5. Honest-To-Goodness Bass

The ratings show it and the ear confirms it, the 4121 is the system with the lowest bass notes. Though not absolutely regular, it does cover the entire true bass range and the result is both full and musical. On the other hand, the mid range is far from perfect: it goes up and down in turns and neutrality is not its strong point, even if you can improve its nasality with the equalizer. But these failings aside, the great thing about the 4121 is that the sound is truly musical; you can hear everything, especially in the bass range, and a lovely stereo image ensures playback is always dynamic. The lack of power does not prevent the top sound level without audible distortion from being perfectly adequate. You don't get the impression that the middle range gives up in midstream like its rivals do.

Top sound level: about 108 dB SPL

On the other hand, the 4121 responds very unevenly in the bass range because the third octave level around 32 Hz is not exactly backwards in coming forward!

The bass range is not a model of evenness either but it does go very low. Actual results follow...