Best subwoofer for music for my Swan M200 MKIII speakers/PC/room set-up? (Pics inside)

[jycho]

I'm looking to upgrade my PC audio system by adding in a quality subwoofer and would like some recommendations for which subwoofer would be best to invest in for my set-up and needs. I have Swan M200 MKIII speakers on 36 inch speaker stands located 4 and a half feet apart on either side of my computer desk and they're run through the onboard sound on my ASUS P9X79 WS Motherboard.

The room measures 21 feet 5 inches in length, 12 feet 9 inches in width and the ceiling is 9 feet tall. Most of the time I'll be sitting in front of my computer at my desk so the speakers will be a little under 4 feet away from me on either side. Here are a few pictures of the room and my set-up (these were taken a year ago but the set up now is more or less the same).





I'm going to be using this 90% for music, and while I do watch some TV/movies on my PC, the purpose of the subwoofer is not for a home theater set up. Basically I want to add extra bass and volume to my sound system while still retaining high end sound quality. I’m not an extreme basshead and only 30% of the music I listen to is hip-hop/bass-heavy, but it would be nice to get a subwoofer I could really feel and that would rattle the pictures on the walls…or, for example, make a song like this really pop, something I believe a quality subwoofer would help substantially.

My subwoofer budget is ideally under $400 but I'm willing to make an exception up to $500 if it's absolutely heads and shoulders above the rest in quality.

These are the 9 subwoofers (mostly) under $400 that I've found highly recommended after a few hours of research tonight, but I'm not at all sure which would be the best to go with for my setup and needs so any help/advice would be much appreciated. Also, if there's another option not listed here that would be better I'd be very open to considering that as well.
(not in any particular order.)

1. HSU STF-2 - $375 new
2. BIC Acoustech PL-200 - $329 new
3. Klipsch RW-12d - $325 used (discontinued)
4. Outlaw M8 - $249 new
5. Elemental Designs A2-300 - $215 - $250 used (discontinued)
6. SVS SB-1000 - $499 new
7. SVS PB-1000 - $499 new
8. Emotiva X-Ref 10 - $399 new (discontinued - can't find any links to used ones for sale)
9. Paradigm PW2200 - $430 used (discontinued)

The other thing to take into consideration is I'm not sure how to hook up the Swan M200 MKIII speakers to the subwoofer/my PC. Some of the options I've seen for how to hook up speakers such as these with a subwoofer and a PC seem quite complicated and pricey, and while I don’t want to go with a cheapo way that will degrade the sound quality any, I also don’t want to spend hundreds on simply connecting the speakers/subwoofer and PC, either.

So, with all this taken into consideration, what would be my best option? Thanks in advance for any help!

P.S.
Given the pictures of the room above, what would be the best placement for the sub? I was thinking under the center of the desk but maybe some more experienced audio pros could help me out there as well.

 

[Jeff R.]

I would consider a pair of the outlaw m8s. You can use one for each speaker. I am assuming you do not have a sub woofer output on your sound card. So you can run each speaker wire directly to the sub speaker level input and then run the speaker level out to your bookshelf.


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[ImcLoud]

I would choose numbers 6 and 7 music I tend to lean towards sealed, but either would be nice, buy them both, keep the one you prefer....

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Given the sub is in large open room, OP should go with SVS PB1000

 

[shadyJ]

I would go for 6 or 7 mostly because they have high passed outputs which is very convenient for the type of setup you have. They won't be output monsters, but you say you are not a basshead. Otherwise I would say look at the subs from Reaction over any of those.

 

[ImcLoud]

but you say you are not a basshead.

he is obviously not a base head, he would have hocked all them electronics and the camera that took the pic already...

 

[Mo Noyz]

shadyJ, you're my kind of troll idiot!

Please tell me you have a stand alone DAC!

 

[jycho]

Given the sub is in large open room, OP should go with SVS PB1000

Judging from some more internet research, the SVS PB-1000 seems to be the most recommended sub out of this list; the only issue is that it's significantly bigger/heavier and would be more difficult finding an easy placement for it in the room. So how about adding another option to the mix; the SVS SB12-NSD? It's sealed but appears to have more output than either the SB-1000 or PB-1000, is lighter and smaller than than the PB-1000, and seems like a superior sub to both. The only two issues would be; 1.) the added price. Used, I can get it for between $550-585 and new I can get it from the manufacturer for $629 but that's a fair amount above my $400 budget and I'm wondering if it's worth it. And 2.) Would it hook up as easily as the SB/PB-1000 would with my Swan speakers/ASUS P9X79 WS? From what I gather, one of the big advantages of the SVS SB/PB-1000 is that it's fairly easy to hook up with my set-up but I'm not sure that the same would be true with the SVS SB12-NSD.

(Please correct me if I'm wrong) but I believe to hook up the SB or PB-1000 with the Asus motherboard and the Swans speakers I'd only need two cables - a 3.5mm to 2RCA cable to go from the motherboard to the sub and a 2RCA to 2RCA cable to go from the sub to the Swan speaker.

Would this also be the case with the SVS SB12-NSD?

Thanks again for all the help.

 

[shadyJ]

The SB12 NSD carries a significantly better driver. It won't dig quite as deep as the PB1000, but it will play a lot cleaner above 30 Hz, which is where most bass content lay anyway. I would go for a SB12 over a PB1000. The SB12 would be just as easy to hook up to your system as the 1000 subs, it also has the high passed outputs. The way you described the connectivity with the 3.5mm to RCA to the sub, and then RCA to RCA from sub to speakers, is the simplest way to connect them. There are other things you can do, but the complexity and added cost probably wouldn't be worth the sound benefits for you. Do it the way you described.