Tuned port design for more output
Very small footprint for a 12” subwoofer
Well built
Easy to place and setup
Well Packaged
Powerful amplifier
Fantastic sound
Excellent value
Cons:
Only Available in black
Some port noise when pushed to extreme limits
Not short enough to put under a side table
Verdict:
At the MSRP price of $599 The Ridley Acoustics KS320 is a subwoofer with a modest price and a hefty punch. With its 12” driver, ported cabinet and small foot print design this sub is an easy fit into any listen environment.
Ridley Acoustics KS320 Review :
Ridley Acoustics has built a fantastic piece with its first attempt at a non in-wall subwoofer. Its 12” driver and ported cabinet design makes this a great sounding, good looking and an affordable subwoofer sure to please anyone looking for a thunderous addition to their home theater.
With the MSRP at $599 KS320 Ridley Acoustics subwoofer is aimed at the mid level market with a price conscious consumer in mind that isn’t willing to sacrifice sound quality, accuracy and SPL in there home theater setup.
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Ridley Acoustics KS320 Subwoofer Specifications:
The Ridley KS320 has a powerful 300 watt Class A/B BASH amplifier with thermal and clipping limiters. The controls on the back consist of a volume control knob, 0-180° phase control, 40-120hz cross over dial, bypass or variable crossover control switch and of course a on-off switch with a 10 minute signal sensing off timer option.
The connections on the back consist of a dual RCA LFE input and a left and right high level speaker input for connecting you front speakers though the subwoofer if necessary.
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The KS320 weighs in at 43lbs and comes packed in at least 10 lbs of foam and cardboard to assure it arrives safely. The enclosure measures in at 21”x 20”x 20” (WxDxH) and that isn’t much larger then most 10” subwoofers on the market. It’s finished in an unobtrusive black wood veneer that will blend in with any décor.
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The sub comes packed with four thick heavy duty rubber isolator feet for hard floors or if you have carpet it also comes with the thickest heaviest duty spikes I have seen with any speaker to ensure proper coupling with the ground.
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The Ridley KS320 subwoofer has five threaded holes on the bottom to support the sub on either the supplied spikes or rubber isolators. As I stated before it comes with four isolators and spikes. If you look on the bottom of the subwoofer it has 5 supplied connection points for these feet. Ridley says you can support the sub in either the classic four pattern, one each corner or use a three feet if you wanted. I’m not sure why you would only use three but it is an option if you so desire.
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How does it sound?
In our demo room where the listening was conducted we have an Onkyo TX-NR807 receiver and a Yamaha CD player feeding it. I started off with some music first. Warming up with The Tragically Hip’s Day for Night album and the song So Hard Done By. The subwoofer provided tight, precise and deep bass for the song that is heavy on the bass guitar. The subwoofer is a snap to setup properly in your environment because of the tuned and with all of the connections and fine adjustments mounted on the rear. With some minor tinkering I had it perfectly blending with the main speakers up front, but not overwhelming the room with bass. I did walk over and turn the volume on the subwoofer all the way up to see if there was any clipping or driver distortion. There was neither but there was a little bit of port noise when pushed to levels that you would not listen to movies or music at, Something Ridley can perhaps have a look at on there next subwoofer. The Ridley KS320 was able to hit hard a quick for this song so I decided to move onto a Blu-Ray movie with some different musical demands.
I decided to give a Blu-Ray copy of Super Speedway a go; you might think it is an unusual choice to test a subwoofer considering it mainly consists of INDY cars running around race tracks with engines screaming at 10,000rpm. You wouldn’t think there would be much work available for a subwoofer. However there are some exciting accidents and crash testing of the cars where the KS320 performed thunderously. The Ridley also didn’t let up when the cars were running over the rumble strips as they cut corners as close to the apex as they can to put down the best time of the day.
The Ridley was quick, accurate and it didn’t leave anything missing. As well it didn’t overpower the main speakers and everything blended seamlessly.
