Wharfedale Powercube 10 vs 12

[TheArrogantYeti]

I'm looking for a new subwoofer, which will be used for both music and theater, primarily music. I have an Athena Tech. AS-P400 currently, and yes it's very powerful...if you're sitting in the right place. I haven't been able to find a spot in the room where I can place it and have it produce great levels everywhere. For instance, I'm in a dorm room, and sitting at my computer (the center of the room) results in pretty good bass if I turn the level on the sub up to perhaps 6 or 7, but then at this same level while sitting at my roomate's desk, the amount of bass is insane. I've thought about it and toyed with the idea that since it's forward-firing, the bass is more directional? I really don't have an idea what I'm talking about, just my own theories. Anyway..I've decided to go with a downward-firing subwoofer, and have decided on the Wharfedale Powercube for a number of reason. First, they're extremely inexpensive, and I own some Wharfedale speakers and have been very impressed with their sound. Second, the wharfedales have always struck me as absolutely beautiful. So now, I have the choice of the 10-inch, 100-watt version or the 12-inch, 150-watt version. Here's my question...will there be a noticeable difference in clean-volume levels that I can reach between the two? The larger one goes down to 25hz, which I really don't need to hear anyway, and the smaller reaches 32hz I believe, so that's not a factor, 32hz is fine for me. Since I can only get them online, buying the smaller one and being dissapointed by its sound would suck. There's about a $100 difference (Yes, money is a factor, I'm a college student making roughly $150 a month working on-campus with no savings). So..if anyone's heard either, or has some supreme knowledge about the workings of subs, let me know. Or, if you know of another brand in the same price-range (up to about $250) that sounds and looks as good if not better, let me know that too.

[This Guy]

Buying a new sub won't fix these problems. The exact same thing would happen with the wharfedale. All rooms will affect bass differently. Whether a sub is forward firing or downward firing makes absolutly no difference in sound and how the room affects the bass. What you should do is play around with the subs postition in the room. That will change the way it sounds significantly. It is impossible for any sub to produce great levels everywhere in a room. You could buy an equalizer (behringer feedback destroyer)that will tune the sub so that it sounds perfect at ONE postion, but not everywhere.

[TheArrogantYeti]

Are there any general guidelines for placing subs so the best sound is in the middle of the room? The room's just a rectangle, and I currently have it sitting underneath my bed in the far corner of the room. I think I'll plan on buying a new sub anyway, because I like the Wharfedale look so much, so my question regarding those two subs still stands