HSU VTF-15H Subwoofer Review

[strugs]

I am a long time follower of Audioholics, and I usually enjoy their reviews and shootouts, as they have always struck me as less biased than the print HT and AV magazines.

However - something that has seemed fishy about this shootout from the get-go is that AH seems to have made their mind up about one of the contestants before the process even began.

The Audioholics 2010 Subwoofer Product of the Year was the SVS, and it was coronated on Dec 15, 2010, a few weeks prior to the beginning of the shootout.

Now I am not saying that the reviewer or anyone at AH had anything against the HSU (or any of the other subs), but if they had already decided that the SVS was going to come out on top, perhaps that is why they did not go out of their way to evaluate the other subs in the configurations that would allow them to compete with the SVS.

Anyways, I do not own any of the subs in the shootout, so I am not pissed or anything, and I have no vested interest in the "winner" or the rankings, I am just disappointed that this shootout did not seem to me like it was as objective as prior AH reviews.

 

[GranteedEV]

I am a long time follower of Audioholics, and I usually enjoy their reviews and shootouts, as they have always struck me as less biased than the print HT and AV magazines.

However - something that has seemed fishy about this shootout from the get-go is that AH seems to have made their mind up about one of the contestants before the process even began.

The Audioholics 2010 Subwoofer Product of the Year was the SVS, and it was coronated on Dec 15, 2010, a few weeks prior to the beginning of the shootout.

All the tests were likely done by that time for all of the subs. I recall the big holdup was the RBH SX-12 (which didn't even end up in the shootout due to issues).

Nothing "fishy" about that. It was kind of dissapointing to see pseudo final results before the actual articles but that's about it.

 

[Pyrrho]

I am a long time follower of Audioholics, and I usually enjoy their reviews and shootouts, as they have always struck me as less biased than the print HT and AV magazines.

However - something that has seemed fishy about this shootout from the get-go is that AH seems to have made their mind up about one of the contestants before the process even began.

The Audioholics 2010 Subwoofer Product of the Year was the SVS, and it was coronated on Dec 15, 2010, a few weeks prior to the beginning of the shootout.

Now I am not saying that the reviewer or anyone at AH had anything against the HSU (or any of the other subs), but if they had already decided that the SVS was going to come out on top, perhaps that is why they did not go out of their way to evaluate the other subs in the configurations that would allow them to compete with the SVS.

Anyways, I do not own any of the subs in the shootout, so I am not pissed or anything, and I have no vested interest in the "winner" or the rankings, I am just disappointed that this shootout did not seem to me like it was as objective as prior AH reviews.

I find your objection bizarre. The best of 2010 cannot possibly include subwoofers to be tested in the future, after 2010 has passed. The best of 2010 does not imply that it will be the best of 2011. So it being the best of 2010 (among those they tested in 2010) entails nothing at all about how well it will stack up against the ones tested this year. However, they can include it in the "shootout" because it is still a current model that you can still buy, and how well it compares with the newly tested subwoofers is of value when deciding what subwoofer to buy.

 

[TLS Guy]

It seems to me that likely Dr Hsu made intelligent compromises in this budget sub.

Properly reproducing the last octave is very expensive. If it can't be done well, then best not to try.

I don't know what people expect for that money.

We should link the thread about this thread to this thread.

 

[shadyJ]

I am a long time follower of Audioholics, and I usually enjoy their reviews and shootouts, as they have always struck me as less biased than the print HT and AV magazines.

However - something that has seemed fishy about this shootout from the get-go is that AH seems to have made their mind up about one of the contestants before the process even began.

The Audioholics 2010 Subwoofer Product of the Year was the SVS, and it was coronated on Dec 15, 2010, a few weeks prior to the beginning of the shootout.

Now I am not saying that the reviewer or anyone at AH had anything against the HSU (or any of the other subs), but if they had already decided that the SVS was going to come out on top, perhaps that is why they did not go out of their way to evaluate the other subs in the configurations that would allow them to compete with the SVS.

Anyways, I do not own any of the subs in the shootout, so I am not pissed or anything, and I have no vested interest in the "winner" or the rankings, I am just disappointed that this shootout did not seem to me like it was as objective as prior AH reviews.

What I find strange is that the SVS got the product of the year award, when the Rythmik FV15HP seemed to be a superior sub, from reading Audioholics reviews. It was heavily lauded for it's sound quality, had more clean output, and was even cheaper. From comparing the reviews, I would definitely go with the Rythmik over the SVS.

