Joined
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178 Posts
Hi everyone,
I thought I would share my 'journey' over the past month or so during my search for a sub because I think a lot of people can probably relate to this and possibly as a word of advice for other newbies looking for a sub. Bottom line, listen to people on this forum and don't cheap out!
I also think it's kind of funny that I've trialed 8 subs in the past month...and while it has been frustrating at times, it's been a great learning experience.
1) Polk PSW108 - first reaction was wow! I have been missing out! This is awesome! And what a steal for $100. I'm set. Then the chuffing and fluttering slowly started to bother me more and more to the point where I thought, eff this, I want something better. Returned.
2) BIC RTR 12S - Paid $250. Arrived defective from Amazon. They refunded me but told me to keep it, the shippers wont accept "hazardous materials" back. So it's with a friend now who is trying to diagnose and fix.
3) Klipsch SW110B - Paid $450. Was very powerful compared to what I've tried so far, but sounded really muddy. I just wasn't digging it. And the price is ridiculous. I didn't feel that this sub was worth $450. Returned.
4) PSB subsonic II - Paid $100, got it used off kijiji. AWESOME. Loved it. Sound was just what I was looking for. Clean, tight bass, no chuffing, handled everything really well. Dug deeper than anything else I have tried (down to 28 Hz I think). The guy who sold it to me said it was 5 years old. Died on me in 2 weeks. So rattled. Oh well. $100 lost. Could be worse.
5) Precision Acoustics HD12S - On sale for $200. The 150 mystery watts (not specified anywhere if RMS or peak) made me wonder, but bought it anyways. Definitely peak. Way too weak. Returned.
6) Energy POWER12 - On sale for $230. The subsonic II was only 90W RMS and sounded amazing and powerful enough at 60% volume, so I wanted to see if this 12" 75W RMS sub would do the job. Wrong. Very weak. Very muddy, similar to the Klipsch. Returned.
7) Polk PSW125 - On sale for $200. Pretty loud and powerful, but was surprised that at 150RMS I needed to turn the volume knob to 3/4 the way up and the AVR at +9dB to get a decent thump. This is my favourite so far. Has the power when turned up, but I feel it sounds boomy and really craps the bed with the real low notes. Kind of disappointing that a 150W RMS sub only gets down to 32 Hz. It seems like a bigger version of the PSW110/108. I have had this for a little over a week and have watched quite a few movies. Debating whether or not to return it. Does the job mostly for when I watch movies....but I keep comparing it to the PSB I had. Its not nearly as clean sounding and chuffs if I'm listening to rap or dance music. Problem is...don't have much else to choose from!
I guess the search continues. Still up in the air. I wonder if this will just end up with me saving up the $600 for an SVS PB-1000. If the Polk DSW550 or 660 goes on sale ($550 right now) I think they would be great. They get down to 23 and 20 Hz I believe, respectively.
Considering buying the BIC F12 off Amazon for $300 but I am a bit gunshy with BIC after getting that defective sub. Also read quite a few reviews of people getting BIC subs with really low output from them. Then again the F12 seems popular here...
Thoughts?
I thought I would share my 'journey' over the past month or so during my search for a sub because I think a lot of people can probably relate to this and possibly as a word of advice for other newbies looking for a sub. Bottom line, listen to people on this forum and don't cheap out!
1) Polk PSW108 - first reaction was wow! I have been missing out! This is awesome! And what a steal for $100. I'm set. Then the chuffing and fluttering slowly started to bother me more and more to the point where I thought, eff this, I want something better. Returned.
2) BIC RTR 12S - Paid $250. Arrived defective from Amazon. They refunded me but told me to keep it, the shippers wont accept "hazardous materials" back. So it's with a friend now who is trying to diagnose and fix.
3) Klipsch SW110B - Paid $450. Was very powerful compared to what I've tried so far, but sounded really muddy. I just wasn't digging it. And the price is ridiculous. I didn't feel that this sub was worth $450. Returned.
4) PSB subsonic II - Paid $100, got it used off kijiji. AWESOME. Loved it. Sound was just what I was looking for. Clean, tight bass, no chuffing, handled everything really well. Dug deeper than anything else I have tried (down to 28 Hz I think). The guy who sold it to me said it was 5 years old. Died on me in 2 weeks. So rattled. Oh well. $100 lost. Could be worse.
5) Precision Acoustics HD12S - On sale for $200. The 150 mystery watts (not specified anywhere if RMS or peak) made me wonder, but bought it anyways. Definitely peak. Way too weak. Returned.
6) Energy POWER12 - On sale for $230. The subsonic II was only 90W RMS and sounded amazing and powerful enough at 60% volume, so I wanted to see if this 12" 75W RMS sub would do the job. Wrong. Very weak. Very muddy, similar to the Klipsch. Returned.
7) Polk PSW125 - On sale for $200. Pretty loud and powerful, but was surprised that at 150RMS I needed to turn the volume knob to 3/4 the way up and the AVR at +9dB to get a decent thump. This is my favourite so far. Has the power when turned up, but I feel it sounds boomy and really craps the bed with the real low notes. Kind of disappointing that a 150W RMS sub only gets down to 32 Hz. It seems like a bigger version of the PSW110/108. I have had this for a little over a week and have watched quite a few movies. Debating whether or not to return it. Does the job mostly for when I watch movies....but I keep comparing it to the PSB I had. Its not nearly as clean sounding and chuffs if I'm listening to rap or dance music. Problem is...don't have much else to choose from!
I guess the search continues. Still up in the air. I wonder if this will just end up with me saving up the $600 for an SVS PB-1000. If the Polk DSW550 or 660 goes on sale ($550 right now) I think they would be great. They get down to 23 and 20 Hz I believe, respectively.
Considering buying the BIC F12 off Amazon for $300 but I am a bit gunshy with BIC after getting that defective sub. Also read quite a few reviews of people getting BIC subs with really low output from them. Then again the F12 seems popular here...
Thoughts?