Review written by 'easytease'

I was offered the chance to try one of these subs in my system and decided to take up the offer.

My system as tested consists of a Sony cdx mp30 headunit, 4gauge power cables all round, a Genesis Profile Sub amp and standard speakers in a 1996 ford escort. No sound deadening as of yet.

Upon opening the box for the sub I was greatly impressed at the lengths vibe has gone to. In the box was a small manual (not that a sub really needs a manual, especially as its single voice coil) a sticker, foam surround and 8 Allen key headed screws and an Allen key. Great I thought, but the Allen key is only for the terminals and not for the screws they give you. Apart from that the packaging was very strong and the sub nicely presented.

First impressions were that it was very well constructed. its a single 4Ohm voice coil which runs at 500 WRMS and 1500Watts peak. The MRRP is £100 I think. For that it is very impressively constructed.

As I'm an 'SQ fairy' I decided to test it in a variety of sealed boxes, so as to get away from the stereotypical fitment of a vibe into a vibe ported enclosure.

To begin with I tinkered with some box building software and decided to create a 2.3 cubic foot, sealed box which can then be downsized to 2cu ft and then the recommended 1.5cuft for a sealed enclosure.




To start off with I've run the sub off a Genesis Profile Sub which is giving it about 300WRMS at 4 Ohms, I've maintained the same settings as I used with my JL audio 12" W3 so I can see more how different the sub sounds.

First impressions were it was a but sloppy and uncontrolled when playing some dance and R'n'B, but when i changed to some Greenday and Hoobastank it seemed to sound quite well placed. This is almost definitely down to the fact that the enclosure is far bigger then what its designed to run in. It could also be due to the sub still 'running in' we shall see over the next few hours of play with the sub.

With time for 'bedding in' the sub did become more controlled especially when the box was resized to the recommended 1.5cu ft, and liked to make its presence known, it is certainly louder then my W3, but not quite as controlled. But from the point of view that the blackair is half the price of the W3, you really can't complain, I would recommend it to anyone who wants some depth to their OE system on a budget of around a hundred pound. My advice for anyone looking at getting this sub is to make sure you make a box that is 1.5 cubic foot which is what vibe recommends, doing this test really has proven to me how essential the right sized box is.

The only real criticism is that the subs should, in my opinion, be directed towards a sealed enclosure, I believe the general car audio customer sees vibes as being subs for ported enclosures, and sure they do look good and produce a lot of bass, but they sound a lot better in a nice sealed box.

For one hundred pounds (or there about) you really can't go wrong with this sub, the construction is superb and the sub sounds impressive too, the box size that is needs is small enough even for a smart car! I'd get one if I was looking at a new sub.