Auditioning subs...buying my very first sub

[Sylar]

I was on the lookout for a sub both HT & Music and I was suggested a few. I wanted to audition and have a few demos before I spend good money on one.

HSU/SVS/Rythmik audition is outta question.
So I had an audition of a Polk sub today. Auditioned only music. Played Hotel California & a couple of others. Sub was DSW Pro 550 10 inches.

Was wondering where does this sub stand...especially when compared to some others that are suggested here at audioholics (Price range of $600 Max)? This would give me a better idea what I could expect..get out of my investment

The polk sub was 400W and at 60% volume it gave *some decent impact*....was wondering what would I get out of a HSU/Rythmik/SVS subs with 250-300W.
How meaningful are these 400W numbers from polk?

 

[jonnythan]

How come audition is out of the question?

 

[GranteedEV]

Not sure how one would audition a single sub. It's frequency response will vary by placement and room to the extend where expecting replicate what you hear at one place is unlikely. The speakers it is mated to will also make a difference in what you perceive. Most demo rooms set the sub level a good 10db too high in order to sell the product, but that's not what you should expect in a good set up.

Buy subs based on measurable attributes - output, low end extension, linearity, impulse response, top end extension/inductance, whatever else. Then equalize them to your preferences - IE Flat or with some boost at frequencies to increase perceived punch.

The polk subs are trash btw.

 

[FirstReflection]

I can save you a ton of time and wondering here, Syler. Just buy yourself a Rythmik FV12

For a small room where you want both movie and music performance and you have a $600 max budget, I can think of no better choice. The HSU VTF-2 MK3 is also nice. Doesn't play flat quite as low and has a tiny bit less output (which is irrelevant in your room size). Check the prices, sometimes the HSU is on sale. But at the same price, I'd go with the Rythmik in your situation

Since this is a music and movie system, get yourself an Auralex GRAMMA isolation riser as well. They're $50 on Amazon.

 

[Sylar]

How come audition is out of the question?

Dont have have then for audition back here, India.

The polk subs are trash btw.

I heard this sub and I was nowhere near impressed. So I was immediately in two minds as to what I would get out of my choices. Hence this thread.

Since this is a music and movie system, get yourself an Auralex GRAMMA isolation riser as well. They're $50 on Amazon.

It weighs 300lbs. I live back in India. It costs a whooping 1300$ in total after shipping costs. More than what my front towers cost

I can save you a ton of time and wondering here, Syler. Just buy yourself a Rythmik FV12

For a small room where you want both movie and music performance and you have a $600 max budget, I can think of no better choice. The HSU VTF-2 MK3 is also nice. Doesn't play flat quite as low and has a tiny bit less output (which is irrelevant in your room size). Check the prices, sometimes the HSU is on sale. But at the same price, I'd go with the Rythmik in your situation

I shot a mail to both HSU & Rythmik (sent a message through their website), as a sub eventually costs twice the price to get it back home. I got a reply from HSU that they might work something out, not heard from Rythmik yet. Would Rythmik be worth it if the difference between the HSU & FV12 is like 100$? HSU is already on sale $510 & 550 for FV12.

Also is the Rythmik servo straightforward to repair if I run into issues later in time?

For a small room where you want both movie and music performance and you have a $600 max budget, I can think of no better choice.

I would prefer within this budget. I can afford to put in a little more. But only if i can get much better by spending little more i will give it a thought. Maybe upto 750...800. Maybe!

 

[Adam]

It weighs 300lbs. I live back in India. It costs a whooping 1300$ in total after shipping costs. More than what my front towers cost

You put that under a quote for the Gramma - is that what you meant to do? Those things weigh less than 10 pounds.

EDIT: I think I see the confusion. The weight limit of those is 300 pounds. The Grammas themselves are quite light.

