for a customized sound and feel. Also, you
can paint the removable grilles and bezel
on the in-wall subwoofer, so it can even
match your chartreuse walls, if that’s
your goal.
Installation/Setup/Ease of Use
Installing the subwoofer into the wall is
really easy. In fact, in my test installation,
I installed two of the IWSub 10/10s mated
to one SubAmp 600 (per Definitive
Technology’s blessing), as the test room
was pretty large and required two sub-
woofers, no matter what kind. The IWSub
10/10 subwoofers get cut into the wall,
just like any normal in-wall speaker, and
Definitive Technology even gives you
cutouts of your subwoofer dimensions so
you can simply trace around the cutout
sheet on your destination wall and then
use a drywall knife or saw to cut out the
drywall for easy installation.
On the amplifier side, simply connect
your line-level subwoofer output from
your audio/video receiver to the LFE
input on the SubAmp 600, and then con-
nect speaker cable from the SubAmp 600
to each subwoofer, and you’re good to go.
Then calibrate your receiver’s subwoofer
output, as you normally would, and dial
in the controls on the front of the
SubAmp. You should have incredibly well-
tuned bass response. For my installation,
I installed the subwoofers in the front
walls, making them both LFE subwoofers.
I set my three Definitive Technology UIW-
75 front speakers (left, center and right)
as “small”, and with the balanced sound
due to the addition of the subwoofers, I
was thrilled with the result. Using the
subwoofer amplifiers is also well thought
out. You can connect the subwoofer
amplifier to the rest of your system in two
ways. You can use a trigger to actuate the
power command on the amplifier, or set it
to signal sensing, which will have it turn
on when needed. Personally, I prefer the
12-volt trigger variety, as that way the
subwoofer is ready no matter when you
need it, and there is no delay at all.
Final Take
I tested the IWSub 10/10s with a variety
of music and movie clips, and I have to
say that I was very, very impressed. The
bass was tunable to my test room very
easily, and there was never any boomi-
ness or bloated-sounding bass notes.
Bass response was smooth and resolute,
and made for a very pleasant experience.
It sounded great while listening to Beck’s
5.1 and stereo mixes of his new album
Guero
, a mix of electronic hi-fi with decid-
ed low-fi sounds, which is a challenge for
even the best systems. Particularly, on the
track “Girl”, which is a bass-driven piece,
and definitely a challenge for almost any
system, it did an extraordinary job with
virtually no tweaking.
The IWSub 10/10 filled the room
with just enough bass energy, and was
very quick in getting the bass in and get-
ting it out, so it always sounded clean. I
had similar results while listening to Peter
Gabriel’s SACD of his last album,
Up
.
Again, a challenging album with deep
bass presence, and many systems just
aren’t up to snuff. However, this was not
one of those systems, and it passed with
flying colors. In particular, the track
“Growing Up” was an exciting experience
to listen to, and its pounding rhythms
were as they were likely designed to be —
unrelenting and evocative.
On bombastic movie soundtracks like
Sahara
and
National Treasure
(both terri-
ble movies), the IWSub 10/10s were
equally impressive. During crashes and
explosions, the bass response was clean
and powerful, making for a very vibrant
viewing experience. I didn’t want to turn
off the movies, even though they were
pretty horrendous, but they sure sounded
great with these in-wall subwoofers!
If you have the opportunity to cut
into your walls and install the perfect
subwoofer for so many installations, then
do it. The price is great for what you get,
and as I mentioned above, you can even
pair up two subwoofers with one amplifi-
er, and the results are spectacular. If you
are renting, you can still go ahead and
install this speaker package, as long as
you are okay with losing your security
deposit. If you own your own place, it’s a
no-brainer, and it’ll also surely make your
significant other happy by cleaning up the
clutter in your home theater or media
room. Either way, you’ll be happy in the
long run.
•
—By Jeff Cherun
“an exciting experience ...
bass response was smooth
and resolute”
“The bass was tight and
clearly defined”
“incredibly well-tuned bass
response”
“Altogether, this was a very
impressive performance”
From
HDTV
ETC
.
October/November 2005.
DEFINITIVE TECHNOLOGY IWSUB 10/10 IN-WALL SUBWOOFER
“the price is great ...
you’ll be happy”
Definitive Technology
IWSub 10/10 In-Wall Subwoofer
MSRP: $699
SubAmp 600
MSRP: $599
Warranties:
IWSub 10/10 5-year parts and labor
SubAmp 600 3-year parts and labor
Definitive Technology
www.definitivetech.com
410-363-7148
▲
One SubAmp 600 can power either one or two IWSub 10/10s.