 

[billy p]

Is this review of the pb12 plus and the POY award even related? If any correlation did exists then any criticism regarding the POY would be justified?

 

[Sugarbear]

Thank goodness for Audioholics.

Otherwise, where else would we read a subwoofer review detailed and comprehensive enough for us enthusiasts to get our knickers in a twist over?

I'm glad for reviews worth picking apart, whether we agree in the end or not.

 

[Pyrrho]

What I find strange is that the SVS got the product of the year award, when the Rythmik FV15HP seemed to be a superior sub, from reading Audioholics reviews. It was heavily lauded for it's sound quality, had more clean output, and was even cheaper. From comparing the reviews, I would definitely go with the Rythmik over the SVS.

What I find strange is that people expect products that are not reviewed yet in 2010 to magically be product of the year for 2010, as if the staff of Audioholics could supernaturally see into the future. The Rythmik FV15HP subwoofer was reviewed January 24, 2011.

See:

http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/speakers/subwoofers/rythmik-fv15hp

So it does not make any difference how it compares to the SVS for the issue of product of the year for 2010.

 

[SnowmaNick]

What I find strange is that the SVS got the product of the year award, when the Rythmik FV15HP seemed to be a superior sub, from reading Audioholics reviews. It was heavily lauded for it's sound quality, had more clean output, and was even cheaper. From comparing the reviews, I would definitely go with the Rythmik over the SVS.

Except the Rythmik didn't have as much output at 20HZ, had finish issues (bubbling veneer would kind of tick me off to be honest) and had limiter issues. Is it an excellent sub? Heck yeah! Did it post amazing numbers? You bet (and I do mean amazing above 25Hz for this price)! Did it beat every other sub in all areas? Not as far as I can tell.

I mean no disrespect to the Rythmik, if I were looking for new subs today the Rythmik would be one of my top 2-3 choices, and by way of the comments it sounds like Brian is working on or has already fixed some of the issues. However, if you are judging a group of products do you judge them off of promised changes for future products (which will most likely be done and be well executed but you haven't seen) or do you judge off of the items that you have had in for first hand testing? So far, the SVS is the only 5/5 sub, it was well reviewed, put out very strong performance and was well executed across the board. Which seems to align itself with AH's POY award.

Please feel free to resume your regularly scheduled conspiracy theories.

 

[billy p]

What I find strange is that people expect products that are not reviewed yet in 2010 to magically be product of the year for 2010, as if the staff of Audioholics could supernaturally see into the future. The Rythmik FV15HP subwoofer was reviewed January 24, 2011.

See:

http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/speakers/subwoofers/rythmik-fv15hp

So it does not make any difference how it compares to the SVS for the issue of product of the year for 2010.

I guess, you're implying....the pb12 plus garnered POY solely based on testing Audiohloics had done prior to this review...ok fine....but...if was during I could see why people might have a gripe as to which product was more deserving...

 

[templemaners]

What I find strange is that people expect products that are not reviewed yet in 2010 to magically be product of the year for 2010, as if the staff of Audioholics could supernaturally see into the future. The Rythmik FV15HP subwoofer was reviewed January 24, 2011.

See:

http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/speakers/subwoofers/rythmik-fv15hp

So it does not make any difference how it compares to the SVS for the issue of product of the year for 2010.

That didn't exactly stop them from giving the Aperion Audio Verus Grand speakers the loudspeaker award even though the review was released 3 weeks into January 2011. Which is fine by me, since they seem to be great speakers. I don't really mind since it's a summation article that highlighted good products, but the date criteria might want to be clarified for those that really care about that stuff.

 

[Pyrrho]

I guess, you're implying....the pb12 plus garnered POY solely based on testing Audiohloics had done prior to this review...ok fine....but...if was during I could see why people might have a gripe as to which product was more deserving...

It is freaking impossible for them to know the future, so any product that is going to win "product of the year" in whatever category has to be reviewed in the relevant year. Product of the year does not mean that future products that will be reviewed will not be better. They could be better, worse, or equally good. There is no telling, because they have not been reviewed yet when the product of the year is selected.

This is so freaking obvious that it is astonishing that there is any confusion over it. Do you expect them to name, as product of the year this year, some product that is going to be first reviewed next year? How the hell could they know whether it would be deserving or not before it is tested?

Product of the year does not mean the best product ever made or that will ever be made in the future. It just means the best of that type tested that year. How the hell could it possibly mean anything else?

