When it comes to Nakamichi’s Dragon Dolby Atmos soundbar, hyperbole just comes with the territory. After all, massive performance is what you should expect from a $3,900, 3,000-watt, 11.4.6-channel monster of a sound system. But apparently, we ain’t seen (or heard) nothing yet: the company has just announced a new 12-inch, 750-watt subwoofer for the Dragon, which can be added as an upgrade to existing systems for $1,500, or you can order the Dragon with up to four of these massive cubes for a grand total of $8,500. That gets you 5,000 total system watts, by the way.
Nakamichi says it developed the new 12-inch sub as a direct response to customer feedback. Its survey of owners and “fans” revealed that 41% of the respondents want three or more subs, and that 67% of them think those subs should have a 12-inch or bigger driver.
“Dragon owners crave bass intensity that matches the benchmarks set by dedicated high-end home theater setups,” said Nakamichi USA CEO Rayman Cheng in a press release. “This fueled our determination to develop a 12-inch subwoofer that would push Dragon beyond the perceived limitations of plug-and-play home entertainment.”
With 750 watts of power, a front-firing, 12-inch, carbon-reinforced aluminum driver, and a down-firing 12-inch passive carbon-infused bass radiator, Nakamichi is promising intestine-melting performance from this 80-pound beast: “Our 12-inch subwoofer doesn’t just emit bass—it releases cataclysmic rumbles with thundering subsonic energy, unlocking a new dimension to your favorite content.”
Does it make sense to upgrade an already massively powerful system with even bigger, more powerful subs? Given that our reviewer feels that the existing Dragon leans heavily on the standard dual 8-inch subs — even for frequencies you might not normally send to a subwoofer — it’s entirely possible the new 12-inch units will have a bigger effect on overall sound quality than they might if you were upgrading a conventional, AV receiver-based home theater system.
Still, it’s frightening to think about the kind of low-end power that four of these new subs could generate. A standard Dragon system can already reproduce a claimed 20Hz-40kHz, but the 12-inch subs apparently drop the low-end down to 19Hz — well into the range of frequencies that are felt, not heard.
If you’ve got the coin, the space, and a few miles between you and your nearest neighbor, Nakamichi starts taking orders for the new systems and separate subs later this month.
