Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Home Theater EP400s : The Little Subwoofer That Could

"Transparency is hard to explain but it's like the effortless lows coming out of a pipe organ. I have been wondering the last few months if it is possible to have transparency AND faster attack/decay/tighter punch all from the same sub."

Yes, I think that this is possible. You will have to nearly double the price and go with the JL F113 though. This sub is about $3200 and weighs in at about 130 lbs although it is the size of the EP500. It has a sealed enclosure and is supposed to have a very fast attack/decay even though it extends down to below 20 Hz flat. This is the sub that I have my eye on, but I don't know if I will ever be able to get $6,000 together to get two of these subs.

- Nick

Thanks for the review! I'm really starting to salivate about this sub. Probably never afford it, though. Too many other toys!

When I first heard about it, I was afraid that the 8" woofer wouldn't keep up with my current 12" sub. Sounds like those fears were completely unfounded. I currently have a Cambridge Soundworks Powered Subwoofer 1. I'm sure no one but Peter and Adam have heard one of these...

Hutz, we were testing a Paradigm Servov2, Fathom JL113, Velodyne DD-18 and SVS Ultra-13 in a small room sitting nearfield. Here is an excerpt I posted elsewhere of what happened:

"All was well until the amp fuse blew in 10hz mode while playing the Pods emerge scene. The other subs performed as expected while the Ultra conked out which was a surprise seeing how we were playing at only 5db below Dolby reference. In light of that blowout and other reports of amp problems it appears SVS still needs to work on solving a very important design flaw. While the designers hoped to get away with a larger enclosure for more efficiency, the sub could have benefited from a more powerful amp than the Indigo 750w BASH amp that was chosen IMO, especially given what it is aiming for in fully
plugged mode. Its a criticism I had of my old Ultra and which continues to this version. Though not directly comparable because of alignment, the other subs fielded a 2500w Class D in the Fathom, 1250 Class D in the larger DD-18 and 1200w Class d amp in the Servov2."

Nick the JL113 is an incredible performer as you mentioned and here in Canada it is priced at over 3x the price of the 400 so it better be that good. I have one as well and its much smaller that an EP500 . Here is a shot I took of the 400 pair next to my JL113 to give you an idea of relative size.

You can get 3 EP400s for the price of a JL F113, I would say that the 3 EP400s would be much more desirable if they can produce the same tightness as the JL F113, and they can extend very low as well.

John, I would love to hear what you would prefer after your testing, 2 EP400s or a JL F113? Regarding the Ultra 13...I am not sure why SVS chose to make a 13" driver, is to be the baddest boy on the block? Looks like they have underestimated the kind of power that a driver of that size and a sub of that enclosure needs for reference levels.

Well the bigger enclosure does mean better efficiency for the power supply however those BASH amps can be finicky if the impedance does not match up well with the driver. In demanding passages impedance moves all over the place and the risk of overheating and clipping becomes a serious issue at high SPLs. Those cheap BASH amps which lack dynamic headroom, can't touch the performance of Axiom's DSP controlled amps which are designed in house by Tom and Ian.

While most people will fawn over the drivers or enclosure, its the hidden electronics and amp which are just if not more important. That's what makes these small EP400s with 8" drivers perform so well. Everyone who has heard them at my house has said the same thing, "I can't believe the bass from that small box!"

Stop with all the praise for the EP400 already, you are making it very difficult for me to not get one.

Tell me about it.

I have a question for the sub experts here:

With my crappy, 13' square room, is there any significant advantage to upgrading my older EP350 sub to a single 400 or 500?

I understand that the new subs will go deeper, but I'm currently dealing with 28dB swings from one seated position to the next, and I'm still going to have the same room nulls and peaks. If I were to get a 500, for example, is there any advantage to replacing the current sub (same position) with a 500 if I'm currently satisfied with the volume of bass? Again, excepting that the new sub will go deeper.....

I'd like to think that I could get two 400s or 500s to help even things out, but that's an awful lot of coin and a helluva lot of sub potential for such a tiny room....

Any thoughts?

I'll second that from another person who has a crappy square HT room. I have an EP500 and probably won't be buying another for years to come but I do have a Sony sub (10" driver, fairly loud but not accurate like the EP500) left over from my old satellite surround system. I wonder if adding it to my room would help smooth things out for my different listening positions or would it's comparative lack of power and accuracy compared to the 500 just degrade the sound more than it helps.

I know, I know, just try it out and see what it sounds like....
Just thought I'd throw it out there while the topic is up. That and if I buy one more audio cable, my wife is likely to strangle me with it. Her maiden name was Garrett and so I feel my fears are justified...