Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Suggest a good home subwoofer

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Posted by Mark J. Marshall (Member # 1409) on 05-15-2011, 07:26 AM:

Hey, guys. I'm getting ready to upgrade my home theater system in my living room. I mention that it's a living room because it's not a full fledged theater atmosphere, and it's a regular sized living room. Not a huge room. However I do want it to have REALLY good sound. I'm thinking I'll probably get either a Pioneer or Denon receiver. My questions are about the speakers. Specifically the subwoofer. Is 20hz still the floor with the new Blu-Ray audio formats?

I've heard a lot of bad subwoofers, and I've heard a few good ones. I used to have one that was styled like a wooden cabinet, maybe the size of an end table, that had an 18" cone pointed at the floor. Unfortunately, I had to get rid of it, and I regret doing that. That thing had some of the cleanest sounding deep rich bass I think I've ever heard and felt. I don't think I have room for something like that, but if I can find something that sounds close to it in quality that would be awesome.

Right now I have a $300 Walmart system where one subwoofer does ALL of the bass for all of the channels. I don't want that. I want a subwoofer that will handle the LFE, and the rest of the speakers should be able to handle most if not all of their range on their own.

Any suggestions? Price is not so much of an issue as long as I'm not buying one that's plated in gold or something.

Thanks!

Posted by Steven J Hart (Member # 2340) on 05-15-2011, 07:43 AM:

I really like the HSU research VTF-15H. Its rated to go as low as 15 hz +/-2db. I've had this sub for about four months and it is amazing. My room is 22 X 26 ft, and one of these seems to be plenty.
HSU research

Posted by Sam Graham (Member # 2889) on 05-15-2011, 04:44 PM:

Agreed on HSU. I have the HSU VTF-2 MK3. I've had it about three years and it's been great.

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 05-15-2011, 06:27 PM:

I have a pair of Velodynes, one is 10 inch and the other 12 or 15 (I forget) and I also forget the model numbers right now. But I like how you can adjust the phasing and whatnot. It gets pretty damned low and still remains loud. It even allows you to EQ it and comes with a mic just for that, though I'm not sure what good that does. I guess it just looks for standing waves, maybe?

Also of great importance is to have main speakers than can go pretty low on their own. None of this shit with 5 inch woofers!

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 05-15-2011, 07:12 PM:

There is only one choice, and I dare anyone to find a better one. NOTHING is as awesome as these.

SB-15121

Posted by Louis Bornwasser (Member # 3063) on 05-15-2011, 08:29 PM:

Yes, but if I do THAT, I'll have to pad the furnace pipes down in the basement! Louis

Posted by Paul Mayer (Member # 355) on 05-15-2011, 10:00 PM:

As great as that QSC sub is, unfortunately its WAF (Wife Acceptance Factor) would be incredibly low. [Big Grin]

Posted by Brad Miller (Member # 2) on 05-15-2011, 10:17 PM:

Oh I get it now, "incredibly low". [Razz]

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 05-15-2011, 10:18 PM:

Get rid of the wife. [Big Grin]

Posted by Joe Redifer (Member # 3) on 05-15-2011, 10:49 PM:

Yeah but the QSC doesn't have a built-in 100 watt amp so it is full of fail. [Smile]

Posted by Mark Strube (Member # 4190) on 05-16-2011, 03:50 PM:

Regarding the receiver... from my own and my friends' recent experiences with Pioneer receivers, I would recommend you steer clear. Their quality and reliability has been decreasing, and they've been falling behind the curve as far as features Vs. price. I cannot comment from personal experience with Denon, but I've been reading their recent products have not come close to warranting their premium price.

I can recommend Onkyo very highly. Great features for the price... and you aren't sacrificing build quality or reliability either.

As far as subwoofers... it's not available anymore but I have been enjoying the JBL PSW-D115 for many years. It's a giant powered 15" subwoofer (weighs around 80 lbs) with extension down to 20Hz.

Posted by Tony Bandiera Jr (Member # 2365) on 05-16-2011, 07:33 PM:

To join Mark S., stay away from the Denons as well. The new ones are "Hecho in China" and are TOTAL CRAP especially for the price.

I had one dead one new out of the box, and all three I have bought can't handle the video switching chore as they blank out the video for several seconds on the slightest glitch.

Onkyo is the safest bet right now.

As for the sub, I have an EV 18" from a theatre I upgraded in a 12x14 living room. [Big Grin]

Posted by Pravin Ratnam (Member # 1417) on 05-18-2011, 01:16 AM:

Thinking of upgrading my ancient prologic system . I am willing to spend around 2000 for the speakers(dont need a super elite one as I have no dedicated home theater room) and around 400-500 for the receiver.

Receivers : Yamaha or Onkyo?

What about speakers? So may brands - Aperion, KEF, Paradigm, Infinity, polk, jbl, cerwin vega, and on and on.
I want two towers, the center speaker, surrounds and the subwoofer. Is 1500 a good price point at which you get very good quality and maximum value for your buck? I plan on scouring older models going on sale since speaker tech doesn't get obsolete.

Posted by Scott Jentsch (Member # 1681) on 05-18-2011, 03:25 PM:

I have an M&K MX-100 sub that I bought many years ago. Dual 12" push-pull drivers equal lots of low frequency satisfaction! [Smile]

If I had to pick out something now, I'd head towards HSU and Outlaw. HSU has a great reputation, but I've never heard them. I've spec'd two Outlaw's for family members, and they've been quite happy with them.

Depending on room size and configuration issues, I'd go with two medium-sized subs over a single larger sub. Medium-sized boxes will make them a little more living room friendly, and having two will tackle room-related issues with standing waves.

If you can swing it from a cost and aesthetics point of view, floorstanding speakers instead of bookshelves should result in better sound as well. As long as you can match the crossover points between them and the subs, having something that can dip down into the 50 Hz range will allow your subs to concentrate on the lower frequencies without having to reach higher to accommodate smaller bookshelf units. The maximum lower frequency I would go with for the non-sub speakers is 80 Hz. Much higher than that, and you're going to start getting voices into the sub, and decent subs shouldn't be asked to go into the 100+ Hz range anyway.

I like Boston Acoustics speakers, and I really lusted after their VR3's but could never justify the purchase. They came out with the "A" series recently, which may be a suitable replacement, but Boston Acoustics is pretty hard to find around here, so I haven't had the chance to demo them at all.

I've been a big Yamaha receiver fan for quite a while. I've owned four of them over the years. In late 2009, I bought a Denon 2310, and it's OK, but I find its usability very frustrating after being spoiled with the Yamaha RX-V2500. Given the opportunity, I would like to trade out the Denon for one of the higher-grade Yamahas.

Posted by Vern Dias (Member # 5241) on 05-26-2011, 03:55 PM:

Check out SVS for subs....

http://www.svsound.com/products-sub.cfm

Vern