Sunfire true subwooder Jr. Vs. Supercube II and III

[vios500]

I hope to get any input from anyone on this comparison. I know i like the supercube III because I have heard it, but I have not yet listened to the Sunfire tru junior. The sunfire has 1200W where the Supercube has 650W. I can get a really good price on the Sunfire right now, but is it as clean and crisp as the supercube? $450 or so for the sunfire ..600+ for the supercube. Placement I guess is a real drawback with the sunfire from the reviews I have seen. Any input would be great, I am new to this forum. Thanks.

 

[Seth=L]

I take you you need/want a subwoofer with a small footprint? I have listened to subwoofers from the Supercube series, and have owned a Sunfire Truesub before and I can't say that either presents a great value. $450 seems to be a decent deal on the Sunfire, I would skip the Def Tech for sure though.

 

[eddiem67]

Are you looking for strictly home theater use? If so the sunfire will do a wonderful job. Otherwise step up the the JL Audio Sub, its worth every penny.

 

[vios500]

I plan on using it more for Home theatre, some online game play, and minimal music. Looking to get into the true HD and DTS HD when available. I did take a listen to the sunfire tru junior 1200w, and that one packs a punch. It seemed to me thought that the bass was constantly there even when it really did not belong there. Trying to stay on a budget, but the sunfire did sound great with out accurate placement. The supecube did seem to be a little more crisp though. I can pay a little more to get a new Supercube compared to the 450 for the six year old sunfire. Any input about these subs would be great.

 

[Seth=L]

I plan on using it more for Home theatre, some online game play, and minimal music. Looking to get into the true HD and DTS HD when available. I did take a listen to the sunfire tru junior 1200w, and that one packs a punch. It seemed to me thought that the bass was constantly there even when it really did not belong there. Trying to stay on a budget, but the sunfire did sound great with out accurate placement. The supecube did seem to be a little more crisp though. I can pay a little more to get a new Supercube compared to the 450 for the six year old sunfire. Any input about these subs would be great.

Do you need to have a subwoofer with a small footprint? If not, you can get better sound for the money.

 

[gliz]

I agree with Seth=l SVS, HSU, axiom make outstanding subs, so if space is not an issue...

 

[eddiem67]

Budget...go with the above mention or AV123 x series

small footprint, super junior or the D-series line. I have the D8 and it does an awesome job for low end.

 

[vios500]

Thanks for the reply, I am new to High end audio and I am not sure what you mean by small footprint? And I was wondering what the draw back to the supercubes are? I thought they were amazing when I heard them, but I cannot say the same for the other subs mentioned because I simply dont know and have not heard them. These other subs that were mentioned, do they blow away the supercubes, or is it just the value? I hope to find a dealer or somewhere I can actually test these others. Thanks

 

[Tod]

Footprint means how much floor space it takes up. Can't help with anything else though - I haven't heard any of the subs.

 

[Seth=L]

Thanks for the reply, I am new to High end audio and I am not sure what you mean by small footprint? And I was wondering what the draw back to the supercubes are? I thought they were amazing when I heard them, but I cannot say the same for the other subs mentioned because I simply dont know and have not heard them. These other subs that were mentioned, do they blow away the supercubes, or is it just the value? I hope to find a dealer or somewhere I can actually test these others. Thanks

While they sound impressive for their size, you are paying for the size more than performance. SVS and HSU have better sound and output capability for the price.

 

[darien87]

Are you looking for strictly home theater use? If so the sunfire will do a wonderful job. Otherwise step up the the JL Audio Sub, its worth every penny.

Dude, how the heck are you going to recommend a $1,300 sub to a guy that's looking in the $400 - $600 range?!?!? Sure, the JL is a great sub. It's just out of most people's budget.

I'll make a different recommendation. If you have any kind of mechanical ability, I'd recommend putting together one of the Rythmik Audio kits. I recently did the 12" kit in the carport of my condo with minimal tools. It was pretty easy, and I LOVE the sub. Plus, when you build it yourself, you can customize it to match the rest of your furniture.

 

[vios500]

Thanks for the reply, I have done some research on the SVS subs and there are not any dealers I can go to see how they sound. It is kind of hard for me to justify paying 400-600 on something I have not seen and heard first hand.
But I guess I have 45 days to return the sub if it not to my liking. Do you own one of these subs? and are they more for HT or musical subs? And are there any other reviews I can view to get a better idea about theses subs.? Thanks for the help.

 

[Seth=L]

Thanks for the reply, I have done some research on the SVS subs and there are not any dealers I can go to see how they sound. It is kind of hard for me to justify paying 400-600 on something I have not seen and heard first hand.
But I guess I have 45 days to return the sub if it not to my liking. Do you own one of these subs? and are they more for HT or musical subs? And are there any other reviews I can view to get a better idea about theses subs.? Thanks for the help.

