We have a somewhat odd-shaped living area. The main living area is about 15'x15', with a ceiling vaulting from 9' to maybe 14', averaging about 12', so that's about 2700 ft^3. But it's completely open to the left side and extends diagonally a further 15', with the ceiling vaulting down. At a SWAG, this is another 1000 ft^3. It in turn opens to a dining area that's maybe 15x12 with 8' ceiling. Overall it's a V-shape ceiling, with the TV and mains/center along the inside of the V. The house as a whole is very much open.
About a year ago I upgrade the audio to B&W 603 mains (the latest available at the time, which I'm pretty sure is the new version -- 2x6" woofer, 6" mid plus tweeter) and an ASW610 sub, with a Marantz SR5014 receiver. I'm reasonably happy with the mains, but that sub (sealed box that's barely more than 1' cube on the outside and 10" driver w/200w amp) is pretty clearly underpowered and I should have researched it better. It's located in the corner of the living room under the high ceiling, along the same wall as the TV and mains. Whatever I do, that's where the sub will be. It's where my wife wants it and there really isn't any other good location; 2 subs are out, and realistically I'm limited to about 18" wide. The room is overall quite live; we have a large area rug and L-shape sofa and chair, but no heavy drapes. The speakers are all matte black finish.
My personal interest is music. I sometimes want to listen to music with an organ (e. g. Saint-Saens's Organ symphony) or jazz or rock with strong bass. I was listening to an album by one of my favorites, The Warning, whose bassist is very strong and a key part of their dynamic. The bass wasn't very satisfactory, although that may be partly the mix. The bassist recently got a 5-string (B0 at 31 Hz) and I expect she'll be using it enthusiastically in the next album.
My wife is more into movies and TV. Usually I don't watch that much, but some of the movies I like (e. g. Apollo 13) probably do have significant bass and it would be appealing, at least to me, to get more of a kick. We don't listen at inordinately high volumes.
I'm not looking to spend a huge amount (under $1K, preferably a bit less), and I'd like something that one person can move (there are 6 steps up from the entrance) and that isn't too imposing. The ones I've been looking at are:
- Hsu Research VTF2 mk5 (small and cheap, but still appears to be a big step up from the ASW610)
- Hsu Research VTF3 mk5 (obviously a bit of a different category and rather bigger; the ULS-15 doesn't look all that appealing and is right on the edge width-wise)
- SVS PB-2000 Pro (the SB-2000 Pro isn't a whole lot cheaper and it appears to give up a lot of low bass)
- SVS SB-3000 (the PB-3000 looks a bit much; the SB-3000 is definitely on the high end of what I'd want to pay)
The VTF2 has impressive-looking specs at least on paper (other than the 350w amp) for the price, but this is definitely not a small room. The SB-3000 looks on paper like it rolls off significantly even at 30-40 Hz if I'm interpreting the numbers correctly, but I don't know what that translates to in real life. The VTF3 is very bulky. It's sounding from this like I'm leaning either VTF2 or PB-2000. I like the price of the VTF2 if it's going to yield results in practice close to the PB-2000.
Thoughts/opinions?