A friend's dilemma piqued my curiousty when it comes to subs for HT. Here's the situation:

He has a medium sized room about 2600 cubic feet and is using B&W 683 mains (spec at 38Hz-22kHz). He's looking for a sub to compliment his system for HT use only - music listening is done in 2 channel. He plans on setting the crossover at 50-60Hz.

My suggestion to him, since the main purpose here is to move air for explosions and engine rumbles, is to look on the inexpensive side at subs costing <$400. Since it doesn't need to be musical and crossed fairly low to begin with, will there be much of a difference between an inexpensive versus a more expensive sub? Is it better to spend the extra money for a more expensive sub with a higher power output versus getting two with lower power? Basically would it be better to thave two cheap NHT's or one expenisive Velodyne of the same sized cone?

Imho, good speakers deserve a good sub. With good extension and sound quality. Some of the best subwoofers will not detract from two channel music listening either. A good sub for a good price is obtainable from internect direct brands widely discussed on this forum. Neither NHT or Velodyne represent a tremendously good value from what I've read.
If he doesn't wanna spend more than $400, he can get a decent sounding sub for movies only, but even in that case I'd look at something else other than NHT or Velodyne.

If he doesn't wanna spend more than $400, he can get a decent sounding sub for movies only, but even in that case I'd look at something else other than NHT or Velodyne.

He does want to spend more on an internet direct sub. My miserly ways wants to give him a different perspective on what to buy, but my knowledge on current stuff is a bit lacking.

Good to know about NHT and Velodyne.... Velodyne matched well to Aerius-i's, which is what I have, when I auditioned their line 5+ years ago. I haven't heard any of thier current line.

Imho, good speakers deserve a good sub. With good extension and sound quality. Some of the best subwoofers will not detract from two channel music listening either. A good sub for a good price is obtainable from internect direct brands widely discussed on this forum. Neither NHT or Velodyne represent a tremendously good value from what I've read.
If he doesn't wanna spend more than $400, he can get a decent sounding sub for movies only, but even in that case I'd look at something else other than NHT or Velodyne.

CADOBHuK (and all others),

I'm the guy my friend was referring to, and the subs I am considering are:

PB12-NSD
VTF3.3 (or the Outlaw)
A3-300
Valor

I am leaning towards the NSD because the wait time is reasonable (basically none), the package/box is nice, and the service will be great.

I am leary of jumping in with eD or Epik only because they are new on the block and a solid track record is important to me.

As for the mfw-15, the thing is just huge, AND the wait is long.

My concern is that I might be selling these speakers short but as my friend implied, I mainly want to add to heft to movies. At the same time I don't want to be left with a "what might have been feeling" even though that recent speaker purchase has left me a "little" financially drained.

Thanks in advance.

You may want to take another look at those size specs. They are really all kind of close in size, but with slightly different proportions. All are fine choices, but the first three will give a somewhat stronger bottom end due to porting.

If you don't want to wait for the others, the PB12-NSD is a very good choice. It will make you smile when you hear it.

There's no need to be leary of Epik and ED, there has been a ton of impressions by a ton of people and unless they're all deaf, those subs live up to the hype. Of which I think there's not quite enough. The only reason I would not go with those is if I couldn't wait.

There's no need to be leary of Epik and ED, there has been a ton of impressions by a ton of people and unless they're all deaf, those subs live up to the hype. Of which I think there's not quite enough. The only reason I would not go with those is if I couldn't wait.

Would you choose you the A3-300 over the NSD? I haven't read a lot about the 300.

Thanks again.

Personally, I would, because of the lower price, since the performance should be quite close..I'd get the 16ov.2 upgrade too. Finish on the svs is a little nicer but not a stunner either, judging from Ilkka's photos. If I coudln't wait, it would have to be the NSD obviously.

And tons, TONS, of people buy Bose, and I doubt they're all deaf, but those systems do not live up to the hype.

Image, expectations and hopes do not equate directly with high quality installed performance.


Tim

I have to agree with the idea that you don't want to skimp on a sub with quality speakers. While you don't need a bottom dwelling sub to enjoy HT, you don't want one that puts out muddy sound and messes up the overall sound with harmonics (basically adding other things to the sound which aren't supposed to be there). So getting a good quality sub is still important because if you buy a sub that's cheap, it's going to have to work harder to put out and thus you again run into distortion that affects the main sound from your main speakers.

SVS, Hsu, Outlaw as Internet Direct brands are still very good despite the excitement over some of the offering from newer models from eD and the like. At this point, wait times, finish options, and customer satisfaction should definitely be allowed to weigh into your decision.

I have to agree with the idea that you don't want to skimp on a sub with quality speakers. While you don't need a bottom dwelling sub to enjoy HT, you don't want one that puts out muddy sound and messes up the overall sound with harmonics (basically adding other things to the sound which aren't supposed to be there). So getting a good quality sub is still important because if you buy a sub that's cheap, it's going to have to work harder to put out and thus you again run into distortion that affects the main sound from your main speakers.

SVS, Hsu, Outlaw as Internet Direct brands are still very good despite the excitement over some of the offering from newer models from eD and the like. At this point, wait times, finish options, and customer satisfaction should definitely be allowed to weigh into your decision.

Warpdrive,

I agree, and also, wanted to say thanks for all your earlier help in narrowing down the main speaker choice.

And tons, TONS, of people buy Bose, and I doubt they're all deaf, but those systems do not live up to the hype.

Image, expectations and hopes do not equate directly with high quality installed performance.


Tim

But people who buy bose are not well experienced enthusiasts which are well represented on this forum. Bose also has a huge anti-hype too, and I've yet to read from anyeone disappointed with the performance of his epik or ed product.
I'm all for reviews and comparisons though, there should definetely be a lot more of them than what we have. Too bad I'm really far from being a rich person myself or I'd get lots of subs and do everything to compare them.