Best Subwoofer for $500 or less

[jschaudel]

Hello.

I am putting together a budget A/V system and would like some input regarding which subwoofer I should buy for $500 or less.

The receiver will be either the Denon AVR1705 or Yamaha HTR5750.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[bargainseeker]

Hello.

I am putting together a budget A/V system and would like some input regarding which subwoofer I should buy for $500 or less.

The receiver will be either the Denon AVR1705 or Yamaha HTR5750.

Any input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

My recommendation would be the SVS PB10-ISD. I have owned one since it first came out two months ago and I don't know of anything else in this price range that will outperform it. Some reviews on it are here and here.

[SepoSloan]

I have to admit that my home theater direct sub level 3 is great and rumbles the house when needed and has many controls.

www.hometheaterdirect.com just click on the level 3 and then sub.

[jschaudel]

Thank you both for your responses.

Bargainseeker,

Are there any other subs comparable to the svs (velodyne dsp10?) that I could compare it against?

In general, how is the sound of an SVS cylinder sub different than the box? Is one better than the other?

Thanks.

[kexodusc]

Titanic MKIII 12" 500 watt RMS subwoofer from Parts Express...you'll have to build it yourself (a few hours, very easy), and she ain't pretty, but it comes with a parametric equalizer and will smoke any SVS or Hsu Research sub at double the price. It wipes the floor with my PW-2200.

[WAF!]

Titanic MKIII 12" 500 watt RMS subwoofer from Parts Express...you'll have to build it yourself (a few hours, very easy), and she ain't pretty, but it comes with a parametric equalizer and will smoke any SVS or Hsu Research sub at double the price. It wipes the floor with my PW-2200.

The new PE sub kits have sparked my interest as well. Have you had a chance to do an in room frequency response on your 12" kit? Does it have good response down to 20Hz?

[kexodusc]

The new PE sub kits have sparked my interest as well. Have you had a chance to do an in room frequency response on your 12" kit? Does it have good response down to 20Hz?

I build the 12" for my folks, and only had it in my place for a about 8 days. In my old room I couldn't get below 23 Hz response, but that, I'm sure had more to do with my room acoustics (it was 24 X 24 square) than the sub itself. Which is fine, my tested hearing doesn't pick up much below 22Hz.

My PW-2200 on the other hand cut out in the same room at 24 Hz, despite measurements to 19Hz or something.
At 1/2 the price it is far, far better.
To be honest, I owned the older Hsu Research VTF-2 model and it couldn't keep up with my PW-2200. I feel pretty confident extrapolating that the PE kit would destroy it.

I've ordered the 15" Titanic MKIII woofer and 1000 watt plate amp for the larger model (building a box myself to match the speakers I built), for the money, no commercial subwoofer, on-line retailer or B&M store, can come close.
For more measurements of actual in room performance, you should visit the PE forums. Lots testaments there from people who've owned the popular Hsu Research and SVS subs, Velodynes, Paradigm's, etc....

Good luck

[bargainseeker]

Are there any other subs comparable to the svs (velodyne dsp10?) that I could compare it against?

The closest competitor to the SVS PB10 is the Hsu Research VTF-2. Because of retail markup, I don't know of any subwoofers available from local brick and mortar (B&M) stores that are in the same league as these in terms of performance for the price. The closest I can think of is the Energy S10.2.

In general, how is the sound of an SVS cylinder sub different than the box? Is one better than the other?

The cheapest powered cylinder subwoofers from SVS are the PCi series which run from $549 to $649. The woofer in the PCi series is larger than the one in the PB10 but not as technically advanced. The transient response of the PCi series is not as good as the PB10, so they are not as good for music. The 25-31PCi will play louder than the PB10 but will not go as deep. Now that the PB10 is out, I can see little reason to buy either the 16-46PCi or the 20-39PCi unless you need the internal crossover.

