Rythmik Audio F12

[Deleted]

Anyone own one of these? I'm starting to seriously consider one. It looks like one could save some money and get the A300 amp on either the F12 or F15...hhhmmmm..

www.rythmikaudio.com/F12.html

This is the F15

[ntrain42]

Jan 9, 2010 17:46:12 GMT -5 neekos said:

Anyone own one of these? I'm starting to seriously consider one. It looks like one could save some money and get the A300 amp on either the F12 or F15...hhhmmmm..

www.rythmikaudio.com/F12.html

This is the F15

Looks like you already made your choice, but there is nothing from eD that will compare musically to a rythmik sub. I sold off my eD subs(2 A5s-300's) to a forum member here at a big loss so I could pick up the D15SE. Best move I made this year.

You want lots of output? eD is a good choice though regardless, you will get plenty of that.

Rythmik is about getting every last detail and nuance out of the bass information its fed.........down to a whopping 14hz. You get what you pay for. And Rythmik uses top notch custom drivers, custom hand built servo controlled class A/B amp sections and a high quality furniture grade enclosure.

[Deleted]

Yeah, but I'm not completely sold on whether they will handle h/t duties as they should. I spoke with Brian (Rythmik's owner) and he told me the F12 can bottom out at certain levels and so he recommends the F15 to people for serious h/t.

[ntrain42]

Feb 8, 2010 19:29:03 GMT -5 neekos said:

Yeah, but I'm not completely sold on whether they will handle h/t duties as they should. I spoke with Brian (Rythmik's owner) and he told me the F12 can bottom out at certain levels and so he recommends the F15 to people for serious h/t.

Yep, I agree, the 15" is the way to go. You get 3-5db more output with the 15" driver and its still just as musical. The only reason I would go with a rythmik 12" is due to serious space limitations. Otherwise the F15 or D15SE should be the first choice. Though, Id still take an F12 over anything from eD. If your room is at or under say 14x14 with 8 foot ceilings a single 12" will get you plenty of output for HT, but for just a few bucks more you can get into a 15" literally so no point not to in my book.

[Pauly]

ntrain, are the Rythmiks really that good? I feel that's quite the statement, to say that you'd take an F12 over anything from ED. I'm not saying that your're wrong. Just wondering if the Rythmiks are really that good. Because I've been really considering the F15. But since the Epik Empire came out, I've been wondering if that would be a better way to go. A little more expensive though. Would I ever be wishing for more with HT?

[ntrain42]

Feb 8, 2010 20:00:57 GMT -5 Pauly said:

ntrain, are the Rythmiks really that good? I feel that's quite the statement, to say that you'd take an F12 over anything from ED. I'm not saying that your're wrong. Just wondering if the Rythmiks are really that good. Because I've been really considering the F15. But since the Epik Empire came out, I've been wondering if that would be a better way to go. A little more expensive though. Would I ever be wishing for more with HT?

If your looking for a MUSICAL SUB first and formost then YES they are that good. They are great for HT output as well but don't expect their offerings to be DB monsters. Their 15" models though are more than capable of delivering 100 plus db output in the 20hz range in rooms in the 24x14 size range. If you have a larger room or need more output, then running a pair would be recommended.

Rythmik is literally a one man company consisting of Brian Ding, and his product for the price offered is second to none when it comes to overall sound and build quality. I have long been touting how the Revel B15A sub is my "reference/gold standard" sub for $3k and under. I put the Rythmik 15" offering right there with it in terms of SQ, and for a third of the price new. In fact if I had a choice I'd take 2 Rythmik D15SE's over a single B15A and pocket the $1000 cash in a heartbeat.

I consider eD products to be great "bang for the buck" output subs, their sealed units I like the best, but their standard plate amps have minimal to no control options other than a basic variable phase and xover adjustment, and IMO you need a good EQ/xover function on your processor to get a good flat frequency response out of them to sound their best.