 

[Sylar]

If you guys could maybe suggest an equivalent sub from Velodyne or Yamo (I know the yamo guy has some medium to higher end models too...also know Yamo is not highly recommended for subs). Maybe I could check out how this sounds to get a fairly decent idea what to expect . We do have some models of these two companies available back here.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

So your only options are Polk, Velodyne, and Yamaha?

Velodyne would be good.

I would take the BIC F12, H100, & PL200 over the Polk & Yamaha, though.

I love my Rythmik subs.

 

[Sylar]

You put that under a quote for the Gramma - is that what you meant to do? Those things weigh less than 10 pounds.

EDIT: I think I see the confusion. The weight limit of those is 300 pounds. The Grammas themselves are quite light.

Ahh....My bad . Yup have been seeing subs all this while so see the dimensions and weight... and these two caught my instantly. I was wondering what on earth are these materials made up of...to come upto 140 Kgs.

Will get my sub first...and since this dosent cost much will probably give it a shot

 

[Sylar]

So your only options are Polk, Velodyne, and Yamaha?

Velodyne would be good.

I would take the BIC F12, H100, & PL200 over the Polk & Yamaha, though.

I love my Rythmik subs.

heyy AcuDefTechGuy...those subs are available to audition. As this is my first buy was hoping to get an audition of a gud sub.

I have decided to buy one of HSU VTF-2 MK3...Rythmik FV12. My budget is 600$, but am not very rigid. I can afford to put in a little more. But only if i can get much better by spending a little more will I give it a thought. Maybe upto 750...800.
Do you thing I should go with one of VTF-2 / FV12 or increase my budget. I can compromise more power for now as I can always add in another one later.
I can always spend a little more now and avoid upgrading it soon

 

[FirstReflection]

I didn't realize you were in India! That certainly increases the shipping costs

The HSU VTF-2 MK3 and Rythmik FV12 are not vastly different. I personally think that the FV12 is a little bit better, but not so much that it is worth any sort of big difference in price once you include shipping.

See if you can get a complete quote (price of the sub + shipping) from both HSU and Rythmik and go with the less expensive one! If it turns out that they are really close, then I would recommend the FV12 a little bit more highly. But if the HSU VTF-2 MK3 is a fair bit cheaper once shipping is included, you'd be giving up very little in terms of performance.

If you want a really rough idea (and I stress ROUGH idea) of the sort of sound quality and extension that you can expect, have a listen to a Velodyne DLS-4000R and/or a Velodyne DEQ-12R. Those are the most comparable, although I personally think that the Rythmik FV12 sounds better than the DEQ-12R and plays a little bit lower too.

That said, if you can buy the Velodyne subs locally, the price difference might be pretty big when you don't have to pay any shipping. Like I said, get full quotes from HSU and Rythmik. Then compare those prices to what you could get a Velodyne DLS-4000R or DEQ-12R for. If the prices all wind up really close, I'd still say to go with the Rythmik FV12. But the Velodyne subs have some nice features with built-in EQ and whatnot and they are good performers. Being able to buy them locally might mean that they cost substantially less than shipping over an HSU or Rythmik, so they'd be well worth your time to consider, IMO

 

[Sylar]

That said, if you can buy the Velodyne subs locally, the price difference might be pretty big when you don't have to pay any shipping.
...
...
Being able to buy them locally might mean that they cost substantially less than shipping over an HSU or Rythmik, so they'd be well worth your time to consider, IMO

Unfortunately, more often than not, they cost more than what it would if I ship it directly. The two models u mentioned are for North America region Only (120V).

I will shoot another mail to Rythmik and see what they could offer. It looks like I would get the best deal with HSU. On offer, plus they replied they would try and work out something for us as we have the horrendous shipping costs to deal with.

 

[AcuDefTechGuy]

heyy AcuDefTechGuy...those subs are available to audition. As this is my first buy was hoping to get an audition of a gud sub.