[jschaudel]

Bargainseeker,

You are either a salesman for SVS or you know what you are talking about

I am going to give the PB10 a shot; if I don't like it I can always send it back. SVS sells bettercables on their website. Should I go with these, or should I consider some other cables?

I am going to buy a new receiver. Any thoughts on one under $400. The room is 14x17 with a vaulted ceiling. Movies/Music is probably 50/50, but if I had to choose the sound of one over the other it would be music over movies.

I will go listen but thought you might have some good input on narrowing my choices.

Thanks.

[bargainseeker]

Bargainseeker,

You are either a salesman for SVS or you know what you are talking about

I am going to give the PB10 a shot; if I don't like it I can always send it back. SVS sells bettercables on their website. Should I go with these, or should I consider some other cables?

I am going to buy a new receiver. Any thoughts on one under $400. The room is 14x17 with a vaulted ceiling. Movies/Music is probably 50/50, but if I had to choose the sound of one over the other it would be music over movies.

I will go listen but thought you might have some good input on narrowing my choices.

Thanks.

Well, I am not a salesman for SVS nor do I have any other business relationship with them. I am just a happy customer who feels that SVS is a class act. I believe you will be happy with the PB10 once you get it setup correctly. If you don't already have them, I would strongly consider getting a Radio Shack SPL meter and Avia setup DVD. If I remember right, I ended up buying my Avia DVD from Amazon.com because they had a lower price at the time.

As to a subwoofer cable, I have never been big on exotic cables. However, subwoofer cables carry a low level signal that must be well shielded from electrical noise. Unlike other interconnects, subwoofer cables are often very long, which increases the likelihood of such noise occurring (the long wire acts as an antenna). So if you are planning a fairly short run from your receiver to your subwoofer, I think you could use a decent quality, modestly priced cable such as an NXG NX-0134. I would also recommend a longer NXG cable for use while you are trying out different subwoofer locations. If you end up with your subwoofer a long way from your receiver, I would seriously consider one of the subwoofer cables offered by SVS.

For a receiver, do you want to buy locally or online? Also, are you willing to consider a factory refurbished receiver with a manufacturer's warranty or would you rather buy new?

[Screw Loose]

Hello.

I am putting together a budget A/V system and would like some input regarding which subwoofer I should buy for $500 or less.

Thanks

Hi everybody! This is my very first post here-and what I am about to recommend may not set me too well with my fellow audio enthusiast's. First impression's, eh?

I have bought several subwoofer's over the past 6 week's. For under $500, beleive it or not, Sony has come out with an amazing dual 10" push-pull subwoofer called the SA-WX700. You get front firing and down firing in the same sub. I helped a friend of mine pick this one out, and I borrowed it for a couple day's to check it out. He didn't want to spend more than $200, but I talked him into this one ($259 @Circuit City- Print it off the web and the store will honor the price). It has amazing spec's, and it live's up to them. Zero distortion. "Tight and clean" as they say when describing great sub's.Loud and proud or soft and mellow-it is truly a fantastic sub. I know Sony speaker's as a hard and fast rule stink, but this sub is obviously designed in a whole different division. It is worth every penny-and if you don't like it Circuit City has an easy return policy. But I think you will be pleasantly surprised.

Perhap's the following observation will redeem me:

Now, if you are willing to spend another $100 over your $500 limit, the sub I settled on is the Martin Logan Dynamo. You can switch it to front firing or down firing, by moving the base around. When you use it in front firing, it comes with a grille you can attach. Although it is their "entry level" sub, Martin Logan doesn't make anything cheap. It sounds as good as their sub costing 2x as much (in my humble opinion).

