I have to admit I am a bit lost when it comes to subwoofers. I've done extensive reading (both on and off these forums) and am still feeling a bit lost.
I am looking in the $300-500 area and really like the A2 and A3s from Elemental Designs. Asides from my indecision as to whether the 300 is worth the extra money over the 250, and whether the A3 is worth it over the A2, I am stuck with one other problem.

I recently bought the Energy RC-30s from FS. They have a dark cherry colour. I am not sold on having a subwoofer that someone matches them but I know I won't hear the end of it from my wife. So...


1) Any chance you think the Elemental Designs' subs will come in anything other than black any time in the future (i.e. in cherry)

2) Any suggestions on comparable subs that do come in cherry.



More info below if it helps with any suggestions. Thanks so much!


1. Your budget.
- $300-500 (600 is probably my hard max after tax/shipping)

2. Size requirements/limits.
- none really

3. Room dimensions.
- about 12' x 20' but a portion of the room has another room jutting in to it

4. Primary uses.
- 1) tv 2) movies 3) music 4) radio

5. Listening habits.
- have 2 kids so I can't crank it up at night time. Generally medium volume

6. Appearance requirements.
- hoping for cherry coloured to match my RC-30s

7. Timeframe.
- I like to get things right away but don't mind waiting weeks/months for the right price or the perfect sub

1) Not in the super near future but it is something we're working towards with getting our new CNC.

1) Not in the super near future but it is something we're working towards with getting our new CNC.

Hey Chris,
Is the finish on the subs something that can be painted over without losing any sound quality? (not sure what kind of paint or veneer one would need on a sub but I'm sure someone makes it somewhere)

Hey Chris,
Is the finish on the subs something that can be painted over without losing any sound quality? (not sure what kind of paint or veneer one would need on a sub but I'm sure someone makes it somewhere)

You can get them bare if you really want to.

Paint shouldn't affect SQ at all, unless it's some really weird paint :)

Might look into an X-sub Encore (10") or X-Plosive (10" active 2 12" passive radiators) from AV123. The new X-sub should be around $299 X-plosive around $449, who knows when they will be out though, hopefully by the end of the year.

Save a little cash and get one unfinished.
Then sand, primer and paint to your desire.

Questions for you --- what other subs have you owned in the past? And where were you living when you owned them?(same room as now?)

Hey matty
Congrats on those RC's. Did you buy the Cherry or the Rosenut finish? A guy over in the Energy thread..aka..Batpig, has the Rosenut and finished off some speaker stands. He stained and varnished them, I believe, and they look mighty close to the Rosenut color finish on his RC 10's. May want to give him a shout if interested.

Stain + MDF = Looks like poo. Only paint it if you decide to get it unfinished.

Check out this (http://www.icixsound.com/vb/showthread.php?t=58057) to if you decide to wait for eD to get more finishes

ohhhh. missed that fact.. strike that last thought about the stain...paint all the way.

Save a little cash and get one unfinished.
Then sand, primer and paint to your desire.

Questions for you --- what other subs have you owned in the past? And where were you living when you owned them?(same room as now?)

Not really any 'real' subs. I bought a $50 RCA HTiB when there was a flyer error :) The only thing I would put as a real sub is one from the Athena Micra 6. I think it was called 225 or something like that.


Hey matty
Congrats on those RC's. Did you buy the Cherry or the Rosenut finish? A guy over in the Energy thread..aka..Batpig, has the Rosenut and finished off some speaker stands. He stained and varnished them, I believe, and they look mighty close to the Rosenut color finish on his RC 10's. May want to give him a shout if interested.

I'll take a look to see what he posted and send him a message if I decide to venture down that route. I got the cherry, which is quite dark in contrast to the product images. Looks more like the rosenut images i think.

Hsu Research (link above) just started selling their VTF lines in different color finishes. The Rosenut is their darker red tint finish option and the VTF-1 is near your price range. Just go to their forum and look for the thread called "Pics of new VTF finishes". Excellent subs!

Also noticed the A2-300 is cheaper than the A2-250. Any reason that would be the case, just on special?

Just on special. The A2-300 is normally $375.

High quality inexpensive eD subwoofer...with free shipping. I pulled the trigger on the A2-300. I can only imagine it will exceed my expectations given my lack of previous experience with subwoofers.

Colour be darned. I'll let my wife figure that out after we get it :)