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ken kreisel dxd-500 subwoofer

Ken Kreisel invented the "self powered subwoofer" (now referred to as the "active subwoofer") in 1977, to which he added his patented, dual-driver push-pull configuration in 1989 to greatly reduce distortion. 

As a result, the DXD-500 is the culmination of decades of research and development, pushing the boundaries of subwoofer design to produce the most accurate, natural sounding subwoofers in the world - so good they're used in studios worldwide.

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The DXD-500 home theatre subwoofer is essentially the same as the flagship DXD-1000 but with less power - still more than capable enough for the average household, and still with the same quality, speed, detail, transient response, and even in-room response of its equivalent size 'bigger brother'. Ideal for those wanting "reference quality" without the need for "reference level" home theatre output.

Ken Kreisel Professional Sound,
Ken Kreisel DXD-500 subwoofer,

Within the 600mm high, 390mm wide, and 490mm deep matte finish cabinet, sits not only two bass drivers, but also two amplifiers.

Two long-throw 12" bass drivers work in a push-pull configuration in order to cancel out any even-order harmonic distortions, improving clarity and lowering noise floor. This is a far better way to utilise two drivers than just mounting them both on the front face of the cabinet, which also means extra height.

 

 Each 12" driver has its very own dedicated 250 watt output Class D amplifier, producing 500 watts of continuous output in total. Additionally, the two cool running amplifiers are configured in a push-pull design, offering around 1,500 watts of peak power to take care of the all important sudden dynamic bursts that are required for not only moved, but also music.

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Why pay more for two 12" drivers and lesser specifications?

A single DXD-500 will not only outperform any equivalently priced competitor's subwoofer with regards to sound quality, but it will also outperform some more expensive ones too!

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Take the MK Sound X12 - the modern day 'MK Sound version' of Ken Kreisel's original MX350 design. Both offer dual push-pull 12" bass drivers, and are of a similar size. The MK Sound X12 offers 400w continuous, 700w peak output, whereas the cheaper DXD-500 offers 500w continuous output and 1,500w peak output! So you get more continuous output and twice the amount of power on tap for those all important dynamic peaks.

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Absorb that for a moment - Ken Kreisel's £**** subwoofer has superior specifications to a competitor's THX Ultra2 rated subwoofer at £3,200. Plus it offers genuine stacking options to take you to the next step.

subwoofer stacking,

Even though a single DXD500 will outperform any equivalently priced subwoofer from a quality perspective, you may move to a larger room, or feel the need to upgrade - it's only natural! Why lose money on your existing sub to buy a bigger one with bigger specifications, larger drivers, more power etc that takes up more floor space? With the stacking capabilities of any Ken Kreisel subwoofer (safely anchored together by suitable hardware), all you need to do is add another one! Same footprint, but now you have double the output, double the headroom, and a deeper bass to boot!

 

In this configuration, you have two drivers top and bottom firing in opposing directions, and two drivers on opposing sides firing outwards, keeping the whole energy of the stack mechanically equal and opposed..

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And if you have a dedicated home theatre room, you can stack four DXD500 subwoofers - utilising the same floorspace as a single DXD500 - but now you have 8x 12" drivers driven by around 2,000 continuous watts, or 6,000w peak current of power! 

Why are Ken Kreisel subwoofers so competitive?

 

For one thing, there's no excess of exotic cabinet materials in order to make the design look more expensive than it is. The cabinet is there to perform a function - outside of that function, any amount of money can be spent to "dress it up". The majority of the budget of a Ken Kreisel subwoofer concentrates on the most important aspects first, such as the drivers and electronics.

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There's also no "over-engineered" bass drivers with huge roll surrounds and magnets the size of a small family car. The highly responsive, lightweight drivers of a Ken Kreisel subwoofer are designed in such a way that they do not need over-sized magnets in order to keep them under control, nor do they need industrial gaskets to support the weight of such an unnecessarily large magnet.

Ken Kreisel DXD-500 subwoofer,

Ken Kreisel subwoofers aren't designed to produce the highest possible output at a particular frequency in the middle of a field (a popular testing technique in the U.S.). They are designed to sound good in-room - real world situations - utilising the natural gain of your room's boundary to reinforce their output. Because of this, a Ken Kreisel subwoofer will sound far more natural in any normal room situation, where many other subwoofers end up sounding boomy, and in definite need of EQ'ing in order to get closer to a flat response..

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Their low end output is also "unfiltered". Most other subwoofer designs - which try and produce the best specifications from as small a box as possible - will have a low end limited in order to make sure the driver and amplifier don't suddenly find themselves completely out of their depth (pardon the pun!). Ken Kreisel subwoofers are able to handle this, and the absence of this filter also allows them to reach lower than other designs. One of the many reasons mastering studios worldwide use Ken Kreisel subwoofers.

There will be plenty of subwoofers out there that produce "more" bass than a Ken Kreisel subwoofer. The aim of many subwoofer manufacturers is to produce as deep a bass as possible, and as much bass as possible, from either the smallest box possible, or from something the size of a wardrobe. A Ken Kreisel subwoofer is designed to produce a good, balanced, in-room response in almost any room, producing a more natural sound that sounds just at home with music as it does with home theatre.

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Many movies have been produced using Ken Kreisel subwoofers, some of them Oscar winning for sound design - Peter Jackson's King Kong, Pearl Harbor, Black Hawk Down, Lord Of The Rings, Star Wars: The Phantom Menace, and one of my favourites, The Incredibles! To name but a few. Even games have used them, like several of the Call Of Duty series.

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Full details are on the Ken Kreisel Timeline.

  • sealed cabinet design
  • push-pull driver design
  • push-pull amplifier design
  • dual 12" bass drivers
  • dual 250w Class D amplifiers
  • 500w continuous output
  • 1500w peak output
  • 116dB output (1m for 10 seconds)
  • <0.5% total harmonic distortion
  • H 600mm x W 490mm x D 390mm
  • available in black matte finish
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        £TBA
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