Comparison of Super Subwoofers for Home Theater!

[gene]

There are those among us who crave an epic level of bass performance that an 8" micro-subwoofer from a big box electronics store cannot even hope of beginning to meet. Happily, some of the subwoofers which have recently become available look poised to meet many of the most demanding bass fanatic's demands for subwoofer performance.

In this article, we take a look at a selection of these new 'super subwoofers' and the different approaches they use to achieve bass nirvana. They are big, they are heavy, and they are expensive. But, for those who do not want to compromise on both the quality and quantity of bass that meets or exceeds our own Extreme Bassaholic rating, the cost is well worth the reward.

Read: Rise of the Super Subwoofers - A Comparison Guide

Tell us your choice favorite on our list. If you feel another product should have been included, let us know below.

 

[its phillip]

If I had the money for any of them, my pick would be multiple JTR Captivator S2s or DSS Mariana 24s

I'd also include the JTR Orbit Shifter LFU, Funk 18.2, PSA T18HT, and whatever the upcoming Seaton dual 18" version of the Submersive will be called.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

one more to the list: Reaction Audio GAMMA 218

 

[lsiberian]

Are they getting a special voice coil for the HS 24? I know the one currently sold on their site is only 1500 RMS of course it is a handmade driver so I'd not be surprised if they got one with a little more power. Still 122 RMS db is impressive.

 

[shadyJ]

Are they getting a special voice coil for the HS 24? I know the one currently sold on their site is only 1500 RMS of course it is a handmade driver so I'd not be surprised if they got one with a little more power. Still 122 RMS db is impressive.

Keep in mind the HS24 tested by data-bass was one of the first made, and I understand there were improvements on successive drivers. There is also a super version of the HS24 which was released very recently, the BHS-24, which has a much more substantial coil and doubles the power handling among other improvements. There is some discussion about it here in this thread at data-bass' forums. 42 mm one-way Xmax!

 

[jubi]

Hello J ' live in France,
and I am interested in the gamma to subwoofer 21! The Problem is the weakness of the euro in front of US dollar! I Thought of making a compromise by going towards the SUB XTZ 3X12! Knowing That my System of listening is Similar to JTR 215 RT with 2X38! You Think That The SUB XTZ 3X12 is The good choice?
The reason of the modification of the message is to mean that my system integrates(joins) 2X38 and not 2X12!!

 

[gene]

Hello J ' live in France, and I am interested in the gamma to subwoofer 21! The problem is the weakness of the euro in front of US dollar! I thought of making a compromise, by going towards the SUB XTZ 3X12! Knowing that my system of listening is Similar to a noesis JTR 228 ht, you think that the SUB XTZ 3X12 is the good choice?

The Sub 3x12 got a great review from us so YES!

http://www.audioholics.com/subwoofer-reviews/xtz-subwoofer-review

 

[jubi]

Merci

 

[lsiberian]

Keep in mind the HS24 tested by data-bass was one of the first made, and I understand there were improvements on successive drivers. There is also a super version of the HS24 which was released very recently, the BHS-24, which has a much more substantial coil and doubles the power handling among other improvements. There is some discussion about it here in this thread at data-bass' forums. 42 mm one-way Xmax!

It appears that the BHS is the actual driver.

 

[its phillip]

It appears that the BHS is the actual driver.

The DSS Mariana comes with the HS24, not the BHS-24.

The BHS-24 is brand new and I do not thing dgage (David Gage, Deep Sea Sound) is planning on offering it.

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/155-diy-speakers-subs/2185953-stereo-integrity-24-monster-version-4.html#post38749241

I talked to Nick on the phone twice the day the BHS24 hit the interwebs. I want to offer my customers the best I possibly can and while the HS24 isn't the best anymore, the difference in performance vs cost simply meant it made no sense to consider it for my commercial driver at least. I'm not trying to talk you out of it but I will share my opinion since we have the freedom to do so as has already been shown in this thread. For the cost, you will really only gain 1, maybe 2 dB max per sub. This is what Nick and I came up with my 8.75 cu.ft enclosures with 4,000w. Is that worth $4000-5000, only you can answer that. My recommendation would be to talk to Nick and see how much it would cost to fix your HS24s in case you blow one/them (he is supposed to keep the soft parts on hand to fix any issues my customers have with the driver). And then when you are able to add electrical circuits, use the 5,000w with the HS24s and see what happens as I think they'll be just fine in the 10 cu.ft. enclosures with normal audio signals (not synthetic for any period of time). With this, you'd only be giving up about 1-2 dB max per sub. If the HS24s don't hold up, well then you know you need the BHS24 to meet your needs. And I doubt you'd have any problem selling a newly serviced driver from Nick, I know I'd buy them from you if no one else wanted them.

