Hsu VTF-3 MK3 on the way!!!

[SJTrance]

Soooo freaking excited here. I started out with a $99 MTX 12" sub and it was alright. Then, I upgraded to the Premier Acoustic PA-120. I like the sub and it was loud enough (for my studio especially), but I felt that the bass was muddy and vague. It's the best way I can describe it. I was thinking of going with the MFW-15 but after all the issues with that sub I found a great deal on an used VTF 3.3. This will be my first "real" subwoofer and I'm so excited that I had to post. UPS says that it will be delivered tomorrow.

So, a few questions: I wanted to put it beside my couch between the couch and the kitchen island table. (See picture for an idea) It's a studio apartment... I think my neighbors won't be happy. But I'll try and keep it chill; especially after 9PM. According to things I've read, this seems to be a possible sweet spot for the sub. I have two 20 ft cables. Is it OK to just combine them or should I get a 50 ft cable to work with? One of the cables are from Best Buy and the other from monoprice (I think). Any ideas? I'm going to keep the PA-120 for a few days and give it to my buddy along with my Paradigm CC-170 center channel. His wife won't let him buy any electronic music stuff... lol.

 

[shadyJ]

Nice! I have a VTF3 in a similar endtable configuration, you will love it! As for the cable length, 50 ft is an awfully long run for regular RCA cable. Make sure it has the highest gauge you can possible get. This is what you will want- I would make a point of getting RG6 cables over RG59, because of the thicker gauge. Combining cables might not be bad, but I wouldn't trust the gauge of either of your cables, they are most likely RG59's.

 

[sholling]

Congratulations!

 

[SopRage]

Just got one myself about a month ago.

You're in for a treat to be sure. Get a Great GRAMMA for that thing to cut down on any neighbor problems you might have.

 

[SJTrance]

ShadyJ, thanks a lot for the link. I'll order the 50' cable today or tomorrow. At that price, it's a no-brainer.

SopRage, my PA-120 is currently sitting on a Gramma now.

 

[nadroj]

Congrats on your new sub.

Did you buy the satin black one from audiogon?

 

[SJTrance]

Congrats on your new sub.

Did you buy the satin black one from audiogon?

Yes, I did. Do you know of that one? There's another one with wood veneer for sale there.

 

[nadroj]

Yes, I did. Do you know of that one? There's another one with wood veneer for sale there.

Yeah. I thought about making an offer but never pulled the trigger. How much did it cost with shipping if you don't mind me asking? Just trying to get an idea of what these go for used.

 

[bread29]

Enjoy the sub! I've been playing mine daily for 7 months straight!

 

[SJTrance]

I got it for $500 shipped. I think it's a decent deal. I think it's got some blemishes on it, but it'll be out of sight so it won't really matter to me. I've been looking to spend about that on a sub and this one seems to be one highly regarded in the AV community. It also seems like it will be the best of both worlds. I wonder if I'll like it for max output or max extension. I don't live in a large place but it is in a relatively large room. The studio apartment opens to the kitchen as seen in the picture but there's also a small hallway that leads to the front door. The PA-120 was nice in my old smaller place because it was isolated in a room. In this place, it seems to have lost some of it's authority.

 

[nadroj]

I got it for $500 shipped. I think it's a decent deal. I think it's got some blemishes on it, but it'll be out of sight so it won't really matter to me. I've been looking to spend about that on a sub and this one seems to be one highly regarded in the AV community. It also seems like it will be the best of both worlds. I wonder if I'll like it for max output or max extension. I don't live in a large place but it is in a relatively large room. The studio apartment opens to the kitchen as seen in the picture but there's also a small hallway that leads to the front door. The PA-120 was nice in my old smaller place because it was isolated in a room. In this place, it seems to have lost some of it's authority.

Nice. Seemed to be in really good condition from the pictures I saw and over $200 cheaper than buying directly from HSU (even at the current sale price). Let us know what you think once you receive it, I am in a similar situation and would be very interested to hear your opinion.

 

[SJTrance]

OK, I got it and am working on setting it up at the moment. Just plugged in to play, this thing is massive in both appearance and sound. At the moment, I'm having to put the SW effect down to -10 on my receiver (Pioneer VSX 90TXV). I've got the subwoofer turned down to about one click past the min bar. This thing still feels like it's overpowering the rest of my speakers. I'm going to run the MCACC now. From where it's sitting, I can recognize where the sound is coming from.

Crossover at 80 Hz reduced that a bit. The LFE ATT is set at 0. I'm not completely even sure what this means. It's got 0, 10 and off as choices. I understand that it means down 10 decibels for music or something.

