Good subwoofer options for $300 or less

[eilros]

My wife and I just bought our first house last month and want to put a modest home theater in the basement. This will be our first theater and we are on a pretty tight budget. The previous owner had a room in the basement wired for 5.1 so we are obviously going to use that. The room is 11’x12’ so we don’t have much space. We have DISH and only plan on hooking up a DVD recorder at this time. We may upgrade to an upconverting DVD player in the future.

We are leaning towards buying a 42” Panasonic plasma (TH-42X75U) from Best Buy. We also bought the previous owners speaker system (Klipsch Quintet II) so we are set there. We haven’t decided on a receiver yet.

We would like to spend $300 or less on the subwoofer. Here are a few that I’ve looked at. Any and all comments are appreciated. If there are other good options, please let me know. I’ll probably buy my gear at Best Buy, Circuit City and/or Crutchfield.

Thanks, Dave


Polk PSW10 $200
Polk PSW12 $220
Polk PSW303 $230

Klipsch KSW-10 $299

Yamaha YST-SW225 $250

 

[avaserfi]

In that price range I would look at the x-sub from av123.com It is back ordered a bit but worth the wait comparing to the listed subs. Also, I would check out craigslist and audiogon to see if there are any used svs or HSU subs around you that you can pickup in your price range. I have seen some unpowered SVS on craigslist before for around 150 add in an external amp for 150-200 and you have a sub that blows all those you listed away.

For the receiver you won't need anything special to push the Klipsch speakers you have. I would recommend getting a B-stock/last years model or both Yammie or Onkyo.

 

[adk highlander]

Keep an eye out on ebay as well. I picked up my Outlaw LFM-1 for 300 bucks last week. This model was discontinued but a great buy.

For what I have read the X-sub from av123 would be a great option for a room your size. Also go to HSU and look at the STF-2 or STF-3.

 

[tomd51]

If you can use a power drill, this might be just what you're looking for:

http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?&Partnumber=300-770

That'll do quite nicely in that size room for just about your budget... -TD

edit: It should toast the one's you'd listed...

 

[j_garcia]

Polk PSW10 $200
Polk PSW12 $220
Polk PSW303 $230

Klipsch KSW-10 $299

Yamaha YST-SW225 $250

In your price range, none of the above.

I would highly recommend the Onix X-Sub for $199 as mentioned previously. In a room that size, it should do very well. The HSU subs are also excellent choices around this price.

 

[eilros]

Thanks everyone for the quick replies. I'm going to look into the X-Sub. It sounds like it might do the trick.

 

[mazersteven]

Thanks everyone for the quick replies. I'm going to look into the X-Sub. It sounds like it might do the trick.

Wait.

Take a look at this sub coming out from AV123.

X-Plosive

http://av123forum.com/showthread.php?t=22692

 

[eilros]

It looks like the x-sub is back ordered until late September. Anyone have a used one they want to sell?

 

[Vin2.1guy]

Keep an eye out on ebay as well. I picked up my Outlaw LFM-1 for 300 bucks last week. This model was discontinued but a great buy.

For what I have read the X-sub from av123 would be a great option for a room your size. Also go to HSU and look at the STF-2 or STF-3.

Yea, I bought a LFM-2 back in the spring, and then they discontinued the LFM-1 and expanded their line! I probably would have gotten the new 10" woofer model, or seen if I could have gotten a good deal on the original LFM-1 if I was buying now!

Oh well, I do love my little LFM-2 and would definitely recommend Outlaw subs as well as HSU's.

As for av123, I dunno, but that company seems highly disorganized to me and that puts me off from buying anything from them. I've been interested in their xls bookshelf speakers since the spring, but they keep putting off when they will be available. Since the beggining of May I have seen "available at the end of the month" every month since then (like for example at the beggining of July they said they would be available at the end of July, July ends and it changes to available at the end of August, and it's been like that since I started looking at them in April/May), in other words, they haven't been available since April or May. So they have been constantly backordered for months, and all the people on the forums there who have ordered those speakers have had to wait months to finally get their speakers or have canceled their orders, going all the way back to then. All the while the owner seems to spend all of his time coming up with new speaker designs that may or may not ever come out (I heard about the xls-ex back in the spring but have yet to see anything about its release date) or traveling around the country showing off speakers and taking pictures of "new finishes" of them at his factories, or posting on the forums, all instead of just working on fixing all of the delays with the existing lines of speakers his company produces. It's like they can't get their sh*t together! No thanks, I'd stay far away from them, at least for awhile! I am!

 

[abboudc]

It looks like the x-sub is back ordered until late September. Anyone have a used one they want to sell?

You may also want to check out the Hsu STF1 ($299):
Hsu STF1

The X-Sub is a great little sub too. I'd stay away from the Klipsch KSW10. In addition to it's output being disappointing, it uses a non standard fuse that's very hard to find if you blow it.

 

[Vin2.1guy]

It looks like the x-sub is back ordered until late September. Anyone have a used one they want to sell?

And I bet that will be extended 'till after the new year.

 

[s1lva16]

nice, its hard to find good audio products in Canada