Sub Woofer suggestions

[mazersteven]

You'll be Very Happy with the PSA

 

[VMPS-TIII]

I bought the HSU VTF-3 MK5 HP for $769. It's powerful and reasonably priced, plus HSU doesn't charge sales tax. The ported setup is much more powerful than sealed. When I opened up both ports the volume increase was obvious. The HSU VTF-3 MK5 HP is an amazing value compared to the competition.

VTF-3 MK5 HP Subwoofer

The new VTF-3 MK5 HP sets a new standard for high-end performance at an affordable price point. It’s earned its reputation as one of the best value ported 15" subwoofers on the market. Customer favorite and best seller Smaller enclosure than the VTF-15H MK2 (4” less depth) and lighter, but...

www.hsuresearch.com

 

[lovinthehd]

I bought the HSU VTF-3 MK5 HP for $769. It's powerful and reasonably priced, plus HSU doesn't charge sales tax. The ported setup is much more powerful than sealed. When I opened up both ports the volume increase was obvious. The HSU VTF-3 MK5 HP is an amazing value compared to the competition.

VTF-3 MK5 HP Subwoofer

The new VTF-3 MK5 HP sets a new standard for high-end performance at an affordable price point. It’s earned its reputation as one of the best value ported 15" subwoofers on the market. Customer favorite and best seller Smaller enclosure than the VTF-15H MK2 (4” less depth) and lighter, but...

www.hsuresearch.com

They have to charge sales tax within California, says so on their site....fwiw.

 

[VMPS-TIII]

They have to charge sales tax within California, says so on their site....fwiw.

Of course, if you live in the state the company has offices in it's always been standard to collect sales tax. But now, most on-line stores are also collecting sales tax even if they don't have an office in your state.

 

[PG55]

I bought the HSU VTF-3 MK5 HP for $769. It's powerful and reasonably priced, plus HSU doesn't charge sales tax. The ported setup is much more powerful than sealed. When I opened up both ports the volume increase was obvious. The HSU VTF-3 MK5 HP is an amazing value compared to the competition.

VTF-3 MK5 HP Subwoofer

The new VTF-3 MK5 HP sets a new standard for high-end performance at an affordable price point. It’s earned its reputation as one of the best value ported 15" subwoofers on the market. Customer favorite and best seller Smaller enclosure than the VTF-15H MK2 (4” less depth) and lighter, but...

www.hsuresearch.com

I have always had sealed and now have the WAF to go bigger so I am considering ported however I am concerned it may be bass overload since we listen at moderate levels and not looking to bring the house down. How is it for music? You mentioned the volume increase was obvious...does it overwhelm the mains or just add to them?

 

[shadyJ]

I have always had sealed and now have the WAF to go bigger so I am considering ported however I am concerned it may be bass overload since we listen at moderate levels and not looking to bring the house down. How is it for music? You mentioned the volume increase was obvious...does it overwhelm the mains or just add to them?

The good news is with the VTF subs from Hsu, as well as other multiple tuning subs from other companies, is that you can seal the ports and configure the amp settings so that they turn into fully-fledged sealed subwoofers.

 

[ryanosaur]

I have always had sealed and now have the WAF to go bigger so I am considering ported however I am concerned it may be bass overload since we listen at moderate levels and not looking to bring the house down. How is it for music? You mentioned the volume increase was obvious...does it overwhelm the mains or just add to them?

As an owner of two larger ported subs, you have final control over the setup. Your room correction will target a certain SPL level, however I find that the AVR and Room Correction set the Subs hot, and I always scale it back a bit. I have used both the Sub's Gain and the AVR Sub Trim Level to do this.
It works fine.
My room is only about 2000'3. I have lots of headroom to let these Subs run amok. But I also have the wisdom and appreciation for properly balanced tonality in the music I appreciate. Upright Bass in a small jazz combo never leaves the room vibrating from sheer output force.

 

[VMPS-TIII]

I have always had sealed and now have the WAF to go bigger so I am considering ported however I am concerned it may be bass overload since we listen at moderate levels and not looking to bring the house down. How is it for music? You mentioned the volume increase was obvious...does it overwhelm the mains or just add to them?

As ShadyJ mentioned you can seal the HSU VTF-3 MK5 HP using the provided plugs or leave one in or both out. I started out with one plug in and one out. Then for giggles I pulled the second plug out while it was playing some nice Bass rifts and it really came to life. I could go back to the single port option or even sealed but I like the HSU dual open port sound.

I'm using 7' tall VMPS SuperTower III's for mains. They already have 15" drivers that offer nice bass but setting them up in Audyssey with a 40Hz crossover and sending the bass below 80Hz to the HSU VTF-3 MK5 HP added a nice kick. I set the sub volume to 9.5 and used Audyssey app to set the levels. I had to go thru the process a few times to get the volume on the sub just right to register the HSU VTF-3 MK5 HP at 0 db in the Denon levels with Audyssey. Once that was setup the auto-on function works and I was able to boost the sub to between +3 to +5 db on the fly using the iPad Denon receiver app. This makes it easy to control bass output in realtime to meet any musical content.

90% of my use is music. I usually have the sub set at +3db on the receiver but it's so easy to change the level wirelessly with the iPad that I find myself boosting it to +5db for Aquaman, Blade Runner 2049, Remnant and other massive bassaholic content.

