Tek
10+ year member
...
This was posted at SIN forums by Josh99ta and I thought some of you might enjoy the read -
http://forum.soundillusions.net/showthread.php?s=&threadid=25143So I come home from work today and the UPS man has dropped me off a nice little package from Electrodynamic (Nick Lemons), owner of Stereo Integrity. I crack open the box and inside sits a Magnum D2 12.
The setup: Kenwood eXcelon X915 head unit headed to dual Phoenix Gold Tantrum amplifiers, a 300.2 which does 90x2 to a set of JL Audio XR 653CS components up front (1" tweeter in a-pillars playing 6.5 kHz and up, 4" midrange in kickpanels handling 6.5 kHz down to 200 Hz, 6.5" midbass in deadened doors running 200 Hz down to 40 Hz). I've found the JLs to have a nice natural roll off around 60 Hz and crossing them over at 40 Hz doesn't add any distortion, but does help to anchor the stage up front a bit better. For those of you who heard the car at the SoundIllusions East Coast meet, you didn't get to hear this. I've done some tweaking and the car is sounding much better. The SI Magnum is anchoring down the low end crossed over at approximately 60 Hz. It's getting 510w from a Tantrum 500.2 in 1.21 cubes. Onto the sound.
SQ: Dropped in the MECA disc (Focal's Sweet Sixteen) and also the 2001 IASCA disc (track 5 is Superman track, track 17 is drum beats across the stage, think it's 2001). The first thing I noticed was how musical the sub was. It adds quite a bit of fill to the music without pulling the stage back to the rear of the car. Very transparent. It has a very warm, rich sound to it, but at the same time very dry and punchy. Don't think I've ever heard a sub that does both but the Magnum is pulling it off so far. Of particular interest was how transparent and tight the Magnum stay, all the while doing very well on the 18 Hz pedal blast on the IASCA disc's Superman track and the 22 Hz foot tap on MECAs 12th track. This bodes very well for the future.
Rocking out: Cranking up the sub level ever so slightly, a little TOOL on the order of 46&2 and well as AEnema should suffice, both songs have some very fast, deep, tight double bass drum assaults towards the end of the songs and the Magnum D2 reproduced these as flawless as I've ever heard any sub do it. No overhang, no blurring of the drum beats, just intense bass. I also dropped in the first Godsmack album to check tracks 1, 3, all of which the Magnum yet again handled in stride. N.I.C.E.
Wang bang thank you mang Up, up, up the sub level goes as I dropped in a few different things. First on the block was a local Nashville group none of you have ever heard of, and the first time the song dropped my eyes literally did this number My nose went to shaking, my butt got a little massage, and I think I got a little aroused Drop in Lil Jon and Too Short's Couldn't Be A Better Player Than Me. This song has some plain nasty lows just after 4:00 minutes in, and the Magnum D2 could have registered on the Richter scale with all the chaos it was producing. Next up, track 15 on Killer Mike's album, the Akshun Remix, which also have some nice lows as well as some nice higher bass as well. Once again, the Magnum is jarring bones and stirring up my Arbys lunch. LoL
So my intial impressions after some quality time with this sub, in a word, incredible. I can think of alot of other words to describe it too, and I listened to more material than what I've got listed. I'll add on to this review after I have a few days to pick apart the driver, but my initial impressions are VERY good. I hate doing comparisons, but people need stuff to reference off of, and in this exact same box I've had a Brahma 12 and an E12A, all with around the same power, and the loudest of the bunch in the 400w-600w range is the Magnum, with the E12A being next, and the Brahma last. Never had the Magnum or E12A on higher power, but the Brahma held it's on with these two with more juice, it just took twice the juice to get the Brahma going as the other two subs. Tonally the Magnum exhibits all that I loved about the Brahma, and all that I loved about the E12A, without the flaws of either. The Brahma lacked punch in my setup, but had incredible low end. The E12A sounded flat out amazing but it could have stood to be a bit more transparent. As I said the Magnum is tight and dry and also warm and deep all at the same time. I didn't think you could have it all in one sub but apparently you can. Who would have thunk it.
People, get your heads out of WinISD and your eyes off the DUMAX reports and T/S Parameters. Listen with your ears, not your eyes. The Magnum D2 is a real contender in the supersub market, and I think I may have just found my next and final sub to makes it's way into my car and into the comp lanes. Big props to Nick at Stereo Integrity for building such a great product. More people need to give the Magnums a shot. I can't believe I waited this long.
More in depth song by song analysis coming soon when I have some time at night to get out there with a pen and paper, pick the sub apart, and record my every thought. Looks like I'm going to be hard pressed to find many flaws on this one folks.