Nakamichi unleashes a rib-shaking 12-inch subwoofer upgrade for its Dragon home cinema system

Nakamichi has unveiled a beastly new 12-inch subwoofer upgrade for its Dragon home cinema system , which promises to shake rooms (and possibly your house’s foundations), with earth-shattering bass.

The new sub is a response to Dragon owners clamouring for even more low-end oomph, and it even has the stats to prove it – Nakamichi's survey found that 67 per cent of respondents prefer a subwoofer with a 12-inch or larger driver, while 41 per cent fancy having three or more subs in their room (more on that in a bit).

Tipping the scales at a hefty 36kg, the sub rocks a carbon fibre-reinforced aluminium driver, paired with a 12-inch carbon passive radiator. This combo promises to deliver a thunderous 750 watts of power, and is capable of reaching down to 19Hz. For those keeping score, that's substantially beefier than the company’s original 8-inch dual-opposing drivers.

And if your bass addiction goes beyond the extreme, you’re more than welcome to add up to four of these 12-inch monsters to your Dragon setup, if your wallet is up to the challenge. Nakamichi goes as far as stating that this quadruple setup "will leave even the most die-hard low-frequency aficionados in awe". We're not sure if that's a promise or a threat, but we applaud the low-end love nonetheless.

Rayman Cheng, Nakamichi USA's CEO, states that "Our 12-inch subwoofer doesn't just emit bass – it releases cataclysmic rumbles with thundering subsonic energy, unlocking a new dimension to your favourite content." Hyperbole? Perhaps. But we'd be lying if we said we wouldn’t like to take a fully kitted-out setup for a spin.

The subwoofer itself slots into Nakamichi's modular Dragon system, which remains a formidable setup in its own right. At its max configuration, it serves up 21 channels, 15 digital amplifiers, six up-firing speakers, and a pair of Omni-Motion Reference Surrounds. It's also one of the first wireless systems to support DTS:X Pro, for those who like their surround sound cutting-edge.

If you're feeling particularly extravagant (and have very understanding neighbours, or better yet, none at all), you can now order Dragon’s flagship system which includes a a full quartet of these 12-inch subs, along with a 58-inch main unit and two Omni-Motion Reference Surrounds, if you fancy. This flagship config pushes out a room-trembling 5000 watts, and will set you back $8499.99.

For those with slightly more modest (but still considerable) ambitions, there's also the option for a Dragon system with two 12-inch subs, priced at $5599.99. The original setup with dual 8-inch subs remains available at $3999.99.

And if you’d like to upgrade your existing Dragon setup, you can nab individual 12-inch subs for $1499.99 each, while pairs of the original 8-inch dual-opposing subs go for $1199.99.

Only US pricing and release dates have been confirmed, with no word yet for UK or Australian markets. Nakamichi says the new subs and system configurations will debut on its US web store later this month.

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