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Krix Seismix 3 MK7 Review


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Hi everyone,

 

So just before Christmas I received my Krix Seismix 3 MK7 and had the pleasure of listening to it over the christmas break and I can say there is a lot to like about this sub and so I have written my own review below which I hope helps people who are trying to make a buying decision on which subwoofers to go for, I have had the pleasure of owning other subs such as the SVS PB-1000, The Klipsch SPL-100, Krix Seismix 3 MK6 and the Paradigm Defiance V10, there are many more that I have owned, however I have written my comparison about these mentioned subs near the end of this review as they are within or near the same price range as the Seismix 3 MK7. 

 

Design and Features:

For starters the New Krix Seismix 3 MK7 looks the same as the previous MK6, so the design has not changed as far as I can tell and even the specs on paper seem to be quite similar to the MK6. However there some changes and new additions to this sub, starting with the amplifier, where the MK6 gives you 300 watts rms and 600 watts peak, the MK7 now gives you a new amplifier that now outputs 350 watts rms and 700 watts peak so the power handling has gone up a bit and as well as that you also get wireless connectivity built into the sub itself, which allows for users to make use of the optional KS-700 wireless adapter which connects to the LFE/sub out on back of the av receiver or pre amp etc... and you can connect up to 4 seismix subwoofers on a single transmitter, which I think is fantastic and is a life saver for anyone who doesn't want to have too much additional wiring from the back of there av receiver or preamp etc... The other thing that has been changed is on the driver itself where according to the Krix website it says that the MK7 has "enhanced geometry within the magnet structure increases linear cone travel by a whopping 30 percent and allows superior driver control"(krix.com.au). So while the outside looks very familar from the previous MK6, a fair bit has changed on the internals with this new MK7.

 

Setup:

 

My setup consists of 5.1.1ch Dolby Atmos/DTS-X Polk Signature series speaker system, with polk S20's as my main front, an S30 as for the centre and two pairs of the S10's for my surround channels and the Atmos/ DTS-X effects channels. All the speakers are running off a Yamaha RX-V1083 7.2 ch av receiver with a Sony UBP-X700 blu-ray player for movies and streaming content and a Harman/Kardon AVR 3000 which I use as my music playback amplifier (I use the same speakers in my system for both music and movies). After doing a subwoofer crawl I had the Seismix 3 MK7 sit on the left between the left main channel and the entertainment unit which actually turns out to be the most optimal spot for most of the previous subwoofers I've had. In terms of set-up, I had the subwoofer connected to the "LFE"  input for the Yamaha avr (For anyone who doesn't know, connecting to LFE bypasses the sub's internal crossover which gives full crossover control to av receivers/processors), I had the sub's volume up to about 1 o'clock, and I had the phase set to about 180 degrees and 80hz on the crossover dial (using "line in" for the HK amplifier with the sub output level on the HK set to -2), as far as settings go on my Yamaha av reciever I had the sub level set at -1.5 and crossed my front 3 speakers at 80hz (small) and my surrounds/effects at 90hz (small).

 

Performance:

 

I started off listening to the Seismix 3 MK7 with music where immidiately I noted that this is not like many ported subs that I've heard, in fact I didn't think that bass could be that clean from a ported subwoofer, listening to music "drums, drums, more drums" from Phil Collins (live at Montreux 2004) sounded great, the Seismix 3 MK7 played with great musicality and it was clean and tight, the Seismix 3 MK7's ability to start and stop notes was excellent, but that's not all, what really stood out to me though was when listening to Norah Jones's "Comes Love" was how well frequencies were separated, where some subs tend to create a one note wonder between double bass and drums, the Seismix 3 was able to keep separation of bass instruments, even at high volume the sub stayed clean and clear and I wasn't able to get the sub to jumble the bass notes. I can say so far that the changes that Krix has made to the MK7's driver has made improvements in the way it handles sound and overall for music the Seismix 3 MK7 sounded very tuneful. What about movies? Well I can say that the Seismix 3 MK7 provided very very solid LFE performance, playing the first scene from Toy Story 2 at loud levels gave the Seismix 3 MK7 a little work out and it was fun to listen to, I liked the way that all LFE notes didn't sound the same like some subs do with this very same scene, like when buzz is flying through the planet of emperor zurgs fortress buzz's jetpack didn't sound identical to when the ground beneath buzz opens up to the hidden tunnels which shows how this sub is pretty accurate. While it wouldn't go as low as say 20hz, I found this sub to still be a treat when it came to Kong Skull Island where in the scene the soldiers come to face Kong and all the choppers are flying towards him, the Seismix 3 MK7 made some really good impact from the sound of the chopper blades.I did play other movies like; Ready Player One, Pacific Rim, Transformers: Age of Extinction, Transformers: The Last Knight, Bumblebee, Edge of Tomorrow and Star Wars (most episodes) and all the while the Seismix 3 MK7 performed really well providing great impactful bass and I didn't feel or hear that the Seismix 3 MK7 was compressing, losing control, sounding unaturally boomy or bottoming out, overall it performed really well with my polk signature speakers.

