PB12-Plus vs VTF-15H vs Rthymik FV15

My choices would be:
1: Rythmik
2: SVS
3: HSU

I would be thrilled to have any of them though. Since you are in Canada I would just get the SVS from sonicboom, since it seems like it would be a much larger hassle importing one of the other two options.

consider talking to nathan at funk audio. he's in BC and makes a great product.

they are all generally "in the same league", that is...all are high performance subwoofers capable of enough output from 20Hz up to fill a large room

Another vote for Nathan...the Hsu would be your least expensive solution out of those 3 but your still looking at ~200.00 added shipping to Canada + taxes...with the Svs you avoid some of that. I'd be happy to own any one of those 3 subs but having heard the VTF15 and owned Svs...all I can stay...is... I love my funkywaves(Funk Audio) sub...

I've tested out the VTF-15H, and it is one of the cleanest sounding subs I've heard even at very low freq.

It was my sub of choice when I went shopping way underrated.

which FA model did you decide on?

It's one of his prior designs....F12.1...it's pictured on his web page in the custom section. Those new 15's could look mighty tempting or I might go with a PR design....he'll build to suit(needs & budget)...that's why I'll be looking forward in dealing with again...

Since all three are well-rated performers and all three will cost you roughly the same amount of money, I'd go with the SVS PB12-Plus strictly from the point of view of avoiding any cross-border issues with potential returns/replacements.

I've had my Rythmik FV15 now for a little over a week and it is one amazing sub! Very clean, very loud and powerful and a great looking sub that isn't as big as we thought it would be.

Jeff

Well the one consolation for you is that you reside in Alberta so you don't have to deal with the added 13% HST....only the 5% gst(lucky dawgs)......

It's a tough choice for sure, I'd just go with your gut and your gut is leaning towards the Hsu.... I've heard a pair of them here locally....colour me impressed!

nothing really besides customs delays and tax, but if you should ever need to sent it back for warranty issues, you could be on the hook for the shipping cost.

You need to weigh those options. The cost of sending the driver or amp for warranty issues wasn't a deal breaker for me. (it's so low compared to shipping the whole sub).

The dual 15Hs was a good choice for me.

I import a lot of consumer goods. Dealing with customs can be a pain so unless it's something really special or the price savings is huge, I'd rather buy from a Canadian source.

For example, once I had to ship a part back to the US, and even though the company replaced it free under warranty, I was out

- $30 to ship it back. It wasn't a heavy item but after insuring it and sending it via fast post, it added up quickly.
- had to wait two weeks for them to receive it, verify it was defective and send me a replacement
- They replacement part came via UPS, and UPS wanted to charge me DUTY on the replacement part, even though I told the shipper to mark it the part with no commercial value/warranty replacement part on the customs slip. UPS charges crazy fees in addition to the duty and taxes you normally pay
- I had to get the shipper to send me out a new part, and I rejected shipment of the first part (return to sender). That added another week before I got anything.

Also keep in mind, I once inquired about getting a Rythmik. The shipping quote I got would not have included the brokerage fees nor duty. So the actual final price would have been almost 1.5 times the MSRP. I went with SVS and I'm glad because I actually had to get something replaced under SVS warranty (minor issue) and it was so painless

If not SVS, I would have gone with Funk Audio

Hst= harmonization sale tax...like I said you don't have that in Alberta. Goods made in the US shouldn't have any duty charges whatsoever in accordance with NAFTD. For my most recent speaker purchases Stateside I was dinged for shipping charges at point of purchase along with brokerage fees(addtional shipping charges to my address) and 13% HST. By my calulations you'll be looking at for the Hsu in satin finsh 879+139(s&h) once in Canada the courrier will apply additional shipping charges ~$200.00(their fess,maybe less) + your 5% provincial sales tax....total cost to your door coming in <$1300.00 for the VTF15.

If I am wrong, sorry about that... but I am basing these numbers from the added fees... I just recently paid for my speakers.

I hope this helps...a bit....

The part that most likely fails is the amp, amps from every maker can and do fail. Having a long warranty on that part is not a bad thing

At least I won't need to worry about that....

But you're oh....so right, given the above circumstances we pay nearly 40%plus just for shipping costs but like Sputter mentioned... it's all relative and I didn't mind the added cost at least for my particular purchase....

Given the current quality of all 3 that may not be that much of a concern or at least I have not read of any failed units of recent but as was pointed out
parts will fail in time from any mfg but so far any one of the three seem to have an excellent rep.

Back when Hsu distributed ther subs in Canada through electroncsforless.ca (Sonicboomaudio), it was a sweet deal for us Canadians, because if you actually called EFL, you could get a discount which made it CHEAPER than what US folks were paying. Hsu abandoned the Canadian market and Sonicboom folks picked up SVS.

What Sonicboom charges for SVS is reasonable. Sometimes when they are overstocked, they sell off some models cheaper than what SVS USA charges (for example, they had the PB13U in Rosenut for $1600 last year). When I got my SVS amp replaced, Sonicboom shipped me a new part on their own dime with next day service, and sent me a mailing label. I installed the amp, made sure it was ok, and the shipped the old one back with a prepaid label. I didn't spend a cent and my sub is better than ever. Ed Mullen's responses by email are within the hour in my experience and he offered to replace the amp even though the issue was minor

I really don't understand why anybody would go with a Hsu instead of SVS or Funk when the difference between these three subs are within a few dB of each other (anything below 3dB difference is not really noticeable) across the bandwidth. Maybe it's just me but I just hate dealing with border issues. The Rythmik is a little bit special because of its reputation for music, so that might be worth the trouble importing IMO. They only other subs I would consider importing are the Submersive because there is nothing equivalent in its price range in Canada. Even then, I'm sure Nathan can whip up something close if you asked him to build a Submersive equivalent.

SVS does not use Bash amps anymore, they use a new digital Sledge amp, which is their own design

It's not a mystery, the answer is price. Both HSU and SVS have good reps however for me the only SVS sub I would take over the HSU 15H is the 13U and we know what the price difference is.

Forget about cone material, it's all about driver design.

Here's my reasoning. If you can afford it, the Rythmik is probably the superior overall sub, but its cost will be the highest too

The SVS won't serve you wrong, and you are well covered if something does go wrong. It offers deep extension and thoroughly ruler flat response.

The Hsu is a great performer but there is some cost cutting involved (the driver doesn't "look" as overbuilt as the others). It does make great use of its parts though to overachieve for its price. But the reason the others cost more is because you get more "build" quality for the money

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showp...&postcount=305

No, the answer is not just price, you are taking a gamble you are not going to have to deal with border issues. That's my whole point. For me, it's not worth it to save a couple of hundred bucks. The difference in actual performance is not significant IMO. I'd argue the SVS offers flatter deeper response in its max output mode

I am not saying the Hsu isn't great value, but I'm arguing that for Canadians, it's not the bargain its made out to be. Everybody has to weigh the pros and cons of going with a imported sub.

What border issues?