Sub on a Budget

[Ito]

First of before any goes ahead and starts giving me some suggestions, let me explain what I want. My previous subwoofer died and instead of opting to try and get it fixed, I want to try something new and I figure now is the perfect chance.
What I want from my sub: Nice, smooth bass. I'm not looking for huge SPL, I really don't care about rattling the apartment (which would piss off the neighbors anyways). I would like to have the ability to do it though, but it is not really an important factor. I don't really watch too many movie, mostly just music and videos games. I would also like the ability for really low extension, but in all honesty, for music and video games I probably wouldn't even notice that often.

The sub will be going in the main room in my apartment, which is about 15x15 (maybe a bit bigger), but is connected to the kitchen, so the room is all in all about 25x15. My budget is about $500-$600, but I would prefer to spend less. I have considered a DIY, but really I already have to many projects going on and I don't have any tools or any of the skills, not to mention looks are kind of important for me, so I'm opting out on that option. So I want to know what you guys would suggest for me. Looking forward to your suggestions

 

[krzywica]

First of before any goes ahead and starts giving me some suggestions, let me explain what I want. My previous subwoofer died and instead of opting to try and get it fixed, I want to try something new and I figure now is the perfect chance.
What I want from my sub: Nice, smooth bass. I'm not looking for huge SPL, I really don't care about rattling the apartment (which would piss off the neighbors anyways). I would like to have the ability to do it though, but it is not really an important factor. I don't really watch too many movie, mostly just music and videos games. I would also like the ability for really low extension, but in all honesty, for music and video games I probably wouldn't even notice that often.

The sub will be going in the main room in my apartment, which is about 15x15 (maybe a bit bigger), but is connected to the kitchen, so the room is all in all about 25x15. My budget is about $500-$600, but I would prefer to spend less. I have considered a DIY, but really I already have to many projects going on and I don't have any tools or any of the skills, not to mention looks are kind of important for me, so I'm opting out on that option. So I want to know what you guys would suggest for me. Looking forward to your suggestions

I would suggest you hop on this real fast. Thats honestly the most musical sub in your price range save for DIY that also offers the extension and power you are looking for. This is an AMAZING deal on this sub as I payed a lot more than that for my vtf2.

http://www.hsuresearch.com/products/vtf-2-mk3.html

EDIT: Crap sorry I thought it was the VTF3 on sale.....its still a good buy though.

 

[jostenmeat]

I would also like the ability for really low extension, but in all honesty, for music and video games I probably wouldn't even notice that often.

Correct, unless perhaps you have an extensive organ recording collection. Even when you find very low bass on music program, the energy required is extremely low compared to HT. I shake my place with the HT, and even with a relatively similar volume with stereo, there isn't ever shaking.

When I think "musical" for a sub, I think of better upper freq response, and not lower freq response. By having a smooth freq response that can extend, you are given easier implementation with bookshelves. In this case, if music is by far and away the most important thing, I would get TWO subwoofers, for say $300 each. Put them near the monitors, within a quarter wavelength of xover point.

Otherwise I like the HSU rec, and is one of the first I thought of. I think the Rhytmik sub would be cool to hear, but that's considerably past the price point.

Here are the Audiogon results for subs under $600 for reference, in case you're interested.

http://cgi.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/srch_fs.pl?PRIC=1&PMIN=&PMAX=600&CTGSK=homesubw&submit=Go

 

[njedpx3]

An inexpensive, yet very good, solution

To get the type of sub sound you want, look at two matching subs.

The Dayton SUB-120 HT Series 12" 150 Watt Powered Subwoofer is a very good, yet inexpensive sub. Two of these will give you the type sound you are looking for at a very reasonable price.

$155.23 each at Amazon. total cost $310.46 http://www.amazon.com/Dayton-SUB-120-Watt-Powered-Subwoofer/dp/B000C9NV78

Good Luck!

Forest Man

 

[krzywica]

I just whistled out loud when I saw this.

http://www.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?homesubw&1263330780&/HSU-Research-vtf-3-mk2-

And no I haven't started drinking yet I'm still at work.

 

[shadyJ]

The Hsu VTF2 would be good, if you have the room for it. If you want something smaller, check out the Elemental Designs A5s-300. It will probably sound very nice and smooth too, being a sealed design. The VTF2 will probably have a little bit more extension and output, but the A5s will eat up less space. There is also the Outlaw Audio LFM-1 Plus, which is kinda of like a slightly beefier version of the VTF2, that would be good too. Under your criteria, those are what I would choose from.

 

[BigSkreen]

I've been looking a lot at Elemental Designs. They seem to be a good bang for the buck but what I'm concerned about is that most ID sub places offer 30 day satisfaction guarantee but they don't. That being said I'm still considering them.

Ito when you say no DIY do you mean that you aren't building speakers or are you also talking about something like ED's kit that requires maybe a drill, screws, and some glue?

 

[rnatalli]

I find the sub $500 eD subs will hit a little harder and lower than the sub $500 HSU subs, but aren't as musical. I'm not sure about the new sealed sub eD offers for $350. You should also look at Epik as they have some subs on sale around the $600 mark like the Vanquish and Sentinel. They don't have wood finishes available like the HSU VTF series, but are nice subs.

 

[MinusTheBear]

I will suggest this offering from Aperion Audio in the $500 price range. I have never listened to it but will recommend it on the basis that it will not cost you any money if you decide to return it.

http://www.aperionaudio.com/product/Bravus-8D-Dual-8-Powered-Subwoofer,104,66,241.aspx

I have always been curious about Aperions subwoofers. They seem like a quality product.

