Administrator
admin should be listened to
Audioholics 2010 Subwoofer Shootout Measurements Overview
The goal of our most recent subwoofer shootout is to give us as consumers, a reliable and quantifiable way to purchase home theater subwoofers with some confidence that the products we hear and read about are in fact well designed and capable of sufficient output at low frequencies to reproduce both music and movies with the impact and realism that you expect from a well designed and executed product. The products in this comparison were chosen based on a box size of 6 cubic feet or less, and a maximum retail cost of $2000. This article discusses our testing methodology for measuring all of the subwoofers. It also defines what the new CEA2010 Subwoofer Measurement standard is all about and why we are using it for testing the subwoofers in this up and coming shootout.
Discuss "Audioholics 2010 Subwoofer Shootout Measurements Overview" here. Read the article.
Audioholic Ninja
GranteedEV should be listened to
-The Funkywaves' veneer wipes the floor with the other three. Even if it's the worst performer in these CEA tests I don't care it's the prettiest!!!
-AHAHAHAHA the not-so-subtle jab made me LOL.
System: Marantz SR6003
---> Crown XLS 2000 ---> Philharmonic Model 2
---> Tapco Juice J2500 --> DIY Maelstrom X
Victory goes... TO THOSE WITH COURAGE!!!
Audioholic Warlord
Sheep should be listened to
Audioholic Ninja
GO-NAD! should be listened to
Yes, I also noted the dig at an otherwise well-respected loudspeaker manufacturer. I hope they can take a joke.Originally Posted by GranteedEV
Audioholic Ninja
billy p should be listened to
Probably..NOT...and those fellows who follow that forum are not easy...I should know....Yes, I also noted the dig at an otherwise well-respected loudspeaker manufacturer. I hope they can take a joke.
Speakers: Ascend Acoustics Towers, STC{RAAL} & 200SE in espresso
Sub: Funk Audio Acoustic Elegance av12x Custom Build
Sources: Anthem MRX 300, Sony BDP-S380, Technics CD player, Apple TV/I-pod & Panny 54"
Old Indian Proverb: We don’t inherit the earth from our ancestors, but we borrow it from our children!
Audioholic Ninja
MinusTheBear should be listened to
That was a very informative article on the 2010 CEA standard and subwoofer measurements in general. I will have to read this a second time. Thanks for the education!
Btw that is a beautiful sight of all 4 of those subwoofers lined up next to each other in that picture.
Paul_Apollonio (02-16-2011)
Banned
BufordTJustice is looking for a job at AH
Awesome article! I, too, am gonna have to re-read to absorb all the concepts presented. Great stuff! Can't wait for the next article.
Last edited by BufordTJustice; 12-23-2010 at 10:43 PM.
Audioholic General
FirstReflection should be listened to
So these four subwoofers are "the best of the batch".
I really, Really, REALLY (did I mention "really"?) want to know the other subwoofers that were "fair" or "mediocre".
I have not been following this shoot out. I know that there has been a lot of discussion about it on the forums. Would someone be willing to post a list here of all the subwoofers that were initially going to take part?
I am not the least bit surprised by the four subwoofers that remain. But I would REALLY (yes, "really") like to know which subwoofers withdrew and which were removed from the running!
Senior Audioholic
templemaners should be listened to
Just read this thread - has several months of history in there:
Audioholics Ultimate Subwoofer Shootout Planned
Audioholic General
FirstReflection should be listened to
OK, so I dug around a bit, but I am sure I still don't know the full story.
Axiom didn't take part - didn't agree with testing methodology and thought there might be some bias or something. No big loss. I can plainly HEAR the cabinet colouration in their EP600 and EP800 subs. Would it kill them to put some bracing in those giant cabinets?
Elemental Designs didn't have any product ready to submit. Not surprising. Everything they sell has to come over in a big container from China, so even they don't know when stuff is going to be in stock.
Epik didn't have a product ready. Really not surprised. Epik never has anything ready for anybody, which is why there are no professional reviews of any of their products. It's also why they keep switching models - never want to keep anything around too long since they are all talk and boom with no refinement.
Earthquake went nuts and wanted to sue Audioholics. Whatever. Are they gonna sue every customer who writes a user review too? Probably - unless it's a glowing, praise-fest.
RBH had an amp problem. Weird. Audioholics is almost single-handedly responsible for anyone knowing their name at all so you'd think they could get a working amp over in time...
Salk had some sort of design issue. I guess one guy building everything by hand in his garage can only do so much!
Paradigm and Klipsch didn't bother to take part. Their top-line subs are too expensive and people are gonna buy them based on brand, not any sort of performance measurement anyway.
I'll be honest, I've had nothing but headaches in dealing with subwoofers. Seems as though Audioholics had nothing but troubles too! What is it with subwoofer manufacturers? It's like they're all hiding some deep dark secret. Maybe the fact that they really don't know what the hell they are doing most of the time and just stick giant drivers into giant boxes with giant amps and set whatever price they think they can sell the damn thing at?
All I know is, after everything is said and done, I just wind up coming back to HSU every time. Want to review an HSU sub? Done. No problem.
Want to talk to Dr. Hsu about design and compromises and engineering and theory? Bam! He's right there and the man KNOWS his stuff.
Or how about just listening and realizing that pretty much every other subwoofer lacks the delineation provided by HSU's subs.
What can I knock about HSU? You have to go to their biggest and most expensive models if you want to truly troll the depths of 20Hz and below and do so at high output levels.
Is that a big deal? Not when you notice that HSU's most expensive subwoofers are still WAY cheaper than a lot of competing models.
SVS is fine, most of the time, too. I just hate the fact that you can pretty much never actually BUY one of their subs. They are constantly on back order. I've known people who've had to wait a full year for their SVS sub to arrive!
I'm just sick of all the hype and games that subwoofer manufacturers play. It's a constant screw-job of diverting customers' attention so that they won't notice that they are paying and waiting for performance that will likely never actually arrive.
Personally, I'm done with the schenanigans. I just deal with HSU and it's one less thing to worry about in my life
KEW (12-24-2010),nitin_mehra20 (12-25-2010),the grunt (02-01-2011)
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