Looking for a small sub

[bikemig]

I have a 2.0 desktop system that I'm happy with but it lacks a low end. So I'm looking for a small sub that I can put underneath my desk to round out the sound. The best I've found so far is the Velodyne MicroVee. This thing is 9 by 9 and 9 but I could handle something a bit (but not a lot) bigger). Any thoughts on this? Any other products I should look at?

 

[GranteedEV]

I would contact Nathan Funk and ask him to build me a sealed SDX-10 sub.

 

[bikemig]

These look cool and the Canadians certainly know how to build good speakers but I can pick up the mini vee on a special for $400. That may be tough to beat.

 

[alphaiii]

These look cool and the Canadians certainly know how to build good speakers but I can pick up the mini vee on a special for $400. That may be tough to beat.

Minivee or Microvee?

The Minivee is a great small sub, IMO... I haven't heard the microvee, but the Audioholics review wasn't all that impressive.

If you want something tiny (like 9" cube), this could be an option:
NEW Mirage MM8 8" black 1200W powered subwoofer | eBay

Mirage/Energy actually make a smaller version of this sub as well - the MM6/ESW-M6

The NHT Super8 is roughly an 11" cube, but that might be a bit too big.

 

[alphaiii]

I would contact Nathan Funk and ask him to build me a sealed SDX-10 sub.

That'd need to be at least a 14" cube though...

 

[bikemig]

Vanns has the mirage mm6 at $250; not bad but I'm not sure how it stacks up against the velodyne microvee.
Edit: the mm6 has fewer inputs than the microvee . . . .
Edit (2): the velodyne micro vee weighs 15 lbs; the mirage mm6 weighs 10 lbs. . . . .

 

[njedpx3]

I have a 2.0 desktop system that I'm happy with but it lacks a low end. So I'm looking for a small sub that I can put underneath my desk to round out the sound. The best I've found so far is the Velodyne MicroVee. This thing is 9 by 9 and 9 but I could handle something a bit (but not a lot) bigger). Any thoughts on this? Any other products I should look at?

I used my Cambridge S30s for a desktop system, because even though they were small ( about 7" x 9" x 4") , they were ported and had relatively strong bass. I have sinced moved them to my woods cabin and run a pure steroe system driven by a vintage Marantz 1060 amp.

My point is you might want to consider getting two Cambridge S30s and replacing your current speakers.

 

[bikemig]

@njedpx3: thanks; I've given some thought to that as well. But any pair of bookshelf speakers small enough to fit on a desk will lack a bit in the low end; there is always a trade-off. I do like my current speakers but I've thought about replacing them as well.

 

[alphaiii]

Vanns has the mirage mm6 at $250; not bad but I'm not sure how it stacks up against the velodyne microvee.
Edit: the mm6 has fewer inputs than the microvee . . . .
Edit (2): the velodyne micro vee weighs 15 lbs; the mirage mm6 weighs 10 lbs. . . . .

The MM6 is smaller than the Microvee... The MM8 is roughly the same size cabinet (larger 8" active driver) and weights just a bit more... If it were me, I wouldn't bother with the MM6 when the MM8 can be bought for $30 more brand new from Vann's (ebay). The cabinet is only slightly larger (9" cube vs 8" cube), but you get 8" driver/passive radiators instead of 6.5".

But as you mentioned, the MM6 and MM8 are limited in connection options... and I cannot speak for how the MM8 and Microvee compare in terms of sound quality.

 

[alphaiii]

I used my Cambridge S30s for a desktop system, because even though they were small ( about 7" x 9" x 4") , they were ported and had relatively strong bass. I have sinced moved them to my woods cabin and run a pure steroe system driven by a vintage Marantz 1060 amp.

My point is you might want to consider getting two Cambridge S30s and replacing your current speakers.

The S30's are a little big for a desktop... actual dimensions (w/o grill) are 8.9"h x 6.3"w x 8.7"d. The depth is the biggest issue with regard to desktop space.

