Help me choose between these subs

[alphaiii]

Thanks for the update on the T250. Glad to hear its worth keeping!

Seems it's more of a HT first type of sub by design - not as articulate as some...but it can't be all that bad if you're keeping it.

 

[alphaiii]

Well, for various reasons, I decided to go with the Mirage Prestige S8.

Thanks all for the advice...even if I didn't listen to the overwhelming majority who recommended the HSU STF-1.

Among other things (such as size, driver/port orientation, asthetics), cost was an important factor for me. Thanks to some persistance, I was able to get wwstereo to price-match Vann's twice now (I actually think Vann's dropped their price to under cut the first price match wwstereo did - speculation of course), and as a result, was able to buy the Prestige S8 from wwstereo (who is an authorized dealer, so full warranty) through ebay, while taking advantage of the live.com 12% cashback.

In the end, I got the S8 for $219 shipped, brand new. I've very happy with the price I got on this, and I'll know in a couple days if this sub was the right decisions.

 

[sholling]

Let us know how you like it. I'm growing more fond of the T250 by the day.BTW last week as my first wwstereo purchase. I got a great deal on the center for my office system. I'm very pleased with them.

 

[alphaiii]

Let us know how you like it. I'm growing more fond of the T250 by the day.BTW last week as my first wwstereo purchase. I got a great deal on the center for my office system. I'm very pleased with them.

Glad your happy with the T250.

I will post my thoughts on the S8 once I try it out.

I have been very happy with wwstereo so far. They probably hate me now, having to price match twice for a $50 price cut after I brought it to their attention...but then again, they got my sale as well as a couple others from AVS already...so maybe they'll thank me in the end. They're getting sales that Vann's would've gotten.

BTW, which center did you pick up - C-C50?

I just ordered one of those for my dad to use in his system with his Athena's. If I come across another woot deal on the C-100's, I'll get him a gift so he can have matching fronts. I actually had a C-50/C-C50 (got 1 of the only 2 pr of cherry C-50's from wwstereo) setup before upgrading to the RC series...I was very impressed with them for the $170 I paid for the 3.0.

 

[alphaiii]

Sorry for taking so long to give some impressions...

Anyway, I got the Prestige S8 a few weeks ago...

My initial impressions were a little mixed. It was a very tight, clean sounding sub...probably the best quality I've heard from a ported sub (comparing to Acculine Asub, AV123 X-sub, Energy ESW-8, tSC ASW-8, tSC ASW-10). On the other hand, it sounded a little soft, and didn't have the punch to it like my Aperion S8-APR. At this point, overall, I was content with it and felt it was worth the $220 I paid for it.

However, giving some more listening...I became more impressed with this little sub. I now actually believe in "break-in"...while the S8 seemed a little soft at first, it seemed to open up a bit. It has more punch to it now, while still retaining very impressive sound quality. As I said, I've never heard a ported sub sound so clean. It does amazing with double bass in music.

I actually like this sub as much or more than my S8-APR now. The Aperion still has a little harder punch to it...but while it's sound quality is also very good...it can lose a little of it at higher volumes or with certain music. I guess this can happen with passive radiators. The Mirage has sounded very clean no matter what I've given it, and it has a nice punchiness and very respectable output for an 8" sub.

I am very pleased with this purchase for $220. It is perfect for my application - I wanted a musical sub that would provide clean low end to my bedroom setup for late night movie watching or occasional daytime music listening, and that's exactly what I got.
I like it so much that I jumped on a Prestige S10 while Vann's ran a deal of the day sale on it for $300. The S10 is also a clean, tight sounding sub, but not quite as tight and agile as the S8 (although this may be due to corner placement of the S10). Where it easily wins out over the S8 is, obviously, in overall output and extension. In any case, I am also very happy with the S10 for $300.

Compared to the Acculine Asub I had, I found the S10 to have a little better SQ and tightness, and a little better output. The difference wasn't huge by any means. While the Asub really is a bargain that outperforms it's price, I felt the S10 was a better bargain at the price I got it for, and was worth keeping, despite the extra cost over the Asub - which wasn't that much, since the Asub was $239+SH, and the S10 was $299 SHIPPED.

Now, I just need to sell my Asub.