Can't seem to win with anyone in this business.
WE do our best to strike a balance between the manufacturers, consumers and people writing the reviews.
If a review is too positive, we get accused of it being a "paid' review. If a review is too negative, it offends the owners of said product while also offending the manufacturer. If we smooth out the reviewers comments that may be offensive too much, the reviewer feels like his integrity was compromised.
I will go back and soften words like "sloppy" as I don't want owners to be offended, nor do I want to have to defend every comment made in the review. People are fixated on a few poorly chosen words taken out of context for argument points in a discussion thread.
The HSU sub is a much different animal than the little Emotiva sub. Paul tends to be a very critical reviewer. I am more forgiving and tend to favor smaller subs over max SPL and extension just b/c I feel they are more practical. Just b/c a small inexpensive sub like the Emo got a 4.5/5 performance, doesn't mean it outperforms the larger more capable HSU sub that got a 4/4 for performance. The ratings are based on category of product and price points.
As a reader, I'd hope people could figure that out without it having to be spelled out to them.
I saw a review from another site the other day where a little 10" sub had "usable" extension down to 18Hz and people were so pleased with that. What they didn't realize was the measurement was taken at 80dB 1 ft away. Honestly, it sometimes seems people only care about a pretty graph rather than understanding the usefulness of the measurement and what it means with the accompanying text.
I haven't even checked AVS as I am sure HSU owners there are livid and hating on this review. Sorry to all HSU owners whom are offended but I stand by Paul's assessment that this sub is a great value but lacks the bottom end extension of the larger more expensive subs he compared it to. Plugging one port may add a bit more extension, but at an SPL trade off. There are no free lunches.
Dr. HSU did an amazing job on this product at its price point. He should be commended for his efforts at bringing high performance products to the market at affordable prices. No product is perfect however and I'd personally love to see a higher end more powerful model offered by HSU Research in the near future.
I think you worry too much about negative reactions to reviews. One might hope that "As a reader, I'd hope people could figure that out without it having to be spelled out to them", but that is but a hope. Anyone who imagines the review was trashing the subwoofer needs to learn to read. Here are some choice quotes for them:
Weighing in at 123lbs and costing $879 for the black finish, it was hands down, the “BEST BUY” of the group of subs we compared. HSU demonstrated strong engineering, excellent integration of the sub with the power amp and cabinet, and a surprising amount of output from the system given the relatively low output capacity of the amplifier used. The VTF-15H is an excellent example of what can be done when you attempt to squeeze the last bit of performance from a modest budget.
Frankly, for a subwoofer, as long as the cone won't break from the stress of forces, anything commonly used if made of a sufficient thickness (which for different materials means a different mass of course) is going to be pistonic, a term meaning it will act like an air pump, and simply push and pull the air alternately setting up those low frequency waves we enjoy so much. Even paper is hard enough to be acting like a simple piston (what you want) at subwoofer frequencies.
In other words, there is nothing wrong with using paper for the cone material, so people who are upset that the review said it was paper really need to pay more attention. Plus, of course, are they unable to see that it is paper when they look at it, so they are offended when someone tells them what it is? Really, people being upset by this is ridiculous.
As an engineer whose entire career has rested on product development, and having designed dozens if not hundreds of powered subwoofers since the late 80's, I can say without reservation the Hsu Research is an excellent effort on a shoestring budget.
everyone looking for a bargain, anyone in the market for a $900 to $1000 subwoofer would be foolish to not consider the Hsu Research VTF-15H. It is an excellent example of what can be done when you attempt to squeeze the last bit of performance from a modest budget.
If anyone imagines the review is trashing the subwoofer when it said that it is the best subwoofer tested at its price point, really must have very poor reading skills.
The fact that it isn't as good as much more expensive subwoofers should not surprise anyone. It would be ridiculous to expect that it would be the best subwoofer ever made, given how much more some subwoofers cost.
I imagine the subwoofer won't cure cancer or fill out one's tax forms either, and now some damn fool may imagine that in saying that, I am slamming the subwoofer.
Don't let people upset you when they demonstrate a lack of reading skills and crazy ideas of what can be done at some price point.
