OSD AUDIO NERO TUBEBASS 10 SUBWOOFER

AS SOMEONE who appreciates the benefit deep bass brings to music and movie soundtracks, I’ve come to accept that having a box the size of a small refrigerator in my living room is a reality of life I need to contend with. That box, of course, is a subwoofer, and welcoming one into your space is the deal you must strike in order to get deep bass. Some cleverly engineered models use innovative Dsp-driven solutions, along with serious amplifier power, to coax extended bass from compact boxes— certain subs from JL Audio and the KEF KC62 (reviewed on page 64 of this issue) come to mind. And while such models definitely make a better fit with non-mancave-like interior spaces, you’ll pay handsomely for the tech wizardry that brings about the bass miniaturization.

OSD Audio’s Nero Tubebass 10 is another subwoofer option that won’t dominate your space. And at $179, it will go very easy on your wallet. The Tubebass 10 features a 10-inch downward-firing driver housed in a 19-inch-high, 13-inch diameter cylindrical enclosure. Cylinder subs—a design associated most closely with the early days of SVS, which still offers a few such models—have a significantly smaller footprint than conventional subwoofers. They are more compact, and

OSD Audio's compact cylinder subwoofer measures a mere 13 inches across and tucks neatly in a room's corner. thus easier to move around than big box subs—a help when tweaking placement to get the best sound and minimum boominess during setup.

The 10-inch driver in the Tubebass 10 is powered by a 400-watt class-d amplifier. OSD Audio specs frequency response at 30Hz-120hz. At $179, you shouldn’t expect amenities like built-in DSP— a feature that, among other things, shapes frequency response and prevents distortion and bloat, especially when cranking the volume up—and, not surprisingly, the Tune Bass 10 lacks it. It also omits wireless connectivity, app-control, EQ settings, auto room correction, and other features found higher up the subwoofer food chain. (Did I already mention that the Tubebass 10 costs $179?)

What the Tubebass 10 does have is stereo line-level RCA and LFE inputs for connection to an outboard integrated amp or receiver. Controls include volume and 30Hz to 120Hz variable crossover dials, and 0/180 degree phase power on/ off switches. Four solid rubber feet on the subwoofer’s bottom provide stability plus ample clearance for the downwardfiring driver, and the cabinet itself is covered with a slightly fuzzy black mesh material that gives it a pleasing, furnituregrade look.

SETUP

To evaluate the Tubebass 10, I set it up in the regular subwoofer corner of my 12 x 16-foot home theater, which has a 9-foot-high ceiling (around 1,750 cubic feet). I connected it to the sub output jack of a Rotel RSP1576MKII surround processor and used it in a system with

Elac Uni-fi 2.0 speakers, with the processor’s crossover set for a 100Hz low-pass. The reason I wanted to use the Rotel for my test was its Dirac Live processing, which would let me apply automatic room correction that I could switch on and off during listening to evaluate its effect on the Tubebass 10’s performance.

As part of my setup, I first ran test tones to fine-tune the sub’s placement and determine the best setting for its phase switch. Sweep tones confirmed usable output down to the 30-35Hz range— not exactly infrasonic bass, but good enough lowfrequency extension that I could expect to hear the solid wham of a kick drum, as well as the impact of an explosion

plus the low rumble following it. Calibration of the system using Dirac Live revealed the sub's highest output in the 60-70Hz range, after which it tapered off somewhat (see above graph for pre- /-post-correction results).

PERFORMANCE

Listening with Dirac Live enabled, I first played one of my regular test tracks, Bill Frisell’s “Blues Dream” from the CD With Dave Holland and Elvin Jones. The Tubebass 10 did a good job filling out the low end of Dave Holland’s standup bass. It added a definite sense of warmth and fullness, making the sound well-balanced. Comparing the performance

In-room measurement of sub taken at seated ear-height position using Dirac Live. (Graph includes pre- and post-correction traces.)

of the same system with Elac’s own SUB3030, a big-box subwoofer with a 12-inch driver and 12-inch passive radiator that the Tubebass 10 temporarily displaced, the Elac delivered notably better extension, weight, and “grip.” Still, I was impressed with how much bass OSD Audio’s cylinder sub was actually generating in my room.

Giving a listen to another bass reference track, Roxy Music’s “The Space Between” from Avalon (multichannel SACD), the bass guitar and kick drum both had a tight sound and good impact. Here again, there was a limit to the extension, but the Tubebass 10 managed to lay down the rhythm section’s groove and get me involved in the music. Same thing went for Aphex Twin’s “Produk 29” from the album Syro (16-bit/44.1hz

FLAC, Tidal). The synthesized bass on this track is unusually punishing and seems expressly created to make speakers and smaller subs cry, but I didn’t hear any distortion, doubling, or other woofer-related complaints, with or without Dirac Live enabled.

Shifting gears to movieviewing, I cued up the scene from director Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim where Mako is having flashbacks to her childhood encounter with a Kaiju, a creature of Godzillian scale. The sense of slam resonating from the Kaiju’s footfalls conveyed its fearsomeness and destructive intent. And while the subsonic rumbling that usually accompanies this scene was missing, the bass had a fullness and punch that I found impressive for a

$179 subwoofer.

How did the Tubebass 10 fare in the Caverns of Isengard, you might be wondering? This scene, from The Fellowship of the Ring, the first chapter in director Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy, has orcs ruled by Sarumon forging weapons with hammers as kettle drums are furiously pounded in the soundtrack’s score. The OSD Audio sub delivered sufficient oomph here to drive the action, and to capture the guttural sound of the growls coming from a creature being “born” to serve in Sarumon’s army.

CONCLUSION

We are living in a golden age of subwoofers, with a bunch of manufacturers offering highperformance models designed to deliver deep bass from compact boxes, ultra-deep bass and very high output from big boxes, and everything in between. Some of these have built-in auto EQ to adapt the sub’s frequency response to the listening room, while others provide app control to tweak settings using a phone from a comfortable seat on your sofa.

While there’s a lot to be said for the current range of high-tech subwoofer options, sometimes you just want something that’s going to get the job done, and to do it at a low cost. At $179, OSD Audio’s Nero Tubebass 10 fits that description to a tee. While I found its extension and output limited compared with the subs sporting 12-inch drivers I’ve had circulate through my system, I was impressed with what it did offer bass-wise for the money, and also appreciated its compact form factor and nice, not-cheap look. And with most A/V receivers offering some form of auto room correction, any room-related issues that you aren’t able to tame by carefully moving the Tubebass 10 around can be addressed with the AVR’S built-in processing. With compact and capable subwoofers available at a price this low, there’s really no good reason why your listening space should lack bass.