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Best subwoofers?your favorites

I love my Boston Acoustics PV500. I know it's a joke compared to the rest of the subs here, but I like it more than my previous Velodynes (VX-10B, CHT-10, VA-907, the second two were no slouches.) Not amazing output by any means, but a very fast and musical subwoofer.
Now, if I had more $$, I'd have an SVS, Rythmik, or HSU.or that 24 inch beast in the previous page of thread. but for $50 used, including VR2 towers, you can't do much better than this. :)
 
I'm still rocking with an Epik Valor; sealed, 15"/350watt
valor-nekid.JPG
 
2nd this:
def tech supercube III
Amazing what it does for such a small footprint. No, it won't compete with a 15" sub yada,yada, yada.
But, you would never believe what this little sub does, and how well it does it. Amazing.
 
Well the run on sentence didn’t make it seem like that was the brand especially those of us that aren’t familiar, in any event it’s a cool looking sub , overkill for a home but still cool .

Audiofreak71
 
Audiofreak71 said:
Well the run on sentence didn’t make it seem like that was the brand especially those of us that aren’t familiar, in any event it’s a cool looking sub , overkill for a home but still cool .

Audiofreak71
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It's like the old saying, "Contentment is destroyed by comparison ". Similar if you live in a village with a VW bug and a Pinto, and a 67 Mustang. And everyone knows that the Mustang is king, until a McClaren supercar rolls up and takes everyone for a ride. If you have only experienced say a 12" woofer that is electronically frequency limited, you still think that any thing more is really not possible and that it "shakes the whole house" , which is commonly mentioned. Once you experience a sub that will play into the single digits at 120db, it changes your frame of reference. Same with accuracy on hits from kick drums, as on the CD "Tricycle" from Flim & the BB's. When you get to compare multiple subs on the hits, you find out which ones have sloppy, boomy bass, and the ones that have taut, dynamic bass that you can feel because of the displacement they have to grab lots of air.
 
Hobie1dog said:
It's like the old saying, "Contentment is destroyed by comparison ". Similar if you live in a village with a VW bug and a Pinto, and a 67 Mustang. And everyone knows that the Mustang is king, until a McClaren supercar rolls up and takes everyone for a ride. If you have only experienced say a 12" woofer that is electronically frequency limited, you still think that any thing more is really not possible and that it "shakes the whole house" , which is commonly mentioned. Once you experience a sub that will play into the single digits at 120db, it changes your frame of reference. Same with accuracy on hits from kick drums, as on the CD "Tricycle" from Flim & the BB's. When you get to compare multiple subs on the hits, you find out which ones have sloppy, boomy bass, and the ones that have taut, dynamic bass that you can feel because of the displacement they have to grab lots of air.
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I have experienced and have had subwoofers that pressurized my room/rooms , but none of that matters if the room is not properly set up acoustically and that takes some real money to do correctly. Sure you can throw some giant subs in a room and burst your windows if that’s what your into but I’ll take a well set up room and a smaller excellent subwoofer over a 24in sub shaking the walls , just my opinion.

Audiofreak71
 
I have a Dayton Titanic II 10" sealed. Came in a kit, which meant sticking some foam on the interior walls and screwing the amp and driver on to the cabinet. It was under $400 new in 2002. It's decent for HT, gives as much as you can expect from a single 10". Where it excels is music, it makes a double bass sound like it's right in the room with you. That's all I need.
 
Audiofreak71 said:
I have experienced and have had subwoofers that pressurized my room/rooms , but none of that matters if the room is not properly set up acoustically and that takes some real money to do correctly. Sure you can throw some giant subs in a room and burst your windows if that’s what your into but I’ll take a well set up room and a smaller excellent subwoofer over a 24in sub shaking the walls , just my opinion.

Audiofreak71
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Well said I cannot turn my 15” over a certain volume or it rattles my whole room , windows , Doors etc . Keeping it to. A moderate level and not too loud is needed my bedroom has terrible acoustic properties and I’m not sure it can be fixed ?!! Nor can I afford sound proofing or anything with no job .
That 24” version of my big old subwoofer looks like the holy grail but in my room it would be pointless too big and rattles everything!
 
