Choice between JL Audio Fantom F-113 and SVS SB 13 Ultra

[elducrou]

I'm looking to purchase one of these subs and would like any input. I realize the price point is really wacked between these 2 subs, but I can buy either one. If I had more room I would do 2 but don't think I do. The dimensions of these are similar and I want to keep that footprint. The sub will primarily be used for home theater application.

Will I get any more or better sound quality with the F113?

Thanks for your help in my beginning quest for a quality system.

 

[ImcLoud]

Between them 2 I would go with the SVS, BUT for $2000, I would go with dual HSU ULS-15's, wireless {or not}, clean, tight, musical , and powerful. You would probably be able to place 2 of them small subs with less trouble than 1 of the larger ported units... They are on sale for $999 each, so if you call they will sell you a dual drive a bit cheaper probably around $975 each...
http://www.hsuresearch.com/products/uls-15.html

 

[shadyJ]

The ULS is a great sub but it's footprint is slightly larger than the SB13 or F113. But for the price of a F113 you could get three ULS-15s and stack them up, that would crush the F113 and have a similar footprint. The F113 should be able to outperform the SB13, and if price isn't a factor the F113 is a better sub. The SB13 is about on par with the JL Audio E112 according to the available measurements.

If you can swing a bit more expensive sub with a smallish footprint, check out the RBH SX1212p/r. Its measured performance turned out to be really good, much better than I would have expected. It's not cheap at $5500, but it will completely blow away the F113 and SB13 for home theater performance. It is not close at all, especially with deep bass; it has 4x the output of the SB13 from 16 to 25 hz.

 

[ImcLoud]

The ULS is a great sub but it's footprint is slightly larger than the SB13 or F113. But for the price of a F113 you could get three ULS-15s and stack them up, that would crush the F113 and have a similar footprint. The F113 should be able to outperform the SB13, and if price isn't a factor the F113 is a better sub. The SB13 is about on par with the JL Audio E112 according to the available measurements.

If you can swing a bit more expensive sub with a smallish footprint, check out the RBH SX1212p/r. Its measured performance turned out to be really good, much better than I would have expected. It's not cheap at $5500, but it will completely blow away the F113 and SB13 for home theater performance. It is not close at all, especially with deep bass; it has 4x the output of the SB13 from 16 to 25 hz.

I wonder how the rbh would stack up against 8 ULS15's, 4 stacks of 2 would be sick and with the volume pricing on uls15's its almost buy 3 get 4th free!!! .. I am sure HSU will sell 8 of them for the price of the rbh, or around it anyway..

Tat would be 16,000 watts short term power !!!!!!!!!!!!!! I always said if I built a HT that would be my subwoofer config, 8-15's, lol... There was a gentleman on htshack that bought 4 usl15's he said he couldn't tell how loud they go because it seemed limitless!!!! So imagine 8 of them!!!!

 

[shadyJ]

I very much doubt Hsu would give you eight ULS-15s for the price of a RBH SX1212P/R. No way you are getting a ULS for much less than $1k. But yeah, a ULS octo-drive would be pretty great. I once asked the Dr if it was safe to stack five ULSs and he said it wouldn't be a problem. Incidentally the distance from driver center to enclosure edge makes the ULS-15 ideal for a line array (although a true line array effect would be impractical with 15" drivers). One thing I should ask the guys over at Hsu is how the ULS driver differs from the Adire Tumult 15. Clearly the ULS driver is based on the Tumult 15 but I can't believe it is the same exact driver as the Tumult was a $500 driver back in the day. Even if the ULS driver is a watered down version of the Tumult, it is still a killer driver, especially to be found in a $1k subwoofer. Btw, my ULS dual drive is rocking a superb 80s mix as I type this. Good times!

 

[ImcLoud]

The ULS 15 is $999 each and I remember a couple other guys buying 4 uls15's and the price was almost buy 3 get one free, I have learned from HSU that a phone call and a cash offer can get you somewhere {when spending $3+K}.. When my buddy bought his 2-uls15's and 2 vth15's, I bought my second vtf2 and they gave us an AWESOME deal... We sent a check {they gave us a better deal for sending a check vs cc} and they shipped them on a pallet to my business that saved a bunch..... I bet you can get 8 of them for $6500 shipped.

On a side note, even 4 of them at todays price would be under $4300 shipped, paying full price for shipping.... thats over $1000 under the RBH, and I think 2 stacks of 2 would sound better than a single rbh.... The uls15 is one of my favorite sealed subs...

 

[Steve81]

Will I get any more or better sound quality with the F113?

The F113 will have on the order of 4-5dB more deep bass output judging by Ilkka's old measurements (though keep in mind, two different testers in different parts of the world, taken years apart), but from 31.5Hz on up, the F113 and SB13 look fairly comparable.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

If you can swing a bit more expensive sub with a smallish footprint, check out the RBH SX1212p/r. Its measured performance turned out to be really good, much better than I would have expected. It's not cheap at $5500, but it will completely blow away the F113 and SB13 for home theater performance. It is not close at all, especially with deep bass; it has 4x the output of the SB13 from 16 to 25 hz.

I would get the RBH SX-1212N passive sub which has a MSRP of $1450 each, so street price may be around $1000-$1100 each.

Or the SX-1212N/R (MSRP $2430, street price $1800-$1900 each).

A Crown XLS 2500 amp or similar should power them just fine.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

The ULS 15 is $999 each and I remember a couple other guys buying 4 uls15's and the price was almost buy 3 get one free, I have learned from HSU that a phone call and a cash offer can get you somewhere {when spending $3+K}.. When my buddy bought his 2-uls15's and 2 vth15's, I bought my second vtf2 and they gave us an AWESOME deal... We sent a check {they gave us a better deal for sending a check vs cc} and they shipped them on a pallet to my business that saved a bunch..... I bet you can get 8 of them for $6500 shipped.

On a side note, even 4 of them at todays price would be under $4300 shipped, paying full price for shipping.... thats over $1000 under the RBH, and I think 2 stacks of 2 would sound better than a single rbh.... The uls15 is one of my favorite sealed subs...

Street price on the RBH SX-1212P/R is more like $3900 each.

 

[3db]

I'm looking to purchase one of these subs and would like any input. I realize the price point is really wacked between these 2 subs, but I can buy either one. If I had more room I would do 2 but don't think I do. The dimensions of these are similar and I want to keep that footprint. The sub will primarily be used for home theater application.

Will I get any more or better sound quality with the F113?

Thanks for your help in my beginning quest for a quality system.

I would also look into Rythmik's FV15HP which is also on par with your choices for $1339 before shipping.

http://www.rythmikaudio.com/FV15HP.html

 

[shadyJ]

FV15HP is a killer sub, but its footprint looks like it would be much too big for the OP. However there is a sale on them currently, $1274 for the black oak and black matte models at the moment. Great deal for a great sub.