Subwoofers of the Year
As Richter’s MD Brian Rodgers remarked when collecting this award on the night, the company’s Thor subwoofers have a probably unparalleled success in collecting awards. We had no hesitation in adding this one, for the latest $1499 Thor 10.6 design. Richter’s Senior Engineer Dr Martin Gosnell was tasked with developing the new model to be smaller and lighter than any previous Thor subwoofer. He not only succeeded (at 44 × 31 × 39cm the Thor 10.6 is 20% smaller than the Thor Mk V, and 30% lighter too), he also raised the internal amplifier power to 450W from the previous 300W to extract the highest levels of performance from the newly-designed high-performance 254mm long-throw bass driver.
Perhaps most remarkable of all, Richter has also made it look significantly prettier (you know, for a subwoofer). With the grille fitted you can’t see the twin tuneable bass reflex ports, while the the front-firing of both these and the driver means you can recess the subwoofer into a wall
— or into a cupboard or cabinet — to completely remove the subwoofer from the listening room. Even out on display, it’s no eye-sore, with no vinyl to be seen, just a very classy matte-painted surface..
It’s also versatile, with more configuration options than any previous Richter subwoofer, and with better-quality fittings as well. The low pass filter is not only adjustable, it’s also defeatable. In addition to the usual rotary volume level and crossover controls, there are three modes of DSP equalisation for ‘Music’, ‘Merlin’ and ‘Home Theatre’; the ‘Merlin’ mode is designed to integrate perfectly with Richter’s award-winning Merlin bookshelf loudspeakers. And there are both balanced and unbalanced LFE inputs, plus speaker-level inputs, accessed via multi-way gold-plated speaker terminals.
As for performance, Richter has succeeded where most other subwoofer manufacturers have not, delivering a small subwoofer that doesn’t sound small at all, exhibiting marvellously deep bass performance, with tuneful, rhythmic musical delivery and superbly low levels of distortion. Add the extraordinarily high level of connectivity, multiple EQ modes and classy finish, and the Richter 10.6 will surely extend the fame of Thor.
More info: www.richter.com.au
JUDGES’ COMMENT “Aussie company Richter has succeeded where most other subwoofer manufacturers have not. It’s managed to build a small and versatile subwoofer that doesn’t sound small at all.”