[Pauly]

Well, I no longer use my HT for much music anymore since I'm building a 2 channel rig in another room. I do use it for SACD though. I do think it's important to have a tight accurate sub for HT as well, and not just output and slam. My room is only 18x13, so maybe the Rythmik would be plenty. Does it still offer enough slam to make movies fun? Keep in mind, I would be buying two F15's if I ever do decide to go with Rythmik.

[ntrain42]

Feb 8, 2010 20:22:34 GMT -5 Pauly said:

Well, I no longer use my HT for much music anymore since I'm building a 2 channel rig in another room. I do use it for SACD though. I do think it's important to have a tight accurate sub for HT as well, and not just output and slam. My room is only 18x13, so maybe the Rythmik would be plenty. Does it still offer enough slam to make movies fun? Keep in mind, I would be buying two F15's if I ever do decide to go with Rythmik.

2 F15's in an 18x13 room would make you think your in the middle of a magnitude 5 earthquake while watching a movie at reference volume levels. Your talking about frequency extension down to 13-14hz at OVER 100db output levels in that sized room.

[Pauly]

With no worrying about working them too hard, and bottoming them out? If so, then you might have me sold lol.

[ntrain42]

Feb 8, 2010 20:32:12 GMT -5 Pauly said:

With no worrying about working them too hard, and bottoming them out? If so, then you might have me sold lol.

I have the limiter on my D15SE on and the subsonic filter set to 14hz with high dampening, and I play at real high volumes in my bedroom and have measured some short term 20-30hz bursts at OVER 110db(and thats with the limiter ON). No bottoming or mechanical noise at all. Its low frequency extension is very clean sounding. THe cool thing about the D and F15 is the 9 way subsonic filter, it has settings at 14,20,28 with lo,med and hi damping adjustments, so you can tune your sub's subsonic filter and output requirements perfectly to the room without fear of over driving the subwoofer down low below 20hz. Then on top of that you have a 1 band PEQ that has +3/-12 cut, with adjustable frequency(20hz-80hz)and bandwidth( Q ) controls. Getting this sub RULER FLAT in your room will not be an issue. ;D

[ntrain42]

And to add, go to post #56 on this link, bottom of page 3: emotivalounge.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=subwoofeers&action=display&thread=8343&page=3 I attached a pic of the custom direct servo control plate amp that comes with these subs. Not your typical quality "plate amp" to say the least. If you go to page 4, you can see a few of them on the ground towards the bottom right of one of the pics showing Brain Dings audio room......thats a pretty substantial "plate amp" to say the least with good quality components being used, plenty of secondary capacitance and a very beefy toroidal PS(not a cheap transformer). The driver itself is of the same quality, and so are the finished cabinets.

[ntrain42]

Hehe, and if someone wants Ill show you an eD Class D plate amp. Its not a bad unit itself, but its nowhere near the quality of the Rythmik piece. You get what you pay for.

[Deleted]

yeah, show me the ED amp.

[Pauly]

What should one look for when looking at a pic of a plate amp? What are the signs of quality parts and build quality? I've always wondered.

[Deleted]

usually a nice power transformer such as a Toroidal and decent amount of filter caps.

The cheaper amp plates have smaller caps and ei transformers. You can tell when you look at them which is beefier.

Here is an ei transformer:



And here is a toroidal:

[Deleted]

PS. This is the amp plate that ntrain42 posted earlier in another thread. It's the Rythmik 370 watt amp. Really nice looking amp.

[Pauly]

Thanks neekos.

[Deleted]

No problem.

There is no substitute for a strong power supply..

[ntrain42]

Feb 9, 2010 18:54:04 GMT -5 Pauly said:

What should one look for when looking at a pic of a plate amp? What are the signs of quality parts and build quality? I've always wondered.

Generally the things I look for is PS type, size, secondary capacitance, type of caps used, output device type, board construction etc........Im getting those pics up tonight.

[ntrain42]

PS: The Rythmik PEQ/XLR 370 uses a 350VA sized toroidal. Slightly larger one than the one you will find in the UPA-1(300VA). Secondary capacitance is about 28,000uF. 200watts RMS at .01 THD, 400 watts rms at .1%. Class A/B with direct servo drive.