The UberSub drives you-are-there movie realism to new heights
by plumbing new depths, delivering >120dB in-room output
down to a staggering 3Hz at every seat.

More than just a new product category, the UberSub is a multidisciplinary "program" to bring you-are-there infrasonic realism–both audible and feelable–to the world’s finest Private Theaters and Director Screening rooms.

As installed, the UberSub does not consume even a single square foot of theater space, as it makes use of the cavity created by the baffle wall that houses the left, center and right speakers behind the acoustically transparent video screen.

Both audible and feelable down to a staggering 3 Hz,
the UberSub isn’t just about "bass" nor is it a gimmick.

Waterfall graph showing bass content of about 45 seconds of Steven Spielberg’s “War of the Worlds” taken directly from the DVD.

The dark red blotches near the left edge indicate strong infrasonic energy, especially between about 3Hz and 12Hz, an area well below the 20-25Hz reach of existing subwoofers.

The UberSub system cleanly and convincingly delivers all of this ground-shaking, pants-flapping range.

The UberSub accurately reproduces the infrasonic content that exists on standard DVDs and Blu-rays, fostering the deep sense of being physically present in the action.

The UberSub™ Program includes:

  1. Dual-Driver Modules. Each UberSub BFT-D24B module utilizes a pair of custom, 24-inch, 120-pound KYD U-571™ drivers in a horizontally-opposed architecture that dramatically reduces the reaction-force cabinet vibrations that blur and smear otherwise crisp, tactile low-frequency content. Each driver offers 3 inches linear peak-to-peak displacement and 5 inches maximum peak-to-peak displacement from up to 4,000 watts RMS and 6,000 watts peak input. CNC’d in California of 6061-T6 aluminum, each 355-pound UberSub module is designed to nest into an engineered opening in a fortress-like custom baffle wall behind the acoustically transparent video screen.
  2. Model and Measure Room Gain. The particulars of the room’s size, shape and construction are evaluated and a detailed Finite-Element Analysis (FEA) study conducted to model Room Gain and the predicted infrasonic response at each listener location. Room Gain is then measured in situ using an instrumented, reference low-frequency sound source to determine how the actual room modifies the bass (20-100Hz) and infrasonic (<20Hz) regions, and to finalize the number of UberSub modules that will be required to meet the output level and distortion targets for the chosen program (Red X or Black Label). The measurement data is fed back in to harmonize the FEA model with its real-world counterpart.
  3. 3D-model, simulate and optimize a Custom Baffle Wall using in-house FEA tools to create a supportive, acoustically inert, non-resonant environment for the UberSub modules and screen-channel speakers (Left, Center, Right). The study reveals where and what kinds of structural bracing, damping, decoupling, pressure containment etc. measures are needed to keep the structure from flexing, distorting, leaking, rattling, resonating and otherwise degrading infrasonic and deep bass realism. Actual construction of the resulting baffle wall is carried out by KYD’s chosen specialty contractor/partner, working from KYD’s detailed 3D construction drawings, and under KYD’s direct supervision.
  4. Conduct a Sleep Disturbance Study to predict the flow of deep bass and infrasonic energy out of the theater/screening room and into bedrooms and other noise-sensitive spaces. Based on industrial-type acoustic modeling tools, the study can predict whether, when you’re screening War of the Worlds or other action spectacular, the predicted decibel levels in sleeping rooms elsewhere in the home will likely rise above the sleep disturbance threshold. If that’s the case in your home, we model the effects of different sound-control strategies in the venue’s walls, floor, ceiling, doors, etc. to find the most effective solution.
  5. Run BassCAMPto acoustically model, and mathematically rank millions of unique subwoofer layouts in the room to reveal the top performing combination of subwoofer quantity, locations and settings (gain, polarity and delay) to cover the 1-100 Hz range with the lowest seat-to-seat variation. In non-BassCAMP’d rooms, seat-to-seat variations in the bass range typically reach 30, 40, even 50 decibels, a disparity beyond any equalizer to manage electronically. With BassCAMP’s ability to find the most balanced physical layout, the same room’s worst-case response disparities are typically slashed by 20, 30, even 40 decibels. Fully leveraging its powerful fluid-dynamics engine, time-domain features and custom algorithms, BassCAMP also reveals what specific low-frequency treatments, in which locations, will further reduce the muddy, droning effects of low-frequency resonances to below the perceptual threshold. Upshot: BassCAMP makes every seat in a home theater or director screening room a “money seat,” where bass is consistently deep, physical, concussive and perceptually uniform throughout the audience area.
  6. Install, Test and Calibrate the UberSub modules, including fine-tuning the transition between the UberSubs and the “full-range” system to be aurally seamless.
  7. Issue a bound, 50+ page Report on the physics and auditory perception of the low-frequency and infrasonic ranges, including detailed, project-specific before-and-after measurements.

There is infrasonic energy captured in digital movie soundtracks that goes unrealized because standard subwoofers cannot reproduce the deeper-than-deep-bass range. Only the UberSub can deliver the whole body, "feelable" experience.

Born from 30 years of real engineering, KYD delivers
the most immersive cinema experience. Period.

Most of the sounds you hear in a movie are recorded in a building called a Foley stage with microphones that capture sonic energy down to 2 or 3Hz. As the many textbooks on human hearing state, sounds below 20Hz, i.e. the infrasonic range, can be heard, provided they’re reproduced at a sufficiently high sound pressure level.

The problem is that even the most ambitious consumer or professional subwoofers have not been able to reproduce the full range of infrasonic energy at high enough levels to rise above the hearing threshold. This has long been an issue. The manufacturer of an expensive, coat closet-size subwoofer offers a graph showing response down to 18, 16, or even 14 Hz, but doesn’t disclose that at those frequencies even its maximum output is below the threshold of human hearing, i.e., inaudible. Commercial cinemas fall further short as they typically cannot generate useful response below 30-35Hz.

KYD. Driven to put you in the movie.

Contact Us

Contact us for a consultation of your project to see if it has a place for the KYD UberSub.