Thanks BP1Fanatic and circlomanen, I can sort of agree, but I think this is down to what we see in the picture, is it a pair of interesting DIY loudspeakers, or is it the "total lack of respect of everything esthetic" type cable routing, or might it be the 80's memories flooding back?
By the way, if you answer is a "a living room in dire need of help" quickly followed by a little voice in your head saying "well he will be single within short" well... then you are a perfectly normal person.
As luck would have it she's still here, and so is the setup, and Wilmer, my six months old son has this far not suffered any detectable trauma, but tomorrow the speakers are moving to another room, a smaller one, just to make sure I do not strain the subs to the limit
By the way, if you answer is a "a living room in dire need of help" quickly followed by a little voice in your head saying "well he will be single within short" well... then you are a perfectly normal person.
As luck would have it she's still here, and so is the setup, and Wilmer, my six months old son has this far not suffered any detectable trauma, but tomorrow the speakers are moving to another room, a smaller one, just to make sure I do not strain the subs to the limit
I would say no, when listening to them I find that the highest usable (with regards to sound quality) frequency is around 150Hz, currently i cross them over at 158Hz but rather steep (48dB/Oct), but I'm still getting to know them, according to the photo the dip is indicated between 160 and 250 Hz somewhere, my guess it is below 200Hz.
I say this since I think the frequencies in the RTA photo are 100, 125, 160, 200, 250, and 315Hz if it follows the ISO standard for a 31 band unit, which I'm pretty sure it is, not totally sure though.
A couple of days ago me and Johannes had a bit of a listening session at which time we also took some measurements, even though the 15SW115's that are housed in the ROAR15 have not seen any form of action, meaning, they have been carefully played at apartment levels, I would guess rarely above 1W, and so they are not broken in by any means, they still sound great to my ears.
They do sound different compared to the THAM15 as I recall them, the ROAR15 has a more sharp definition, you hear details in the bass, and one can even track quite complex passages in the range below 158Hz (I currently cross tem at 158Hz 48dB/Oct LR)
Here are some tracks that I feel shines a light on this:
Heilung - Krigsgaldr (from their studio album ofnir)
In this track, about 1:52 in, the big drums make their presence known, these are presented with depth, texture and details.
The egg - She's Terrific (from their album Forwards (Special edition)
Here the baseline is very clear, sharp and easy to follow, and it does not blend or gets mixed up with the bass drum, the bass drum are presented clearly with a nice punch.
Röksopp - The Alcoholic
The initial beat has great detail and punch, the baselines are initially a bit fragmented in background but comes forward around the 1min mark, here we noted little difference in amplitude throughout the highs and lows of the baseline, and the 1:55 deep finale was rather impressive in depth, later on, around 2:21 in the bass line goes up rather high in frequency, but still remained non resonant and pleasant.
Abakus - Dreamer
the initial beat is tight and nice, the bass line that enter around 1:07 has tons of detail, you could hear the ripple throughout the melody.
Matt Lange - Rift (original Mix)
Tight and punchy beat and the bass line that has a little twist (pitch) is clearly presented with a lot of nice energy throughout.
Portugal, The man - Feel it still (Lido remix)
A nice track to test with, the attack and depth in the initial beats are clear, so is the second round (0:42 in), and later on in the track (1:19) there is no problem in following the bass line melody as the tones starts and stops very sharply.
Lauge & Baba Gnohm - Dybert
A lovely track with intresting LF content, the bass lines are detailed with a lot of ripple and the bass drum is nicely defined with great attack and is clearly "in front" of the bass lines.
And here are the measurements, they are taken in room so there are of course some influences from this, I have not yet measured them outside.
Note that these measurements are not calibrated for sensitivity, no EQ or processing is applied.
Frequency response at the aperture (mouth) of a ROAR15:
Distortion at the aperture (mouth) of a ROAR15:
The compete system response at listening position.
The ROAR15's are slightly lifted here in order to get a better idea of how they sound, I prefer them ~3dB lower, no EQ applied for the ROAR's.
That's about it, I'm happy with how they perform with regards to range and definition, I cant wait to turn them up a bit
They do sound different compared to the THAM15 as I recall them, the ROAR15 has a more sharp definition, you hear details in the bass, and one can even track quite complex passages in the range below 158Hz (I currently cross tem at 158Hz 48dB/Oct LR)
Here are some tracks that I feel shines a light on this:
Heilung - Krigsgaldr (from their studio album ofnir)
In this track, about 1:52 in, the big drums make their presence known, these are presented with depth, texture and details.
The egg - She's Terrific (from their album Forwards (Special edition)
Here the baseline is very clear, sharp and easy to follow, and it does not blend or gets mixed up with the bass drum, the bass drum are presented clearly with a nice punch.
Röksopp - The Alcoholic
The initial beat has great detail and punch, the baselines are initially a bit fragmented in background but comes forward around the 1min mark, here we noted little difference in amplitude throughout the highs and lows of the baseline, and the 1:55 deep finale was rather impressive in depth, later on, around 2:21 in the bass line goes up rather high in frequency, but still remained non resonant and pleasant.
Abakus - Dreamer
the initial beat is tight and nice, the bass line that enter around 1:07 has tons of detail, you could hear the ripple throughout the melody.
Matt Lange - Rift (original Mix)
Tight and punchy beat and the bass line that has a little twist (pitch) is clearly presented with a lot of nice energy throughout.
Portugal, The man - Feel it still (Lido remix)
A nice track to test with, the attack and depth in the initial beats are clear, so is the second round (0:42 in), and later on in the track (1:19) there is no problem in following the bass line melody as the tones starts and stops very sharply.