 

[rnatalli]

I will suggest this offering from Aperion Audio in the $500 price range. I have never listened to it but will recommend it on the basis that it will not cost you any money if you decide to return it.

http://www.aperionaudio.com/product/Bravus-8D-Dual-8-Powered-Subwoofer,104,66,241.aspx

I have always been curious about Aperions subwoofers. They seem like a quality product.

The 8D is incredibly musical and has excellent output. It hits low enough for most movies with usable output to about 28Hz. It's also a very small enclosure and sharp looking which helps with WAF. My only complaint about it is the amp is a bit insensitive so you have to feed it a lot of gain to click on. You can always leave it on though to get around this issue.

 

[krzywica]

The 8D is incredibly musical and has excellent output. It hits low enough for most movies with usable output to about 28Hz. It's also a very small enclosure and sharp looking which helps with WAF. My only complaint about it is the amp is a bit insensitive so you have to feed it a lot of gain to click on. You can always leave it on though to get around this issue.

I was always curious about these as well. Thanks for the feedback rnatalli.

 

[rnatalli]

Here's my original review of the 8D:

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53676

 

[Ito]

To get the type of sub sound you want, look at two matching subs.

The Dayton SUB-120 HT Series 12" 150 Watt Powered Subwoofer is a very good, yet inexpensive sub. Two of these will give you the type sound you are looking for at a very reasonable price.

$155.23 each at Amazon. total cost $310.46 http://www.amazon.com/Dayton-SUB-120-Watt-Powered-Subwoofer/dp/B000C9NV78

Good Luck!

Forest Man

I've always tended to turn away from the dayton's because they are kind of ugly. Looks are pretty important to me when I am picking out audio stuff, almost as much as the price and the quality. Call me shallow, but I am going to be looking at my sub a lot since it will be chilling in my living room and I want it to look great.

As for size, the bigger the better. I have no reason to go small, no WAF, and hell, I think having a big sub just looks awesome. The Aperion does intrigue me, the picture on their site make it look terrible but I checked out rnatalli's review and it looks pretty sharp. Although I am a bit turned off by it only having 8" drivers.

I've looked at Epik, and I think their subs look great but I feel that they are a bit over my price range. I've considered both the Hsu and Outlaw suggested, I'm leaning more towards the outlaw in the two, though.

Also, looking at sub prices can be a bit deceiving because you still have to factor in shipping, which can get pretty expensive on some of these subs (generally I've got the impression of add $50-$100)

Ito when you say no DIY do you mean that you aren't building speakers or are you also talking about something like ED's kit that requires maybe a drill, screws, and some glue?

Yeah, that doesn't bother me, I would be fine with that.

 

[krzywica]

I've always tended to turn away from the dayton's because they are kind of ugly. Looks are pretty important to me when I am picking out audio stuff, almost as much as the price and the quality. Call me shallow, but I am going to be looking at my sub a lot since it will be chilling in my living room and I want it to look great.

As for size, the bigger the better. I have no reason to go small, no WAF, and hell, I think having a big sub just looks awesome. The Aperion does intrigue me, the picture on their site make it look terrible but I checked out rnatalli's review and it looks pretty sharp. Although I am a bit turned off by it only having 8" drivers.

I've looked at Epik, and I think their subs look great but I feel that they are a bit over my price range. I've considered both the Hsu and Outlaw suggested, I'm leaning more towards the outlaw in the two, though.

Also, looking at sub prices can be a bit deceiving because you still have to factor in shipping, which can get pretty expensive on some of these subs (generally I've got the impression of add $50-$100)


Yeah, that doesn't bother me, I would be fine with that.

Check out this sale that is going on right now at HSU. This is truly unbeatable!!

 

[annunaki]

If it is primarily for music, I would look into two of these:

Chrysalis: http://store.audioholics.com/product/1860/66318/chrysalis-by-velodyne-starfire-10-subwoofer

or:

Two of these:
http://www.pinnaclespeakers.com/pssub150.html

or

one of these would be simple to assemble and offer very good performance:
http://www.parts-express.com/pe/showdetl.cfm?Partnumber=300-742

 

[riker1384]

Has anyone ever done any measurements on those Dayton subs? Like performance measurements, or calculations from the T/S parameters. I've heard they're good for the price, but wonder if it's known exactly how they stack up against the common brands.

 

[bandphan]

Has anyone ever done any measurements on those Dayton subs? Like performance measurements, or calculations from the T/S parameters. I've heard they're good for the price, but wonder if it's known exactly how they stack up against the common brands.

The information your looking for is in most modeling software.

Bass Box Pro

 

[annunaki]

Has anyone ever done any measurements on those Dayton subs? Like performance measurements, or calculations from the T/S parameters. I've heard they're good for the price, but wonder if it's known exactly how they stack up against the common brands.

They stack up quite well actually, especially for the price.

 

[Ito]

Check out this sale that is going on right now at HSU. This is truly unbeatable!!

Bah, that is an awesome deal, but what kills me is the color options. I'm a person who likes his black and although the sub would look nice, it would stick out like a sore thumb since all of my other gear is black. I think I am going to try and send Hsu an email and see if I can't work any deals out with them for the black version, at least it's worth a try.

Also, my friend threw this link at me:
http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/item/features/549323639
Figured I should at least pop it up here and see if anyone had any thoughts on it.

 

[bandphan]

Bah, that is an awesome deal, but what kills me is the color options. I'm a person who likes his black and although the sub would look nice, it would stick out like a sore thumb since all of my other gear is black. I think I am going to try and send Hsu an email and see if I can't work any deals out with them for the black version, at least it's worth a try.

Also, my friend threw this link at me:
http://www.vanns.com/shop/servlet/item/features/549323639
Figured I should at least pop it up here and see if anyone had any thoughts on it.

Whats wrong with expresso finish Premium Black