Hi Tony;
I recently picked up an Athena ASP4000 from OneCall for just over $180.00. Some of the criteria I chose it with is similar to yours. In researching for a smaller form factor sub (width wise) in another thread (see
this link), for the price, I think the ASP4000 is tough to beat. I've been using for a little less than a month and I'd have to say that in the room I've chosen to use it, it provides good depth and response for both music and movies.
If your choices are limited to $200.00 or less, consider picking one of these up from OneCall or Audio Advisor, properly calibrate it with the rest of your system and see if it suits the bill. If not, both companies have decent return policies, however unless you were completely horrified by its performance, which I would be terribly surprised, or your expectations were unrealistic for a sub less than $350, you'll be pretty pleased with it.
Don't make your judgement on just wattage, I've made that mistake in the past. 100w RMS is relatively powerful and considering that most bass passages in movies are dynamic and not constant, the RMS may not hold as much weight as the peak value.
Lastly, if you can pick up the ASP4000 at a Best Buy and give it a couple days trial, you might have your answer right then and there on which you'd prefer. If you didn't like it, it's only a drive back to the store.
Good luck w/your choice, evaluate them if you have the opportunity... -TD
