3 New Rythmik Super Subwoofers Aim to Shatter Performance/Price Barrier

Subwoofer manufacturer Rythmik Audio has recently released three powerful new subwoofers that takes their vaunted Direct Servo technology to new extremes of power. Their former flagship subwoofer, the FV15HP which we found to be a very high performer in our FV15HP review, was a formidable unit that used a beefy long-throw 15” driver powered by a 600 watt amplifier in a large, ported cabinet. Rythmik’s three latest subwoofers, the F18, the FV18, and the FV25HP, go well beyond that. Their F18 uses an 18” driver powered by a 900 watt amplifier in a sealed cabinet. The FV18 takes that 18” driver and 900 watt amplifier and places them into a larger, ported cabinet which can be tuned to either 12 Hz or 16 Hz. The FV25HP doubles up on the long-throw 15” driver used in the FV15HP, and gives them an astounding 1,800 watts of amplification in a large enclosure with 3 ports tuned to 12 Hz.

Rythmik Audio decided to move toward larger subs due to customer demand. Rythmik wanted to have a viable option available for those subwoofer shoppers looking at wider diameter drivers, so they designed an 18” driver that could be used for both sealed and ported enclosures. They created the dual 15” FV25HP as a flagship subwoofer that could stand up to the monster subs from other manufacturers. It is their largest, heaviest, most expensive, and most powerful sub.

Rythmik Audio’s subwoofers have long had a reputation for superlative sound quality, thanks largely to their use of the Direct Servo feedback technology. In Rythmik’s servo system, the amplifier uses a feedback loop to reposition the cone if it is found to be out of place, and the cone position is always being monitored. By constantly inspecting and correcting the motion of the driver, the driver should stay more faithful to the source signal which should make for a very accurate subwoofer. While Rythmik Audio isn’t the only subwoofer manufacturer to use servo feedback, they do claim that their sensory system is superior to that of other varieties of servos due to an instantaneous feedback system as opposed to servo systems that use accelerometers that necessarily have a slight delay.

Rythmik FV25HP Subwoofer

The Direct Servo system isn’t the only unique feature of Rythmik’s new titans. One advantage of large subwoofer enclosures is the ability to tune the ports to lower frequencies without inducing noise from air turbulence at higher-amplitude playback levels. Rythmik takes full advantage of their large cabinet sizes and tunes both of their new ported designs to a staggering 12.5 Hz on the FV18 and 13 Hz on the FV25HP. That means that these subs should be comfortable with content at infrasonic frequencies- sounds so deep in pitch that human hearing cannot detect them (human feeling ie. tactile sensations are another matter). While there is not a lot of content that actually contains infrasonic frequency material, there is some, and most subwoofers are limited by design from even attempting playback of those extreme deep frequencies. Most other subwoofers would not even dare tread into these abyssal depths where the FV18 and FV25HP should be able to trod without breaking a sweat. 

Rythmik Delivers Promised Performance

So the new Rythmik subs will be able to dig deep and maintain high-accuracy due to its design in theory, but there are a lot of audio companies that claim theoretical advantages from some highly-touted design feature, but never really provide the data to back up their claims. Rythmik has not only talked the talk, but they have also walked the walk and has sent all three of their new behemoth subwoofers to our friends at data-bass.com for third party testing of performance. The F18’s measurements have been posted here, the FV18’s measurements have been posted here, and the FV25HP measurements have been posted here. What is seen is excellent linearity and low distortion, even at extremely deep frequencies, just as is predicted by design. Rythmik added an extensive shorting ring structure to the 18” drivers for reducing distortion in deep bass frequencies where the increased coil mass of the larger driver can negatively affect performance. The effects can be seen in the relatively clean deep bass performance measurements of the F18.

Pricing is $1,530 for the F18, $1,699 for the FV18, and $2,499 for the FV25HP. Buyers get a 45-day in-home trial where they can return the subs for a full refund not including return shipping.

Unless otherwise indicated, this is a preview article for the featured product. A formal review may or may not follow in the future.