diameter magnets. It is attached to a very sturdy cast aluminum basket, and venting is done underneath the spider. The cone is a paper/kevlar blend with a real carbon-fiber dustcap. It is attached to the frame by a very large half-roll treated-foam surround. The claimed 35.5mm linear one-way throw is definitely plausible from examining the driver. The driver is mounted in a baltic birch plywood cabinet. Baltic birch is multiple times stronger than the standard MDF that most subwoofer cabinets are made of. Due to this fact, not as much mass is needed, so the side panels and braces are only ¾' thick. That helps to save weight since MDF is heavier, and it makes the RS1 a lot easier to physically manage. Internal bracing consists of some panels that run from the front baffle to back panel, -which helps to brace the side walls as well as strengthening the front baffle that holds the massive driver. The inside of the cabinet is lined with wool which the sub's designer Jeff Parmanian has found to be a very good damping material. The feet are some sturdy rubber rings that could help to damp cabinet vibrations from transferring to the floor.

The amplifier is a monster 2,400 RMS Class-D plate amp by SpeakerPower that has a claimed 90% efficiency. JTR provides an option to upgrade to 3,200 watts with a 240v input for those who want to get the very most output out of the driver. It has an XLR input and output in addition to two RCA inputs. The controls are simple with knobs for gain, crossover frequency, ‘LF Adjust' which can cut or boost the low end, and a delay knob which can add up to 20ms of delay. This is a very useful feature for those deploying multiple subwoofers connected to an AV receiver or processor that lacks independent delay settings for more than one subwoofer.
A heavy-duty driver, an enormously powerful amp, and a well-conceived enclosure: it is an ingredients list for a great sub. The driver and amp are assembled in the USA and the cabinet is built in the USA, so, unlike so many other subs that we review here at Audioholics, this is a homegrown product. The question now is how well does this subwoofer do its job? Let's give it a listen to find out…

Listening Sessions

The best placement for a single sub in my room gives me a relatively flat response for an un-EQ'd single subwoofer, with a window of +/- 4 dB from 25 Hz to 100 Hz with no broad dips in important ranges. This location trades low-end room gain for a relatively flat response, a worthwhile trade for my tastes. The receiver used was a Pioneer Elite SC-55 and the crossover was used mostly at 80 Hz. As luck would have it, the room next to my listening room had an unused 20-amp circuit, so I took a large gauge extension cord and ran the line in for the RS1, so it could reach its full potential and did not have to share power with any other devices. Jeff from JTR informed us that the RS1s will work fine on a non-dedicated line as long as you have at least 6.4 amps of current available. As always, I will note here that since room acoustics have a huge effect on low frequencies, the way these subwoofers sound in my room at my listening position is not necessarily going to be the way they sound anywhere else for anyone else, so readers would do well to keep that in mind, and not just for this subwoofer in this review, but for any subwoofer in any review.

Music Listening

The type of acoustic music that stands the most to gain from the addition of a subwoofer is, as many would guess, pipe organ music, and that is why pipe organ music is so frequently used in subwoofer reviews. No other natural instrument can match the pipe organ for low-frequency extension or power. One of the most famous and most elaborate pipe organs in the world is the pipe organ of the Notre-Dame de Paris cathedral which has been a home to pipe organs since 1330. The current organ was installed in the mid-eighteenth century although it has gone through many changes and restorations since then. It features five keyboards, 115 stops, and nearly 8,000 pipes and is the largest organ in France. It was a minor miracle then that the tragic fire of Notre Dame de Paris in April of 2019 left it relatively unscathed. In light of this miracle, I thought it would be appropriate to select an album of recordings from this organ, and a good one that I found on Qobuz is ‘Trois Siècles d'orgue à Notre Dame de Paris' performed by the current resident organist at Notre Dame de Paris, Olivier Latry. The music is selected compositions by former organists at Notre Dame de Paris, so this album is a celebration of the heritage of this colossal instrument. The production quality is superb, with a 96kHz/24bit recording quality, as one would expect from a recording of this scale.

