Best Sub Under $600

[Dr. Anthony]

Rob, I go to a local high end national retailer around my area and have heard several subs that were supposed to be awesome and they had no punch or power. Namely the Velodyne PS-1000 and PS-800. The 2000 watts sounded like 100?? Then the kid tried to push me into a martin logan sub that had no bass output either. Just doesnt figure.

Dr. Anthony you are a wealth of info, you really know your hobby.

Thanks I appreciate that and I hope I can help in any way. The ML Descent is a nice sub so if that was the one that he was showing you, he did something WAY wrong. My guess also is that the Velos were not set up well either. I hope you brought all your own test material.

 

[3db]

PSB Subs rock

Do you use the PSB sub with HT or just music? I'm curious how it works for HT- the only times I've heard that sub I thought it sounded really loose, and could be driven into distress very easily. But both times I heard it were in the same dealers demo system, and his stuff is always set up wrong.

I have a subsonic5 and I overdrove it as well, heard all kinds of port chuffing. So I experimented with placement again and found a new room location. As a result, I had to seriously turn down the volume on the sub because it overpowered the room. Bydoing this, I eliminated overdriving it, and got the slam I was looking for and kept my bass very tight. I even use it for listening to music. Its a keeper

 

[Rob Babcock]

A lot of times guys do set their sub too loud. Lots of people are "bass heads," and the first thing most guys do to show off their HT system to friends it throw in LotR or the podrace scene in "Phantom Menace." It can be risky to set up the sub by ear. If you calibrate the sub with an SPL meter, it may initially sound a bit too lean, but once you allow your senses to acclimate themselves to realistic bass, you often realize you've been hearing too much bass in the past.

I can't rule out, 3db, that the PSB sub I heard could have been damaged. It was definately set too loud, and I heard a lot of the port noise & distress you were talking about. As you mention, proper setup is key.

 

[Unregistered]

Hsu recommends you set the volume on their subs at 11 o'clock and then add Db from the amp. The volume goes all the way around to 3 o'clock on the sub and I am sure the store maxies it out.

OVERDRIVE-

 

[Unregistered]

I ended up buying the Hsu STF2 and although brand new and not broken in it seems to be doing a good job. The main thing I notice is that the front and rear speakers are much cleaner & detailed for some reason.

Total Cost:

Hsu STF2 subwoofer: $399.95
Analysis Plus oval one 5m sub cable $99.95
Monster Power subwoofer line conditioner $49.99

Cost of happiness with my complete H/T system? Priceless

 

[Rob Babcock]

Adding subs can greatly improve the sound of your mains. If you set them to small or otherwise route the bass away from them, it takes quite a load off the speakers.

 

[Unregistered]

Yes, the clarity is quite a bit improved with my cross set at 80Hz. I know it will take some time for this sub to break in but at this point I can already say that it is much better than my old Paradigm PDR-10.