MaxxBass® 103 is an Amazing Unit!

The below review was sent to us independently and is posted with permission Here is my report concerning my analysis of the MaxxBass® 103. I have broken up this review into two parts because I actually tested two MaxxBass® 103 units, one for my mid-bass speakers and one for my Id Max subs. Before I discuss my findings I want you to understand how my stereo system is set up in my vehicle. I am currently using a completely active set up.That means there are no passive crossovers in my set up. I have a separate 2 channel amp for my tweeters, mid-range, and mid-bass speakers. I also have 3 twelve-inch Image Dynamics Id Max subwoofers in a 1.45 cubic foot sealed enclosure per subwoofer. Each subwoofer has 1 amp to power it. I have also included a list of all my stereo equipment at the end of this review.

Part One
For part one of my listening test I wired the MaxxBass® 103 after the crossover but before the mid-bass amp. This resulted in the MaxxBass® unit only affecting the mid-bass speakers. The range that I have my mid-bass speakers playing is between 50hz - 250hz with a slope of 18db per octave. At least that is how my crossover is set up. For part two of my listening test, I installed the MaxxBass® after my crossover but before my three subwoofer amps. My crossover is set at 80hz with a slope of 30db per octave.

For this phase of my listening test I used various types of music to do some critical listening. Music genre such as light rock, hip-hop, 80's music, and r&b were my choice for this audition. After doing some critical listening, using the aforementioned music, I have many positive thoughts about the MaxxBass® 103 . I think it is a must have for any person who is serious about sound quality. I did what you would call an "a/b" comparison. Basically, what I did was listen to my setup with the MaxxBass® 103 defeated and with it engaged. Just so you know, when I defeated the MaxxBass® I did not turn the intensity knob to its minimum setting. I actually bypassed the unit all together. I routed the RCA cables going into my amp back into my crossover. I also disengaged my subwoofers during this test. I figured that it would be difficult to determine if the MaxxBass® had any affect on my mid-bass speakers if my subwoofers were playing.

The MaxxBass® 103 unit comes with three knobs and two switches. There is a knob for intensity, output, and input. One switch controls speaker setting. You can choose between a sub setting and a door setting. The other switch controls a low pass filter set at 100hz. You can choose to engage the filter or completely defeat it. The intensity knob determines how much processing the MaxxBass® unit uses on the music content. The output knob is used to control the volume and the input knob is used level match the MaxxBass® unit with the rest of your system. This is pretty easy since the unit has an LED that tells you when the input level is too high. I had the intensity knob set at the 11 o'clock position. I had the output knob set at the 12 o'clock position. The input knob was set at the 9 o'clock position. Believe it or not, I preferred the sound from my mid-bass speakers with the first switch set on sub instead of door. I left the second switch for the filter in the off position. I felt this configuration yielded the best results for my setup giving the music I was listening to. I elected not to use the supplied MaxxBass® remote intensity knob except during my initial settings. Once I felt the 11 o’clock position yielded the best sound, I set the intensity knob on the MaxxBass® unit and disconnected the remote intensity knob. I guess you can say that I have a "set it and forget it" mentality.

I must say that I was very impressed with the overall performance of this unit. The MaxxBass® unit seemed to give my mid-bass speakers a sound of bass that it otherwise would not be able to produce without lowering the crossover settings or using an equalizer to boost the lower frequencies. The level of bass remained balanced and consistent with the rest of the music. It didn’t matter whether I increased or lowered my head unit’s volume. It has been my experience that whenever I lower the crossover’s settings or use an equalizer to boost frequencies of smaller speakers, they sound distorted at high volumes. The MaxxBass® 103 allowed me to do both without the negative effects of doing either. Yes, that means even at high volumes the bass sounded uniform and balanced with the rest of the system. I did not hear any bottoming out or distortion from my mid-bass speakers which, surprisingly, was unexpected. Honestly, I expected to have to readjust my crossover and equalizer settings just to compensate for the high volumes during my audition. This was especially true with r&b and hip-hop music which seems to always be recorded with heavy bass. I also want to note that before I initiated my listening test, I set my equalizer settings to flat. I was really surprised that I did not need to increase or decrease my bass settings on my parametric equalizer. It seems likely that the adjustments that I made on the MaxxBass® unit compensated for this. In other words, the MaxxBass®s 103 did exactly what it was designed to do. It gave me the perceived sound of more bass. While I have to admit I did not get the chest pounding feeling of bass you would get from a couple of tens or twelves, I did enjoy listening to what seemed like larger mid-bass speakers.

