At CAF this year, Surreal Speakers was demonstrating that there’s really no such thing as too much bass. Generally, this is a message I can get behind.
Doug Small was showing off the FC 2-12+12 loudspeakers, an update of the Fifth Row speaker that’s earned a reputation for having bone-crushing bass performance courtesy of the six 10″ drivers per cabinet. This new iteration adds a separate pair of cabinets, bringing the total to 24 subwoofers. Meep.
The bass cabinets are a push-pull dipole, which means a whole lot less room interaction, some impressive speed, and very low distortion. Included in the package is a Crown 4002 XTI subwoofer stereo amplifier to drive each pair of subwoofer cabinets.
The “up top” has been upgraded to an 8″ Field-Coil full range driver from Jon Ver Halen of Lowther America, with motors and power supplies from Emia.
Taken together, that makes this a Field Coil (times two), with 12 subwoofers + 12 subwoofers), or the FC 2-12+12. A “standard” two-cabinet solution (which subtracts two cabinets and the attending amp), the FC 2-12, is also available.
Dual runs of speaker cables and all power cables are custom and included.
Electronics in the room came from Atma-Sphere, Accuphase and PS Audio.
Prices are still being worked on, but expect “pricey” as those Field Coil drivers (and their required hardware) are stunningly expensive.
Sound quality from this demo was a bit hard to judge as it had just come on after lying cold during the Live Sound Designs demo on the opposite wall. What I heard: bass, and plenty of it. Maybe a bit too much? But the mid-range clarity was to-die-for. Very interesting move from the Surreal team — looking forward to the next audition.