Many of the tracks here do not really touch subwoofer-range frequencies, but the ones that do can have a soul-rattling resonance. It can be a powerful sensation to hear what an organ can really do, so how close of an approximation can the RS1 get? To answer that question one way, I wasn't willing to push it to its limits which was clearly above that of the speakers I was using. The speakers, the Definitive Technology Demand D15s, are no wimps, but I pushed them as far as I felt was safe, yet the RS1 was just stretching its legs. That isn't to say it wouldn't blend in well with the speakers, but rather the RS1 is not going to be the dynamic range bottleneck of all but the most extreme audio systems. While the sub's dynamic range was not in doubt, its ability to articulate the notes and harmonic texture of the pipes was excellent as well. Lower notes could be individually discerned as opposed to an indiscriminate rumble that lesser subs will sum all of the low frequencies into. The RS1 gave a solid and convincing foundation to the music of the pipe organ at the Notre Dame de Paris. Those pipe organ music lovers who tend toward spirited listening levels would not go wrong with the JTR Captivator RS1. It is a rare sealed subwoofer that is as much at home in very deep frequencies as it is in mid-bass and more common musical bass frequency ranges.
For those who enjoy dark ambient music, a label that has grown in popularity within this subgenre is Cryo Chamber which has released many albums that have some kind of unsettling theme such as Lovecraftian or deep space isolation or post-apocalyptic. It was founded by Simon Heath who also records music under a few stage names, among them Atrium Carceri. In exploring the music from this label, one album that I found made heavy and varied use of deep frequencies is Atrium Carceri's ‘Kapnobatai.' The music in ‘Kapnobatai' sounds like the score to a Clive Barker horror movie. It is creepy and unnerving but, being ambient music, it is not over-the-top or loud. It is the music score to a nightmare dreamscape, and as such, calls on deep bass to help conjure the gloomy mental imagery intended by the artist.
So how well does the RS1 plumb the depths within this album? There was no question that the RS1 had an adequate dynamic range for this album, but the music uses many different low-frequency sounds, often simultaneously, and I thought it would be a good test of the subwoofer's precision to hear how well these sounds could be kept separate. There is a multitude of drones, atmospheric thunder, reverberant percussive sounds, and electronic growling noises, and all dip well into subwoofer frequency bandwidth. The RS1 was deft in its ability to keep all these sounds apart. Everything sounded vivid, and this richly textured bass was expressed with clarity and exactitude. A lesser sub might have made a muddy mess out of this plethora of low-frequency sounds, but the RS1 is able to individuate them with very good definition. Of course, at the RS1's pricing, one has the right to expect this level of performance, but verification is always nice. ‘Kapnobatai' is an album that creates an atmosphere of dread, but an authoritative foundation is needed to back up its threat, and the Captivator RS1 gave this album a rock-solid foundation.
I had recently binge-watched the ‘Westworld' series on HBO, and one thing that stayed with me was the exotic electronic music from season 3. ‘Westworld' fans know that the show took a pretty big shift in season 3, and while that elicited a mixed reaction from fans, I quite enjoyed it. The music, by Ramin Djawadi, relies far more on futuristic electronic sounds along with traditional orchestral instruments, which is appropriate given the change in setting. It helps to give season 3 an aura of mystery, and it propels the action with pulse-pounding tension. Of course, as with the first two seasons, there are instrumental covers woven into the score such as David Bowie's ‘Space Oddity,' Guns'N'Roses' ‘Sweet Child O' Mine,' and Bjork's ‘Hunter.' Given the bass-heavy nature of the mix, I figured that it would be good to hear it reproduced on a sub as capable as the RS1.
Bass is such a prominent factor in the ‘Westworld' season 3 music score that a good subwoofer is a must-have in order to do it justice. Watching the show would be a very different and certainly lesser experience if one had to rely on built-in TV speakers. The RS1 was very capable of expressing the variety of low-frequency sounds in this music, whether that be the electronic bass line, the thunderous bass drums, or the more subtle humming element of the lead instrument. Some tracks used a bass guitar which the RS1's gave a tangible thickness but without becoming overbearing. The RS1 can certainly achieve the delicate balance of being strong without dominating the overall sound, but that does require self-restraint on the part of the user where the temptation is always there to let it go nuts by running it super-hot relative to the main speakers. That is fun for a bit since the RS1 is so capable in dynamic range, but running it like that also obscures the high-fidelity sound that the RS1 is also capable of. This becomes very apparent in the ‘Westworld' season 3 music score as tracks jump from electronic pieces to instrumental pieces. I bumped up the bass for a bit more thump on the electronic music but then when the album hit acoustic music of traditional pieces, they didn't sound quite right given the excess bass. The lesson here is that when you have a sub as powerful as the RS1, it is easy to get carried away, so don't forget calibrated settings that you can quickly switch back to for a more natural sound when it is called for.

But enough with achieving a delicate balance for a pristine tonality; it was time to rock. For that purpose, I put on a rambunctious album of electronic music from the Drum'N'Bass genre entitled ‘Force Black' by the artist Current Value (released by the label Bad Taste Recordings). Current Value produces music from the harder end of the Drum'N'Bass spectrum and is not shy about using prodigious amounts of bass. This music is characterized by very rapid percussion, a pummeling bassline, twisted hooks, and ominous samples The previous albums I had listened to thus far with this subwoofer were more about assessing qualitative factors than quantitative ones, so now I wanted to see what the sub could do when I pushed the pedal to the metal. I ran the sub 6dB hot and left it there. There was no going back now.