 

Comparison:

 

SVS PB-1000 - This was the subwoofer I had prior to the Seismix 3 MK7 and even now I'd still say that it puts out tough competition against the Seismix 3 MK7. For the money the PB-1000 goes lower than the Seismix 3 MK7 with its ability to hit that 19hz mark and even 16hz in room, however while I do like the PB-1000 a lot for its LFE performance, I did find it a little bit boomy for my tastes, especially with music as I listened to it I found that it could use a bit more tunefulness and a little bit more separation between frequencies, but nonetheless I still like the PB-1000 a lot and if movies are a higher priority over music than the PB-1000 has quite the edge here, but if you want something more musical but at the same time want some very solid LFE performance with future proofed wireless capability then the Seimix 3 MK7 has you covered, on top of this the Seismix 3 MK7 is a lot more compact than the PB-1000, but to be honest its kind of a tie here and it comes down to the kind of sound you are looking.

 

Klipsch SPL-100 - Klipsch are not really the first brand that comes to mind when it come down to subwoofers, but have owned the SPL-100 I can tell that its decent enough, by decent I mean that when listening to it by itself it sounds good if not great, but when it comes down to comparing the SPL-100 with other subs like the Seismix 3 MK7, I find that there is some improvement needed. For instance I find the bass to be boomy most of the time which sounds like there is quite a bump somewhere in the 40hz region and at times it can sound like a one note wonder, this means I wouldn't recommend it for music at all, the other problem is the port noise, I usually pick up port noise quite easily and to be honest I find the SPL-100 pretty annoying with the amount of port noise it puts out which the Seismix 3 MK7 has none of, but even with the port noise and even with only 200 watts rms, the SPL-100 can go louder at 40hz and above than both the Seismix 3 MK7 and the PB-1000, it also looks good with that copper cone and has built in wireless capability like the Seismix 3, but other than that the overall performance win goes to Seismix 3 MK7.

 

Krix Seismix 3 MK6 - This was a subwoofer I had before the SVS PB-1000 and it was a great sub, it did music really well and did movies nicely, but at the time I had the MK6 I wanted to go for something that hit a little bit harder and that's where the PB-1000 came in and did better in that regard, but comparing the MK6 with the MK7 is where I found the improvements, the MK7 hits a little harder, is a bit more controlled at high volume levels, handles demanding movie scenes a bit better, has more power on tap to play with and wireless connectivity. So its a win for the Seismix 3 MK7.

 

Paradigm Defiance V10 - This is actually a very good subwoofer that I have had the pleasure of listening to, the sound is very nice, it goes quite deep and its musicial even when comparing the sound quality with the Seismix 3 MK7 I found them to be almost on par with each other, but here is where the V10 takes the win, while it only has 120 watts rms, its very efficient allowing the sub to output very loud levels. The V10 has room correction via Anthem's ARC which has always been the best room correction system I have used and it can improve the overall sound of the V10 even more. The V10 also has app control which allows users to control and make adjustments to the sub from there seat using a smart device. so all this taken into consideration, this goes to the paradigm.

 

Conclusion:

 

For the time so far I've had the Seismix 3 MK7, I've got to say that its probably one of the best I've had in the price range, I can hardly fault this subwoofer, I can safely say that the improvements that have been made to this subwoofer have worked, and I can say that it has also improved a bit over the previous generation. I would highly recommend  the Seismix 3 MK7 to anyone looking for great features followed by great sound quality, but at the same time want something compact. The only thing that I can see that's standing in the way of this subwoofer, is the amount competition in the same price range on the market right now.

