To most people when you think of subwoofers you think of the boom boom boom of the car next to you, disturbing your peaceful conversation at a stoplight. However, a well-designed subwoofer isn’t about the boom. It’s about the bass detail that goes missing in most speakers because they cannot dig that deep. Now I will be the first one to admit that in my 11 x 10“ room, a 12 inch subwoofer is a bit overkill on first glance, but what we forget is that a quality big subwoofer delivers detail and harmonics that otherwise we would miss.
When Mark Schifter, of Vera-Fi Audio told me he was sending me his Vanguard Caldera 12 subwoofer, I was a bit apprehensive because of the size of my room. I was hoping for the eight or 10 inch model. But Mark insisted that I need to hear this one. A few weeks ago it showed up along with some of his other noise eliminating or reducing items that will be in a review later. For now, let’s just stick to the Caldera 12.
The Design
This is a beautiful cabinet. Once again. Mark has chosen Rosewood veneer for the cabinet. In a conversation with Mark, I finally found out where his love for Rosewood came from. Turns out that his mentor, audio legend Arnie Nundell introduced him and it’s been love ever since then. The balance of the construction first-rate for the under $500, with 1.5 inch front baffle, 3/4 inch sides and 5/8 inch back. There is a cross brace for added cabinet rigidity along with sound absorption material. Also, a slot style port. The driver is a 12’ treated paper cone, with a worthy surround. It is housed in a steel casket. The magnet has a hole in the center for heat dispersion.
The back panel controls the crossover is mounted to the control plate. Looking at it, one first notices the large torridal transformer. Interestingly, the component rest within its own internal cabinet, a real surprise in the under $500 category. From left to right: RCA inputs, Subwoofer level, Power on mode (auto or on), Bass Boost, Phase, Crossover. Farther down on the right is the Balanced input, Rocker power switch (nicely placed above the power cord socket). Finally, a slotted rear port. Overall dimensions are: 16 inches wide 15 3/4 D and 14 high.
I want to take a moment to talk about the bass boost switch on the Caldera 12 back panel. Now originally I had thought that this was designed for those that crave the electric dance music. After a bit of reminder education from a YouTube video by my mentor Jeff Dorgay ofToneAudio, the bass boost is designed for when people have to place the sub somewhere out of normal firing position. So on a couple of different opportunities during the review time I move the Caldara 12 along side walls and one time actually right in the middle of the room just for grins. The results are just what many customers need, the ability to experience the Caldara 12 at its best even when the room set up seemingly doesn’t allow for it. The bass boost provides that extra of that an opposition sub needs to bring it back to its optimum performance.
In my time with the Caldara 12, I’ve had a chance to pair it up with four different speakers, but it was important that I start with the matching Vera-Fi Audio Scouts. I have raved several times about these incredible little cabinets that sell for $299 a pair. And the word is starting to get out how amazing these little gems are. Randy of Cheap Audio Man fame, went nuts over them.
Listening
I set the crossover to 85 Hz as the Scouts can go down to about 70hz in all reality. At this point, the crossover allows for a smooth transition. Many like to run the speakers full bandwidth, and in reality it’s a personal choice. Because of the power of the Caldera 12, in the size my room is, it takes little power to energize my listening space. I purposefully chose a few jazz songs of string bass to start. I was not disappointed the texture of classic jazz. Quartets brought an ethereal almost hair-raising experience.
Next, I turned to a couple of my favorite strong bass guitar tracks from rock artists starting with Dire Straits “Ride across the River”. The quick punch in the mid song is just outstanding. The slam is there and it is tight and stunning. The thunderclap effect in James Taylor’s “Gaia” is unreal. It made the hair stand up on my arms. If you’ve ever experienced a thunderstorm high up in the mountains like the Colorado Rockies, then you know what I’m talking about. The late great John Entwistle’s bass guitar in “Eminence Front” truly define his nickname “thunder fingers”.
But let’s not forget, a subwoofer is not just about those intense moments, it’s about adding the foundation of sound, that permeates through the mid range, thus giving body, warmth, and image depth. Listening to various tracks by the Milk Carton Kids, I felt like I was in an audience at one of their small venue shows. You hear that extra bit of texture in their vocals. The acoustic guitar has that extra residence that only that instrument can provide.
With the cabinet as large as the Caldara 12, in a small space, it can become a bit interesting in my case the challenge becomes where to put all the various review gear that is either in-house or the several pieces of my reference, set up the multiple amplifiers DACs, you name it, so it was a bit tricky finding the happy spot. What I ended up choosing was the subwoofer on the left side of my two level coffee table style component holder. I picked this design because unlike the solid oak rack my grandfather built some 45 years ago, by staying low below the height of any of my stand mount or floor mount speakers and actually behind, when in rotation, it offers the best solution for my limited space. I did keep the Caldera 12 out about a foot from the front wall because of the horizontal slot on the backside near the bottom of the cabinet as a port.
Any test of a subwoofer would not be complete without playing Tchaikovsky‘s 1812 overture as recorded on the Telarc CD, and it’s well known moment the cannons go off it’s not the incredible deepness of the frequency response that matters, as much as the intensity of the sound pressure. This is an incredibly forceful deep bang moment in recorded music when played the speakers performing at about 85DB the explosion is a tremendous thud to the chest.
Donald Fagan’s Morph the Cat album is a low frequency ride. While it can become almost exhausting bass wise, with speaker that exaggerate low frequencies, properly implemented subwoofers stay true. The key is not overwhelming the sound, especially in a smaller space, but dialing in the controls on back of the subwoofer to deliver the needed detail. The Caldera 12 does this quite well in its price point. Just listen to the string bass that is played in some of the tracks, that really demonstrates the actual total texture and quality of the deepest notes versus an electric base.
Final thoughts
Finding a subwoofer that works well and doesn’t overwhelm a small space such as mine can be fraught, especially in the budget price range. For several years, I had a Polk Audio subwoofer in a 9 x 12 room. I believe it retailed for a right around $299 or so. Honestly, I was never happy with its performance. I just seem to be sloppy, and that was hard for me because I cut my teeth on Polk speakers and was somewhat of a fanboy.
The Vera-Fi Audio Caldera 12 is a whole different ball game, at $399 with a three year warranty, it provides the detail, texture, and tone that makes a subwoofer worth having. As I said before, it’s not about the boom it’s about the frequencies and detail. Of course it doesn’t hurt that the cabinet is absolutely stunning in the low luster Rosewood veneer. Therefore, if you have 30 days to try out a subwoofer (receive a full refund if you’re not satisfied), all I can say is give the Vera-Fi Audio Vanguard Caldera 12 a try. I highly doubt that you will send it back. It’s that damn good!
https://verafiaudiollc.com/products/vanguard-caldera-12-active-subwoofer
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