Up to this day, I have never read of anyone praising an SVS sub for it's "musicality." SVS subs have always been about hitting the lowest bass note with the loudest SPL. This is good for home theater one note bass explosions, but clearly not suited for a music oriented system.
On the other hand, I have read numerous reviews over the years praising Yamaha subs for their "musicality." Clearly, Yamaha's philosophy is not about getting the bragging rights for making the baddest, loudest soudning sub on the planet.
I have owned a mid range Yamaha sub in the past, a dual 8 inch woofer model. I don't remember the model number now. For movies, I admit it didn't go low enough. But for music, it was quite pleasant, giving me that bottom end that made my old bookshelves sound fuller and richer.
To the original poster. For subs, you really shouldn't compromise. You should really get the best sub you can afford. I recommend the Velodyne DD series sub. The 10 inch model should be more than sufficient for a music only system. Once you hear the kind of clean, quick bass the DD series is capable of producing, you will never want to settle on anything of lesser caliber. I know it's VERY expensive. If you currently cannot afford it, you should just wait a couple of years and save up the money.
In this music hobby, in the long run, it's always better to spend your money once, on the best stuff. Otherwise, if you go for the mediocre stuff, you will just end up trading up for progressively better and better stuff. You will lose a lot of money in the trade up process, not to mention the very real possibility of back injury packing/unpacking a couple of those big subs.