Nice speakers for the money though

 

[jcl]

I've been looking into smaller subs to as I have space constraints as well. Here are some others i've been contemplating...

The Chrysalis Photon 8 is slightly bigger but still pretty small. The factory refurb price is much better than list - Chrysalis Photon Factory Renewed Black 8-inch Powered Subwoofer, In Stock at OneCall.com

The Velodyne subcontractor series are not active, so the amp can be located separately. Vanns has the sc-10 for $349 You have to add an external amp which adds to the price.

I think either of these will give you more depth (and probably volume) than the microvee.

 

[bikemig]

The Chrysalis looks good for the price but I need something to fit under a desk which is why I'm thinking about the microvee. This doesn't need to get loud for my purposes since it is nearfield, just add a bit to the low end.

 

[jcl]

Well, you are looking for pretty small then...
The SC-8 is 10.5wx10.75hx9.13d Not sure if that is still to big in comparison to
The photon 8 10.4wx10.1wx12.75D

 

[alphaiii]

The Chrysalis Photon-8 is basically the same sub as the Velodyne Minivee... and it's a good tiny sub...

But if you want super tiny, there aren't many options... The Microvee and the Mirage/Energy mini "subs" are all that come to mind.

 

[its phillip]

My orb audio super 8 works pretty well with my computer music system. Not nearly as small as some of the other subs mentioned though. It's a 12" cube I think. For the price I'd rather go bigger and get the emo ultra 12 for $379 though

 

[bikemig]

I'll have to look at emo stuff; actually I was just looking at the def tech supercube 2000. It's a little bigger than I wanted but it has a really good feature set.

Edit: just downloaded the manual and it only has an lfe in, sigh. Thanks for all the help btw.

 

[its phillip]

Well, don't wait too long. I don't know how much stock they have remaining on the ultra12, but it's being discontinued (which is why it's discounted so much).

 

[theJman]

I was looking for something similar recently. Not sure what your budget is, or personal preferences, but here are a few potential candidates (listed alphabetically)...

AudioEngine S8
Cambridge Audio X300
DefTech SuperCube III or SuperCube 4000
DynAudio Sub 250 Compact
Earthquake Sound MiniMe P8 or MiniMe FF8
PSB SubSeries HD8
Pinnacle Baby Boomer
Sunfire Super Junior TS-SJ8 or HRS-8
Velodyne Impact-Mini

I would have included links for you, but I'm not allowed because I haven't posted 5 times yet.

 

[bikemig]

@theJman: this is a good list; I'll check them out. Which one did you end up buying and what do you think of it?

 

[theJman]

@theJman: this is a good list; I'll check them out. Which one did you end up buying and what do you think of it?

Well, um, I went with something else entirely... I started a thread over on avsforum that explains it a little better, but I'm dissallowed from including links until I reach 5 posts. The short version though is I ultimately bought an XTZ 99 W10.16. Never heard of XTZ? Probably 99% of people in NA haven't. Their Swedish website is at wwwdotxtzdotse/uk. The American website is wwwdotxtzsounddotcom, but it's not fully operational yet. As soon as I can post an actual link I'll update this with mine from avsforum.

When searching for small subwoofers what I basically found was the size of a subwoofer was inversely proportional to it's cost, at least in the case of virtually every one of the units I listed. Essentially what that means is the smaller the sub the higher the price - miniaturization came at a greater cost then I had originally anticipated, so I decided to go in a slightly different route. I also opted to change my search to HT equipment instead, but that's a different story altogether.

Some of those subs -- like AudioEngine or the DefTech's -- are pretty reasonably priced for what you get. Others -- like Velodyne and Cambridge Audio -- are less of a bargain, but still doable. But then you get to Earthquake, Pinnacle and Sunfire and you think "really?", because they're a whole lot of money for what you get.

I guess the bottom line is size matters for several things , subwoofers among them. And in this case smaller presents some unique/costly challenges it seems.