Many members here do own SVS and HSU subwoofers. I had an HSU STF-2 and I can say it sounded leagues better than the Sunfire Truesub I had. The Sunfire also would never stop humming, which annoyed the crap out of me.

 

[darien87]

Thanks for the reply, I have done some research on the SVS subs and there are not any dealers I can go to see how they sound. It is kind of hard for me to justify paying 400-600 on something I have not seen and heard first hand.
But I guess I have 45 days to return the sub if it not to my liking. Do you own one of these subs? and are they more for HT or musical subs? And are there any other reviews I can view to get a better idea about theses subs.? Thanks for the help.

That's the one problem with the ID companies. But they realize this, which is why they have the liberal return policies. If you don't like it, just send it back.

 

[vios500]

Thanks for the reply, darien I noticed you have a ps3, and I was wondering if you maximize it for everything such as music, surround sound, applications etc.? Is the fiber optic the only way to get the surround sound from your ps3, or is there another way ? I am looking to get a recevier, maybe onkyo 705 with hdmi. Do you use the true HD yet?, and how do you like it if so. I dont think the ps3 has rca audio inputs? I hope I can get my surround sound through the ps3 for most of what I want to do. Any input would be great. Cant wait to get Saving private ryan, madden and resistance in THX, or True HD...

 

[Seth=L]

Thanks for the reply, darien I noticed you have a ps3, and I was wondering if you maximize it for everything such as music, surround sound, applications etc.? Is the fiber optic the only way to get the surround sound from your ps3, or is there another way ? I am looking to get a recevier, maybe onkyo 705 with hdmi. Do you use the true HD yet?, and how do you like it if so. I dont think the ps3 has rca audio inputs? I hope I can get my surround sound through the ps3 for most of what I want to do. Any input would be great. Cant wait to get Saving private ryan, madden and resistance in THX, or True HD...

HDMI is the only possible way to get Dolby TrueHD, and the PS3 does the decoding. What happens is the PS3 takes the TrueHD bitstream and converts it to multichannel LPCM for output via HDMI (something optical and coaxial SPDIF cannot do) to a capable receiver (the TX-SR705 will work fine for this) where it converts the incoming LPCM to surround sound output. A few Blu-ray titles also feature 7.1 LPCM tracks that can be output the same way.

 

[eddiem67]

Dude, how the heck are you going to recommend a $1,300 sub to a guy that's looking in the $400 - $600 range?!?!? Sure, the JL is a great sub. It's just out of most people's budget.

I'll make a different recommendation. If you have any kind of mechanical ability, I'd recommend putting together one of the Rythmik Audio kits. I recently did the 12" kit in the carport of my condo with minimal tools. It was pretty easy, and I LOVE the sub. Plus, when you build it yourself, you can customize it to match the rest of your furniture.

Sometimes its better to spend a little more to get what you want. HSU, AV123, SVU, and ED all make great subs for the budget, they are all port design so output is very easy to do. The problem with port design is you give away real estate if you are limited to space in the room. Companies like Sunfire and JL put alot of research not only with there subs, but in there enclosures as well. Sufficient power and bracing are key in these type of designs without hindering the output and sound of the sub. They cost more but look beautiful, sound great and dont take up alot of space. If you on a budget and just want bang for your buck then go with what everyone else is saying.

 

[cbraver]

The Sunfire also would never stop humming, which annoyed the crap out of me.

That's almost certainly a ground loop, and not a problem with the subwoofer. A lot of times this is from your cable or satellite box because of the voltage differences between their grounds. An easy test is to remove the coaxial cable from the box and see if the hum goes away. An isolator may be installed between the wall and your cable box to get rid of this, or one may be installed between the pre-out and input to the sub. Subwoofers with a grounded power cable will notice this, whereas two prong ones won't.

Sometimes its better to spend a little more to get what you want. HSU, AV123, SVU, and ED all make great subs for the budget, they are all port design so output is very easy to do. The problem with port design is you give away real estate if you are limited to space in the room. Companies like Sunfire and JL put alot of research not only with there subs, but in there enclosures as well. Sufficient power and bracing are key in these type of designs without hindering the output and sound of the sub. They cost more but look beautiful, sound great and dont take up alot of space. If you on a budget and just want bang for your buck then go with what everyone else is saying.

Very well said. Clean low frequencies are hard to reproduce, and doing so generally is expensive (especially when using small drivers and enclosures). Most people don't like clean bass though, they are used to high harmonic distortions and believe this to be good and what it should sound like. When they hear clean bass, it is highly unwhelming to them. But I think audio is about whatever makes you happy.

In the end, it's what sounds best to you. I highly recommend M&K (their website is under construction right now, but check with a local dealer) in that price range. Demo stuff!