Sub Upgrade Recommendations

[Jeff R.]

I am looking to upgrade my 2 channel system subwoofer, get rid off my old Infiniti sub. This sub will be used 90% for music or just watching TV. Very little movie use, so I am not needing 20 hz performance. I need a lot of output, the room is big. I also need it to be as compact as I can, sealed would be great if I can get the desired output. My budget is around $500-600 max. I only want a single sub, this is my main family room and appearance is important to my wife.

Please let me know what you recommend.

Right now I am leaning toward a HSU VTFII - MKIII that is on sale for $519. I am open to any suggestions except DIY, I could do kit though. Although some of the Dayton kits give performance, however I am not convinced that they look very nice to be in main living area.

Thanks

Jeff

 

[sholling]

You didn't mention the actual room size but Outlaw Audio has their LFM1-EX on sale for $552 shipped.

 

[Jeff R.]

The room size is lets just say huge.....I have a fully open floor plan on my main floor that is open to my lower level also plus vaulted ceilings. Right now I have my dual A2-300's in that area and they fill the room with no issues. I need to come as close to those in output as possible, but can give up the low end response since it will be primarily music.

 

[Jeff R.]

The Outlaw look promising, what does it give me over the HSU??

Also I noticed the EPIC Legend may be a good candidate. I continuously read great things about all 3 of these companies and their products...Which will give me the most output?

 

[kesando]

It seems like the Outlaws performance would slot in between the HSU VTF II and III. Priced at $552 shipped it is a great value. Keep in mind that the outlaw subs were designed in part by HSU.

I would also check out the Rythmik FV12 priced on sale for $494 without shipping.

http://www.rythmikaudio.com/FV12.html

 

[Jeff R.]

Thanks for the advice......Right now I am getting a quote from Elemental Design to build me a box for my older Eclipse SW8102 10" subs that I used to use in my car. I am leaning toward putting those in a vented box and using a 500W plate amp as my power to them. Anybody think that spending about $500 toward this would be a better investment and yield better performance??

 

[bikdav]

That's not a bad idea at all. I have a 12 inch car stereo sub doing home subwoofer duty since they are so readily available. Mine is doing awesomely well. The trick to getting that to work is an appropriate box and amplifier. As I discovered, thus is not hard to do and I suspect that most car subs can serve such duty very well.

 

[Jeff R.]

I think I am going to go with an Epik Legend, it seems like a heck of a sub at that price point.

I am trying to understand or quanitfy the output I will see from this sub. Will I be able to get close to what my dual A2-300 can do or do I lose volume output since it is a sealed enclosure?

 

[shadyJ]

You will be losing output going from two A2-300s to a single Epik Legend. How much is hard to say since I have never seen any measurements on the Epik sub. It might not make a difference though, depending on how loud you listen to the music. You will definitely be losing extension. However, the Legend should get plenty loud, and, for a single sub solution for your situation, it should do well. I wonder how it stacks up against the Emotiva Ultra Sub 12, which actually measured very well in the Audioholics review. Do yourself a favor and take a look at that review before you pull the trigger.

 

[j_garcia]

I don't think you will be losing too much output, but you will be losing some extension compared to vented subs. IMO, what you will gain is clean output. I have not heard the A2-300, but I can also say that a vented sub in the same price range isn't likely to be as clean as the Epik. When I ordered my Empire, I thought output might be a problem. It wasn't

 

[Jeff R.]

I think I am going to order the Epik in the next few days.....just need to think about it over the weekend.