BK subs.. Why so rated?

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Atm I'm lookingg at/planning/progressing with upgrading my sub par 5.1 setup

2.0 done
Centre in progress

What I'm wondering here is it seems that everyone and Imean eeveryone rates the BK subs.
Is this one of those placebo things with a few rave reviews and everyone following?

What exactly makes this sub so sought after?

I'm not very knowledgeable about this stuff tbh, hence my sub par 5.1 I have currently
 
There simply isn't anything available for the sort of money the BK subs cost that comes close. Remember they are/were the OEM manufacturers for REL and I think others, who usually sold the same subs for double the price that BK do.
 
They sell direct, so you get a lot more for your money than buying via a dealer or shop. They're well-made, good enclosures, good drivers - just great value for money really... the majority of sub-fiends on AVF would probably agree that to get a better sub than the Monolith, you'd have to spend about four times as much, or DIY something yourself.
 
The build quality alone is amazing for the price. It's also good to support a UK company that is doing an excellent job.
 
Ah ok they punch above their weight in terms of £ weight due to buying direct and UK produced. So it prettymuch owns the price point its located at?

Like what you guys said, I expect re branding adds to the cost significantly.
 
With mine on a decent volume the house rattles, and with the patio doors open it'll happily thump your chest during music when you're sat in the garden. It's a nice bit of kit and they're really friendly when you call them. Can't ask for more.
 
Have you heard one?

I can only speak for the XLS400 - with an antimode and corner placement and a good setup using REW, I have quite a flat freq reponse in the bass with 1/3 smoothing - I get tight, controlled, transparent and textured bass in both music and films.
Not the slightest hint of boom, or directionality and it puts out a lot of bass as well.

If my room was better acoustically it would rump as well but a lot of my 40htz bass and below is lost to modes - which is common in most rooms

There will be better subs out there but For £500 + £220 for the antimode I doubt you will get better - dont scrimp buy the antimode as well
If you look at most new subs coming out they all have DSP in them as its essential for bass except in a heavily / pro treated room

Your room will most likely not let you hear the difference between the BK and a better / more expensive sub so save your money and buy a BK monolih or XLS400 - the monolith will be much harder to place due to its output / size just bear that in mind.
Bass is more than just about rattling things - it underpins the whole sound - get your bass right and everthing else will sound a million times better.

They use excellent quality brass drivers in their subs - in the XLS400 is the peerless 12" thats world reknowned for its bass performance and used in many subs. In the newer Monolith + they use Emincence Lab 12 - which I think is known as one of the best bass drivers in the world
 
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EllisDJ said:
Have you heard one?

I can only speak for the XLS400 - with an antimode and corner placement and a good setup using REW, I have quite a flat freq reponse in the bass with 1/3 smoothing - I get tight, controlled, transparent and textured bass in both music and films.
Not the slightest hint of boom, or directionality and it puts out a lot of bass as well.

If my room was better acoustically it would rump as well but a lot of my 40htz bass and below is lost to modes - which is common in most rooms

There will be better subs out there but For £500 + £220 for the antimode I doubt you will get better - dont scrimp buy the antimode as well
If you look at most new subs coming out they all have DSP in them as its essential for bass except in a heavily / pro treated room

Your room will most likely not let you hear the difference between the BK and a better / more expensive sub so save your money and buy a BK monolih or XLS400 - the monolith will be much harder to place due to its output / size just bear that in mind.
Bass is more than just about rattling things - it underpins the whole sound - get your bass right and everthing else will sound a million times better.

They use excellent quality brass drivers in their subs - in the XLS400 is the peerless 12" thats world reknowned for its bass performance and used in many subs. In the newer Monolith + they use Emincence Lab 12 - which I think is known as one of the best bass drivers in the world
Click to expand...

It would depend on his amp. If his amp had any type of (decent) room correction the antimode shouldn't be needed. I completely agree with your other points though!
 
Thanks for the detailed post although most is over my head!
Antimode for example!

No decent amp. I'm in progress of upgrading from my mistaken first purchase and still have my bottom of the pile Yamaha which really isn't fit for the bx5s I have

I have a real mismatch atm and it's not sounding nice
 
The Antimode is a good bit of kit that provides automatic room correction for your sub - it stays plugged in all the time.

The XLS subs BK make are sealed (no ports) which, avoiding gobbledegook, means they generally need less work on placement/correction to sound their best, but won't quite have the extra bottom end grunt the ported Monolith has, although it's more a finer details thing - both the 400 and Mono are great subs, just depends on the room and possibly if you lean more to HT than music or vice versa.
 
Don't think I can justify the Antimode, seems like something for people withkit a tier or two above mine

I. Started with a Boston acoustics soundware xs 5.1 package and Yamaha v371 amp, my first set of speakers beyond cheapo 2.0 (I do have decent ish headphones denon D2000 and ue triple fi 10)
This in hindsight is a mistake

It sounded good for a while with 5.1 but lacked in the centre particular, turn the sub off and there is nothing, the sub it came with works well with it. But for music you have to use dolby on the Yamaha and even then it lacks a lot.

Fast forward a bit and upgrade time

I decided on a pair of monitor audio bx5s first. So now stereo sound is much better. Much much better. Problem is in 5.1 or stereo to 5.1 via Yamaha sounds very disjointed due to the centre speaker Being so small.
Where as with my old set up I watched even normal stereo tv in converted 5.1 now it sounds better as straight 2.0

The sub also doesn't really match I feel due to the bx5s having a much more bass extension compared to the satellites I was using.
Also this is all still powered by the same Yamaha av receiver

So atm 5.1 sounds off, stereo sounds good.

Tbh I don't really know how to set up my current sub with what other kit I have. Crossover etc and what size I set my amp to think the bx5s are is a mystery to me
 
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I've had a BK Monolith for around 3 years now, it still manages to regularly raise a grin during movies. Mine is placed in the front corner of the room and has only been minimally tweaked via Onkyo 875 Audessey. Some of the frequencies are ridiculously bloated due to the room shape being less than ideal for acoustics but I quite like it that way, especially for action movies.:p
 
There is only one place I can put my sub to the left of tv/floorstanders in the very corner
 
I know I need an antimode because even after setting it up with MCACC in my Pioneer, there is still some peak and flat spots in the room.

Confirmed when I was watching a film at a level that isn't that loud but my neighbour came knocking on the door asking me to turn it down.
 
Room treatment is arguably the best investment you can make in your system - no point buying better gear if the room is a reverberant mess. A good start is drawing/modelling your room and shooting an email off to GIK Acoustics who give you free advice using their products as a reference - no pressure to buy them. Their stuff is a good price too, although it's obviously a fair bit cheaper to DIY... but not everyone wants to faff around with fibreglass sheets. I plan on adding a few of their 244 traps and a couple of their Monster traps to my room which should improve things although it'll still be far from an 'ideal' space acoustically.

A dedicated hifi/AV room is a pipe dream, sigh.
 
smit101 said:
I've had a BK Monolith for around 3 years now, it still manages to regularly raise a grin during movies.
Click to expand...

I have had mine over a year now and it is about the only purchases I have that continually impresses me every time I use it. I grin like a chesire cat every time I watch a film.
 
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