Outlaw Audio LFM-1 Review

Outlaw Audio LFM-1 Overview

As a teenager living in Orlando , I remember parking out near the International Airport to experience the jets as they came in for a landing – Wayne’s World style. Anyone who has lived in Orlando knows the “Jet City” is plagued with an almost non-stop barrage of aircraft coming in from all directions to land at what is arguably the world’s nicest airport. Trouble is, the surrounding area is naturally pummeled with the constant overhead noise of McDonnell Douglas/Boeing engines and the steady ring of planes on final approach. But up close, the jets take on an altogether different feel. Noise becomes power. Power is felt in a tactile way that pervades every part of your body and rattles you to the core. That feeling – the extreme low-end thrust that accompanied the landing was what I thought should be the mark of a great home theater subwoofer. In fact, I knew throughout the years that many of the subwoofers I experienced in people’s homes or as part of home theater satellite systems were merely toys – shadows of the “reality” they were attempting to portray.

Several weeks ago, during a discussion about surround sound system, one of my newest friends said to me : “All subwoofers are the same – boom is boom. It doesn’t matter who makes it.” I sat him down in my living room (it was the first time he had been to our home) and proceeded to play one of his favorite movies. After having him listen to my system, and with his mouth hanging open, he and his wife commented that it sounded “better than a movie theater.” It was at this point that I asked him if he would like to hear the same scene with the subwoofer turned on . The rest, as we say... was history.

Subwoofers can fall into one of two uses in any given home theater system. Quite often, in a budget system, they function to supply the required frequencies that a satellite system cannot attain on its own (sometimes including upper-frequency ranges that even allow dialogue through). Subwoofers in these systems cover a broader range of sound resulting in greater harmonic distortion, less efficiency at lower frequencies, and having to appropriate power across a wider range of material. The second use, where subwoofers are configured to handle frequencies anywhere from 80Hz and below, is where subwoofers have a fighting chance to really shine. Though capable of more, their amplifiers and drivers are used within a narrower frequency spectrum and the remaining home theater system is fully capable of driving the main thrust of the listening experience. Let’s begin here with the Outlaw Audio LFM-1 and SV Subwoofers’ PB2-ISD, two subs that are utilized in a system modeled after the second scenario.

Outlaw Audio LFM-1 Setup

Outlaw Audio is a company that does a few things and does them well. They are known for their rather refreshing “in your face” approach to marketing and speaking about their amplifier, processor, bass management and subwoofer products. In fact, they seem to have a keen desire for good bass, judging from the considerations they put into their Model 950 processor and ICBM bass management system. The LFM-1 subwoofer was conceived to be a product the company could be proud of. To ensure this, they consulted with Dr. Poh Ser Hsu to design a sub that would 1) play deep with even frequency response, 2) play loud enough to compete with larger speakers and systems, and 3) fit in with just about any décor. Keep in mind that Outlaw Audio states this is not a HSU Research sub; however his design recommendations played a major part in what Outlaw Audio ultimately utilized to develop the LFM-1. We put the Outlaw Audio subwoofer through its paces and came away with several observations that, quite frankly, surprised us.

Build Quality

The LFM-1 subwoofer is a dual-ported down-firing design with a single 12” driver. The down-firing ports all but eliminate audible port “chuffing” from the listening position unless you overdrive the sub – which is a difficult thing to do if your system is correctly balanced. The 12” down-firing driver also assures that there is a significant physical transfer of energy to the room during high SPL output.

The MDF cabinet is solidly built, with ample bracing and dampening material (they even wrapped the speaker wires going to the 4-ohm driver). The twin down-firing ports were flared both inside and out to reduce port chuffing. To be honest, we couldn’t hear any port noise from the listening position at even high levels of playback.

The power-handling capability of a driver is directly related to the voice coil's ability to dissipate heat. The LFM-1 uses a vented pole piece (usually appearing as a hole in the center of the magnet structure.) This is really a hollow pole around which the voice coil is suspended. When the driver goes through excursion, cool air is drawn in. As the driver moves backwards, warm air is pushed out. There are several schools of thought on driver voice coil cooling methods and we won’t go into those now. Suffice it to say, the LFM drivers appear to function well within operating parameters for optimal performance.

LFM-1 Listening Tests and Conclusion

I try not to prejudge or otherwise bring notions of what a product will sound like prior to an actual listening session. Often times you cannot honestly have a clear listening palette due to familiarity with prior models or proximity to a competing product – and this is what often worries manufacturers involved in combined reviews or shootout contests. In this case, the presence of the LFM-1 next to the SVS PB2-ISD left a healthy fear that perhaps this twin review wasn’t such a good idea.

But that was before I switched on the LFM-1 and calibrated it to reference levels. The result could be compared to nothing less than a controlled explosion. Whether it was the downward-firing driver & ports, or the optimization (and intelligence in this case) of settling upon a 25Hz tuning frequency, the Outlaw Audio LFM-1 pushes more air than I thought possible from a single 12” system.

