Subwoofer selection $450 max

[calegrant]

I'm finally looking to purchase a subwoofer. So far I've considered the Velodyne DPS-10B and the Athena AS-P6000. I'm looking for something mainly for music, but still able to play movies. I've found the velodyne is much more accurate, but the Athena pours out a lot of bass which is good for partys. What other subs in this price range can I consider? 450 is the max, under 400 preferably. Don't list anything over 450 (ie 499) I'm not interested as cables are expensive too. Thanks.

edit~ I know a lot of people will say svs, but the cheapest one I found was 379 without an amp.

[Woochifer]

A few questions ...

Are you running the subwoofer from a multichannel AV receiver with bass management, or a two-channel receiver/amp that requires a speaker/line level crossover (either on the subwoofer itself or as an external unit)? Needing a speaker/line level crossover will really limit your choices unless you budget for an external crossover unit.

How big is your room? (that will go a long way towards determining how big a sub you need, and whether you'd be better off going with a ported sub or with a sealed sub; sealed subs are few and far between in your price range, need to go to around $600 before you get multiple choices)

Why the inflexibility with the budget? ($450 is right at the edge of where the subwoofers START to get interesting, some flexibility might give you a greater range of options, especially if you have a large room and/or need a speaker/line level crossover on the sub itself)

Since you've prioritized music performance, you should go for whatever sounds most accurate to you. Loud one-note bass might some somewhat tolerable with action pics, but will get old very quickly with music. But, keep in mind that if you heard the subs in two different rooms, then the comparability is VERY limited because of how much the room acoustics/dimensions influence the bass. One sub that sounds fine in one room can sound very different in another one, and can even sound much worse if you just move it to a different location within the same room.

In order to do a proper subwoofer demo, you need to make sure that you listen to them in the same room, and that you level match the sub to the mains (preferably with a test tone and a SPL meter).

Whatever you do, I strongly suggest that you buy a SPL meter and use it to measure the frequency response with your sub. If you have large room induced variations (and most small to medium sized rooms will create them), then you can invest in a parametric equalizer to even out the response curve. Believe me, correcting for room induced problems can be every bit as important as which subwoofer you choose.

Some other options that you should look into for your price range also include Hsu, Paradigm, and Acoustic Visions (their 10" MRS-10 is the only sealed sub I'm aware of in your price range). Sealed subs just outside of your price range include Atlantic Technology, Rocket, B&W, and Martin Logan. Generally speaking, sealed subs are regarded as more "musical" sounding because they have a more gradual dropoff in the lower bass range, but they are less popular because they are less efficient and start to drop off sooner than ported subs.

P.S. The SVS PB10-ISD costs $429 and it includes an on board amplifier.

[calegrant]

Well as it stands, I know next to nothing about home audio. I do know that my reciever as it is now has no subwoofer output, so running a speaker line is the only way to go now. I plan on upgrading to a cambridge audio unit some time next year.

The sub will never be in a room larger than 400sqr/ft.

450 is the limit because there has to be a limit to find something for me. For now I'm only looking at 450- to see if I find something that meets my needs, and if not I'll consider spending more.

[Eric Z]

Wooch makes some good points about spending a bit more for the next 'level' in subwoofers. I recommend not just looking for a sub that provides a lot of bass for parties. Even though, you might think it's good for parties, you will hate it any other time you're listening to it- they usually won't be too accurate and will have will sound boomy. If you get a good quality sub, then it will sound great at parties and during other listening times.

Enjoy!
Eric

[calegrant]

How about the B&W ASW 300? I know B&W makes excellent products, but has anyone heard this little guy. My local dealer sells higher end B&W stuff so I know they can bring it in.

[noddin0ff]

Well, as I posted earlier theres the 10" Dayton Titanic auction, bidding starts at ~$250.
http://forums.audioreview.com/showthread.php?t=14589

Sells new as a kit for ~$350, follow links for review/info
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&DID=7&Partnumber=300-760
Assembled it sells for ~$500

[calegrant]

The un-assembled one from parts express deffinetely caught my attention. No doubt the driver is of better quality than anything else in that price range. The only problem is, shipping that much weight across a boarder and then paying duty on it would add $200. So, I bought myself a Velodyne DPS 12. It sounds great out of the box and I plan on leaving it on until monday when I return home and then it should be broken in. Is this a good plan, should I do the break in period all at once, or just use it regularly at lower volumes?

I bought this little guy from futureshop though. Not the best place for customer service but for 60 bucks I got 8 years extended warrenty on anything including me blowing it up. The bonehead who sold it to me knew nothing and while setting it up blew a 12" polk. It's pretty bad when you have to show the dealers how to set up products their selling.

[Justinian]

I'm finally looking to purchase a subwoofer. So far I've considered the Velodyne DPS-10B and the Athena AS-P6000. I'm looking for something mainly for music, but still able to play movies. I've found the velodyne is much more accurate, but the Athena pours out a lot of bass which is good for partys. What other subs in this price range can I consider? 450 is the max, under 400 preferably. Don't list anything over 450 (ie 499) I'm not interested as cables are expensive too. Thanks.

edit~ I know a lot of people will say svs, but the cheapest one I found was 379 without an amp.

Hi,
I would check out the Hsu Research STF-2. It is an awesome sub with beautiful, tight bass. I own the Hsu VTF-2 which is almost the same sub. You cannot not go wrong with Hsu, and the STF-2 is well within your price range. They also have the STF-1 for $100 less, but it's smaller with an 8" woofer. Here is the link for the STF-2 and you can view the rest of their subs too.

http://www.hsustore.com/stf2.html

You might also be able to find one on eBay for even less. All the best!

[calegrant]

Thanks for the input, it's appreciated but I bought a Velodyne earlier today.

[thekid]

Thanks for the input, it's appreciated but I bought a Velodyne earlier today.

If you don't mind me asking what did you pay for the Velodyne?
Keep us posted on how you like it.
My next purchase is probably a HDMI DVD player and then a sub probably around the price point you were listed in your post.

[calegrant]

It was priced at 424 then another 50 for the protection plan. Thats one of the reasons I go for futureshop, the plan is almost undconditional and covers me blowing the sub. Thats canadian prices so it'd work out to around 400 yankee doodle dollars.