Basically, people are complaining about reviews because reviewers cannot magically know the future and how a product that is being tested will compare to something that has not yet been tested. Are people here retarded? How the hell can people not get this?

 

[Pyrrho]

That didn't exactly stop them from giving the Aperion Audio Verus Grand speakers the loudspeaker award even though the review was released 3 weeks into January 2011. Which is fine by me, since they seem to be great speakers. I don't really mind since it's a summation article that highlighted good products, but the date criteria might want to be clarified for those that really care about that stuff.

There can be a difference between when a review is released, and when the testing of the speaker is done. In the case of the Aperion Audio Verus Grand speakers, they first had them in October:

http://www.audioholics.com/news/industry-news/aperion-audio-verus-grand-speakers

They might have finished the testing, but not finished writing the review, in time for naming it in December product of the year for 2010.

Asking them about it is probably the best way to find out if that is what happened in this case.

 

[templemaners]

There can be a difference between when a review is released, and when the testing of the speaker is done. In the case of the Aperion Audio Verus Grand speakers, they first had them in October:

http://www.audioholics.com/news/industry-news/aperion-audio-verus-grand-speakers

They might have finished the testing, but not finished writing the review, in time for naming it in December product of the year for 2010.

Asking them about it is probably the best way to find out if that is what happened in this case.

That was my assumption as well - they were in the middle of testing it when the Product of the Year article went up. Like I said, it's fine with me.

 

[cantonguy]

Except the Rythmik didn't have as much output at 20HZ, had finish issues (bubbling veneer would kind of tick me off to be honest) and had limiter issues. Is it an excellent sub? Heck yeah! Did it post amazing numbers? You bet (and I do mean amazing above 25Hz for this price)! Did it beat every other sub in all areas? Not as far as I can tell.

I mean no disrespect to the Rythmik, if I were looking for new subs today the Rythmik would be one of my top 2-3 choices, and by way of the comments it sounds like Brian is working on or has already fixed some of the issues. However, if you are judging a group of products do you judge them off of promised changes for future products (which will most likely be done and be well executed but you haven't seen) or do you judge off of the items that you have had in for first hand testing? So far, the SVS is the only 5/5 sub, it was well reviewed, put out very strong performance and was well executed across the board. Which seems to align itself with AH's POY award.

Please feel free to resume your regularly scheduled conspiracy theories.

Even if there were bubbling issues in the finish... you have to remember this was tested outside in direct sunlight and I'm not sure what the temperature was but... these subs are made for indoor use so I'm not sure if this is really an issue. The reason I picked Rythmik over any of the other subs in the first place is because i LOVE the piano black finish.

 

[gene]

Canton;

Rythmik is a great sub. The piano black finish is to die for so enjoy what you have and be proud.

WE found some issues with our review sub and Brian is doing an excellent job addressing them in production. Just think, future buyers of their sub will have a better product as a direct result of our review.

SVS won the POY for 2010. We found it to be a flawlessly engineered product based on our testing. Get over it and move on.

There is always 2011 and we've got many products to review coming this year.

Mods, please keep this thread on topic. Any future POY discussions should be dumped over to the steam vent.

 

[Sputter]

Originally Posted by Rythmik
I believe Ethan and Adam set it to 14/low. They basically looked at the FR curves on our FV15 product page and get a lot of information on how to set it for the test. I was a bit nervous that they may use the wrong setting. But their reply was the instruction was very clear. As you can see that curve has also quite a bit of correlation to what Ethan/Adam got. The same thing goes to AH shootout. I did send email to Gene beforehand to set it to 14hz/low as that will give us the flattest extension. That AH curve is almost a replicate of what we had measured. There are more than one ways to get the FR curves and they should all correlate very well.
----------------------------------

That's curious, I wonder if any of the other Sub manufactures were able to have thier subs setup for the flattest extention?

 

[billy p]

That's curious, I wonder if any of the other Sub manufactures were able to have thier subs setup for the flattest extention?

Hum...pretty sure you already know the answer to your question...

 

[gene]

HSU Re-Test Report

http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/speakers/subwoofers/hsu-vtf-15h-supplemental

 

[TLS Guy]

http://www.audioholics.com/reviews/speakers/subwoofers/hsu-vtf-15h-supplemental

Nice work Gene, and illustrates a lot of the issues in the compromises that have to be made in budget sub design.

As I said before Dr HSU basically set his priorities appropriately.

Bottom line: - chase where the sonic material largely is, and in cheaper units forget the low stuff.