The Fern & Roby Rockett DiPole Subs will provide a foundational extension to any set of main speakers. “Our design is not the typical “resonant box” approach to subwoofer design. Its exceptional open-baffle, dipole design sets it apart from the generic category of subwoofers and enables it to integrate with main speakers in a seamless manner.”
Dipoles present the energy and sound forward and backward, which creates a null point around and above the speaker itself, mitigating the problem that comes with exciting bass nodes in rooms of different shapes and sizes. This quality makes dipoles more accommodating and easier to integrate with an existing room and speaker setup. Our open-baffle design additionally allows our drivers to move incredibly fast, keeping pace with the mid and high range drivers of your main speakers. While we love our subs with our Beams and Cubes, we are happy to see them with other great systems out there!
DRIVERS
Our design features the stellar DC Gold Audio 10 inch driver. By having two drivers firing in opposition to each other, we increase efficiency and dampening in a balanced manner, allowing the experience to be dictated by the output rather than a resonant box’s characteristics (which is non-linear).
With only 17 grams of moving mass and no spider on the woofer, our drivers are incredibly fast, enabling them to keep up with a wide range of speakers like electro-stats and other loudspeakers that can typically be tough to keep pace with.
Keeping bass frequency projection at the same pace with the rest of the music is an essential part of having a believable full-range extension product to support the best speakers on the market.
ELECTRONICS
We designed the Rockett subwoofers to work as a summed single module, or in stereo as a pair, which is our favored approach. Each unit is powered by a 175 watt, Hypex DS 2.0 plate amp in the base with its own gain, crossover, phase, and eq controls. Bi-Amplification of the bass takes a heavy load off of the main power amp and lets it drive the main speakers to greater effect where it is most important, delivering greater nuance and detail in the mid and high range. The integrated power amp’s controls allow for the subs to be dialed in and tuned to the frequency response of the room and specs of your system.
ENCLOSURE AND OPTIONS
Our products are made in Richmond, Virginia. Unlike many other audio products, our subs are made from select solid wood. Our standard offering is in kiln-dried oak. Heart pine is a specialty option. Prices on different wood species are available upon request.
The materials are first graded and then selected for grain direction and character. After assembly of the blanks, we machine the components for the enclosures on our CNC routers and vertical milling centers. Our unique design of our solid wood modules and exterior enclosure geometry allow the enclosure to reside in the null point’s center without interfering with the projecting and reflected waves.
For those who want “more” we can add additional driver modules (up to six per sub in total!) and are able to offer a full range head with one of several fantastic Voxativ drivers we love! This design harkens back to the origins of the design that our friend Ralph Hellmer developed with his “Fifth Row” speaker—six woofers and the full range head—before joining our team and developing this product with us.
Species & Pricing:
A single sub or a pair…
single kiln-dried oak: $3500
pair kiln-dried oak: $6500
single heart pine: $3750
pair heart pine: $6750