Of course, I knew the RS1 could rock, but the question was how hard could it rock? The answer: Very. The bass was positively visceral. ‘Force Black' is comprised of six tracks, and each track was a different kind of ass-kicking. Enduring ‘Force Black' at high levels with such a powerful sub felt like going round after round with a heavy-weight boxer. The kick drums were like jabs to my face, and the bass line attacks were like punches to the gut. If that album were any longer, I would have been KO'd. Of course, the RS1 was quite nonchalant about the beating that I was enduring. I didn't get a sense of any distortion or compression on its behalf, and it was just as comfortable at these loud levels as it was at sane listening levels. The RS1 delivered the percussion with superb transient behavior, and I didn't hear any overhang or smearing of attacks or decays. In the end, I tried to push the RS1 to the limit but rather found my own limits instead (I also found the limits of one of the bass drivers of the speakers I was using as it had developed a buzz after this listening session- oops!) After the album was done, I realized that I had been tensing muscles throughout my body for the entire time as if bracing for the assault, and so I felt a bit drained afterward. It was a bruising and traumatic experience to listen to ‘Force Black' for the album's half-hour running time at very loud levels with JTR Captivator running extra hot, but I loved every second of it. Anyone who enjoys their electronic music loud can not go wrong with the RS1.

Movie Watching

One movie that was recommended to me on account of the energetic sound mix is Netflix's 2019 action movie ‘6 Underground.' The over-the-top sound mix is not surprising seeing as how Micheal Bay is the director, and many of Bay's previous films have been a buffet of low-frequency sound. ‘6 Underground' concerns the exploits of a team of ‘ghosts,' skilled individuals who have faked their deaths to form a group of international vigilantes. The story, insofar that it matters, is about these ghosts fighting a corrupt and brutal government' spy agency abroad. There is a lot of big-budget mayhem in this Ryan Reynolds-starring vehicle, so I thought it would be a good test of the RS1's ability to deliver a movie-going experience. After watching the movie, I didn't expect to like it as much as I did, having long-since written Bay off as a director who makes the kind of movies I am interested in. It is excessive and far-fetched, but once you accept the silliness, the action scenes are undeniably well-staged and well-filmed.

Albumstomp 1 55 – A Powerful Album Design Appropriate Gift

An effects-driven movie like ‘6 Underground' benefits far more from higher-performing audio and video reproduction equipment than say a character study or a chamber drama, and so a beefy sub like the RS1 is crucial to getting the most out of the viewing experience. The RS1 gave life to the many explosions and car crashes, making them a tactile experience as well as an aural and visual experience. The music was a mixture of pop hits along with an original orchestral and electronic score, and it brought its own hefty dose of bass duties for the subwoofer to tackle, but it was reproduced with verve for a real big-screen feel. The RS1 provided a punchy and sensational low-end to this sound mix. Even though it is a sealed sub, I never felt that its deep bass abilities were lacking. Most sealed subs do give up a bit of output in deep bass, but the RS1's driver just has so much displacement ability that it can provide deep bass output on par with many of the ported subs that I am accustomed to. I watched ‘6 Underground' at a higher loudness level than I normally would, but even so, I didn't think I pushed the RS1 near its limits. If you just want a subwoofer that has headroom to spare for the peace of mind of never running out of dynamic range, the RS1 is truly a solid option.
In spite of having used many comic book movies as demo material for a lot of my reviews of speakers and subwoofers, I am not really really a comic book movie fan. But since so many of the latest big effects-driven movies are based on comics, it can't really be avoided if you want to check out the films with sound mixes of the highest production quality. Nonetheless, it normally takes a good deal of persuading to get me to watch these movies. One such movie that I was hounded into seeing was ‘Guardians of Galaxy,' a Marvel movie set in outer space about a rag-tag group of bounty hunters who have to prevent a powerful villain from gaining possession of a world-destroying weapon. With all kinds of spaceships and superweapons, a movie like this should have plentiful bass content for the RS1 to chew on. And so I put in the Blu-ray with lowered expectations for all but the dynamic range of the sound mix.
The movie itself turned out to be a pleasant surprise, and it also delivered on the promise of heavy bass action. The RS1 gave the movie a bottomless well of dynamic range to draw upon. All of the exotic weapons, super-powered fights, and spaceship battles had the full effect intended by the sound mix. The bass of the epic orchestral score by Taylor Bates was also fully realized and kept separate from the effects sounds. As with so much else reproduced on the RS1, the low-frequency output was not just an audible quantity but a tangible one. That it is as much a tactile transducer as it is an audio transducer is evident throughout many of the action scenes. Laser blasts and spaceship explosions shook my sofa with a resounding force. The RS1 helped to render the cosmic scale of Guardians of the Galaxy by effortlessly conveying the deepest bass of the film's sound mix which reached well under humanly audible frequencies.

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Recent Forum Posts:

@shadyJ , Either JTR has a typo on their spec sheet or I don't know what I thought I knew !!!

• Driver: ultra-low distortion 18? subwoofer with 35.5mm Xmax each way, +4? peak to peak
  

So, don't you just add Xmax each way to get the peak to peak value?
If so, the peak to peak value is 71mm which is a little shy of 3'!

Albumstomp 1 55 – A Powerful Album Design Appropriate Category

4' would require ~101.6mm (rounding to 25.4mm = 1' for conversion calc)

Don't get me wrong, 3' is impressive, but it's not 4'!Post Reply