I am in the midst of upgrading my theater system. I started with a set of B&W 602S3's in my listening room but made the mistake of trying them out in the theater room. I have since pulled the Energy system out and am now assembling a completely new set of speakers for the theater. I bought a B&W 600S3 center and am trying to source a set of DS6 dipoles for the rear. The one I'm having a hard time with is the sub. Here's my requirements:

Budget: $600-1000 new or used
Listening: 60% video / 40% music, but music performance is MOST important
Content: lots of HD TV programming; music of all types ranging from punk to classical but more often rock. Bass must be tight, controlled and fast. Current sub is an Engery EPS12. It has good slam but the bass has never been tight to me.
Asthetics: don't matter but prefer a black enclosure to match mains
Room Size: 19 x 13'

Recommend away.

How far are you from Anaheim? If close, visit the HSU showroom (http://www.hsuresearch.com/subwoofers.html)and listen to what they have. Otherwise SVS (http://www.svsound.com/), eD (http://www.edesignaudio.com/index.php?cPath=2_41), dual MFW-15 (http://**********/index.php?page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&product_id=189&category_id=9&manufacturer_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=37)and Epik (http://www.epiksubwoofers.com/Products.html) are probably the best bang for the buck right now.

i have 602s3's a rotel 1057 and a lcr 600 i will have a hsu here on thursday.. ill post my thought when i get it but i went for it based on "musicality" and home theater.. music 1st....

dave

oh an i almost moved to granda hills back in 99.. lol your close enough to go check out the HSU show room ..

Dave: thanks. I might try to go hear a couple this weekend. I've heard lots of good things about the HSU line.

I have 602 S3 on a 2ch system driven by old Denon 3802. I'm using an old first genaration HSU VTF3 and really like the sound. As old as it is, it can still pump some bass. I have not tried using my VTF3-MKII with the same system but I'm sure it will even be better.

Hi all. Think I've narrowed it down to the following:

VTF2Mk3
LMF1 Plus or EX
First question I can't seem to find the answer for: do the Hsu subs have a left side woofer or downfiring? My current desired position is just to the left of my TV. If it's left firing, it will be very close to the TV. For that reason, I'm leaning towards the Outlaw and it's down firing design. Comments??

How did you narrow it down to those? You're not prepared to wait? I'd be, if I already had a sub.

Hi all. Think I've narrowed it down to the following:

VTF2Mk3
LMF1 Plus or EX
First question I can't seem to find the answer for: do the Hsu subs have a left side woofer or downfiring? My current desired position is just to the left of my TV. If it's left firing, it will be very close to the TV. For that reason, I'm leaning towards the Outlaw and it's down firing design. Comments??

Depends on the sub. All of Hsu's subs are down firing except for the VTF-3 MK3 and VTF-3 MK3 HO (their two priciest subs) which are side firing. The rest are down firing. The VTF-2 MK3 you're considering is down firing.

How did you narrow it down to those? You're not prepared to wait? I'd be, if I already had a sub.

So far, there is a universally (on this board and others) high opinion of Hsu subs. I thought originally B&W to go with my speakers but they don't seem to be in as high favor nor are they considered good value for money. I also like that with the Hsu and Outlaw there is a reasonble return policy if I disliked them.

Since there seems to be no shortage of good product out there, I just wanted to find a good option and pull the trigger and not languish on details for weeks. I also am trying to sell my entire old Energy system including sub and I can't do that until I find a suitable replacement.

well there are definetely better subs inside your budget of under $1k.. they all have ~2 month wait time though...

What surprises me on these forums is that there are so many brands I've never heard of nor seen reviewed in the major publications. At least with the Hsu and Outlaw there are reviews.

I wouldn't pay attention to the reviews in the major publications. I have plenty of experience with headphones, for example, and most reviews on various sites praise any half-decent model like it's the holy grail. I'm a newb with subwoofers but I get a similar impression with subwoofer reviews on those sites and magazines. They dont gather a good sample group of current models and evaluate their comparative perfomance, they just take a half-decent model test it and publish their innocent joy and excitement.