[Worf101]

I know some folks are tired of me recommending them but I've used HSU subs and recommended them to folks for the last 3 years here and have made some folks quite happy. I've the both the VTF-3 and VTF-2 subs. The former is a 12 inch and the latter is a downfiring 10. I put both through their paces and couldn't be any happier... Hsureasearch.com

Da Worfster

[spuppy517]

HA! I am one of the converts Worf was talking about. I just recently purchased the HSU VTF2 and it is amazing.... it's with in your budget ($499). I don't think you'll be disappointed. I've never heard a SVS sub though. Have read lots of good things about them too. I don't know how the cylinder sub is vs the box, but I just didn't look at them much simply because I didn't like the look (hey - I'm a girl, so I'm allowed to care about such things!)
I did go listen to a Velodyne (don't know if it's the same model you mentioned) but the HSU topped it, easy.

And Worf - I'm not tired of you recommending the HSU's.... in fact I think I'm on your bandwagon. I can't shut up about them! Good luck jschaudel. Let us know what you get.

[Luis31]

I know some folks are tired of me recommending them but I've used HSU subs and recommended them to folks for the last 3 years here and have made some folks quite happy. I've the both the VTF-3 and VTF-2 subs. The former is a 12 inch and the latter is a downfiring 10. I put both through their paces and couldn't be any happier... Hsureasearch.com

Da Worfster

I agree with Da Worfster here. Own both VTF-2 MKI and VTF-3 MKII and couldn't be any happier...

[Woochifer]

First off, how big is your room? If you have a small to medium sized room, and you intend to listen to a lot of music through your system, you might also want to consider going with a sealed box sub.

The advantage of a sealed sub is that dropoff at the low end is more gradual than with a ported sub, they are easier to design properly, they are easier to place, and they have a quicker transient response. If you go DIY, sealed subs are also more forgiving than ported subs if your woodworking skills are less than precise. The disadvantages are that they are less efficient, the low end dropoff begins sooner, and they tend to distort more as they go towards the lower limits of the driver. Subjectively, some people say that sealed subs sound tighter or more musical.

The others have given you a good list of options to consider and they are mostly ported designs. I would add the following sealed subs to your list: the $400 Adire Audio Rava, the $450 Acoustic Visions MRS-10, the $600 Rocket UFW-10, the $600 Martin Logan Dynamo, and the sealed subs from B&W and Atlantic Technology. All of these options have slight differences in how they're configured, how big they are, and how they look.

http://www.adireaudio.com/TextPages/...eFrameText.htm
http://www.acoustic-visions.com/~aco...ed/mrs10.shtml
http://www.av123.com/products_produc...rs&product=1.1

Three years ago when I started shopping for subs, the only sealed sub in this price range I found was the Adire Rava, so I bought one. Now, the options have expanded tremendously. If you have a small room, the room gain will boost the low frequencies, and IMO this benefits sealed subs more because of their more gradual rolloff at the low end.

Regardless of which model you opt for, keep in mind that with subwoofers, your room acoustics are every bit as important as which sub model you opt for. This is also why IMO subwoofer comparisons are invalid unless they are all done in the same room using identical positioning and settings. Subwoofer listenings done in different rooms are pretty much useless because the room variation makes all the difference in what you hear, and the room effect gets progressively larger as you go into the lower frequencies.

The room acoustics are especially important if you have a small to medium sized room, because they will tend to develop more problem frequencies where you get huge boomy peaks and/or wave cancellations where the bass disappears. You can remedy this with careful placement, and by using room treatments such as bass traps and a parametric equalizer. Regardless, I think you should at least budget for a SPL meter and a test disc with low frequency tone on it, and a parametric EQ is highly recommended. Together, those items will run you about $170, but they are IMO a crucial investment if you're serious about getting the best possible bass performance. (Not just loud, but extended, and well integrated with the rest of your system)

I use a parametric EQ with my sub, and it made a huge difference in my overall bass performance. Out of the box, it was unbearably boomy, but with some fine tuning on the parametric EQ, the bass is now extended and subjectively tighter sounding because those peaks no longer dominate what I hear and measure. The chart below shows the before and after in-room response on my Rava (you can also see that the Rava has very capable bass all the way down to 25 Hz).