The second part of phase one consisted of me listening to my system after enabling my subwoofers. What I immediately noticed was a sense of a more pronounced front stage. Before installing the MaxxBass® 103 my soundstage would pull rearward while listening to some types of music. This was due to the bass coming from the subs and a more direct result of a lack of up front bass.
Now with the MaxxBass® engaged my soundstage remained upfront. This is definitely due to my lowered subwoofer output and increased up front bass.
Because the MaxxBass® unit was allowing my mid-bass drivers to produce a perceived increase in bass, there was an apparent need to reduce the subwoofer output to keep everything in balance. I really don’t like when the bass is overwhelmingly louder than the rest of the musical content. What was even more impressive was that sometimes during my listening tests I had to lower my sub volume just to see if my subs were even playing.

Part Two
Part two of my listening test consisted of me installing a second MaxxBass®103 unit just before my three subwoofer amplifiers. For this audition I only used reggae and hip-hop. Both of these genres of music have many bass heavytracks. I wanted to see if I would notice a difference between the way my subs sound with and without the MaxxBass® unit engaged. When I disengaged the MaxxBass® unit I bypassed the unit altogether. I prefer to do this instead of adjusting any of the knobs. That way I get to hear the music without any influence from the MaxxBass® unit. However, for this test I left the intensity knob connected. I listened to various tracks on my reggae and hip-hop CD with the intensity knob set at different positions. On many occasions I listened to the same tracks repeatedly. In this case I would change the settings of the intensity knob while the track was playing. I eventually left the intensity knob turned all the way up which corresponds to the 5 o’clock position.

I must say that I was less impressed with the affects of the MaxxBass® unit’s sound on my subs. I found I was hard pressed to distinguish any audible difference between the way my subs sounded with the unit bypassed and with it engaged. It was not like before where the difference was night and day. This time the differences I did notice were subtle. For example, on Joe Budden’s rendition of the hip-hop song Fire, there is a bass line during the song that starts at around 75hz and falls to below 30hz. When the MaxxBass® unit was disengaged I could not only hear this falling bass line but I could also feel it as well. The bass line started at the high end of the frequency band and rolled towards the low end of the frequency band. When the MaxxBass® unit was engaged, initially I could hear and feel this bass line. However, as the bass line started to dip toward the lower end of the frequency band I could hear the bass line but not feel it as I did before. I also noticed a difference with the MaxxBass® 103 on a freestyle hip-hop song. Some of the artists, that I recognized, on this song were Joe Budden, Fabulous, and Noriega. While listening to this song I noticed, with the MaxxBass® unit engaged, the bass line seemed to linger. This seemed to add a more forceful and boomy sound to that song’s bass lines. Some people may like that. Unfortunately, I was unable to discern any real noticeable differences amongst all of my reggae and the rest of my hip hop tracks.

I would have to say that the MaxxBass® 103 would probably not be needed on larger subs in a sealed enclosure. However, the MaxxBass® unit would be an excellent addition to any sub in a ported or bandpass enclosure. This is because when the switch is set to “subs” the cutoff frequency is 35hz. This is especially useful if you have an amp that does not have a subsonic filter. With the MaxxBass® 103, you get a built-in subsonic filter, a line driver, and all the sound your subs can’t produce below your tuning frequency. This of course assumes that your tuning frequency is around 35hz or higher.

Overall I would have to say that the MaxxBass®103 is an amazing unit. When it is engaged on my mid-bass amp, my system sounds almost good enough to play without any subs. This unit is a “must have”.

Speaker Components:

Front
2 pair Canton CS tweeters (1 in.) tweeter
1 pair Canton CS separates (5-1.4) midrange
1 pair Canton CS separates (6 in.) mid-bass

Rear
1 pair Canton QS midrange drivers (5-1.4)
mid-bassSubs
3 Image Dynamics Id Max V.3 subwoofers (12 in.)

Amplifiers
Tweeter amp 1 precision power A600.2 (150w X 2)
Tweeter amp(#2) 1 precision power A600.2 (150w X 2)
Midrange amp 1 precision power A404.2 (200w x 2)
Mid-bass amp 1 precision power A404.2 (200w x 2)
Rear Mid-bass amp 1 precision power A300.2 (75w x 2)
Subwoofer amps 3 precision power PC1400 (800w x 1)each

Sound Source
Alpine IVA-D900 7in. screen cd/dvd player
Alpine CHA-S603 6 disc cd changer

Sound Processing
PXA-H701 crossover/digital processor/parametric equalizer
Precision Power FRX-456 crossover

Connecting Cables (RCA)
Monster Cable Micro XLN