 

[lsiberian]

The DSS Mariana comes with the HS24, not the BHS-24.

The BHS-24 is brand new and I do not thing dgage (David Gage, Deep Sea Sound) is planning on offering it.

http://www.avsforum.com/forum/155-diy-speakers-subs/2185953-stereo-integrity-24-monster-version-4.html#post38749241

Apparently they got themselves a troll in that thread they just keep feeding. I was simply trying to figure out the driver he was using so I could dream up building one for my home theater.

 

[XIANV]

These subs look AMAZING in outdoor testing. But there are no room modes outside.

Would 1 of these subs outperform 4x "normal" subs inside a room at the same total expense?

 

[shadyJ]

XIANV the answer is it depends. They may be able to generate more output and dig deeper, but four subwoofers will be able to address room modes, and create a flatter response over more listening area. It also depends on what you mean to be 'normal subs'. Are you talking about the common mini subs which are sold at electronics stores or are you talking about $1k manufacture direct subs from outfits like Hsu or Rythmik?

 

[Irvrobinson]

That 24" Deep Sea Sound thing fascinates me. I'm not sure why, it's not like I need it, I mean I already have a Bassaholic Extreme rated sub, and I'm not even stressing it. But its a puny little 18" thing. It costs about $200K to have the meanest Porsche sports car, but for less than $5K I could have the biggest, meanest-looking sub, that's probably capable of structural damage, and would certainly elicit all sorts of "Oh my gods" from guests. I doubt it would sound any different in my room. I think subs cause mental illness.

 

[shadyJ]

That 24" Deep Sea Sound thing fascinates me. I'm not sure why, it's not like I need it, I mean I already have a Bassaholic Extreme rated sub, and I'm not even stressing it. But its a puny little 18" thing. It costs about $200K to have the meanest Porsche sports car, but for less than $5K I could have the biggest, meanest-looking sub, that's probably capable of structural damage, and would certainly elicit all sorts of "Oh my gods" from guests. I doubt it would sound any different in my room. I think subs cause mental illness.

I had an opportunity to spend time with one, a really amazing sub, very powerful and very high quality sound. Place your head right next to the driver and crank a 10 Hz tone, it makes you feel like you are underwater!

 

[tyhjaarpa]

2x Reaction Audio Gamma 21 would be really nice for HT and not too badly priced, interesting. Deep Sea Sound Mariana 24 for sure is a beast of sub, but so is the price!

 

[3db]

I'm curious to know why Rythmik's F25 sub wasn't included in this comparison;

 

[shadyJ]

The F25 is a great sub, no doubt, but it is not quite as new as these subs, nor does it look to have the displacement of these subs. However, from what I have read, Rythmik is working on an 18" which might make for a good inclusion on a future version of this kind of article. I wish Rythmik would send another sub to Audioholics for a review, because the FV15HP performed so well. I am curious as to how their other products perform.

 

[3db]

The F25 is a great sub, no doubt, but it is not quite as new as these subs, nor does it look to have the displacement of these subs. However, from what I have read, Rythmik is working on an 18" which might make for a good inclusion on a future version of this kind of article. I wish Rythmik would send another sub to Audioholics for a review, because the FV15HP performed so well. I am curious as to how their other products perform.

Its been out less than a year so its fairly new and its displacement is greater than that of the RBH which uses to 12" drivers. Those are my reasons for asking the question.

 

[shadyJ]

The F25 has been out much longer than a year- here is a preview article about it from Audioholics from 2006! However, I think its availability was spotty until recently. As for the RBH sub with its 12"s, those 12"s are accompanied by a gigantic 6" port, which enable it to roughly double the output of the FV15HP below 20 Hz. The RBH is a beast, but a very pricey one.