A little press for the LFM-1

I've been meaning to post this for a while now. Outlaw's LFM-1 recently made an appearance in print - it was part of a brief round-up of subs in Sound & Vision done by Tom Nousaine. Aside from the LFM-1, it's got the Canton AS 50 SC, Earthquake Super Nova MK-IV 10, Energy S12.3, Infinity SW-12, JBL S120P II, Phase Technology HV-1000, PSB Subsonic 6i, RBH MS-10.1, and Velodyne DPS-12. Nousaine includes brief summaries of each as well as some lab numbers. The article starts on page 94 of the September 2004 issue. The LFM-1 is one of the least expensive subs in the bunch (which all range from $475 to $1000) and comes away pretty positively alongside the more expensive units. There's not a lot of meat to the article, but what's there speaks pretty well for the LFM-1.

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gonk -- 950 Review | LFM-1 Review | Pre/Pro Comparison Chart | Saloon Links

A summary from the Sound & Vision review:

1. Loudness at 20 Hz: PSB (93.8 dB), Energy (86 dB), Infinity (84.5 dB), Outlaw (83 dB)

2. Average loudness from 25 to 62 Hz: Energy (109 dB), PSB and Outlaw (108 dB), Infinity (107 dB)

3. Bandwidth uniformity from 25 to 62 Hz:
ratio of average and maximum SPL: PSB (98%), Energy (97%), Outlaw and Infinity (95%)
difference between min and max SPL: PSB (7 dB), Energy (7.4 dB), Outlaw (16.4 dB), Infinity (16.8 dB)

Just based on these numbers, I would rank PSB (1), Energy (2), Outlaw (3), and Infinity (4).

tvd51

It would appear that way "by the numbers". what about real listening though? Also, the PSB lists for $699 whereas the LFM-1 is $579. I have an older version of the PSB, the Subsonic 3, which uses a 12" driver and a 180watt amp, and a list price of $799. I wonder how much improvement there would be going to the LFM-1 today compared to this 10-year old? It is rated to 25hz(though I forget the +/-db's), and can rattle anything not nailed down!