 

Pros:

> Clean, tight, well defined tuneful bass

> Very Solid Performance for "LFE"

> Lack of port noise

> Improved amp & driver

> Compact size

> Wireless Connectivity

 

Cons:

> Not really much usable output near 20hz

> Tough Competition

Seismix-3-Mk7-Black-Woodgrain-Grille.jpg

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On 17/01/2020 at 8:16 PM, Arny87 said:

Will you be upgrading through the Krix range ?

 

Just curious as i will be buying 2 x Volcanix SLIM and im hoping they are good enough

Hi Arny87, 

 

Thanks for your question as far as subwoofers go I think I'll be sticking with the seismix 3 mk7 for a while in the theatre room (which is quite small) as they have the sound that I look for on a well made subwoofer for that room. As for the volcanix slim we actually own one of them and we have it in an open living room with some low profile speakers as its slim and doesn't intrude the space but gives some really great LFE bass that I've personally known Krix for and is also musical for a sub that looks like it was meant for only cinema duties and that's only one sub. In my opinion I think the volcanix slim is a great choice.

Edited by Rolland
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10 hours ago, Rolland said:

Hi Arny87, 

 

Thanks for your question as far as subwoofers go I think I'll be sticking with the seismix 3 mk7 for the theatre room (which is quite small) as they have the sound that I look for on a well made subwoofer for that room. As for the volcanix slim we actually own one of them and we have it in an open living room with some low profile speakers as its slim and doesn't intrude the space but gives some really great LFE bass that I've personally known Krix for and is also musical for a sub that looks like it was meant for only cinema duties and that's only one sub. In my opinion I think the volcanix slim is a great choice.

Ahh thats awesome, Im finally building my own house and I am going a full Krix Speakers/Anthem receiver and amp/ Sony projector build for the dedicated theatre room, though ive never really heard them in person, im keen to stick to Australian manufacturer for the speakers, though  im taking a chance with only the positive reviews and sales person comments they receive.

So every little comment helps ease the nervousness.

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Which speakers are you going with?

I have a full Krix setup and have been very happy.

I'm building my first home and theatre too, very excited to get my gear out of storage and set it all up... will be the first proper theatre room my equipment has been set up in!

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3 hours ago, Arny87 said:

Ahh thats awesome, Im finally building my own house and I am going a full Krix Speakers/Anthem receiver and amp/ Sony projector build for the dedicated theatre room, though ive never really heard them in person, im keen to stick to Australian manufacturer for the speakers, though  im taking a chance with only the positive reviews and sales person comments they receive.

So every little comment helps ease the nervousness.

That's an excellent package, especially with having an Anthem receiver. 

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40 minutes ago, Bradyey said:

Which speakers are you going with?

I have a full Krix setup and have been very happy.

I'm building my first home and theatre too, very excited to get my gear out of storage and set it all up... will be the first proper theatre room my equipment has been set up in!

I like the idea of having a full Krix setup, I currently own a full polk signature series 5.1.1 set-up which I like a lot, I have heard a full Krix setup (the mx-5 wall of sound with dynamix surrounds) and have been blown away by the sound. 

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27 minutes ago, Rolland said:

I like the idea of having a full Krix setup, I currently own a full polk signature series 5.1.1 set-up which I like a lot, I have heard a full Krix setup (the mx-5 wall of sound with dynamix surrounds) and have been blown away by the sound. 

I have a Neuphonix, epicentrix, acoustix (x4) setup and the 2 seismix.

Along with some other subwoofers from Ascension and a custom from my uncle.

 

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Yea that sounds pretty epic. Im thinking mine is pretrty similar, im getting:

Megaphonix LCR in walls, 

Phonix Wall surrounds x 4, 

Volcanix Slim x 2 woofers

ATMOSPHERIX AS x 4

Anthem MRX1120 (Receiver)

Anthem MCA325 (amp)

Pretty keen even though ive never heard them going

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4 minutes ago, Arny87 said:

Yea that sounds pretty epic. Im thinking mine is pretrty similar, im getting:

Megaphonix LCR in walls, 

Phonix Wall surrounds x 4, 

Volcanix Slim x 2 woofers

ATMOSPHERIX AS x 4

Anthem MRX1120 (Receiver)

Anthem MCA325 (amp)

Pretty keen even though ive never heard them going

You will be very happy I'm sure! Where are you building?

 

32 minutes ago, Rolland said:

Wow, that's a great set of speakers there, a good amplifier would be required for them. 