I have decided to buy one of HSU VTF-2 MK3...Rythmik FV12. My budget is 600$, but am not very rigid. I can afford to put in a little more. But only if i can get much better by spending a little more will I give it a thought. Maybe upto 750...800.
Do you thing I should go with one of VTF-2 / FV12 or increase my budget. I can compromise more power for now as I can always add in another one later.
I can always spend a little more now and avoid upgrading it soon

I would get the Rythmik F12.

Of course, if you can afford the Rythmik F15, that would be even better.

 

[FirstReflection]

Oops. I'm afraid I really don't know the electrical standards and what is available in India vs. North America But maybe if you search the Velodyne website, you could figure out what the equivalent to the DLS-4000R or the DEQ-12R would be for your region. Velodyne has recently turned themselves into an internet-direct subwoofer company too! So you can also get an idea of their prices on their website - although, for the moment, they seem to still be selling at MSRP, even though they've eliminated the middle-man! Not exactly the best bang-for-buck until they lower those prices

HSU certainly does offer great customer service - at least they always have in my own experience. Like I said, if they can work out a substantially better price once the shipping is included, the VTF-2 MK3 is a great subwoofer and very much comparable to the Rythmik FV12. I do know that even local prices can get way out of hand for electronics in a lot of countries, so, like you said, it might end up being cheaper to ship over a sub!

So yeah, have a look on the Velodyne website and also see what models are available locally, what they're selling for and do a little comparison for yourself. Then wait to hear back from Rythmik and HSU. That should end up making it quite clear which subwoofer is the best value when all of the costs are totalled up!

 

[Sylar]

i had a quick demo of a Yamo c80 sub today. Music only. I could make out absolutely no difference between the sub being on and off.
the dealer was like, this is cos the yamo towers are great with bass so they do not recommend subs with it . (I dont remember the model of towers)

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

Forget Polks and Yamahas then you have SVSSound distributor in India -

A bit of education:
http://www.svsound.com/animation.cfm

http://www.svsound.com/questions-buying-dealers.cfm
Visit Audire Technologies website still under construction here: Audire Technologies
No. 8, Mettupalayam Road, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India. 641034

E-mail them at info@audire.in or contact them by phone at: 0091 900 33 44 644

You can even find them on Google Maps, click here.

SB12-NSD - should be in your budget and the shipping wont cost you arm and leg...
or PC12-NSD if you could up the budget a bit

I have not idea of local prices, but it's worth a try.

 

[Sylar]

http://www.svsound.com/animation.cfm
SB12-NSD - should be in your budget and the shipping wont cost you arm and leg...
or PC12-NSD if you could up the budget a bit

I have not idea of local prices, but it's worth a try.

That's funny
Prices are pretty high for the SVS back here. Have decided to go for either VTF-2 or FV12. Leaning towards the FV12, am not in a hurry so looking around and hearing stuff before I jump in for the FV12.

 

[FirstReflection]

I take it the Yamaha wasn't quite what you were looking for then?

Yeah, no worries with an HSU VTF-2 MK3, Rythmik FV12 or SVS subwoofer as to whether or not you will notice when it is playing vs when it isn't! Of course, the ideal is to have in integrate seemlessly with your speakers so that you can't tell where the speakers end and the subwoofer begins! But there is zero chance that you won't be able to notice the extra deep extension and especially the physical impact that any of your considered subs will add!

 

[Sylar]

I was wondering if there are any risks of shipping subs cross country (Destination India)? Any parts within the subwoofer that could get damaged?

Also since the sub is heavy, & if the *packaged sub* is dropped from 1 or 2, or even from 3 feet what is the likely hood of damage and to what parts (I dont expect this dropping of sub to happen! Yet worst case scenario what could happen).). What part(s) within the sub are most vulnerable to damage during shipping?

I know the Sub body is rigid after all made of wood. The driver & amps I fail to see how it could get damaged (Do correct me if am wrong). But what about the servo tech. I know this is a feedback mechanism, but unsure how this is it achieved & what kinda components are used.

In the US, shipping is probably handled with care. Not so reliable back here.

 

[Sylar]

...anyone?