Reviewed by Robert Canning
OZ Audio are back on the scene in Australian after a few years of not having a distributor, Egear have now taken them on and already off to a good start with there OZ demo car full of there entry level Vector series sub’s and splits winning SPL comp’s across the country.
OZ have three range’s of speakers and sub’s starting with the entry level Vector’s then up to the hi end Matrix elite subs and speakers with the power series SPL sub’s at the very top.
I have just installed one of the Matrix Elite 12in sub’s into my car mounted in a 2.2cft sealed box.
Running the sub is a Soundstream Rubicon 502 bridged that is rated at a conservative 500wrms.
For the front stage I am running OZ Matrix elite 6.5in midbass speakers, Vifa XT25 tweeters powered by a Soundstream Reference 404 4 channel amp.
The source unit is an Alpine 7889r which also takes care if the crossovers etc.
The stereo is designed to compete in CAASQ sound quality comps and has been very successful in the past.
This sub is replacing my ever so trusty Boston Pro 10.5lf that has served me well and has always been one of my benchmarks in subwoofers.
With most reviews I have done I just have done them on the sound quality only, this time I will also be putting it on an SPL meter.
Cosmetics
Visually the Matrix is a work of art. The motor is a massive with a 3 magnet stack covered with a thin rubber boot and a chrome back plate with Oz’s logo in it.
The cast basket is done in black hammer tone finish and is quite robust.
Terminals are the spring style and easy to use and not fragile at all and can accept 12/10g speaker wire with ease, the tinsel wire coming off is braided into the spider to prevent any damage happening to them.
The cone is made of glass fiber and nomex and is quite stiff and a nice raised Oz audio on the dust cap.
Listening.
The sub took a few hours to break in (over 2 weeks this was)
But once there this sub was amazing. It takes everything I can throw at it and still sounds good. I have played a wide variety of music in this car from Infected Mushroom through to Rage Against The Machine to Tool to George Benson; it stays clean and very detailed. Method man and Meem help to test the sub playing ultra low frequencies and it does it with easy and authority.
The only downside is the sub likes power and really starts to shine at high volumes, not saying it wont at lower volumes but when it gets loud it really puts a smile on your face.
Detailed listening.
Speech – hoopla
this album has a mixture of clean live drums, bass guitar and some electronic bass.
The kick drum comes through snappy and clean with no overhang even when pushed to its limits.
St Luke (Melbourne DJ) – Element mixed disc
This disc is full of uplifting hard trance and pushes the sub to its limits with its fast, hard and heavy bass hits.
The ME12 tackles them easily at most volumes but does start to come undone a little at very high volumes where the beats start to get a little muddy, but this could be from my amp reaching it’s limit.
Joss Stone – mind body & soul
Joss Stone has a voice to die for and is one of my favourite demo discs’s to show off my stereo.
Track 3 in particular you had me has a thick bass line through it and first time listening to it gave me a huge shock, the sub just belted it out and showed me how much more work I have getting rid of vibrations! Also through the song it has some punchy lower midbass and in combination with the mid’s packs a nice little punch.
SPL.
I really wanted to punish this sub and see what it could take, so in a 2.6cf, 51hz tuned ported SPL box it went, powering it was a PHD10,000/2 rated at 3000wrms at 2ohm.
We loaded it down to 1ohm so there is potential for more than the rated 2ohm power. We took it down to the local SPL comp (which mind you was a good 2.5 hour drive) and gave it a good burp. We competed in the SS1-2NW class and managed a 141.4dB.
With some more tuning we believe we can obtain more and a 145 we think is not out of the question.
The gains on the amp were set to ½ and the HU was at 28 out of 35.
2 weeks after burping it I put it back in the SQ box and competed again with great success!
Conclusion.
The OZ Matrix Elite 12 has impressed me so far, A RRP$719 speaker to perform exceptionally well for SQ yet will still take a beating in SPL and put out decent numbers sure puts this speaker into a class of it’s own.
I would recommend the OZ to anyone who wants a very capable SQ sub and wants plenty of volume to go with it.
For a hardcore SPL’er I don’t think this is the sub for you but for anyone who wants a great SQ sub and still wants to do SPL on the side this is perfect.