Each SuperTower III has 13 drivers
I mount the Canton Vento Reference 9.2 on top of the 7' Tower - it adds a 7'' Aluminum midrange and a 1'' aluminum ceramic oxide tweeter. This combo adds a nice high frequency color to the overall sound. Call me crazy!

 

[ryanosaur]

Call me crazy!

Tempting!

 

[shadyJ]

As ShadyJ mentioned you can seal the HSU VTF-3 MK5 HP using the provided plugs or leave one in or both out. I started out with one plug in and one out. Then for giggles I pulled the second plug out while it was playing some nice Bass rifts and it really came to life. I could go back to the single port option or even sealed but I like the HSU dual open port sound.

I'm using 7' tall VMPS SuperTower III's for mains. They already have 15" drivers that offer nice bass but setting them up in Audyssey with a 40Hz crossover and sending the bass below 80Hz to the HSU VTF-3 MK5 HP added a nice kick. I set the sub volume to 9.5 and used Audyssey app to set the levels. I had to go thru the process a few times to get the volume on the sub just right to register the HSU VTF-3 MK5 HP at 0 db in the Denon levels with Audyssey. Once that was setup the auto-on function works and I was able to boost the sub to between +3 to +5 db on the fly using the iPad Denon receiver app. This makes it easy to control bass output in realtime to meet any musical content.

90% of my use is music. I usually have the sub set at +3db on the receiver but it's so easy to change the level wirelessly with the iPad that I find myself boosting it to +5db for Aquaman, Blade Runner 2049, Remnant and other massive bassaholic content.

View attachment 37779
Each SuperTower III has 13 drivers
I mount the Canton Vento Reference 9.2 on top of the 7' Tower - it adds a 7'' Aluminum midrange and a 1'' aluminum ceramic oxide tweeter. This combo adds a nice high frequency color to the overall sound. Call me crazy!

That is one strange speaker. Clearly the designer didn't regard comb-filtering as a serious problem, but in fairness, the research into the audibility of comb-filtering has shown that human hearing is pretty insensitive to it up to a point. The vertical dispersion pattern of that speaker must be absolutely surreal. Speaker design has come a long way since those were made. It would be interesting to hear one.

 

[lovinthehd]

Of course, if you live in the state the company has offices in it's always been standard to collect sales tax. But now, most on-line stores are also collecting sales tax even if they don't have an office in your state.

You mean you picked it up from their facility and because you live out of state they didn't collect the tax?

 

[VMPS-TIII]

You mean you picked it up from their facility and because you live out of state they didn't collect the tax?

Nope... it was shipped.

 

[lovinthehd]

Nope... it was shipped.

When I did freight forwarding we could provide proof of transport out of state to avoid the state sales tax issues. Now it's up to other states to enforce their own use tax/sales tax rules and doubt Hsu is large enough to bother with in general. Thanks for the clarification.

 

[VMPS-TIII]

That is one strange speaker. Clearly the designer didn't regard comb-filtering as a serious problem, but in fairness, the research into the audibility of comb-filtering has shown that human hearing is pretty insensitive to it up to a point. The vertical dispersion pattern of that speaker must be absolutely surreal. Speaker design has come a long way since those were made. It would be interesting to hear one.

With Vento Ref 9.2 mounted on top of the SuperTower III this vertical wall of sound climbs over 8 feet. Using the Vento as a quasi tweeter on top of the SuperTower III reminds me of a GIANT version of my legacy B&W 801. That HSU sub adds considerable oomph to the dynamic bottom end. I was surprised that even when the main speakers are built with 15" drivers sound quality is enhanced considerably with HSU subwoofers.

 

[PG55]

The good news is with the VTF subs from Hsu, as well as other multiple tuning subs from other companies, is that you can seal the ports and configure the amp settings so that they turn into fully-fledged sealed subwoofers.

Well..after getting to paralysis from all the analysis I ordered 1 HSU VTF-3 MK5 this morning. Since my concern is the MLP I am going to try and make it work with 1 sub woofer. I will run REW when it arrives and post the charts. I am excited to have a capable sub to take the place of the little Paradigm Millennia's which BTW are now for sale. Thanks to this generous forum for all the help in making this decision.

PG55

 

[PG55]

I just finished my 1st calibration (1st of many I am sure) of the VTF-3 MK5 and holy cow! This thing is a beast as well as a subtle lamb depending on what you throw at it. The movie Deepwater Horizon sounded like a different movie. It is a new sensation to be able to feel the bass as well as hear it. The 1st big explosion in the movie where the explosions cascades down the room with deep gut level booms and then the sharp tight ricochets of the shrapnel flying around. Awesome!

It does take a little getting used to having the lower frequencies now audible compared to the old Millenia's I had which dropped like a rock at 60Hz. The best part is all of the tuning options this sub offers. I can run it as if sealed or open both ports and let it rip.

I am going to do some REW sweeps this weekend and I will post them. This is a very cool Sub woofer!

PG55

 

[pcosmic]

HSU, Rythmik or GR Research. Abandon the rest (you're paying a 35 to 50% distributor markup on the rest for no fcking reason aka reduced bang for the buck). Good luck.