Unity Audio Avalanche subwoofer
Unity Audio, based in Essex, UK, will preview its forthcoming Avalanche subwoofer (price TBA) at next week’s 133rd AES Convention in San Francisco’s Moscone Center, October 27-29. The company says it designed the third product in its monitoring range to compliment the existing Rock and Boulder models for engineers who want extra SPL and low frequency extension; in addition, Avalanche subwoofers can be used in conjunction with other monitor brands.
The Avalanche was designed by Kevin Van Green and retains the sealed cabinet approach found in Unity Audio’s Rock and Boulder monitors while adding a dual chamber with an aperiodic vent, which offers the benefits of a sealed cabinet—no port noise and tightly focused, quick accurate bass reproduction—and is said to increase the bass response from a smaller cabinet. The cabinet sits on four large adjustable custom heavy duty solid brass spikes to stop any unwanted movement. Without spikes, the cabinet dimensions are 19.3×16.9×16.9 inches deep (HxWxD) .
The Avalanche uses a downward firing 12-inch woofer designed for heavy duty subwoofer applications. The input circuitry uses two transformer balanced XLR inputs feeding Burr Brown op amps to maintain the best possible quality audio signal, which passes through to the satellite speakers. Amplification is by two Rock low-frequency custom E.A.R. discrete Class A/B amplifiers on rubber isolation mounts running in parallel totaling 150 watts, while the outputs are on two XLR connectors. The Avalanche is said to extend low frequencies down to 30 Hz with the -3dB point down being 23 Hz.
User controls include volume, 180-degree phase switch, bypass switch, and a switched rotary satellite crossover frequency selector. Avalanche uses a separate custom power supply rather than an internal one to maintain cabinet symmetry and balance.
For more information, visit www.unityaudioproducts.co.uk.
