The little 8 incher that could
Pros: Bass, size
Cons: ozone smell?
As a reference for my comparison, my "other subwoofer" is a Paradigm Seismic 12a, with dual 10in drivers, 29lb magnet structure, 1200 watts RMS 20Hz-150Hz, an approx 70lbs of true bass bliss. That's installed in my 15' x 28' x 15' LR space and it fills that with out difficulty with glorious sounds. But for my upstairs bedroom of 15' x 11' x 7' I needed a 'subwoofer lite' to complement my 60" 3D TV. The Kef towers I was using initially with 6" dual drivers were adequate but bass-wise lacked any depth. So I settled upon this small humble sub to complement them based on reviews I'd read and its bargain basement price.
I will say right up front that bass/$ this sub produces exceeds to an amazing degree what I though possible at this, or even much higher price range. I was expecting a nice bass that would distort and level off at modest loudness, but that not what this sub offers. Instead, subjectively, it far exceeds my expectations and offers reasonably tight sound, plenty loud, and definitely goes low into what the the LFE Blu-Ray channel offers. At 20lb / 50W FTC of power (100w dyn.), how this Pioneer unit, with phase and frequency control, plus auto power on/off, hi/lo level inputs can be so inexpensive is a mystery, but a welcome one. You really simply can't go wrong with this unit when used in a small to moderate sized room setup. I almost laugh out loud when I say that the two subwoofers compare favorably to each other when used in their respective areas.
The only weird thing is after producing some thunderous bass at some point in a movie, you can smell a bit of ozone I guess from the power supply doing it darn best to keep up with the signal. As soon as things calm down it goes away, and I guess it's the bass port that's puffing out the smell as it points to the front right where I'm sitting. I was a bit worried at 1st but no harm seems to come from this
I will say right up front that bass/$ this sub produces exceeds to an amazing degree what I though possible at this, or even much higher price range. I was expecting a nice bass that would distort and level off at modest loudness, but that not what this sub offers. Instead, subjectively, it far exceeds my expectations and offers reasonably tight sound, plenty loud, and definitely goes low into what the the LFE Blu-Ray channel offers. At 20lb / 50W FTC of power (100w dyn.), how this Pioneer unit, with phase and frequency control, plus auto power on/off, hi/lo level inputs can be so inexpensive is a mystery, but a welcome one. You really simply can't go wrong with this unit when used in a small to moderate sized room setup. I almost laugh out loud when I say that the two subwoofers compare favorably to each other when used in their respective areas.
The only weird thing is after producing some thunderous bass at some point in a movie, you can smell a bit of ozone I guess from the power supply doing it darn best to keep up with the signal. As soon as things calm down it goes away, and I guess it's the bass port that's puffing out the smell as it points to the front right where I'm sitting. I was a bit worried at 1st but no harm seems to come from this
