Power Sound Audio Has Created A New Flagship Subwoofer (S7201)
(Power Sound Audio)(July 26, 2017) Power Sound Audio (PSA) has never been shy about designing bone-rattling subwoofers. Just peruse the company’s Legacy Products page and you’ll find multiple examples of seriously potent sub-sonic hammers etched with a utilitarian flair. For example, there’s the company’s first Prism design, the Triax, a wicked beast featuring three 15-inch drivers, a 4000-Watt amplifier, and low-end moxie capable of digging down to 7Hz in a typical room. And then there’s the former flagship T18HT, which had a similar physical design to the Triax but carried three 18-inch drivers (a package that tipped the scales at a back-breaking 170-pounds, despite weighing 70-pounds less than the Triax).
Of course, time and development cycles keep marching forward, and successful manufacturers never rest on their laurels. It just so happens that one of PSA’s latest subs, the S3601, literally killed the company’s reigning flagship product. “The new S3601 was smaller, much less expensive, and weighed less as well,” explained PSA co-founder, Tom Vodhanel. “That prompted us to make a difficult decision and discontinue the T18HT, which was selling at a healthy rate… even though it was our most expensive subwoofer.”
That discontinuation left the company without a true flagship product; a void existed and PSA wanted to fill it. “We were missing something that raised an eyebrow or drew an involuntary ‘oohh or aahh’ from the most experienced audiophile,” said Vodhanel. And thus the door was opened for the creation of a deliciously gnarly sub-$4,000 subwoofer.
Meet the S7201.
The S7201 is, as PSA claims, “a massive subwoofer capable of massive amounts of heart pounding bass.” Standing at 55-inches tall (36.5-inches deep and 22-inches wide) and weighing a whopping 295-pounds, the word massive might not be appropriate.
Perhaps colossal would be more fitting? Prodigious? Gargantuan?
No matter the descriptor you choose to embrace, the S7201 is primed to grab the attention of bass heads far and wide. It offers a heavily braced sealed cabinet design with a Reactive Force canceling driver array loaded with four 18-inch high excursion drivers. Powering the show is a 4000 Watt RMS (8000 Watt Peak) amplifier with DSP, capable of driving a show that can hit down to 6Hz in a room (quasi anechoic rating is: 15Hz-200Hz +/-3dB).
According to Vodhanel, “Co-founder Jim Farina and I have always admired our old B4+ design from 2003. It was a large ported sub that used both Push Pull and Reactive Cancelling driver arrangements. So, when the time came to discuss a new flagship product, we decided that we wanted to reap the benefits of both of those design considerations.”
(Power Sound Audio)“Push Pull” typically refers to a design that has an even number of drivers, half of which are oriented (and wired) in such a way that their cones move "in" toward the driver motor, while the others move "out" and away from the driver motor. Vodhanel says that implementing Push Pull helps to minimize distortions caused by driver motor non-linearities.
“An example of Reactive Cancelling would be our S3601 subwoofer or smaller S3000i model. These subs have drivers that are mounted on opposing baffles and the system is designed to allow them to share the same polarity. So, both move ‘in’ and ‘out’ at the same time. The benefit is that the moving mass of each driver is equal in opposite directions, which means they cancel and cabinet vibrations are kept to a minimum… even at extreme output levels,” said Vodhanel. “It isn't difficult to find examples of products using one of these engineering practices, but there aren't many home audio products that incorporate both. And doing so in a 295-pound monstrosity with four 18-inch drivers is just sweet icing on the cake.”
It just so happens that the cake is both tempting and expensive, but PSA sees a clear market for its new design.
“When potential customers are spending this much money they often want something that will add some wow factor to their room,” explained Vodhanel. “The whole ‘lets put one or two big drivers on the front baffle’ has been done for the last 50 years. Nothing is wrong with that kind of design, but we think even the most experienced audio enthusiasts might see the overall design of the S7201 and stop in their tracks. It’s going to cause curiosity and spark the imagination. On the one hand, it can be viewed as just another ‘big black box,’ but on the other hand it offers some unique engineering that doesn't just happen by accident.”
The S7201 is currently listed at a pre-order price of $3,499 (shipping included for the Lower 48 States), which is $500 less than its normal $3,999 cost. According to PSA, that pre-order offer will run through mid-August. As for cabinet options, the sub will only be manufactured with PSA’s classic Satin Black Texture finish, a surface that plays exceptionally well in most home theater environments.
For more information, visit powersoundaudio.com or send an email to support@powersoundaudio.com.
