Last month I pulled the trigger on a KC62, and very happy with the results so far. I initially plugged it in via RCA connection from the DAC with no crossover and just doing a manual setting of volume and low pass frequency on the sub itself. I don’t have freedom to place it where I want just yet, since I’m still in the smaller apartment while renovating the house, so it is stuck in the bottom shelf of a cabinet in a corner. I wondered about the wisdom of placing a sub on the shelf below my big NAS drive, but the KC62 is perfectly balanced in its opposing drivers…there are no vibrations of the cabinet itself, I can put my hand on it at loud volumes and thumping bass hard, and it simply doesn’t move. So the dual opposed drivers are already showing benefits.
The aluminum case and it’s build quality are really impressive. I wish everything were made to last…like this sub. I think this is one of the big reasons why the KC62 is more expensive than some of its competitors, such as the SVS micro3000 (but I’ve not seen one to compare directly).
I did some basic tests with REW and a umik-1 and found complex undesired peaks and valleys in the integration. Also, the main speakers (KEF LS50 Metas) really needed a high pass to make a proper crossover, and unleash them from trying to provide bass so they could focus more on mids and highs (where they really shine). So I bought a miniDSP SHD to replace my DAC. Even using a crossover, things improved quite a lot, the speakers opened up a bit and the system was beginning to really impress. I played with crossover frequencies a lot, and settled on 60 Hz for the moment, low enough to delocalize the sub and hide its poor placement in the corner. But this was just the start.
So then one day I had a little time while the kids were out and I ran my first Dirac Live wide field calibration with many measurements around my sofa area (struggling with a too short USB cord for the microphone but I got it done). I downloaded the calibration to the SHD and ran it…whoa! Now the sub and speakers and everything have melded into that mystical “wall of sound” that many people talk about. The stereo imaging and bass integration are amazing. I never knew how bad my room sounded until that moment. I suppose that in a “perfect” room this would have no impact at all, and so the difference I hear toggling Dirac on/off while listening is a very real demonstration of the room’s deficits.
This is just the beginning, but already I’m convinced of the value of digital room correction and combining it with sub integration via crossover in the same DSP. I have a boom stand for photography lighting that I’ll use next time, and also going to order a longer USB cable. This will make the calibration process much easier.
How is the sub? Is it low and loud? For me it is WAY more than I need at the moment. I’m hearing aspects of bass in songs that I never knew existed, even with good headphones I was missing certain elements (you can physically feel bass from a loudspeaker, but not from cans). Just last night I was listening to Pink Floyd the Wall with the new setup, an album I’ve heard a million times, and feeling the thump of the kick drum…never really noticed it before.
How about the lowest frequencies? The calibrated microphone says they are present at least to 15 Hz. And the bass sou da/feels deep, digging into the lowest audible rumbles in movie tracks, but that is a subjective impression.
There is more to say, but I’m over all very happy with the purchase. It wasn’t cheap, but it certainly makes a world of difference. I have no opportunity to compare bigger beefier subs in the same system, and so it is tough for me to recommend this over other options. But for a sub that is compact and stows away easily, is built very well, and produces very respectable deep bass and volumes suitable to my listening preferences, it does not disappoint.
