This will be my first subwoofer. My "system" is ANCIENT (bits and pieces from the school days, and of course those lovely speakers from the first paycheck... ah.. memories).

Anyhoo, I am thinking about slowly upgrading the pieces, but first something I've always wanted but could never afford before: the subwoofer.

I'm not a newcomer to audio, however, I've always been on the low-end of things. Given the great reviews of the BIC H100 (~$250), and the VTF-2 (~$550), is the HSU sub "worth" double the cost?

I mean, is it really THAT much better? I can literally buy 2 BIC H100s (humor me.. would this beat a single VTF-2?).

With audio equipment, I feel like the point of diminishing return arrives relatively early. Where are we on the diminishing return curve when jumping from these two subs--2x price for [5,10,20...100]% improvement?

Any firsthand upgraders that took this path?

Take my advice with a grain of salt - I have NOT heard either the Bic H-100 or the Hsu VTF2 MK3. However, I have played the slow upgrade/replacement sub game. I've gone from a Velodyne VX-10 to an Infinity PS212 (probably not too far off the Bic's performance) to SVS PB10-NSD (considered slightly lower end than the VTF2 MK3) and the difference is well worth the cost, IMO. Do yourself a favor and save money in the long run by getting a quality sub earlier on. That's my advice. If you have the money to get the VTF2 MK3, it's worth it. A single VTF2's might not be louder than two Bic's across the entire frequency spectrum, but the Hsu should sound better and play quite a bit deeper. If it were me, I'd get the Hsu. Hopefully some Bic/Hsu owners will chime in with their advice, but that's mine.

This will be my first subwoofer. My "system" is ANCIENT (bits and pieces from the school days, and of course those lovely speakers from the first paycheck... ah.. memories).

Anyhoo, I am thinking about slowly upgrading the pieces, but first something I've always wanted but could never afford before: the subwoofer.

I'm not a newcomer to audio, however, I've always been on the low-end of things. Given the great reviews of the BIC H100 (~$250), and the VTF-2 (~$550), is the HSU sub "worth" double the cost?

I mean, is it really THAT much better? I can literally buy 2 BIC H100s (humor me.. would this beat a single VTF-2?).

With audio equipment, I feel like the point of diminishing return arrives relatively early. Where are we on the diminishing return curve when jumping from these two subs--2x price for [5,10,20...100]% improvement?

Any firsthand upgraders that took this path?

Quality and deep bass wise, 1 Hsu is better than 2 BIC 100.

Quality beats quantity especially if music is involved hsu would be my choice of the 2.

Take my advice with a grain of salt - I have NOT heard either the Bic H-100 or the Hsu VTF2 MK3. However, I have played the slow upgrade/replacement sub game. I've gone from a Velodyne VX-10 to an Infinity PS212 (probably not too far off the Bic's performance) to SVS PB10-NSD (considered slightly lower end than the VTF2 MK3) and the difference is well worth the cost, IMO. Do yourself a favor and save money in the long run by getting a quality sub earlier on. That's my advice. If you have the money to get the VTF2 MK3, it's worth it. A single VTF2's might not be louder than two Bic's across the entire frequency spectrum, but the Hsu should sound better and play quite a bit deeper. If it were me, I'd get the Hsu. Hopefully some Bic/Hsu owners will chime in with their advice, but that's mine.

I agree with this post 100%. I did the samething. Started with a sony sub. Went to a PS-12 then dual PS212 subs. Finally sold all that stuff bought a HSU 3.3 sub and loved it so much bought another one. Then added a MBM-12 and the turbos for the dual 3.3. So now I am very happy with my dual HSU 3.3 with MBM-12. So in other words start high when it come to subwoofers. If you dont you will catch a virus called upgraditis.:eek:

I agree with this post 100%. I did the samething. Started with a sony sub. Went to a PS-12 then dual PS212 subs. Finally sold all that stuff bought a HSU 3.3 sub and loved it so much bought another one. Then added a MBM-12 and the turbos for the dual 3.3. So now I am very happy with my dual HSU 3.3 with MBM-12. So in other words start high when it come to subwoofers. If you dont you will catch a virus called upgraditis.:eek:

I ended up with two SVS's as well. The SVS/Hsu subs are just on a different level than the Bic (or in our case, the Infinity PS212's we had before). Again, to the OP: if you can afford it, get the Hsu 2.3. It's well worth the extra cost!

And as a side note to bori, I also started with a Sony sub :cool:. Man, what a difference it is to go to real subwoofers, huh?

in that range, i would also look at some of the offerings from eD....if you can wait, you will find unbelievable performance for the dollar. though i know youll be happy with the HSU, just check out eD or Epik even.

I recently upgraded to a Hsu VTF2 MK3 for a 2.1 system and let me just say... Get the Hsu VTF2 MK3!!!!!:D

VTF-2 should be worth twice the price of bic, but then if you can wait and live with a rugged finish, a3-300 (http://www.edesignaudio.com/product_info.php?cPath=2_41&products_id=102) would be a more powerful sub than vtf-2 for only about $400 if you substract the shipping from the price.

I ended up with two SVS's as well. The SVS/Hsu subs are just on a different level than the Bic (or in our case, the Infinity PS212's we had before). Again, to the OP: if you can afford it, get the Hsu 2.3. It's well worth the extra cost!

And as a side note to bori, I also started with a Sony sub :cool:. Man, what a difference it is to go to real subwoofers, huh?


Yes a huge difference the sony sub was terrible. I basically had no bass in my early stages home theater. Things started to improve when I went with the infinity subs but, the HSU 3.3 turbos with MBM-12 are out of this world. I watched ladder 49 on blu ray today and I could of sworn my couch was hovering over the floor during some bassy scenes.:D