Let’s take my favorite subwoofer test, the “Bridge of Khazad-dûm” chapter of Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring. What a good subwoofer will do with this scene is transfer the visual energy of crumbling rock and stone into a physical response felt by the viewer. Your seat will resonate and respond to the imagery on the screen and the scene will come to life in a way that no satellite/sub system can adequately portray. The Outlaw Audio LFM-1 lost none of the audible power of this scene and, in fact, belied its size with an almost chameleonic ability to confuse me into wondering if I was truly listening to it or the much larger SVS PB2-ISD.

Pop in Star Wars Episode Two: Attack of the Clones and feel the ships enter the opening scene and land on the city-planet of Coruscant. That kind of powerful portrayal of screen elements is not something that comes easily from a smaller container, yet Outlaw Audio has managed apply optimum engineering to the LFM-1 and eek out a performance worthy of a standing ovation.

Subjective Listening Tests – Music

If it excels at home theater it must be so-so on music, right? For the life of me I cannot understand why it is that so many notions about subwoofer applications for music and movies are skewed. Perhaps it is the proliferation of poorly-designed boomy subs, or those monotonous units that seem to fire off a single tone regardless of what frequencies they are being fed. Neither of the subwoofers in this review exhibited either of these traits. In fact, both units measured fairly consistently within the known characteristics of Reference System 3. There are some great tunes that can be used to hear whether a sub is musical or not. By musical, we refer to the sub’s ability to articulate a full and complete low frequency response without sounding like “Uncle Bubba’s” insipid blowing on a moonshine bottle. We listened to countless hours of music for weeks on end in the evaluation of these two units – not exactly a chore in most people’s books.

The Outlaw Audio LFM-1 had a smooth response for music that made some of my jazz/fusion albums, such as the Rippingtons’ Brave New World CD, sound fantastic. I kept listening for the powerful low end to become overbearing, or reveal a tainted frequency response indicating overcompensation in the LFM-1 as an attempt to achieve a more powerful 25Hz response. There was none. The Outlaw audio subwoofer provided the tightness required for the bass guitar’s quick attacks and rolled out smooth, rich tones for slower tracks like “First Time I Saw Her.” I was enjoying the performance so much I just had to flip over to an older album, Tourist in Paradise, and play the title track to hear how well the powerful kick and sub (which mirror each other nearly the entire song) came through from that mix. Again, the LFM-1 didn’t overshoot, but stayed controlled, tight and even throughout the entire dynamics of the song. If you want a musical sub – find one that doesn’t sound monotonous of overcompensate for low-end response. The Outlaw Audio LFM is a good example.

Objective In-Room Measurements

We did some in-room measurements of the Outlaw Audio LFM-1 and the SVS PB2-ISD subwoofer using the Rives Audio Professional Test Kit and I think the results are surprising:

The above measurement is a low frequency sweep test using the Rives Audio Professional Test Kit. It was taken with the output of the sound card fed directly into each subwoofer and the microphone placed at the listening position. The units tracked fairly closely, with the LFM providing a bit more overall power around 50-60Hz and the SVS extending better down into the 20Hz region. Room modes aside, both subs provided excellent frequency response at 60Hz and below, which is where the system crossover point was set during most listening tests.

Conclusion – What Does It All Mean?

At the end of this review I had finished listening to two incredibly different and unique subs. The LFM-1 from Outlaw Audio is a stellar value performer – but it doesn’t stop there. It held its own against a much bigger, more expensive competitor under normal use loads. Producing an incredible (almost unbelievable) amount of tactile energy during home theater and music use, the LFM-1 had me constantly checking myself to see if I had mistakenly left the SVS subwoofer connected. That kind of frequency response and performance out of a package that is nearly 50% less in volume and about 40% lower in price is something to be acknowledged.

The SVS subwoofer is a bit of an enigma. Not because of anything bad, but because the unit sounds incredible but has none of the space-saving characteristics commonly found on other units. Is it the lack of self-imposed space constraints that makes the sub sound so good? Or is there something else at work? Its performance can be described as flat and yes, even musical. I couldn’t find a serious limitation or flaw, save overdriving the unit while tuned for 16Hz. The SVS has almost limitless power for most applications and doesn’t suffer from any of the typical constraints associated with making a subwoofer that fits through doors or doesn’t require a crane operator to get it into your house (OK, it’s not that big!) My overall impression of the PB2-ISD was that I wished it could pack this punch into a smaller package – but I still never wanted to let it leave my room – and that’s a pretty big compliment.

For those of you who still think “boom is boom. It doesn’t matter who makes it...” I offer these two subwoofers to you for trial. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

The Score Card

The scoring below is based on each piece of equipment doing the duty it is designed for. The numbers are weighed heavily with respect to the individual cost of each unit, thus giving a rating roughly equal to:

Performance × Price Factor/Value = Rating

Audioholics.com note: The ratings indicated below are based on subjective listening and objective testing of the product in question. The rating scale is based on performance/value ratio. If you notice better performing products in future reviews that have lower numbers in certain areas, be aware that the value factor is most likely the culprit. Other Audioholics reviewers may rate products solely based on performance, and each reviewer has his/her own system for ratings.

Audioholics Rating Scale

• — Excellent
• — Very Good
• — Good
• — Fair
• — Poor

Metric	Rating
Bass Extension
Bass Accuracy
Build Quality
Ergonomics & Usability
Performance
Value