New Apartment Sub...

[Chopin_Guy]

So a new living situation called for me selling my PB13-Ultra a while back and now I am finally tired of waiting and am going to pull the trigger on a new sub. There are indeed space limitations and I am in an apartment so I don't want/need anything that will have the police at my door on a regular basis...

I should also while I am well aware of the advantages that DIY offer -- I am NOT interested in having pro-audio amps and processors in my gear nor do I have the room for them. I am only looking into commerical options -- be it brand or ID companies.

Right now I kind of have it boiled down to two options and not sure if I am missing anything. Those being (1) HSU ULS-15 -- which is on sale right now and can be had for $1,160 delivered OR (2) JL F110 which I can get for over $1k below retail right around the same price as the HSU. The hsu is a bit larger and heavier and if I get it in the Walnut veneer to match furniture it will be the same price as the JL. Not sure which way to go as I would love to try JL for once and it has the ARO which the HSU lacks...

Any thoughts...

 

[murthyvs]

So a new living situation called for me selling my PB13-Ultra a while back and now I am finally tired of waiting and am going to pull the trigger on a new sub. There are indeed space limitations and I am in an apartment so I don't want/need anything that will have the police at my door on a regular basis...

I should also while I am well aware of the advantages that DIY offer -- I am NOT interested in having pro-audio amps and processors in my gear nor do I have the room for them. I am only looking into commerical options -- be it brand or ID companies.

Right now I kind of have it boiled down to two options and not sure if I am missing anything. Those being (1) HSU ULS-15 -- which is on sale right now and can be had for $1,160 delivered OR (2) JL F110 which I can get for over $1k below retail right around the same price as the HSU. The hsu is a bit larger and heavier and if I get it in the Walnut veneer to match furniture it will be the same price as the JL. Not sure which way to go as I would love to try JL for once and it has the ARO which the HSU lacks...

Any thoughts...

For $100 extra, can you consider SVS PB-12 Plus? Can you share your experience with PB13-Ultra?

I dont know your HT components, room size, listening etc., .. but Aperion 8D is worth considering for an apartment with space limitations.

 

[GlocksRock]

I'd probably go with duals in your situation, better resale value, plus having more even bass response is a plus, not to mention having matching dual subs is just sweet.

 

[sholling]

I thought you didn't want the police at your door?

For an apartment I suggest a small sub that doesn't extend below 30hz and a Buttkicker to replace the lost tactile feel. I'd also invest in good cans.

 

[Matt34]

Check out the Polk Micro-pro line as well, I 've read they are pretty good performers for the price. Passive radiators keep the size down as well.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=polk+audio+micropro

 

[ParadigmDawg]

I am very impressed with the little Velo I just put in my office.

Keep an eye out on prices KEW and I got them for $349.

http://www.amazon.com/Velodyne-VMS8BV-8-inch-Powered-Subwoofer/dp/B002H07P6I

 

[Chopin_Guy]

Thanks all for the responses -- I think I am leaning towards the JL but we shall see. I have come to appreciate the response the studio 60's have on thier own having been without a sub now for about four months...so adding something back into the mix now will probably sound very refreshing to my ears...

 

[j_garcia]

Maybe wait for the SB-13 small sealed ultra? It is slated for later in the year though.

 

[alphaiii]

What about a Rythmik sub? F12, or maybe the new E15 if you have room (it's narrower than the F15).

You then have some options to tailor extension as well.

 

[Chopin_Guy]

I have thought long and hard about the new SVS models as I really did want to stay with them being so happy with the PB13-U while I owned it--I actually have been waiting on the SB13+ all this time. But I am tired of waiting and dissapointed in how long it is taking them to bring these new models to the market...the press release which stated how all the pricing and info would shake out 'by the end of the week' and that was over a month ago. Also, if the prices they have on that spec sheet are correct then its an even bigger dissapointment given what the quoted specs are. The ULS-15 digs much deeper and with 0/-1 db to 15hz compared to the specs on the SB13 -- and to top it off the ULS-15 can be had for $600 cheaper if the SVS price comes out to be whats been stated thus far...

As for the Rythmik's I have looked at them as well and those are still on my list--I've read about the new E15 over on AVS and that looks appealing. Lots of good choices -- but when looking at space efficient sealed models the choices are narrowed greatly right now especially with SVS not having any sealed offerings and Epiks new Empire is quite big...

 

[KEW]

So a new living situation called for me selling my PB13-Ultra a while back and now I am finally tired of waiting and am going to pull the trigger on a new sub. There are indeed space limitations and I am in an apartment so I don't want/need anything that will have the police at my door on a regular basis...

I should also while I am well aware of the advantages that DIY offer -- I am NOT interested in having pro-audio amps and processors in my gear nor do I have the room for them. I am only looking into commerical options -- be it brand or ID companies.

