Vibe Alpha1 review

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hi I'm relatively new to home av and just thought id add a bit of info on some of my recent purchases, mainly because I was surprised at the shear cost of speaker sets etc. when I say shear cost, I say this because I come from car audio custom installs (my day job) and when it comes to sub-woofers I was amassed at how much the home audio scene costs compared to what I'm used to in the car audio scene. And yes I know there will probably be people commenting on "car audio is designed for a small space" ill nip that one in the butt, I build custom installs on a day to day basis, and nearly all of these setups/systems will pump out over 140db. So to say they are designed for small spaces is really a rather silly thing to say
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. The larger majority of installs I do are for customers who want to be louder than their mates.

So, with that in mind when it comes to home speakers I was unsure on what manufacturers to trust to give me a big bang for my buck. so when I come across the vibe range I felt almost obliged to give them a try (what with their efforts in car audio)

space is an issue at the moment so I decided to pick up a Vibe Alpha1 though I would have gone for the Alpha2 if I had more space.... boy am I glad I didn't because when the Alpha1 arrived it was a little bigger than I expected.... well my actual thoughts were "how the f*** am I going to explain this one to the misses" lol
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Build quality is in my opinion fantastic, very sturdy, and pretty heavy too, no marks or blemishes with smooth black surfaces and there is a nice logo on the side that is discreet enough to not be able to see it unless you're up close. I also like the front grille, feels well made and when pushed into place you get a nice click. My worst criticism on build quality is the rubber sticky feet that come with it are a hell-of-a-lot smaller than I would have liked, the carpet spikes are pretty good though. It has a 10" sub at the front (forward firing) and a slot port at the back along with the amp. The slot port at the back does pass a huge amount of air so be careful what you put behind the sub, also it has a 2rca input as well as hi level speaker inputs/outputs. There are two adjustment knobs, one for volume control and the other for the crossover frequency control; the adjustment knobs are not situated in the best place on the amp... just underneath the rca input, which can make quick adjustments difficult.

The moment I turned it on I was impressed, for what it cost I am over the moon with it. This really does add allot of weight to the system, it pounds WAY harder than I was expecting, and the amount of air it moves is almost unbelievable at this price point. If I was to close my eyes id think I was listening to a £500 competition sub.

Though I do feel that an auto on/off would have been nice and some rca outputs to daisy chain a few of them but for the money I paid I was prepared to make a few sacrifices... now for the best bit... I paid £119.99 for it brand new with free delivery from Thompsons on eBay the rrp is advertised at £399... WAW... though I will be honest after using it I can see why the rrp is so high, because this is easily as good if not better than all the subs I heard down at richer sounds but for far less cash.
I'm assuming that Vibe are able to keep the cost down and still retain fantastic quality because the stuff they use is brought over from car audio where vibe have allot of experience with and where there is a far greater demand, and we all know that the more they make the less it costs them per unit.


With everything taken into consideration id give the Vibe Alpha1 a solid 9 out of 10
I do apologise for the length of this review, I just sort of got carried away, lol. I hope it's been worth a read and as a reward I have uploaded a few videos of the sub in action.

Below is the links to the vids I uploaded to YouTube earlier

YouTube - Vibe Alpha1 vid2

YouTube - Vibe Alpha1 vid1

YouTube - Vibe Alpha1 vid3

vid of apearance;
YouTube - Vibe Alpha1 vid 4


edit
just an update on this, it seems to have an auto standby mode, after about 10 mins (ish, wasnt really counting, lol) of no signal it makes a sound and the green light on the amp at the back turns red, then when signal is put through it it coms back to life and the light turns green again....... big surprise to me as i was under the impression that it had no auto off..... evan more happy with it now, lol
 
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Wow! great review, looks like a steal at that price, the vibe 2 looks a cracker also for £199, might be tempted to buy one after reading your review ;)


Maybe better moving this to the sub forum:devil:
 
hey backup thanks for the review it kinda makes the decision for me even easier. i have been looking for reviews all over the net about this sub and there is hardly any info.

when i saw the price i actually thought that there was an error due to the fact that it's being sold so cheap. the looks and build quality looks top notch and i actually saw it on the thompsonsltd website for exactly the same price you brought it for.

a few questions that need answering if you don't mind. is the bass deep and clean not boomy or flabby, and does it distort when pushed? does it sound louder than it's 120w ouput suggests and do you think that you can post some pics of the sub from a few angles. i'm about to check out your vids.

once again wicked review.:smashin:
 
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Hi markiedee, yes the bass is deep and clean, not boomy but if i had to describe the bass quallity id say shear power, lol. i am very surprised at the amount of bass it produces for a 120w rms amp.

the amp is the weaker point as the sub is capable of somthing like 1300-1400w max an somthing like 450w rms so the 120w rms from the amp is handled with ease.

