The overachieving TR-1D subwoofer from Gallo Acoustics

The Anthony Gallo Acoustics TR-1D subwoofer

(Credit: Anthony Gallo Acoustics)

I'm not a big fan of really small subwoofers. Not that the little ones can't make deep bass -- the best of today's mini subs can deliver lots of low-end oomph, but the quality of the bass won't be anything to write home about. The bass is usually sloppy and poorly defined, so individual bass notes blur together. That's not such a big problem when reproducing the sound of explosions and special effects, but most small subs are less adept with music.

The Anthony Gallo Acoustics TR-1D ($599) sub is fairly small, but still handles home theater and music with equal prowess. The sub features a proprietary 10-inch ceramic anodized aluminum woofer, and a 200-watt Class D amplifier. Instead of the usual medium-density fiberboard cabinet, the TR-1D is built around an 11-inch diameter steel cylinder enclosure. It's 12 inches deep and weighs a hefty 33 pounds. While most subs have bass ports, the TR-1D does not, it's sealed and like all Gallo products, the sub uses patented S2 technology that increases the amount of bass generated from a small cabinet. S2 really works.

Connectivity options are extensive and include stereo RCA and speaker-level inputs and outputs. The TR-1D's speaker output jacks are filtered, so they provide the sort of bass management typicall... [Read more]

by Steve Guttenberg via CNET