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New Subwoofer advice for a Loft

3327 Views 5 Replies 3 Participants Last post by shadyJ, Nov 9, 2010

CoffeeAddictVnt

Discussion Starter · Nov 8, 2010

Hello everyone,

I just had my current subwoofer Amp burn out on me and am looking for some advice as to the best replacement for my current situation.

Some background (I'll try and hit everything from the sticky):

Current Set up:

HK AVR240

Infinity Beta 50's front towers

Infinity Beta C360 (I think, the huge one) center

Infinity OSW1's surrounds.

Infinity PS-12 (Now deceased)

The Room:

I live in a loft so the room is huge, 12 foot ceilings with concrete floors, neighbors on top, bottom and one side. Two very large windows (approx. 5ft by 9ft) the side of the viewing area where the sub is located.

Best way to picture the place is as a large rectangle with a square on one side being the viewing area. Approx 19 feet "deep" and 22-24 feet "wide" for the viewing area.

The system is used approx 70% for TV/Movies 15% Gaming 15% Music.

The sub has to fit on a "standard" (not the big one) "Subdude" which I bought partially for the neighbors sake.

Visually appealing would be nice, but not an absolute must

I do love a lot of Bass but I need to be reasonable / responsible with my levels due to the neighbors.

Budget:

$500 is the absolute total max I could get by the fiancée with any success.

My thoughts:

I learned most of my home audio knowledge at the "big box" school working at Circuit City 8 years ago before college. So my current knowledge base is pretty out of date.

From searching around the forums I've seen a lot of love for HSU and SVS, some for BIC as well. Are these brands going to sound better than the Polk, Infinity, Velodyne I'm a bit more familiar with? (in the same "effective retail price range" of course)

Would I be better served sticking with Infinity to match the rest of the system or will branching out find me a better deal/ better quality?

Also I've thought about replacing the Amp with a Bash 300 from parts express. Replacing the Amp I find appealing as it will let me save for a bigger/better purchase down the road. However I'm concerned with how it will sound and also how easy it would be for me to mess up the installation (I'll need to cut into the box to make room and don't know how it will effect the sound quality of the box). Also I know the PS-12 wasn't exactly high end when it was new so would a new budget sub (saw a BIC and Polk on Amazon for around the $200-$250 mark) be the smarter move?

I also saw an Infinity Classia PSW310BK sub for what appeared to be a great deal ($400 down from $1,200) but I know how misleading those MSRP's can be.

(Sorry for the lack of links, keep getting errors when I try to post with an embedded url)

I've been out of the home theater world for several years and was by no means a expert before so any help, opinions, or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you,

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shadyJ

· #2 · Nov 9, 2010

Whatever sub you get, I recommend you use near field placement, that means placing it close to your listening positions like a endtable or something. There are two big reasons for this. First of all, you have a large space with a small budget, and no $500 sub will completely energize that whole space, but if you go with near field placement, you won't need to pressurize the whole room to hear bass. Second reason is neighbors, for near field placement you don't have to have the sub turned up loud to hear some nice bass, but if you place it on the other end of the room, you will need to turn it up louder to hear it, but so will your neighbors, especially since you have concrete floors with people living above you.

With that being said, the subs I would look at in your price range are the Emotiva Ultra Sub 12, , Hsu Research VTF1, and Elemental Designs A2-350 or A2-300. All are under 500 shipped.

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wwinkler

· #3 · Nov 9, 2010

"Also I've thought about replacing the Amp with a Bash 300 from parts express. "

The PE 300w BASH is an exceptionally good deal right now (

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CoffeeAddictVnt

Discussion Starter · #4 · Nov 9, 2010

Thanks for the replies, I appreciate the advice. I like the idea of placing the sub closer to the listening area and had two questions around that.

First, in its current placement slightly offset from the corner next to the TV and across the room from the seating area, it is adjacent to an exterior building wall and also the building's stairwell. Situated in the best place for being adjacent to the listeners it would be in the "middle" of the viewing area essentially directly in line with the TV between two couches and on a shared wall with neighbors (however it's the neighbors "party" room in a two floor loft so wouldn't be too disruptive) So given those two position choices would the sub at a lower level next to the viewing area or at a "regular" level next to the tv/corner be best sounding/least disruptive?

Second, I saw this Infinity Sub on Amazon which is wireless so would be easy to position further from the receiver and is within my price range. However I'm not sure how much I trust a wireless signal (I think it is the same frequency as Xbox 360 controllers) and also not sure how I feel about another Infinity Sub after the first one burned out. I'm a huge fan of Infinity speakers (Love my Betas) however I feel burned by the sub quality currently.

http://www.amazon.com/Infinity-Class...234720&sr=1-27

Thanks again!

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wwinkler

· #5 · Nov 9, 2010

JBL and Infinity have had trouble with the sub amplifiers for ten years (with the recent JBL L8400P being a reliable exception).

There are wireless connections that you can get for any receiver/speaker connection. They would work fine for a subwoofer.
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=1186247 - wireless connection

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shadyJ

· #6 · Nov 9, 2010

It's difficult for me to visualize your room from your description, but it sounds like the placement between the two couches would be best, the one closer to your listening position. They will both sound different, you may prefer the sound of the other placement for it, but it will need to be louder to be placed there. I say try them both and stick with whatever you feel most comfortable with.

As for the Infinity subwoofer, it looks ok but not great. It should have ok mid bass output, but it won't have any truly deep bass. Wireless can have problems with intereference, but changing the wireless channel can filter that out. I have wireless subs myself and do not experience interference from my phones or the Nintendo Wii in the next room, so maybe it will be fine for you. There are also wireless kits for subs out there like this one . That wireless kit plus ED subwoofer should have better performance, but the Infinity doesn't look that bad. A Hsu VTF2 or Outlaw Audio LFM-1 Plus would be much better, especially used near field, but they are $100 over your budget.

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