Yes, I need to upgrade to a proper processor but I've invested in some Emotiva power amps which should last forever, I hope.

Sorry for derailing the whole post ?

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41 minutes ago, Arny87 said:

Yea that sounds pretty epic. Im thinking mine is pretrty similar, im getting:

Megaphonix LCR in walls, 

Phonix Wall surrounds x 4, 

Volcanix Slim x 2 woofers

ATMOSPHERIX AS x 4

Anthem MRX1120 (Receiver)

Anthem MCA325 (amp)

Pretty keen even though ive never heard them going

That is going to be an amazing setup for sure. 

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1 hour ago, Bradyey said:

You will be very happy I'm sure! Where are you building?

I'm building Bli Bli, Sunshine coast.... still months away but its something to look forward to. Just need some good room designs (colours, LEDs and some pictures)

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  • 3 months later...
On ‎18‎/‎01‎/‎2020 at 3:48 AM, Rolland said:

Hi Arny87, 

 

Thanks for your question as far as subwoofers go I think I'll be sticking with the seismix 3 mk7 for a while in the theatre room (which is quite small) as they have the sound that I look for on a well made subwoofer for that room. As for the volcanix slim we actually own one of them and we have it in an open living room with some low profile speakers as its slim and doesn't intrude the space but gives some really great LFE bass that I've personally known Krix for and is also musical for a sub that looks like it was meant for only cinema duties and that's only one sub. In my opinion I think the volcanix slim is a great choice.

When you say your theatre room is quite small, what are the dimensions (just curious for comparison purposes to mine)?

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  • 3 months later...

Hi Rolland,

 

Great review !!

 

In your opinion do you think  2 x Krix Seismix 3 MK7  would be sufficient for a theatre room which I use for both movies and music that it is 5.7m x 4m x 2.7m. I have an old Velodyne SPL Series II 1200R Subwoofer which I love but it is 10+ years old and I would like to upgrade. 

 

I run a 7.1 channel system using Subsonic Speakers...........

Fronts: XM 1 MkII 

Centre:  XC 1

Surrounds and Surrounds Back:  XR2 

 

 

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On 07/08/2020 at 5:42 AM, Paul66 said:

Hi Rolland,

 

Great review !!

 

In your opinion do you think  2 x Krix Seismix 3 MK7  would be sufficient for a theatre room which I use for both movies and music that it is 5.7m x 4m x 2.7m. I have an old Velodyne SPL Series II 1200R Subwoofer which I love but it is 10+ years old and I would like to upgrade. 

 

I run a 7.1 channel system using Subsonic Speakers...........

Fronts: XM 1 MkII 

Centre:  XC 1

Surrounds and Surrounds Back:  XR2 

 

 

Hi Paul66,

I reckon 2x Seismix 3 mk7s should be more than fine for that room size, about more than a few months ago I went with a dual sub setup and have never looked back since, with duals you get the benefits of more output, more headroom and more even sound in terms of reducing peaks and null, however placement is key. I agree that velodyne sub that you have is a great sub, to me personally velodyne had set some benchmarks in terms of what a great sub should do, it's just unfortunate that they no longer have a new range of subs to take on other brands like svs, krix, kef etc.

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33 minutes ago, Rolland said:

Hi Paul66,

I reckon 2x Seismix 3 mk7s should be more than fine for that room size, about more than a few months ago I went with a dual sub setup and have never looked back since, with duals you get the benefits of more output, more headroom and more even sound in terms of reducing peaks and null, however placement is key. I agree that velodyne sub that you have is a great sub, to me personally velodyne had set some benchmarks in terms of what a great sub should do, it's just unfortunate that they no longer have a new range of subs to take on other brands like svs, krix, kef etc.

Hi Rolland,

 

Thank you for your input, it is much appreciated.

And you are right about more than one sub, duels would definitely expand the sound stage and that is what I am after. As I listen to music and watch movies I need subs that are tight sounding as well as giving me enough impact on movies........ I don't like subs that are boomy.

 

If you don't mind me asking what subs are you running now, is it 2  Krix Tektonix?

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58 minutes ago, Paul66 said:

Hi Rolland,

 

Thank you for your input, it is much appreciated.

And you are right about more than one sub, duels would definitely expand the sound stage and that is what I am after. As I listen to music and watch movies I need subs that are tight sounding as well as giving me enough impact on movies........ I don't like subs that are boomy.

