SHOOTOUT! Epik Empire vs HSU VTF-15H vs CHT CS18.1 vs Rythmik FV15 vs eD A7s-450 - Page 2

Awesome job! All these subs are excellent in their own way. Will come down to which you shortlist and which goes on a better sale!!

I'm speechless ... excellent contribution to AVS gents!

Wow.
From a guy who prepared presentations for a decade and a half to major clients, turned photographer, let me say, fabulous job guys. I was watching Red in my theater and came out to enjoy seeing your work on my iPhone. Looking forward to watching the rest of the bids in the am.

Very clean presentation, great flow, easy to understand, great photography and innovative you-tube additions. Very classy all around with your approach as well. Kudos to you for your skills, much effort and for informing and entertaining me.

And I appreciate very much your final conclusions as well. Wrapped it up beautifully.

The only thing that is leaving me perplexed is the HSU SQ after reading audioholics version. Id be curious about your initial thoughts when reading their version. Not that I don't believe yours, it just makes me wonder if the SVS is that much better or something else at play.

So I guess my only beef is that you're not leaving us much to squabble about.

Great read. I can think of a few people who are going to be upset about how well the CS faired vs. their beloved Ed. I do have a question... after all that, what sub do you guys want the most based on YOUR preferences?

Another:

Wow.

I've been slightly following the bicker thread about this shootout, and am shocked and thrilled at the outcome. This is probably the most valuable product comparison I have ever seen.

One thing of particular note for me is the way you put into words what Iwas feeling about the HSU. My only worry when I got mine was the less than expected SPL. It seemed quite strange to me that it didn't seem very loud, but made the couch quake like hell. The HSU is DEFINITELY felt more than heard. That makes much more impression than SPL, to me.

BTW.....You guys gotta check out the excursion on the double bass part of Sweating Bullets by Megadeth!!!!

Even The Beatles finally have more kick drum!!!!

They are all winners in my book.

One of the best features of the CS18.1 is that you can add another passive sub to it for a lot less than adding another sub usually costs, because you don't have to buy another amp. Hook up the second sub, the amp simply doubles it's output. Co-locate the subs for another 6db of output or separate them to smooth room response.

I can't wait to see the new metal grilles.

Wow awesome work guys! I really appreciate everybit of that very informative shootout. I am currently waiting on my vtf-15h and reading this thread makes me happy with my decision. Thanks.

This is the most interesting...realistic and awesome review i have seen....and you guys are right..we are not in an anechoic room but in a damn house!..... incredible job!...thx.

After all the waiting, bickering and joking on this thread. The hype was at a huge level. And you guys still knocked it out of the park!!!!

Bravo!!

I've had the opportunity to spend more time with this now, and I gotta tell you that this is a FABULOUS presentation. It has far exceeded my expectations. What a great job guys! Well done!

I support your choice to avoid picking a "best" since, in most cases, "best" is a subjective conclusion. Providing information, and sharing your experience and conclusions, without rankings, leaves it up to the reader to make his own decision as to what it "best" for him.

Thanks again for taking the time, making the effort, and enduring the expense.

good illustration that at least "most" commercially (pre built) subs at least in this price range, are not going to be flat down to 20 Hz and/or below. I would be interested to see the response of the Rythmik with the ports plugged.

I must say I'm impressed with the 20 Hz response of the Epik considering it's really a pretty small enclosure volume for two 15" drivers. Makes me wonder how much eq boost they might have used.

Yep, I'm with all the others; GREAT JOB! Only thing more I could have asked for was testing the Hsu in max extension mode. AH didn't do that either.

And while I did greatly enjoy the vids, I really could have done without Adam's "Pants on the Ground" skit in the unboxing of the Rhythmic.

Well done guys.

were the correction factors applied in the reponse of the RS meters at low freqs?

Awesome work guys! It was a great read and the videos an pictures are also "top drawer!"
Don't know many people who would go through this much effort and be this thorough to review subs for a hobby. Your work and time is much, much appreciated.
Now go enjoy your Sunday!

Best....Carlo.

Excellent job, guys! Real world performance with videos.Excellent job.

One question though, what was the Q setting used on the HSU sub for the graph and testing?

My compliments and congratulations to both of you on an awesome shoot-out! Impressively done, and very informative.

Tremendous job guys - both informative and very much a fun read/view.

The fact that there have been this many replies w/o a serious complaint really shows the quality of your efforts! Thanks!

Great review - quite obvious that a lot of time, effort, and expense went into creating it. Thank you for your contribution to the AVS community... kudos to you, sirs!

So, which sub(s) are you keeping?

+1

If all A/V reviewing was done in such fashion, this would be a much happier place! Excellent job guys! I'll be posting links to this in other such forums to get the word out.

awesome work guys

this is the way subwoofers should be tested against each other

much much much better than outdoor GP testing

bravo !!!!!!!!!!!!

Kudos to you guys. This is one of the best reads on AVS.

In the test setup/methodology section they noted

"All numbers are straight from an analog SPL meter. We bought a second brand new SPL meter to verify numbers; the two meters almost always matched each other exactly and were never more than 1db apart. Some of you might assume that the actual SPLs are higher than what we state based on the popular rat shack meter conversion chart; however from what we've read, it is entirely possible the numbers are fairly accurate as posted.
Unless otherwise noted, all numbers we post are always taken at listening position, 8'-6 from the corner-located subwoofer. "

I don't recall seeing any part where they mentioned specifcally using any correction factors but it was late last night when I went through it.

Very well done and much, much more than most expected.

Now on to the bickering, nitpicking, magic bullet theories, etc.

It's only a matter of time.

This is one of the best sub review/comparisons I've ever had the pleasure to read. You've provided extremely valuable and pertinent information to anyone considering one of these subs. I have experience with 2 of the subs in the comparison and can say that I find your comments and conclusions spot on. Thank you!

Trolly

Nice work guys. After the Superbowl I will sit down and digest it all, but something tells me you have a internet hit here for years to come.

Well guys, you really hit a home run with this.
Your effort is greatly appreciated.

Looks like you guys had a lot of fun doing this. I certainly know how time consuming it is to do a shootout with multiple subs.

If you haven't already, would be somewhat interesting to see the FR's with the correction numbers applied (think someone else asked the same Q), though I'm not sure how accurate the RatShack meter is below 20hz.

BTW, curious, are you now selling the subs you're not keeping?

He said before he was selling the subs, all of them while he completed his basement and saw what else came out in the time frame. He wasn't going to keep 1.

AWESOME job, and awesome choices in this sub shoot-out!!

P.S. Nice stupid shirt!