Please help me narrow down these four choices

[jrcorwin]

I am rather uninformed when it comes to subwoofers. My current sub is a JBL SUB160 that came with a HTIB years ago. Everything else has been upgraded and is of much higher quality now. I have neglected the sub upgrade, until now. My budget is limited (as I just upgraded my receiver once again), but the JBL is failing and must be replaced. I have narrowed it down to these four options. The problems is that, try as I may, I am having trouble deciding which of these is the best. I will purchase any of the four, but I want to choose the best one spec wise. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

My first guess is that the RtR-12S is the poorest of the four choices and I would eliminate that first. After that...I'm lost.

Thank you.

(Disclaimer...you'll probably notice by checking my posting history that I did purchase an Energy sub at one point, but it was faulty. I returned it and it was out of stock. So I just took a refund and stuck with the JBL.)

 

[GranteedEV]

I would get the F12 out of those options.

I would also consider options offered by Lavasub, EMP Tek, and HSU.

 

[jrcorwin]

Thank you. That's only one of the four I have heard much about and I was happy with with what I read.

 

[GranteedEV]

Definitely consider my other suggestions before you pull the trigger:

http://www.emptek.com/es10iB0256.php / http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=71089
http://www.hsuresearch.com/products/stf-2.html
http://www.outlawaudio.com/products/lfmcompact.html


Good luck with whatever you decide on.

 

[jrcorwin]

Thank you for those. A bit too pricey for me. I am selling some equipment I have replaced and putting that towards this sub. $204 for that F12 is just about my limit. I know that such a low budget is not at all ideal, but it is what it is. Anything will be better than this old JBL.

 

[Warpdrv]

Save up some more money and buy a decent sub like he suggested. You'll be much happier in the end. You get what you pay for you know....

The reason he made the suggestion he did, was because those are all good products for the money and true performers compared to a ONE NOTE FART BOX !!

 

[jrcorwin]

I am now also considering the Lava LSP10, as I could get it down to my budget level with discounts applied.

 

[GranteedEV]

hhe lavasub 10 is backordered. if youre gonna wait anyways then just swing the extra 50 bucks for the used EMP...

 

[jrcorwin]

hhe lavasub 10 is backordered. if youre gonna wait anyways then just swing the extra 50 bucks for the used EMP...

Yes, but they expect to be shipping more in a few days and I'd get about 20% off.

Believe me, I appreciate any and all advice. I'm not trying to ignore these other options, but I spend very little on myself. I am pretty strict on this budget. I am selling my old receiver and will basically have $200 to spend. I'm okay with that.

 

[fightinkraut]

I'm not one for shameless plugs, but...I am selling an EMP Tek ES10i, one of the recommend subs by GranteedEV. it's quite the champ IMO.

Here's the thread: http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=71089.

Enjoy!

Shoot...I'll sell it to you for $200 just because I think you'd like it better than options listed. Shoot me your zip if you want a shipping quote.

Thanks!

 

[anamorphic96]

I would probably go with the BIC or Lava options. With the edge to the Lava. You may lose some output to the BIC but my gut tells me the Lava will sound cleaner overall.

Good Luck !!! Keep us posted.

 

[jrcorwin]

How focused should I be on the low-end of the frequency response? If it says it won't go below 35Hz, does that matter? If something dips below that level, will I miss it? I'm an extreme novice when it comes to subwoofers.

 

[anamorphic96]

How focused should I be on the low-end of the frequency response? If it says it won't go below 35Hz, does that matter? If something dips below that level, will I miss it? I'm an extreme novice when it comes to subwoofers.

It's one of the more important aspects but you don't have to obsess over it.
35hz isn't all that great for a HT setup. Getting down to 20hz or lower with good output would be ideal. But 25hz extension with good output will do quite nice for most people.

 

[GranteedEV]

How focused should I be on the low-end of the frequency response? If it says it won't go below 35Hz, does that matter? If something dips below that level, will I miss it? I'm an extreme novice when it comes to subwoofers.

focus first on the quality of bass from 40hz to 100hz. an extra hz or two will not make a difference. this is where our ears are more sensitive and able to hear subtlety.

below 40hz is an interesting scenario. first of all the lower limit of frequency response does not mean bass stops there period. if it is listed at 35hz you may still get usable output down to 25-27hz. next factor in room gain. the room will add more intensity to lower bass the bigger the wavelength and the smaller the room. good subs are measured anechoically not inroom as every room ia different.

at your price range extention should be the last of your worries. the EMP is a nice choice as it will get decently loud with good quality you need 15 or 18 inch drivers to get output and extention. 10 and 12 inch drivers are merely a budget solution. last thing you want is a sub tuned lower than its driver fs to the point where you are now losing meaningful upper end output. i would only tune below fs if fs is sufficiently low and output inroom will not be compromised. thus for a budget sub the emp may not have the ideal specs but will work great for real world results. if you want deeper extention you must be willing to double or triple your budget.

for reference i have a diy 18 sub with great extention down to 20hz and ot cost me nearly 1300. and not diy may have cost around 5000. i would need a second to be able to watch something like inception at full volume. output and extention are expensive!

now if you're willing to change your budget it's a bit different.

 

[fightinkraut]

Don't see if you'll be using this for HT or music primarily, for music there are no instruments I know of, beyond a massive pipe organ, that would play below 40Hz. HT is different, and for that I'll just suggest you read the above post, room placement plays a large part, if I ever had time with the house quiet I would take some measurements on the EMP, it certainly hits lower than it's 35Hz point. In a nutshell I'd say it's a tight sub, great for music and with proper room placement in particular it hits hard enough for HT duty. As always, things are a compromise, only if you want to spend significantly more than $200 will you find a sub that hits low 20Hz and still has great musicality and mid-sub range impact.

 

[s52e368]

i have a a2-300 with a titanic mkiii driver ill sell for a great price.

 

[jrcorwin]

Thank you for all the great advice. Any sub I use will be used almost exclusively for HT use. I no longer have any concerns about the frequency response, now that I have a better understanding of it. I have a few things to consider and take care of over the weekend and then I will make a decision at the beginning of next week. Thanks again.

 

[KEW]

How focused should I be on the low-end of the frequency response? If it says it won't go below 35Hz, does that matter? If something dips below that level, will I miss it? I'm an extreme novice when it comes to subwoofers.

Your question has pretty well been answered, but I wanted to point you to this excellent chart which associates frequency ranges to specific instruments:

http://www.independentrecording.net/irn/resources/freqchart/main_display.htm

Also, it is interesting to note that even if the fundamental pitch were not being produced by your system, you would hear the harmonics and your brain would fill in the fundamental! Of course it is better to have it there in the first place, but this is how we can "live" with speakers that roll off at 60-100Hz without a sub.
A 35Hz low end is pretty fine for music!