Description
New, compact 12″ sealed subwoofer.
- 15″ wide, 18″ tall, 14″ deep including magnetic grill.
- 700W ICEpower amplifier with advanced DSP performance optimization.
- +/-3dB 20-200Hz with gradual sealed roll off like our larger subwoofers
- Typical in room extension of 8-14Hz
- Full extension of our larger products in a smaller package, multiple units give up nothing to our larger subwoofers
Driver Details:
- 12″ high excursion woofer
- 3″ aluminum voice coil with aluminum former
- 12 spoke aluminum die-cast basket allowing for high excursion
- Double-stacked 200 ounce magnet assembly
- 50 mm vented pole piece
- Multi-layer Kevlar impregnated honeycomb cone for extreme rigidity
- Hand-stitched Santoprene rubber surround
- Dual mirrored spiders with opposing silver plated cadmium copper tinsel leads
Amplifier & Controls:
- 700W continuous power amplifier
- High efficiency B&O ICEpower technology
- US designed, high current, high duty cycle, class D amplifier design
- High efficency of up to 95% for maximum power from available home circuitry
- Assembled in the USA
- Universal 100-240V operation
- IEC Power Cord (10′ length included) – right angle plug available
- Connection options
- 12V trigger and auto sensing – 3.5mm mini-cable connection
- LED indicator for power, standby or error codes.
- XLR Female input (LFE/mono) with looping, XLR Male output (internal Y connection)
- 2 summed RCA inputs for LFE or Stereo inputs
- Digitally programmable, detented, control knobs for precision adjustment and tuning
- GAIN (volume) control – wide range for matching any system
- LF Adjust (low shelf/adjust extension/room sizing) enabling adjustment of low frequency extension from 14Hz to 28Hz or +/- 8dB shelf (see graphs).
- Low pass crossover 30-120Hz + 200Hz, precise, digital, Linkwitz-Riley 4th Order fitlers (24dB/oct)
- Delay adjustment – 0-20ms for multiple subwoofer blending
- Proprietary DSP performance optimization
- Smooth anechoic/outdoor frequency response
- Carefully optimized, proprietary overload protection – never fear for the well being of your subwoofer while the JS12 maintains composure to much more intense playback levels than its small size would suggest possible
- Smooth power response to 200Hz for seamless crossover and articulation with compact speakers
- Shallow sealed roll off maintained in all LF Adjust settings
- Shallow low frequency roll off typically yields 8-14Hz in-room extension
- LF Adjust shelving & room size adjustment allow for a best fit with large to small rooms or adjusting to personal preference after room correction.
Ron Gruber –
My wife and I took the hour drive to Morton Grove, Illinois to the World Headquarters of Seaton Sound to buy a JS-12 subwoofer. I had met Mark Seaton a few times at the AXPONA HiFi show in Chicagoland, being introduced by our mutual friend, Jess Quintana.
The JS-12 had always intrigued me, a 12” driver in a mid-sized sealed box, with an appealing satin black finish on Maple veneer. The cabinet is ¾” MDF with substantial internal bracing (I got a peek at a similar cabinet that did not have the driver mounted), and a triple-thick front baffle measuring 2 ¼”. Solid rubber feet are provided that lifts the cabinet ¾” off the ground. The cabinet felt very stable on my floor. The connections are straightforward, quality RCA phono mono/stereo low-level inputs, XLR inputs, trigger input, plus a Volume control, Crossover selection control, a Tilt control, and a Delay control. There’s a standard IEC 15amp power cord input, plus you get an acceptable 10-foot power cord. It always sounded good at AXPONA, and knowing the Seaton Sound reputation, I decided this was the sub for me after my previous 20-year-old sub died.
It’s heavy, about 80 lbs. in the box, and brought it in the house on a handcart. Set up was easy, I have an Anthem MRX710 AVR and went from the sub output to the left RCA input via a Kimber Cadence subwoofer cable. Plugged it in via a heavy-duty aftermarket power cord. Plugged in a trigger cable as recommended by Mark (although it does have an auto-sense signal circuit), and was ready to try it out. I set the delay to zero, the volume initially to zero, and the crossover and tilt control to the middle position, and started playing some music.
As I turned up the volume, the bass kicked in, and it was wonderful after being without a sub for a month or so. The speakers I’m using are stand mounted, with a 6” mid-bass driver and a 1” tweeter in a transmission line cabinet that reaches down to 40hz. The Anthem ARC room correction was off, and the main speakers were playing full range. I decided not to use the ARC system, and tune the sub by ear, to let it fill in the bottom few octaves. After getting the volume matched to the speaker level, I started to adjust the Tilt control. In the middle position, the bass was a little too rumbly (perhaps better for HT) and not articulate enough music, which is my main usage. Two detents to the right, and the bass kicked in to perfect music mode for my system and room. A little to the ‘punchy’ side, as Mark described it. More to the right was too much of a good thing, and to the left of center was not in my wheelhouse. An excellent control to tune the sub to your room and preferences. My initial setting for the crossover position ended up with too much mid-bass as the JS-12 ran-in. After a few weeks of listening, I turned the crossover down one click and found that to be a better position to blend with the main speakers and not be overwhelmed with bass.
My only very slight complaint is that it does not come with an owner’s manual. The website, however, is filled with information and is helpful. There is not an option to download an owner’s manual via the website, either. I’m one of those people who wants to know the nitty-gritty technical details, and that minor thing is not available. If you have questions, as I did, a quick call to Mark (yes, Mark answers the phone) helped me out.
My overall impression is that this is a superb subwoofer. Excellent impact that energizes my relatively large room (20’ x 14’ x 9’) with ease. Add a little more volume and it would rattle the foundation. For music, I found it to be perfect after a little fine tuning. I recently watched a few Blu-ray movies, just to see how the sub performs (the cable is out). We watched Whiplash (the jazz band movie with plenty of music) starring J.K. Simmons and Miles Teller, and the sub was flawless. The string bass and drumming were spot on with just the right amount of power. The other choice was Lucy starring Scarlett Johansson and Morgan Freeman, the bass track from that movie shook the floor. Excellent effects! The Seaton Sound JS-12 subwoofer comes with my highest recommendation, especially if you want an extremely well designed and built sub.