Hsu for (early) Christmas

[Tomorrow]

I'm sure looking for your guidance and expertise, again. I have made up my mind to add a small, fast and tight sub to my system. I mentioned earlier that I had BIG JBL surrounds and 400 W sub. After maximizing my settings (many thanks to you), I still lack that sharp, deep sound I'm looking for in HT. Think of footsteps up a wooden stairway. That's the kind of sound I do not get with my system.

So.....I'm thinking, from my limited research that an 8" Hsu is the way to go to get that tight, short-clipped bass. Am I all wet here? Any suggestions? I can handle around that budget (currently sold by the mfg. at $299).

And finally, have I wasted my money on the big 12" 3-way mains (when I turn the receiver speaker setting to 'small'?

Thanks in advance for helping me with my newbie, and I'm sure dumb questions.

 

[Tomorrow]

I should mention that I live in a VERY rural area, and getting to a real store to listen and compare subs is nearly impossible. I'm relying on the collective wisdom, here. I'll be ordering hearing-unheard (kinda like sight-unseen). ;-)

 

[corysmith01]

I was in your shoes about 2 weeks ago...I actually just pullled the trigger on my sub last Wednesday. I'm guessing you're talking about the Hsu STF-1. It's the only 8" I know that they have. They're all nice subs. I was looking at, and strongly considered, the STF-2. At that price point (~$100 more than you're looking at), there was a lot to consider. I ended up going with the SVS PB10-ISD.

To your point, yes, you will got sound unheard...but you've picked a good one. They do offer returns, so it's not as if you'd be totally out. However, based on your selection, if I were a betting man, I'd put the chips on you not returning it. If you read around the forums, Hsu, SVS, Adire, Rocket and a few others all get rave reviews for their performance-to-cost ratio. All apparently do they're job and then some.

 

[mfabien]

Rjbuds,

Your room dimensions would help forum members to comment on your choice of an 8" driver sub. I'm about to go with a SVS PB12-ISD following submission of my room dimensions to SVS (and I got placement suggestions as well).

 

[Tomorrow]

My room is a big one!....but remember, I already have a boomy, 12", 400 W sub rumbling away. The little one I see as 'adding' some tightness to the perceived bass.

The room is ~20x28 with vaulted ceiling. The 12" sub is currently sitting in a corner, behind the 12", 3-way mains and A/V equipment stacks.

Thanks.

(I SOOO wish I'd discovered this forum BEFORE spending all that money on speakers and equipment last year! But, I guess items can be sold and bought anew.)

 

[golfhack]

Hey rjbudz,

That is a very big room. When you say your sub is boomy, have you tried to equalize the sub out (using parametric eq) or moved it around the room to get better (tighter) bass? If not you might want to try either of these options first or both. With a room as big as that though, you're going to need a substantial subwoofer to get to THX levels though.

 

[Tomorrow]

Hey, Hack. Thx for the comment.

Yeah, I've moved it around the room...it is still pretty boomy and 'soft'. I'm a newby here, so I'm not sure what the eq means...but I have attempted different receiver/speaker settings with mixing/matching xovers.

Do you think ADDING a smaller sub, like an Msu or velodyne or Energy in 8" would add to the tightness and power?

Thanks in advance.

RJ

 

[warpdrive]

I think deepness and tightness in the bass has more to do with the design of the sub AND room placement. There is no reason why a 12" sub well placed in your room shouldn't give the nice deep tight bass you're after.

The boominess you can be hearing that is distorting your bass could be due to bass modes that really give big peaks at your listening location.

Having said that, buying a good quality medium sub might go a long way toward helping you get your tightness. Something like a Hsu VTF-2 with low extension mode would provide good levels of bass and a flat response when properly placed.

 

[warnerwh]

You should sell your current sub and put that money into a better sub rather than running both of them. The loose sub will blurr the sound. One good sub is better than a fair and not so fair sub. My personal favorites would be HSU, VMPS and the rocket reviewed here at audioholics for quality per dollar. As mentioned earlier your room modes are no doubt part of the problem. If you get a sub with a parametric equalizer built in like the VMPS or Rocket you can get rid of your worst room mode. HSU may also offer this now feature but I haven't looked at their stuff in too long. You can't go wrong with any of them.
Equalizing something just means adjusting the frequency response. Your cd players frequency response is pretty much 20 to 20khz plus or minus .1 decibels. Speakers are plus or minus 3db for very good ones. Your room will be plus or minus 15db possibly. So if you have a room mode at say 40hz, which means also 80hz, you can tame it with a parametric equalizer and not only will the bass sound better but so will the midrange. The low frequecies are where the most problems are. All rooms have modes, where they are depends on the dimensions. Hope this helps.

 

[warpdrive]

I agree with the above....adding a smaller 8" is not going to solve your problem. Boomy bass just muddies up everything else....and you want to clean up your act. For a largish room such as yours, you still need to move a lot of air. Something like a PSB Subsonic 6i or SVS PB12 or Hsu VTF-3 will sound cleaner, tighter.

 

[Tomorrow]

I'm sold! Thanks again, peeps, for your collective wisdom!

Out goes the JBL, in comes a SVS or Hsu!

Bigger IS better.