 

If you don't mind me asking what subs are you running now, is it 2  Krix Tektonix?

Yes, that would be correct, I'm running dual krix Tektronix subs. Just keep in mind that you originally have a sealed sub and the seismix 3 mk7 is a ported sub, so the characteristics are going to be different in terms of tuning it to your room environment.

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1 hour ago, Rolland said:

Yes, that would be correct, I'm running dual krix Tektronix subs. Just keep in mind that you originally have a sealed sub and the seismix 3 mk7 is a ported sub, so the characteristics are going to be different in terms of tuning it to your room environment.

I have never had ported subs before, so are you saying because I like the characteristics of a sealed sub I should stick to it or do you think if I use room correction, like a miniDSP for the 2 ported subs I should get a better result in what I want.

Sorry for asking so many questions......

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21 hours ago, Paul66 said:

I have never had ported subs before, so are you saying because I like the characteristics of a sealed sub I should stick to it or do you think if I use room correction, like a miniDSP for the 2 ported subs I should get a better result in what I want.

Sorry for asking so many questions 

That's kind of what I'm saying, if you have only had sealed subwoofer and never had a ported then, this is going to be something a bit different for you and if possible I would try to demo a ported sub to get an idea if you like or not as sealed and ported are different, for instance a sealed sub has a shallower roll off whereas a ported has a more steeper roll off, (these are the main characteristic differences between the two sub types) . A ported sub generally has more output than a sealed within the same range, a sealed generally is slightly more cleaner sounding, however a well designed ported sub can also sound clean in my opinion, A mini dsp can help to bring out the best results in the sub that you have via eq, xover etc to adjust to your room, it does not necessarily change the generally characteristics of the a sub. If you can't demo a ported or you don't like the sound of a ported then I'd probably stick with a sealed just to be on the safe side of things.

 

Here's a bit more info if want on ported vs sealed subs: https://www.audioholics.com/loudspeaker-design/sealed-vs-ported-subwoofers 

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1 hour ago, Rolland said:

That's kind of what I'm saying, if you have only had sealed subwoofer and never had a ported then, this is going to be something a bit different for you and if possible I would try to demo a ported sub to get an idea if you like or not as sealed and ported are different, for instance a sealed sub has a shallower roll off whereas a ported has a more steeper roll off, (these are the main characteristic differences between the two sub types) . A ported sub generally has more output than a sealed within the same range, a sealed generally is slightly more cleaner sounding, however a well designed ported sub can also sound clean in my opinion, A mini dsp can help to bring out the best results in the sub that you have via eq, xover etc to adjust to your room, it does not necessarily change the generally characteristics of the a sub. If you can't demo a ported or you don't like the sound of a ported then I'd probably stick with a sealed just to be on the safe side of things.

 

Here's a bit more info if want on ported vs sealed subs: https://www.audioholics.com/loudspeaker-design/sealed-vs-ported-subwoofers 

Wow, that was great from Audioholics and very informative, thankyou.

The suppose the biggest factor is I am unable to demo any subs as there is no HIFI Retailers in my area...... I would have to travel and that is a little impossible atm. 

Most of my purchase for my Theatre Room has been without demos, but with hours of research and so far I have chosen correctly. Looks like I might have to stick with 2 sealed Subs. 

I was looking to buy an Australian made Sub like Krix, but since I am kind of steering away from the ported Subs, they don't make a sealed version.  There are not many Australian made sealed Subs around. So far I have come across Legend Acoustic's Kurlo .......... Do you know of any others?

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42 minutes ago, Paul66 said:

Wow, that was great from Audioholics and very informative, thankyou.

The suppose the biggest factor is I am unable to demo any subs as there is no HIFI Retailers in my area...... I would have to travel and that is a little impossible atm. 

Most of my purchase for my Theatre Room has been without demos, but with hours of research and so far I have chosen correctly. Looks like I might have to stick with 2 sealed Subs. 

I was looking to buy an Australian made Sub like Krix, but since I am kind of steering away from the ported Subs, they don't make a sealed version.  There are not many Australian made sealed Subs around. So far I have come across Legend Acoustic's Kurlo .......... Do you know of any others?

Legend acoustics kurlo is a great sub, I believe Australian audio manufacturer VAF also have a sealed in there range of subs as well called the MPB SW2.

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