AVS guys,

My fiancee and I just picked out a new apartment. Now, I want a new TV, she wants surround sound. Sounds good to me. I think I'm gonna go with the Velodyne front row system, but I need a receiver and sub to go with it.

Now, I don't want to make the elderly couple who will live below us hate us...so it doesn't have to be overly powerful (although I guess I can adjust the level of bass).

What is a decent sub that won't break the bank? I almost jumped on an A/D/S/ C10PS that was on woot for $200, but I didn't know anything about it...

Ideas?

Check out HSU, SVS, Velodyne, BIC..............just to name a few

AV123 x-sub is an excellent buy @ $199+shipping. Great fit and finish, even better sound for the price.

JBL CSS10 is $234 shipped from Amazon, good low end extension and overall output for a low priced sub.

JBL has a nice, cheap 12" sub. It doesn't keep pace with many of the higher dollar subs you see chatted about here, of course, nor does it go down to 20Hz but then what do you want for $250? However it does just fine for movies and such. I have one in my living room and I've got no real complaints. So long as you don't expect super deep bass or high volumes, it should do the trick nicely.

J&R has it for $250 shipped.

http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=4104345

Is that the range you are looking at or are you willing to pay a bit more? Not breaking the bank is a real subjective term to some. To me, a $800 subwoofer is rather expensive, $250 is fairly cheap. To some even a $1000 subwoofer is cheap.

Either way, the JBL is nice for the price. Nothing spectacular, but you'll get some nice explosions and impacts and so on from it.

When I hear cheap, I think $50-$500.

On this forum ~$250 is typically considered the minimum entry level. Below that point, the offerings tend to be glorified woofers (little or no response below 40Hz) or one note boomers.

The usual suspects are the Hsu STF-1, AV123 X-Sub, and BIC H-100, all usually available in the $230-270 range, including shipping. (Some occasionally report finding the BIC's for a little less on eBay.) Not to say there are no other valid choices, only that these three are consistently well reviewed here. All are worthwhile entries with many satisfied owners.

Dayton (Parts Express) had a line of truly budget subs ($100-$150), but their reputation took a hit when they changed suppliers about a year ago. I have one of the older ones, which has been okay, but would hesitate to recommend the newer version. In any case, it is nowhere near as clean sounding as my STF-1, which proved to be well worth its extra cost.