Rockville Apm10b Review – Balanced And Powerful Companion

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Rockville's Apm10b is by far one of the most capable studio subwoofers available under $300. It appears that Rockville has ticked all of the check marks that matter for proper studio monitoring. On top of that, the price is just too good to ignore. Here is why this sub rocks.

Design

In terms of design, Rockville Apm10b may not appear to be anything special. We have a standard boxy design made of quality MDF panels. They have covered the entire subwoofer in black vinyl, thus making it a pretty stealthy unit. Speaker is mounted to the side, however, the way Rockville solved the bass reflex port is fairly interesting.

Instead of going with a standard rear firing solution, they have opted to go with a front firing slotted port. As we will find out later, there are certain benefits to such design from a performance stand point. Aesthetically, Rockville Apm10b isn't all that exciting. However, there aren't many users out there who are driven by exterior design when they choose their subwoofers. On the other hand, a completely neutral look of the Rockville Apm10b makes it easy to blend into any studio monitor configuration.

Features

Features are where things get far more interesting. For starters, we have a massive 10″ low-frequency driver paired with a powerful Class D amplifier. When we say powerful, we really mean it. You are looking at 200 Watts of RMS power on demand. Rockville has tuned the cabinet perfectly for such a demanding transducer. This is also where their bass reflex port design comes into play.

It pulls the performance of the speaker into a very fine tuned state. You won't experience that unregulated and chaotic boom which is associated with low-cost subwoofers. Back panel reveals a fairly unusual I/O cluster. Not only do you have your standard RCA ports and 1/4“ TRS ports, but there are also XLR inputs as well as outputs. Controls come in form of a volume knob, a low pass filter and polarity switch.

Performance

Implementing Rockville Apm10b into your monitoring setup will result in an immediate change, both actual and perceived. This subwoofer easily saturates the low end, with plenty of headroom left. What is great about it is just how flat of a response it offers. You won’t run into accentuated frequencies, at least not to a point where it is obvious. Even positioning this sub is fairly easy. Thanks to the front firing slotted port, you have a bit more choice when it comes to proximity to walls and other objects.

Is it too powerful for a small studio? Perhaps, but chances are that you will be able to bring it within necessary levels where most of the issues are eliminated. Thanks to its fairly complex crossover network, Rockville Apm10b efficiently filters out high and mid frequencies that try to creep into its frequency band.

Conclusion

Overall, Rockville Apm10b is by far one of the most powerful and best-balanced subwoofers you can get right now. Considering just how cheap it is, there’s no arguing that it offers a great value for the money. You’ll have to look hard to find something better in this segment.

For more info about the Rockville Apm10b, click here.
For more studio subwoofers you might like, click here.