Right now I kind of have it boiled down to two options and not sure if I am missing anything. Those being (1) HSU ULS-15 -- which is on sale right now and can be had for $1,160 delivered OR (2) JL F110 which I can get for over $1k below retail right around the same price as the HSU. The hsu is a bit larger and heavier and if I get it in the Walnut veneer to match furniture it will be the same price as the JL. Not sure which way to go as I would love to try JL for once and it has the ARO which the HSU lacks...

Any thoughts...

Some data that might be useful:
The Blue book value on Audiogon for a used JL F110 averages $1430 with a lowest price to date of $1300.

For clarification, I believe GlocksRocks thought you meant (2) each as in dual JL's in his post above.

 

[shadyJ]

I am guessing the ULS will dig much deeper but the JL subs will be a tighter and a bit more detailed above the deep frequencies. Since you are in a apartment, perhaps you want to stay away from the deep frequencies. Still, the ULS's have a pretty good sale going on right now, and even the JL's will easily bring the police to your door if you rock them hard enough. Another option for small and high performance is the Outlaw Audio ECS 10. You might also look at the sealed subs from Elemental Designs. I think the maximum amount of performance for the minimum footprint would have to be the A7s-650, which also comes in wood finishes.

 

[Chopin_Guy]

For clarification I am only talking about purchasing one sub -- didn't mean for that to be misleading in the first post. I do realize that the low low subsonic frequencies are what carry through about anything and can be what get you in trouble. Which is why I was thinking about the JL in terms of accuracy and I like that it has the ARO -- obviously in an apartment I am not looking to get reference reproduction or anything close. But at the same time I am not willing to sacrifice any accuracy or clarity...

As for the price I am able to get on the F110 -- I have a 'special connection' that I am able to get the JL for a low low price...which brings it down to same range as the ULS...

 

[GlocksRock]

I see... then if just one, I'd probably go with the ULS, but both subs will serve you just fine.

 

[shadyJ]

Honestly, if you can get a F110 for that low of a price, I would buy some and sell them for a profit, if they are new.

 

[jonnymorgan]

So a new living situation called for me selling my PB13-Ultra a while back and now I am finally tired of waiting and am going to pull the trigger on a new sub. There are indeed space limitations and I am in an apartment so I don't want/need anything that will have the police at my door on a regular basis...

I should also while I am well aware of the advantages that DIY offer -- I am NOT interested in having pro-audio amps and processors in my gear nor do I have the room for them. I am only looking into commerical options -- be it brand or ID companies.

Right now I kind of have it boiled down to two options and not sure if I am missing anything. Those being (1) HSU ULS-15 -- which is on sale right now and can be had for $1,160 delivered OR (2) JL F110 which I can get for over $1k below retail right around the same price as the HSU. The hsu is a bit larger and heavier and if I get it in the Walnut veneer to match furniture it will be the same price as the JL. Not sure which way to go as I would love to try JL for once and it has the ARO which the HSU lacks...

Any thoughts...

You can still go DIY- just use a good plate amp. You could also use a Velodyne controller to provide room correction line level before going into the plate amp. They have em at parts express.

 

[Chopin_Guy]

I've considered the DIY route at length -- however -- the majority of high quality drivers such as the JL W7 and the Audiopulse Axis line on up, all require much more power than a plate amp will put out. The most powerful plate amp you can purchase is the LT.1300 from elemental designs and that is a decent amount of power. However, both the Axis and W7 drivers like more power than that -- epescially in a sealed enclosure. So it's truly a toss up -- I would love to do it but it would be a serious compromise to use a plate amp in an application where the power is needed to achieve flat response. Not to mention -- the cost of having a box built, the plate amp, a SMS-1, and a driver actually comes to about the same as the $1,300 I can pay to get the new F110...or more depending on the driver and cost of the box being built...

 

[Warpdrv]

Have you not seen the thread I posted here...

The Kits from AESpeakers....
The boxes are downright beautiful and already setup to drop the drivers in your self and you could power both small subs with a Yamaha amp on each channel or something along those lines.... PR subs will take next to nothing to get ridiculous output and are very clean sounding as well as very low distortion.... AESpeakers makes the custom drivers for the Submersive here from what I gather....

Great deal and semi DIY but not too bad...

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=64086

Wait til ya see what I'm cookin....

 

[Chopin_Guy]

Wanted to thank everyone for their help...and I have decided to go with the JL F110. I have always wanted to try JL as they certainly appear to have absolutely top notch fabrication and quality of components. I also liked the size of the F110 and the fact that it has the ARO on board to help out a bit with room response. Placing the order today and hopefully I will have it by next week. I will certainly post my impressions once it is set up and intergrated with my system...