well i hav yet to runn it on full volume yet an im still breaking it in, i have taken it to 3 quarters and it handled that with ease and no distortion, just pure accurate bass.
to giv yoe an idea of how much bass it produces ill tell you about my current setup

onkyo tx-sr508
• 90 Watts/Channel @ 8 ohms (FTC)
• 130 Watts/Channel @ 6 ohms (IEC)
• 160 Watts/Channel @ 6 ohms (JEITA)
• WRAT–Wide Range Amplifier Technology
(5 Hz to 100 kHz bandwidth)
• Optimum Gain Volume Circuitry
• H.C.P.S. (High Current Power Supply) Massive High
Power Transformer

Roth oli3 front (bi-amped)
Roth oli c2 centre
Roth oli2 surounds
Vibe Alpha1 subwoofer

evan though the speakers are rated at 8ohm they run fine at 6ohm... so 130w over 5 chanels and this Vibe has enough to almost droun them out,
i think i may get another on of them to use the parts becase i will be building a band pass enclosure for it in a month or two (get christmas out of the way first, lol)

vid of apearance for ya bud;
YouTube - Vibe Alpha1 vid 4
 
thanks backup for that it does look really well made or shall i say it does look like £400 worth of sub.
in your video it doesn't look as big as i thought it would but then seeing it in person may well be a different story.

if and when i do get one it will be in the new year so hopefully they will still have them or at least be doing them for the same price.

thanks again for the review and the vids and enjoy that beasty sub.:D
 
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just an update on this, it seems to have an auto standby mode, after about 10 mins (ish, wasnt really counting, lol) of no signal it makes a sound and the green light on the amp at the back turns red, then when signal is put through it it coms back to life and the light turns green again....... big surprise to me as i was under the impression that it had no auto off..... evan more happy with it now, lol
 
just an update on this, it seems to have an auto standby mode, after about 10 mins (ish, wasnt really counting, lol) of no signal it makes a sound and the green light on the amp at the back turns red, then when signal is put through it it coms back to life and the light turns green again....... big surprise to me as i was under the impression that it had no auto off..... evan more happy with it now, lol

hows the running in process going is sounding better the more you use it.
 
Hi, just ordered one of these what cable are you using as it looks like a RCA to double RCA? or does your amp have 2 sub outs ?

can i just connect it up to one input ?
 
Hmm, might get one of these to attach to a TV that has no room for speakers/amp but could stash a sub nearby. So it would be a 2.1 system using the TV's speakers and this. Is that absolute madness? :confused:
 
Hi, just ordered one of these what cable are you using as it looks like a RCA to double RCA? or does your amp have 2 sub outs ?

can i just connect it up to one input ?

just connect your subwoofer cable to the white left input on the the back of the sub and the other end to the back of your amp and you'll be fine.:smashin:
 
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Thinking about this sub as a stop gap untill i get round to starting my diy build.

Whats the low end response like? the quoted frequency is 40hz which seems rather high.

Seems to be well built for the money but the only thing that concerns me is the high fequency response.
 
With a 10" diver, and 30-40 liter sealed box, i don't think that sub will do much under 30Hz, it just does not have the displacement.
 
With a 10" diver, and 30-40 liter sealed box, i don't think that sub will do much under 30Hz, it just does not have the displacement.

its not a sealed box though its ported
 
Carnt Fault Vibe Subs,

ive got one of the older models - Alpha 2 - 12" downfiring 120watt rms,

ive got to say its impresive for a 120watt amp, seems louder than my Eltax Atomic A12.2 which is 250watt,

only thing i can say on a downside is when at high volumes at low frequencies you can here the air rushing out of the port.
 
They only had two left when I bought mine. They tried to deliver it today while I was at work

There will probably be another batch on ebay soon enough if they are still making them. Also, someone was selling one in the classifieds on here I think. :)
 
Thompsons have confirmed they have no Alpha 1's left and are not getting any more in. Anyone know who else sells them?
Thanks, Barry.

vibe's site is back up try them

ps just got mine it looks epic ! just setting it up now
 
Can source one of these new but without the grill, From the pictures it seemt to look okay without the grill I just wanted an opinion from someone that has seen it in person. Also does the grill make any difference to how it sounds?

used it without and it sounds good to me
 
Just purchased from Thompsons Ltd for £99.99 without the grill.:clap: If it is as good as the reviews then it looks like a real bargain.

On a seperate note Thompsons were great today, I was having problems with payments from Paypal and must have gotten about 10 emails from Lee today alone, well done Lee good to see excellent customer service is not dead.:thumbsup:
 
Yeah I got mine set-up last night and it sounds pretty good although I have never used a sub for music before. I have the settings quite subtle so it just reinforces the music, you would hardly know it's there until you turn it off. If you want pounding bass though you can crank it up. The (external) build quality and finish are excellent.

Haven't tried my crackpot TV idea though.
 
Yeah I got mine set-up last night and it sounds pretty good although I have never used a sub for music before. I have the settings quite subtle so it just reinforces the music, you would hardly know it's there until you turn it off. If you want pounding bass though you can crank it up. The (external) build quality and finish are excellent.

Haven't tried my crackpot TV idea though.

i'm really envious right now as i was going to get one of these. it's typical that as soon as you gather the funds to get one they end up selling out.:mad:

anyway all i can say is enjoy guys.:smashin:
 

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