Review on 🔊 OSD Forza 8-inch Omni Speaker: 360° Sound Dispersion, 200W, Weather Resistant, Durable Cabinet in Bronze - Single by Ian Patilla

I bought this to set up outdoor sound reinforcement on my terrace. My amplifier is a Sony STR D500 5.1 receiver with a passive subwoofer. I use a set of weatherproof Pyle midrange satellite speakers. I chose this item as the subwoofer because it is the closest match (but not weatherproof) to the Sony passive subwoofer that came with the receiver. I don't use the speaker crossover feature - all my Pyle modules are connected directly to the amplifier's discrete channels. A couple of design notes. The driver cone is actually pointing UP. At the top (a green disc that appears to sit on top of a black ring in the picture) is the crossover circuitry. It consists of a base plate attached to a black ring and a green disc that snaps onto it. I thought it would be a bit odd to mount it because it's right in the sound field of the woofer cone. However, since low-frequency sound fields have no spatial or directional specificity, this is technically not a problem. However, this is an issue when the case is not structurally sealed at the top, which brings me to the first reason I give it 4 stars. I installed it in my basement to test it. From the start, an eerie rumble of bass tones rumbled through the upper case. When I shook the device slightly, I heard something inside dangling. So I disassembled the top. It turned out that one of the two screws that attach the crossover to the racks at the base was completely unscrewed and rattled inside. I put the screw back in. I also added some washers to ALL the screws throughout the case (to reduce metal to plastic contact). All knocking and creaking noises when operating the subwoofer are now gone! And that brings me to the second reason for the 4 stars. The components in the device are decent and the overall sound is very good. However, while the audio output specs are the same as Sony's much cheaper passive subwoofer, the bass output from this unit isn't as clear. It also breaks down a bit on tracks with very heavy bass lines. I'm by no means an audio engineer, but I suspect this is due to the device being "sealed" rather than "ported" as usual. But the "seal" in a hard plastic case isn't that tight. Performance may improve if I properly "dig" the base of the device into the ground this spring. Then I will update my rating. All in all a good buy, if a bit pricey for a passive subwoofer. I also wish OSD would make a simpler non-crossover version of this. In addition, a little more attention to QC will avoid these owner frustrations. Have fun while listening.