Lightning fried my trusty old Velodyne...what to replace it with?

I bought my Velodyne CT100 back in 1999. 10" sub, always worked 100% well and I was super happy with it. Upgrading homes over the years, it is undersized for my home but got the job done. Lightning strikes a couple nights ago, and now it is fried and just making a huming noise (along with the laundry list of other fried items). This was by far the oldest component in my system but I had no reason to upgrade it.

Insurance company wasn't looking to fix it (neither am I), and I'm not sure what they are going to let me buy/give in money, but I am going to say my budget is around $500.

I have a good sized room I'm dealing with - laminate floors, 19' ceiling, 20' long by 22' wide.

It is used for home theater use 95% of the time.

Any suggestions? I'm likely not going to get a chance to listen to a bunch, so I am going off of what people suggest. I'm happy to shop online, and am willing to try something non-mainstream if it is awesome for the price.

I've read some good reviews about those two subs. One is a downward firing and the other is a forward firing - any reason I should pick one over the other?

I'm also curious as to opinions on the Velodyne EQ-Max 12 and the Sunfire SDS-12, both which are also in my price range.

I finally got the insurance company to get moving on this deal. Seems my policy covers up to replacement cost - it is considered $533 for my sub.

Because my sub was old, I have very little for the depreciated value, so the initial check I get for it is low. This means fixing my sub = throwing money away. I have to turn in a receipt for the sub I buy, and they will cover the difference up to $533...so anything under that is just saving the insurance company money and not me.

Knowing that, I'd like to be at $550 or a little less. Here is the list I've come up with based on the above suggestions and what I can actually get for a price:

- Outlaw Audio LFM-1 Plus: $549 + ??? for shipping. The EX is too expensive, and I missed the secret sale.

- Rythmic Audio FV12: $550 + ??? shipping. Out of stock right now, unsure of the wait time.

- HSU Research VTF-2 MK4: $550 + $63 shipping. This was on the top of my list but the shipping puts it a bit more expensive than I'd like.

- Sunfire SDS-12: $550 shipped. Priced right where I want it, but don't see a lot of mention about this sub.

- Cadence CSX15 Mark II: $499 shipped. For a 15" sub that's priced below everyone else's 12" makes me wonder why it is less expensive than the competition.

Others that are out:
Premier Acustics PA-150: 15" sub + 250 watts RMS amp seems a bit small. Cheaper by a lot than the rest ($383 shipped) but that's not an advantage for me. Velodyne is out since the line of subs that would match the above are priced higher than I'd like. I want at least a 12" sub, so Definitive Technologies doesn't seem to sell anything I'm looking for.

What else is there that I'm missing? If I'm not missing anything, what from the above list is my best overall choice?

Epik Legend is now on the list. It has $60 shipping. Rythmik is in the 60's for shipping as well - I e-mailed them asking when they would be back in stock.

Any more opinions? I finally replaced my receiver last night (Harmon Kardon AVR 2650 I scored for a great price), and the lack of a sub is really noticable now.

I made my purchase: Rythmik FV12 Ported. They had one left in stock (Matte Black - I wanted black oak but the Matte was okay as well). They stated this sub is going to be redesigned and not available for a long time. For me it was now or never to get it.

I did a LOT more research last night and this morning, and this is why I chose it:
- LMF-1 Plus didn't seem like the best choice among the competition. The EX would have been the winner, but at $650 + shipping, it went beyond what I was willing to spend, as I was am already going over budget with what I got.

- Epik Legend is sealed - I decided for sure I wanted a ported sub

- Sunfire SDS-12 just doesn't seem to get any attention from anyone; there must be a reason for this.

- Cadence CSX15 Mark II - probably a great sub, but I just couldn't get that feeling for why I should but it.

The other sub I was going back and forth on (a VERY VERY close second) was the HSU VTF-2 MK4. Both this and the Rythmik seem to get rave reviews for this price point. My reasoning for choosing the Rythmik over the HSU was probably not even all that justified, but I wanted to make a decision:
- Rythmik has a 300 watt RMS amp vs the HSU 250 watt RMS
- Rythmik was front firing w/ a front port like my previous Velodyne, and I was happy with that
- Direct Servo technology seemed neat/different than what everyone else in this price range is doing
- The Rythmik fans seemed more passoniate about this sub vs. the HSU fans about their sub. I even got a private message regarding getting the Rythmik from someone.

If for some reason that 1 leftover FV12 Ported isn't available, I will be getting the HSU instead. Hell, it would have made my decision 100x easier if there were not any FV12's left. I'm looking forward to getting my new sub!

To quote the exact e-mail:
"We have one FV12 Matte Black in stock. The FV12 will be redesigned, so it's gonna take long time to be in stock again."


If it wasn't for the LARGE amount of support for this sub among people on this and a number of other forums, I would agree with you. But companies have their reasons for doing what they do...whether the reasoning is sound business or not. It could simply be they can no longer build that sub/amp combo at that price point due to supplier costs and have no choice but to do a redesign to be able to have something to market in that range. Or could be a totally different reasoning - my thought is if the consumers love that sub and that is what matters.