Have been using a Canton for about 8yrs now. No need to audition anything else. They're excellent.
 

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mike0565 said:
Have been using a Canton for about 8yrs now. No need to audition anything else. They're excellent.
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Have a Canton AS85-SC and I gotta agree (with the sole caveat being that I'm using mine in a smaller room).
So yeah,given it's the proper model for the room size,Canton subs can absolutely deliver the goods.
And got I mine for a super deal,was a NIB leftover @ $150.00 on what normally retails for closer to $600.00.

Also really like my Celestion S20 (AKA: KEF PSW-1150).
These are also good deals on the used market,and the amp on this model are very servicable as well,should they ever need it.

Both those subs have variable phase controls,and that's a feature I've found to be very desirable in a subwoofer.
After having subs with a variable phase control,I doubt I'd ever consider a sub that does'nt have VPC.
That is unless I were using DSP that has time compensation or such.

FWIW

Bret P.
 
Canton makes quality, nice sounding, bass extending subs. Their customer service is also legendary.

Purchased, 2nd hand, a motorboating AS65-SC and emailed them to get a schematic. They stated they didn't give that info, due to reverse engineering, and shipped me a free plate amplifier (even though I told them the entire unit was 2nd hand). Eventually the woofer jacked up and finding a 7.25 replacement woofer ended uneventful. I bought an 8" PE replacement and fitted it to work....sounds as good as the original, which I'm almost positive is due to the amp, enclosure, and bracing quality.
 
I’be built a bunch of DIY subs using large high excursion woofers driven by multi-kw prosound amps. The last was an Adire Audio 15” Tumult. It was great until I blew it up. :)

Now I’m using a JL Audio Gotham. It is the best sub I’ve ever heard in terms of room integration and overall sound. JL really has something going compared to a lot of other brands - I guess it is the car stereo heritage repurposed for home use.
 
Musicality I love my Triad and REL.
All arounders Velodyne F1200 and 1500B servos.
The Volkswoofer is sloppy and overrated to me.
Velodyne DRS 4000 is in my main system and holds it's own with so many higher dollar boxes (to me) for pretty and powerful noises.

Carver Sunfire is not musical and just annoys me when I use it. HT only.

Visonik David is musical and lovely can get boomy at times.

Velodyne 1012's will not stop working and can play any position on the field competently.
 
18" JBL 2245 in DIY 12 ft^3 box tuned to about 24Hz. Huge but very efficient...thunderous at the 300W rating for the 2245 driver. Built one for my brother a few years ago. It is currently powered by an older Yamaha powered subwoofer with bad drivers...we bypassed the pair of dead 8" drivers and hooked up the JBL as an experiment. Maybe 100W but that is more than enough power and the "free" amp is working just fine.

Basically this design is obsolete due to changes in power amps (more power) and drivers (more excursion) over the last 35 years.

http://www.lansingheritage.org/html/jbl/reference/technical/1983-subs.htm
 
Another plug for Canton. I purchased a used sub (As 120 Sc) some years back from Saturday Audio Exchange. When I received it, the driver was rattling on very low frequencies. Saturday Audio Exchange sent me a new driver from Canton and Canton also contacted me about their product. They also sent me a new replacement driver even though I told them that Saturday took care of the problem. Great customer service!
 
mike0565 said:
Another plug for Canton. I purchased a used sub (As 120 Sc) some years back from Saturday Audio Exchange. When I received it, the driver was rattling on very low frequencies. Saturday Audio Exchange sent me a new driver from Canton and Canton also contacted me about their product. They also sent me a new replacement driver even though I told them that Saturday took care of the problem. Great customer service!
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That level of customer service alone is enough to pursue a listen!
 
Even though I only have a Canton sub, if I'm ever to be in the market for another pair of speakers I wouldn't hesitate to put them on my short list.
 
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