Lauge & Baba Gnohm - Dybert
A lovely track with intresting LF content, the bass lines are detailed with a lot of ripple and the bass drum is nicely defined with great attack and is clearly "in front" of the bass lines.
And here are the measurements, they are taken in room so there are of course some influences from this, I have not yet measured them outside.
Note that these measurements are not calibrated for sensitivity, no EQ or processing is applied.
Frequency response at the aperture (mouth) of a ROAR15:
Distortion at the aperture (mouth) of a ROAR15:
The compete system response at listening position.
The ROAR15's are slightly lifted here in order to get a better idea of how they sound, I prefer them ~3dB lower, no EQ applied for the ROAR's.
That's about it, I'm happy with how they perform with regards to range and definition, I cant wait to turn them up a bit
Last edited:
The ROAR15 is my new reference for high definition bass reproduction. I would really like to hear them being powered by a Powersoft K20 or similar capable amp. I predict that the ROAR15 will be quite impressive at 2 kw. My ROAR12 handled 1000 watts way better then the ratings on my B&C 12PS100 indicates it should, and your B&C 15SW115 are quite brutal beasts compared to most other drivers out there.
Thanks Anders for a very eye-opening listening session!
It is quite intresting to compare the sound quality and character between ROAR and THAM.
The THAM series are somewhat "soft" and ingratiating compared to the ROAR series.
The ROAR series seems to exaggerate the contrast and dynamics in music when compared to normal horns or tapped horns. Kind of similar to increasing the contrast and saturation in Photoshop.
They tend to focus on details and differentiation between instruments in a way I have never heard before.
Thanks Anders for a very eye-opening listening session!
It is quite intresting to compare the sound quality and character between ROAR and THAM.
The THAM series are somewhat "soft" and ingratiating compared to the ROAR series.
The ROAR series seems to exaggerate the contrast and dynamics in music when compared to normal horns or tapped horns. Kind of similar to increasing the contrast and saturation in Photoshop.
They tend to focus on details and differentiation between instruments in a way I have never heard before.
Hey everybody!
I'm very interested in the ROAR Series and found something on the internet about an already existing (i guess ) ROAR system!
Look at this homepage:
HF12 | dr!aus
"Dr!Aus" (Very funny Name in Germany, by the way ) HF12 looks very similar to Martinsson's ROAR 15 design in basic, well it has just 1 tube and not 2, but i think it's the same system. Driven by 15NWL100 or 15X401 these "tiny" Subs are real bastards i guess 
There are many YouTube Videos out there with nice and very physical impressions, how the ROAR's work!
Just type in Dr!Aus and you will find them.
Also interesting the greater brother HF34 with 18Sound 18NLW9601
HF34 | dr!aus
I will build up some of these guys in summer and give a review after that.
Until that, i have to be satisfied with two of my MTH46 VS in a THAM 18 Mod, an yes, it's already good stuff to work with.
I'm very interested in the ROAR Series and found something on the internet about an already existing (i guess
) ROAR system!Look at this homepage:
HF12 | dr!aus
"Dr!Aus" (Very funny Name in Germany, by the way
) HF12 looks very similar to Martinsson's ROAR 15 design in basic, well it has just 1 tube and not 2, but i think it's the same system. Driven by 15NWL100 or 15X401 these "tiny" Subs are real bastards i guess There are many YouTube Videos out there with nice and very physical impressions, how the ROAR's work!
Just type in Dr!Aus and you will find them.
Also interesting the greater brother HF34 with 18Sound 18NLW9601
HF34 | dr!aus
I will build up some of these guys in summer and give a review after that.
Until that, i have to be satisfied with two of my MTH46 VS in a THAM 18 Mod, an yes, it's already good stuff to work with.
They seem to be "half"-ROAR. ROAR as we designed them are split path symmetrical. These seems to be single path TP/TH coupling to a quite small frontresonator.
The stated frequency response seems to match the ROAR designs reasonably well.
I am happy to see ROAR-derivatives being built and used with success.
The stated frequency response seems to match the ROAR designs reasonably well.
I am happy to see ROAR-derivatives being built and used with success.
He certainly is, the split path does not only allow for a more even loading of the driver, it also serves to maximize the front resonator length to overall enclosure depth, and to get less free (unsupported) exterior cabinet panels, two instead instead of three the case or ROAR, these are then connected through one single brace.
The next ROAR derivate at Pro Light and Sound 2019 Frankfurt
Hey guys! At my visitation on Pro Light and Sound Live Arena in Frankfurt i saw and heard (!!!) the next professional ROAR derivate out there. 
Driven by four (!!!) Faital Pro 18HP1060 in end fire mode with his twinbrother behind this bass cabinet comes directly out of hell!
Homepage: Aura Audio
The sound: very tight, clean, not too deep and veeeeery punchy!!
All the songs played sounded right and it made sooo much fun listening to them! Highlight was "Reflect" from Neelix
When the beat dropped, the people were shocked instantly and came tu study the cabinet, fun fun fun!
For first impression i made a video, but camera mic compressed, when the beat came in here is the link:
YouTube
Have a nice day, we'll see again.
Hey guys!
At my visitation on Pro Light and Sound Live Arena in Frankfurt i saw and heard (!!!) the next professional ROAR derivate out there. Driven by four (!!!) Faital Pro 18HP1060 in end fire mode with his twinbrother behind this bass cabinet comes directly out of hell!
Homepage: Aura Audio
The sound: very tight, clean, not too deep and veeeeery punchy!!
All the songs played sounded right and it made sooo much fun listening to them! Highlight was "Reflect" from Neelix
When the beat dropped, the people were shocked instantly and came tu study the cabinet, fun fun fun!
For first impression i made a video, but camera mic compressed, when the beat came in
here is the link:YouTube
Have a nice day, we'll see again.
