{"id":522,"date":"2016-06-22T18:15:22","date_gmt":"2016-06-22T06:15:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hifihq.com.au\/blog\/?p=522"},"modified":"2019-02-14T18:23:58","modified_gmt":"2019-02-14T05:23:58","slug":"abtec1-subwoofer-upgrade-from-a-dd-audio-9921-to-a-z21","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hifihq.com.au\/blog\/abtec1-subwoofer-upgrade-from-a-dd-audio-9921-to-a-z21\/","title":{"rendered":"ABTEC1 Subwoofer Upgrade! From a DD Audio 9921 To a Z21!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Its not very often that I get to compare two different series DD Audio Subwoofers<\/strong> in the same enclosure yet alone two different 21\u2033 Subwoofers!<\/strong> So when I was asked to do a comparison of the DD-9921<\/strong> & DD-Z21<\/strong> (Knowing this meant I got to daily ABTEC1<\/strong> for some time.) I already knew I couldn\u2019t say no to this!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Ok, to start off I have to say that comparing any Subwoofer<\/strong> in the DD Audio<\/strong> range to a DD-Z<\/strong> is just unfair in my opinion as the DD-Z\u2019s<\/strong> have a very unique clean sound about them. So after the DD-9921<\/strong> had been removed I drove ABTEC1<\/strong> around with no bass for two days while Ashley<\/strong> reconed the DD-Z12<\/strong> into the DD-Z21<\/strong> that it is today.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As soon as the glue had set we all went and had a quick listen to the Z21<\/strong> at a low level but at this point I could not tell the difference between the DD-9921<\/strong> and the DD-Z21<\/strong> due to volume being very low. I can tell you that the rest of the day felt like an eternity since I was itching to get some run-in time on the DD-Z21<\/strong>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The first three hours of run in time was spent at Petone Beach<\/strong> playing songs with bass in the mid 40-30Hz range with the volume at eight (I demo with the volume at 13-15) on the Head-Unit, this was enough to get the DD-Z21<\/strong> moving for its initial run in period and also loud enough to be able to tell that distinctive DD-Z<\/strong> clarity & responsiveness that the DD-Z<\/strong> are known for!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this stage I could already tell the DD-Z21<\/strong> was more dominating at lower levels than the DD-9921<\/strong> was at a similar run-in time, don\u2019t get me wrong the DD-9921<\/strong> is a brutal Subwoofer<\/strong> that is insanely quick for a 21<\/strong> but the DD-Z21<\/strong> is so much more responsive and I think the Neo-Magnets<\/strong> have a lot to do with this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

For the next day ABTEC1<\/strong> was parked up in the ABTEC Workshop<\/strong> on a charger playing my 30Hz and higher USB all day and night until it became too overwhelming for the guys working in the workshop. Even though it wasn\u2019t that loud inside ABTEC1<\/strong> when you walked over the other side of the workshop it became very apparent the bass from a 21\u2033 Subwoofer<\/strong> travels a good distance even when a vehicle is all sealed up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now for the next nine hours of run-in time I can not comment on since Ashley<\/strong> was driving ABTEC1<\/strong> up to Auckland<\/strong> while I worked and caught a cushy plane flight afterwards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

During the\u00a0V 4 & Rotary Sounds Alive & Extreme Bass Battle Sound Off <\/strong>we left ABTEC1<\/strong> playing (At volume 10 now) for a solid nine hours with some quick minute bursts at twelve on the volume. During these demo\u2019s I noticed the DD-Z21<\/strong> to now be on par (Volume wise) with the fully run in DD-9921<\/strong> but the real difference was when I decided to demo some progressive death metal, not many 15\u2019s or 18\u2019s can keep up with the double kicks so when the DD-Z21<\/strong> was hitting every little kick I soon realised that it hits so much more precise compared to the DD-9921<\/strong> in these fast transitions!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The DD-Z21<\/strong> has finally hit over the fifty hour mark and on most Subwoofers<\/strong> you would of classed this as run-in but since the DD-Z21<\/strong> has the Extra-Stiff Suspension<\/strong> the full run-in time can take months, but over the next months I will upping the power until it reaches the optimum power the DD-M4<\/strong> can put out!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now the hard part, the comparison. To be honest there is no way to compare a DD-9921<\/strong> to a DD-Z21<\/strong> after spending a good amount of time running both in the same car\/enclosure, apart from both of them having a carbon fibre cone\/dustcap and the same basket\/Erom surround. What I can say is the DD-Z21<\/strong> not only hits harder, faster but it does so while sounding cleaner too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

A lot of the NZ Bass Community<\/strong> now know my plans on running two 21\u2033 Subwoofers<\/strong> in my up and coming build and as much as I would love to run two DD-Z21\u2019s<\/strong> I\u2019m going to have to settle with two DD-9921\u2019s<\/strong> instead, my only reason for this is the time I\u2019ve allocated for my savings\/spending and due to this my plan is to have my build done by next Christmas\u2026 In saying that, if I do find the money in the next few months I will be changing the build for the DD-Z21<\/strong> without a doubt!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Its not very often that I get to compare two different series DD Audio Subwoofers in the same enclosure yet alone two different 21\u2033 Subwoofers! So when I was asked to do a comparison of the DD-9921 & DD-Z21 (Knowing this meant I got to daily ABTEC1 for some time.) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tech-talk"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hifihq.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hifihq.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hifihq.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hifihq.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hifihq.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=522"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/hifihq.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":541,"href":"https:\/\/hifihq.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/522\/revisions\/541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hifihq.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hifihq.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hifihq.com.au\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}