This month I decided to write a highlight piece on one of my favorite and one of LIS Audio’s best selling subs. In this blog I will cover some of the aspects I like about the 2100 Series subwoofers and some of the applications that we’ve used them in at the shop. Here we won’t go as deep into the acoustical response of the subwoofers utilizing real time measurements in their environment, rather discuss installation professional and client testimonials.
The Audio Dynamics 2100 Series Subwoofer
What I immediately noticed about the subwoofer when I first unboxed it, was the accurate assembly and clean design of the subwoofer. The 2100 Series subwoofers have a smooth aluminum cone and dustcap that contributes to producing a very solid and accurate bass response, while not seeming to lag like earlier traditional aluminum cone subwoofers do. I personally have not been much of a fan of aluminum for a subwoofer cone subwoofers but the Audio Dynamics subwoofers became an exception.
8″ Subwoofer Sealed and Vented Applications
Here you can see we used 8″ 2100 Series subwoofers in sealed enclosures behind the seats of this custom Nissan 350Z. Audio Dynamics does not recommend using these subwoofers in sealed applications, however we have and have had no issues with accuracy, output or reliability when utilizing them in this application. The 2100 Series subs prove to be very versatile and reliable when sent a clean and clear signal.
This Chevy 4500 installation displays four Audio Dynamics 2100 Series 8’s. In this installation we decided to match the subwoofers with an AudioControl LC1.800 amplifier. In the video above you can see a bit of the excursion these little subwoofers offer, as well as how much air pressure they are able to produce. The client listens to a lot of EDM and Hip-hop so he wanted us to tune the system to play these genres the most prominently. It turned out really well and we are currently adding 2100 subs to his show quality Camaro!
The Audio Dynamics 2100 Series subwoofer comes in 8-inch, 10-inch and 12-inch then range from 100 Watts to 1400 Watts of nominal power. The amount of power that can be efficiently delivered to the subwoofer will be limited by the enclosure design and amount of distortion within the signal, but each size offers a range in which it performs most efficiently. With the 8 inch starting at $279 and the 12-inch at $379 the overall bang for buck on this subwoofer is well worth it. Some might look at it as dollars to Watts and in the case of the 12 inch it works out to be about $.27 a Watt of power handling. However, this may not matter at all to you.
10″ Subwoofer Center Console & 6th Order Applications
We had a client that didn’t want to give up much space to add a sub-stage and preferred a full size subwoofer that offered much more linear movement than a traditional shallow mount subwoofer would. We decided to replace the center console utilizing the Audio Dynamics Acoustical Engineering process. Which allows us to tune the enclosure to the clients musical preferences, stereo power levels, cabin air space and a few more variables that aren’t typically taken into account. The Ford F-150 sounds fantastic now with a full Audio Dynamics system with a bunch of HushMat and has some flex from a single 10″ sub!
This next application is more of a show quality build but we wanted to also give the show quality 1970 Charger a great sound stage. We used two 10″ 2100 Series subs in a custom built and engineered enclosure. You can see below the graph of the estimated response of the sub-stage when designed by Audio Dynamics. This enclosure, which is a 6th order alignment, is tuned around the exact stereo application as well as the clients music genre preferences. We decided to utilize Audio Dynamics speakers and amplifiers for the entire build and Monty loved it!
To others, the amount of power the subwoofer can handle isn’t as relevant as how clean the subwoofer sounds at a specific power range and enclosure tune. Mostly based on the fact that factory electrical systems in vehicles don’t allow for a ton of additional power and could require a much bigger budget when going “too big” on the sub-stage. This series of subwoofer is recommended for vented enclosures and are not ideal in sealed enclosures, though we have used them in sealed applications with great results. These subwoofers perform very well in 4th order and 6th order enclosure alignments.
12″ Subwoofer Prefab & Ported Show Spec Applications
Above we have a Nissan Altima that received a simple sub-stage installation with a 12″ 2100 Series subwoofer and a basic amplifier installation. This clients budget called for the use of a prefabricated subwoofer enclosure which is built and tuned to cover a wide variety of different makes and models of subs. Even though it is ideal to have the subwoofer enclosure tuned to the specifications of the sub, the 2100 performs extremely well in this environment. The client was very impressed and lets us know often.
In this Acura RL we added two 12″ 2100 Series subs in a LIS Audio custom designed and built subwoofer enclosure. We vented the enclosure port through the rear deck lid where we installed a custom LIS Audio perforated rear deck lid. We offer this option to customers that have vehicles with thick rear seats they don’t anticipate folding down to transfer more bass into the vehicle cabin. Check out the video and pics to see what all we did to get the Eddy’s Acura right.
“The 2100 series 10 employs a finely-tuned balance of damping and motor force to achieve high efficiency, offering exceptional versatility and performance in a variety of real-world functions: Paired with a traditional (4th order) bass-reflex enclosure, the subwoofer’s output can be focused along a narrow bandwidth for use in sheer loudness / SPL applications. In a 6th order bass-reflex, the output can be spread along a wider frequency range, shifting emphasis onto sound quality with articulate delivery and highly controlled excursion.”
10″ Subwoofer in Large Area Applications
This last build we performed using a single 10″ 2100 Series subwoofer in a custom built center console. The reason I wanted to show this example is to give a general idea of how well just one of these subwoofers in the right enclosure can be plenty. This one subwoofer tuned and installed into the right enclosure delivers enough bass to fill the entire Chiefs party bus, and more. I would say these subs allow us to do a lot with a little!
I would have to say my overall favorite part about the 2100 Series subwoofer is the fact that they are so reliable. They can be beat up, over and over, and will still perform. They deliver a very strong, tight and accurate bass response (when tuned properly of course) and can handle a decent amount of clean power. At LIS we have stretched the subs to their specified limits and they have held up very well. Having now performed many installations with this series of subwoofer in different applications, it is clear to see that we will be using it much more. In the future, when the power levels and air space permit, I will choose the 2100 Series.
Thank you for reading my product highlight blog! Make sure to follow the LIS Audio Blog to see what we will feature next!! Find us on Instagram, Facebook and YouYube!!
Contact LIS Audio if you have any questions…
Call: (913) 912- 6990
E-mail: info@lisaudio.com
Website: http://www.lisaudio.com
LIS Audio Blogs 