Transcript
The terrible “teeny-weeny” A “teeny-weeny” with innocent air from which you don't expect so much. But this swedish box keeps good surprises aside... One of the most particular aspects of the DLS brand is that it is very well-known all around the world and not very known, if not just between the insiders, in Italy. DLS is a Swedish producer, active by almost 20 years, which associated its brand name with a careful and aggressive marketing activity all around Europe especially based on the creation and support of competitor's teams connected with international Sound Quality contest circuits, more than others Iasca and especially EMMA. The arrival in Italy of this very active brand had difficulty first and little resonance after. Our marketplace, already rich of wolrd-class well known national exponents and of the most prestigious American, Asian and European brands, sure did not make the insertion of a so much accredited “competitor”an easy thing, almost in the closest coutries. Moreover, the large catalog and the lots of product lines resulting from many years of work would have certainly disoriented anyone coming close to this manufacturer, and so not all of them were made available in our country, an importer's choice which is overall shared. Born as a loudspeaker's manufacturer thanks to eminent designers representative of the famous Scandinavian school which was already in vogue 20 years ago, DLS has increasingly differentiated its offer up to comprise in its catalog all that can be useful to an installer during his work, excluding headunits. Various loudspeaker's price lines, from the exclusive Ultimate and Nobeluim systems to the more affordable Classic systems, single and boxed subwoofers, amplifiers and electronics that somehow made a “school” and an infinite series of accessories, wires, connectors and other articles dedicated to professional installers.
One small small subwoofer The large DLS catalog offers many alternatives for in-car bass frequency reproduction. Single and boxed subwoofers, we told, but also ready-boxes to be used with any woofer and a product cathegory, the active subwoofers, which is appreciated for its ease of use and versatility. Often, however, active subwoofers are not setted off because of the idea that the “all-in-one” could somehow be a compromise under a lot of aspects. Also, it is very difficult to set off a component which, at first sight, risks to been exchanged with a subwoofer of a completely different class. It is just the case of this ASB 326, a sub, or better, a “tiny-sub” with well-limited dimensions which doesn't offer neither the same appeal of it's “big-brother” ASB 120, equipped with two 10” woofers, nor the same “tonnage” of the ASB 212, which offers a 12” woofer. The “teeny-weeny” uses two 6.5” woofers in a single about 18 liters total volume and, considering that the volume is ported and inside the box there is also a separate bay for the power amplifier, well, there's something to think about... ASB 326's appearance is not one of the “richest”. The box is covered with an anonimous black carpet (but please pay attention, not always the anonimate is a negative aspect for something which has to be placed in the trunk), which turns to light gray on the side walls. The two speakers are protected by plastic material “tiny-grills” bringing the typical DLS product's design and show a silver diaphragm with a generous dustcap, black as the rubber surround. The port is located on the right side wall. And it was not possible to do otherwise, because on the back wall it is integrated the aboard power amplifier. If the appearance of this small subwoofer doesn't offer great reasons for enthusiasm, it takes just to lift it (and it happened to me when taking it out of its box) to set off some alarm bells. Its weight is remarkable, more than enough for a so dimensioned box. I had additional confirmations during disassembling stage. First surprise, the loudspeakers. Once free from the grill, screwed on different holes from the ones used to hold the speaker in place (just to underline a “clever” detail), we can notice a magnetic set with absolutely unexpected dimensions, equipped with a bumped back plate to increase voice coil's throw and a large vent hole. Obviously the basket, as frequently happens with box-dedicated speakers, is not made by valuable material but it's made by sturdy moulded metal-sheet and finished with shiny gray paint. The diaphragm, looking from the inside, appears made by moulded polypropilene with a cosmetic intervention only on the external surface. The spider, sturdy and well dimensioned, the thick tinsel leads and the fact that the wires, faston terminated, have been soldered on the connector to drastically prevent the detachment while functioning , are all elements which underilne a certain care in the building of the subwoofer. The removal of the loudspeaker from its placement has caused one more consideration from the point of view of box-construction: the thickness of the wood (MDF) used to build the subwoofer is a good 25 mm which, with the two speaker's enormous magnets, determines the remarkable total weight of the “fat sub”. But that's not all.
Powerful! The two loudpeakers are connected together in parallel. Actually, both connections go to the amplifier's board which however, at an analysis of circuit paths, highlight just the parallel connection of speaker's voice coils. All the electronics which offers the power needed by the subwoofer's functioning is contained in a single structure, solid and compact, located inside an opening obtained in the back wall of the box and however insulated from the loading volume. The electronic is labeled SBA 185 and it's the same we can find in other active subwoofers. The motherboard's dimensions are slighter inferior than the metal board which is visible from the outside and brings all the available connections, from the stereo inputs which are immediately mixed after the input stage to the high-level connections on a Molex multi-polar connector (an adaptor is included in the subwoofer packet). In evidence the power connectors and the protection fuse, besides a series of controls and a fan which helps the heat-sink on the dissipation of the iternal produced heat. The available controls are of a superior class. From the filter-frequencies choice (which goes from 35 to 100 Hz) to the gain control, from the phase inversion to its continuous control from 0° to 90° (a strange choice, usually it is operating between 0° to 180°), the subwoofer can be put in conditions to offer its best. What is not noticeable looking the amplifier from the outside is the constructive care and the good quality of the components and of the engineering, a fairy well dimensioned power stage and three pairs of powertransistors for a single channel for the management of definitely high demanding currents. On the two loudspeakers, actually on a 2 Ohm load, the amplifier is rated for 265 W RMS. This is immediately noticed during the listening, once againg carried out in my Alfa.
On the road Small and aggressive, slinged with the same belt which usually keeps under control the aboard subwoofer, the small DLS doesn't hide a certain impatience to express its exuberance. The connectionborders on the banal and a full-range output is enough to get immediately the whole thing operative. The first notes give already a taste of what's the mould it's made from. The small DLS plays loud, really loud and “hits” really hard. On the most modern rhythm's typical frequencies, the small subwoofer seems to become bigger and thanks to an excellent “punch” it's able to take listener's attention off the deeper frequencies, bewitching him with an absolutely energetic and accurate bass, rich in quality but also on composure at even not negligible volume levels. Easy to set-up, easy to make it sound good, this subwoofer amazes also for its ability to go quietly deep to frequencies which we would never expect, although it's not possible to pretend to get the 20 Hz flat. Even better, not the 30 Hz either, but I'm nearly sure of a certain “little help” given by the electronic to the extension toward the bass of those even powerful cones. One notices that the loudspeakers are well dimensioned you can get when offering them a track which has to be reproduced at a decidedly sustained level. The cone gives award-winning excursions without the intervention of audible distorsions or voice coil “shakings” when it's hitting to the back-plate. Let's say that rather than that it is the port which, in spite of its tricks (both the ends of the tube are “Aeroport” style), at certain frequencies shows the chord (that is a light “blow”) before the loudspeakers themselves.
Conclusions Easy to use (nearly “plug and play”), with appreciable listening results, with an excellent potential even on quite big cars and with a size, a solidity and a building refinement of very-first level, the small DLS propose itself as a candidate as exceptional “bass generator” for very many kilometers, confirming the qualities of the top DLS products about which we heard so many times in foreign countries. A last comment: never judge a product only from its appearance...
Rocco Patriarca
Taken from ACS-AudioCarStereo n. 172 – April,2008
