David Lee of Bassmaxx

Many LAB regulars will recall an event a couple of years ago, where a bunch of sound folks, from as far away as Israel, all trooped down to John and Teri Hogan’s place in southern Texas, and spent several days talking and listening. I heard it was a great time, and wished I could have joined them. Everyone agreed that the Bassmaxx single 18” subs demo-ed there were quite powerful, and also very smooth and musical. Since then, I have occasionally communicated with Bassmaxx honcho David Lee, but there are very few of his cabinets in my region for me to go check out.

The actual designer of the Bassmaxx cabinets is a gentleman named Johan Van Zyl, who was swamped with people when I went by their booth, I did not get to speak to him directly.

It was really fun to meet David Lee. He is very low-key, and has a product that he really believes in. The user comments in the promotional literature basically say that not only do the boxes sound wonderful, but that they deliver incredible amounts of bang for the buck, with smaller numbers of these horn-loaded enclosures equalling the output of many more front-loaded cabinets.

The newest Bassmaxx box is called the B-Zero, and it will be available in 8 ohm and 4 ohm versions. The previous ones were called the B-One (30 Hz to 90 Hz, using two cabinets) and the B-Two (38 Hz to 105 Hz, again with two.)

I was hesitant to mention that some people think that Bassmaxx sounds really good, but that its footprint is too large for the shows their companies do. The B-2, for example, is 45” by 45”, and the B-Zero is a full four feet by four feet. David Lee heard me out quite calmly, and to my great relief, had already heard that before, and is working on a B-Three, that will only be 36” square. And, once that is done, Bassmaxx plans to bring out an even smaller design.

Schwing!

The next day, I stopped back and got a chance to talk to Bassmaxx associate Paul Bell, of PBell Sound in Queens, NY, who runs his Bassmaxx cabinets with McCauley speakers and is very happy with the combination. He is also active in doing installs for dance clubs, and described how one room, called Lotus, just could not seem to get enough bass out of their front-loaded cabinets.

Bell proceeded to bring in one of his own Bassmaxx cabinets as a loaner, and stuck it under a spiral staircase – invisibility was a big concern with the owner, and all the main PA was flown. The difference that the Bassmaxx box made was so apparent that the owner actually refused to give the cabinet back!

Bassmaxx claims that their acoustical efficiency is so great that one of their boxes will outperform three double 18’s put together. David Lee and Paul Bell do not seem to be hypemasters, quite the opposite, in fact, so I really look forward to hearing Bassmaxx with a full system someday.