Please help me decide on a Sub....

[HP666]

Hey guys,

I have narrowed my search down to Axiom, SVS, and HSU as far as new HT system's go. Keep in mind that I am using my eqipment for 50% TV/movies and 50% music. I listen to quite a bit of VERY heavy music, Death Metal, to Maiden, Sabbath, etc. My room is about 2,300 Cu Sq Ft with 7' ceilings. The room is a finished basement which has only one opening which is a doorway to lead up a small flight of stairs to get to the kitchen, so the area is pretty well contained.
At the moment I am leaning toward an Axiom setup, 2 M60's, 1 VP150 center, and 2 QS8's for the rear. My biggest question is do I go with the Axiom EP500 to keep the soundstage uniform or do I get one of the SVS PB-12 Plus/2, which will cost me about $319 more including shipping. I have no doubt that the EP500 has enough balls to kill in that room already, but from what I hear the PB12 Plus/2 is absolutley ludicrous. I'm sort of talking myself out of it because of the $319 and keeping everything uniform, but do you think it will make a drastic difference and be worth it to go with the SVS?

I'm also considering a full SVS setup comprised of all SCS-01's from SVS, which are their center channel speakers with 2 woofers. They actually offer a 7.1 setup using 7 of these babies. I told them I'm not crazy about their SBS-01's due to my music listening habits so they suggested this option. They said to trust them when they say this setup is KILLER.

I'm also looking at the HSU Ultimate I setup. Seems pretty nice for the price. If you're not familiar you can see it here.
http://www.hsuresearch.com/products/ultimate1.html

I know I said a lot here, but as I said in the beginning, at the moment I'm leaning towards Axiom. Any input would be appreciated.

 

[Nick250]

First to get this out of the way, there is no matching sound stage factor with subs, so get what you want. None of subs you mentioned will taxed by your room, ear damage most likely will occur first. For convince I would go with the Axiom sub if I bought their speakers and the same with SVS and Hsu. I have seen no reviews of the new Hsu speakers, but if you have, post a link.

Nick

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

Craig at AVS has purchased all the following subs, and has done shootouts on all these subs with others in attendance. 100 points would be his refernce sub - the best he had before his rankings (Velo DD18). The HSU VTF3 Mark III without the turbo seems to be the best bang for the buck for HT and music, based on how that thread is going. He's also a very big fan of the PB12 NSD sub. Here are his results with approx. pricing:

1. $3200 + (shipping?) JL Audio Fathom 113: 103 points.
2. $4995 + (shipping?) Velodyne DD-18: 100 points.
3. $2150 + (shipping?) ACI Maestro: 97 points.
4. $2200 + (shipping?) JL Audio Fathom 112: 95 points.
5. $999 + ($105 Shipping) Hsu VTF-3 HO + Turbo: 94 points
5a. $899 + ( $80 shipping) Hsu VTF-3 HO w/o Turbo: 92 points
6. $649 + ($75 shipping) VTF-3 Mark III w/o turbo: 91 points
7. $1299 + ( $99 shipping) SVS PB12-Ultra: 90 points.
7T. $1200 + ( $0 shipping included) Axiom EP-500: 90 points
8. $1299 + ( $99 shipping) SVS PB12-Plus/2: 87 points.
9. $599 + ($50+ shipping) PB12-NSD: 86 Points
10. $1099 + ($100 shipping) Rocket UFW-12: 85 points (provisional)
11. $199 + ($43 shipping) Rocket X-Sub: 78 points
12. $99 + (shipping?) Rocket Tyke: 60 points

Here are a few pics of some of the subs he's tested. Quite amazing, isn't it?

Almost looks like the back lot (testing grounds) at SVS.

 

[billy p]

Wow

svs ultra/2 is 6th & the plus/2 8th. and the hsu's in the middle. One must ask how good are the JL's?

PS: Don't let Mike C see this chart, he may want to upgrade.

 

[Ryan8886]

If you want to keep your budget within the Earthly plane, based on the room size you're talking about, if you went with SVS, you could comfortably stick with the NSD series (or PCi series in a cylinder sub) and still blow yourself half deaf!

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

svs ultra/2 is 6th & the plus/2 8th. and the hsu's in the middle. One must ask how good are the JL's?

PS: Don't let Mike C see this chart, he may want to upgrade.

That's not the Ultra/2, just the single Ultra. The point system is so close together, I wouldn't let a few points make or break your final decision. These subs are big, so first off make sure they fit your decor. Second, don't forget SVS has a new single 13.5" Ultra coming out soon, where the price should only increase a $100 - $200 over the existing single 12" Ultra. The new single Ultra has a tuning point down to 10Hz! It may be the next sub to have. Finally, these subs are scored based on music and movies. Don't assume the PB12 NSD has anywhere near the dB and low bass output as a Plus/2 if you're trying to fill a 4000 sq.ft. room with home theater bass.

 

[billy p]

Opps

sorry about that!. Went over to avs and read most of that thread by craigsub and he did make the point that there was no winner/loser. I will say the sb12 plus was high on my mind last fall. However I might step up and get the pb12 plus so there won't be no regret later, now only the wait for the new house to be built. The newer single driver ultra is OH SO SWEET but the price will be a least $1600.00 CDN.

 

[mike c]

i'm actually reading the AVS thread on this ... but since I have no source/dealer of JL audio, I'm not actually considering the JL. maybe the new SVS ultra when it's released (if it's still bang for the buck).

i am in the process of ordering dual SVS pb12 plus though it's for my dad's HT ... hopefully, that pushes through and quenches my curiosity with SVS.