 

[shadyJ]

Try reducing the crossover a bit more if your mains can play lower without losing anything, like say 70 or 65. The lower you go, the less directional the bass becomes. It's peculiar that the sub is still loud with the volume knob so low and the LFE set very low too. May I ask what kind of mains you are running, and how much power they are getting? If your mains have a drop off well above the crossover point, the sub's bass will definitely draw attention to itself. Also, you might try asking Pete for some setup tips on the setup recommendations forum at Hsu's message board.

 

[SJTrance]

OK, I dialed it in and it sounds pretty nice for now. I ended up leaving the frequency where it is because when my brother came over to visit, he couldn't find the sub anywhere...lol. All he heard was bass. Then, I jacked up the volume and it was seriously mind boggling. The thing is, even at low volume, it's significantly better than the older PA-120. A huge difference in the musicality of the bass.

With the old sub, it seemed like there was only one "tone" for the bass. Now, I see that there are different frequencies of bass in a single beat or strum of a bass guitar. With movies, it's really nice and for the first time, I feel the clean bass in my chest. The entire couch shakes on certain movies. Now, I have to get all my favorite blu ray movies through netflix. It's times like this that I regret not having nice movies laying around. I tend to not buy much media. PS: Dolby digital on a blu ray sounds soooo much better than the same movie on cable.

Here is a quick and dirty pic of the sub in the corner. It seems like a perfect fit. I wonder if it's too close to the wall or the couch. Looks like about 4 inches between the driver and the couch and 4 inches from the kitchen island and 6 inches from the wall. The ports face out into the room.

The rest of my gear is as follows:

TV: Samsung 40" 7000 Series
Receiver: Pioneer Elite VSX90TXV
Center: Paradigm CC390
Front: Paradigm Mini MK3
Surround: Paradigm Atom V.2
Subwoofer: Premier Acoustic PA 120



I'll get closer pics afterwards.

 

[shadyJ]

Nice looking place! I find that I can hear where my subs are no matter what, like I said in another thread, I think the knowledge of its placement might be messing up my own perception. Also, you have enough clearance from the nearby surfaces, so don't worry about that.

By the way, have you experimented with the modes yet? If not, try it! If you want to give it a work out, put the VTF on max extension mode, throw in War of the Worlds, skip to that chapter where the machines break through the street, and turn the volume way up. That is my #1 subwoofer demo scene! ( but yeah, I know, the movie itself isn't that great..)

Just remember one thing though, never run the subwoofer with both ports open with the bass extension switch on the amp set to the '1 port open' mode. This can cause damage to the subwoofer as there won't be any electronic protection right below port tuning. So just make sure that port plug is installed when the sub is set to max extension mode, or else you risk bottoming out the sub at higher volumes. Any other configuration is fine though.

 

[SJTrance]

Thanks for the compliments, Shady. The place is my pride and joy.

I tried to plug one port and set it on the max output feature and I found that the music was a bit more accurate and punchy. It may be all in my mind, because I didn't crank it up to insane levels. I figured that since I'm not going to be jacking up the sound levels too much, I would much rather have the lower extension. It still surprises me that even at low volumes, I notice such a difference. I'll keep it in mind not to screw up the max output vs. max extension settings.

I've heard War of the Worlds with my previous sub and it also shook me to the core. I can't imagine what it would sound like on this sub. I also want to get Avatar again. Kung Fu Panda and Matrix too.

 

[SJTrance]

Another question:

It didn't come with the foam plug port and the seller doesn't know where he kept it. Where would I be able to get something like this? Obviously, I'd have to call Hsu tomorrow, but I don't want to spend tons of money on this. I tried to look on their website and I don't see that as an accessory that they sell. Can I plug it with something else like a rolled up towel or another type of foam? Or is that a stupid question?

 

[shadyJ]

Hsu would probably be willing to send you one for not much money. But really all it is is a black rubbery foam plug that fits snugly in the port to make it air tight. Anything that makes it air-tight will work, I bought a used VTF where the owner lost the plug too, and a rolled up black towel is exactly what I substituted for awhile. It will work like a charm. And like I said before, make sure one of the ports are sealed before using it in max extension mode (ie. one port sealed mode)! By the way, you can have the port plugged while in max output mode, that is informally called over-damped mode, that won't hurt it and some people prefer the way it sounds.

 

[SJTrance]

I ordered one shipped to me for $18 which I felt might have been a little high, but fuggit. The port looks out into the room and I can't have some rigged up towel stuffed into the port.

 

[dalumberjack]

I have two VTF3.3's and love them!

They have changed my viewing experience to something I can't describe. I went from a 10+ year old down firing Pioneer 10" sub to the two VTF3.3's.

Best purchase I have ever made besides my LED DLP