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Need a subwoofer reccomendation.....

Greetings!

My former subwoofer, the Klipsch RW-12d blew its amp board after only 3 years of very "light" work. Just slightly out of warranty, too. After some discussions with Klipsch, I was told a new amp board would cost $256 plus S&H costs both ways or I could drop it off at their local repair facility to save some money in Holland, MI.

I am in Dallas, TX.

Yeah. Since the entire subwoofer only cost $350 through Newegg (on Super sale on one Saturday only), I am not about to pay that kind of money to repair it. Incidentally, I would also like to say the Klipsch tech's attitude was very...un-Klipsch like if you remember Klipsch from back in the day as I do. I point blank asked him if they'd been acquired by Pioneer :) I mention this so that people that might be looking at Klipsch gear right now know that certain things have changed there in just the last few years so...buyer beware.

On to my question...I need a new sub (not THAT kind of sub) and my price range is around $500. I can stretch to $600 if I have to but my wife will start really yelling if I go above $500.

I have conferred with a couple of close friends and we are mostly in agreement and I am staring at the HSU models in that range as well as the Sunfire models. Sunfire makes both a $500 sub and a $600 one but if memory serves, I heard they were having some QC problems when they first came out. Did they ever get those issues cleared up? I am very happy to see they offer a 5 year warranty on all their subs (which is a lot considering you potentially can abuse both an amp and a speaker if you screw around).

The blown Klipsch worked fine in my media room. Here are the specifics....

20x20x13 in feet so a lot of cubic space to fill. The rest of the system is beautiful vintage equipment....

B&K ST-202+ Sonata amp (1993), matching B&K Pro-10 MC Sonata preamp, Oppo Digital BDP-105 as the source, and Monitor Audio Silver RS 8 speakers (10 years old now, I guess they are vintage, too).

You would not believe how beautiful this system sounds. Now..you would not REALLY want to listen to a string quartet on it (though you could, the B&K gear DOES have that "soft" tube-like sound...as much as you can get from MOSFET electronics) but it truly shines with Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, pretty much all electronic dance music (I drove my wife out of the room playing Chemical Bothers over and over), and it does not do bad at all with large classical pieces like Beethoven's 9th. I highly recommend those Monitor Audio speakers.

But in the end, in a room that size, it was just missing a little punch on the lower end. And a subwoofer is the answer unless I wish to break down the whole system and start over with something more powerful. I can hear my wife screaming even as I type that.

So, HSU, Sunfire, and I am open to any other suggestions you all may have for subs in the $500-$600 range that will will blend nicely with electronics like that, in a room that size.

Thanks for any and all replies...

j
stereoisomer
runnin
397 posts
 
A guy starts a thread asking for advice on a new sub. He mentions he's super happy with his system at present and gives a budget limit. He immediately gets told he needs to hone his listening skills and gets the hard sell treatment. Good grief, no wonder this board has no little activity.

Stereoisomer, your system is fine and your hearing is fine. You know what you like, which is half the battle. The advice you got from your friends is good. Hsu and SVS are very good options, they are among the top sub manufacturers that sell Internet Direct, which is the very best bang for buck. Buy used and you don't get a warranty and may be buying someone else's abused sub.

I know HSU, since I own one of their products, and can confidently say that they would never treat you as Klipsch did. Their subs sound very good for the money. SVS is also very well regarded. You would get an improvement over the Klipsch with either company. I'd suggest narrowing it down with a model or two from each company and then phoning them directly with questions ready to go.
billshenefelt's avatar
billshenefelt
12 posts
 
I looked up a review of this sub and it said Speakon connectors on each end of a 12 gage cable were used as a specialty Neutrik connector wire. The cable was over $100. Nuts. You can buy Speakon connectors for under $10 each (with shipping) and make your own cable. The Speakon connectors are used normally for portable speakers for performing. They are a very nice connector and I put them with females on my living room wall to carry signals to surround speakers. It is a tough reach around my equipment cabinet and these can plug in blind for me. They twist and lock into place till you want to remove them but do not pull loose without the turn to unlock them. My cable from there to my amp uses a Speakon for the wall end and a banana pair at the other end to plug into the amp output. I used 3 single Speakon 4 line connectors to run a three pair of surrounds (side, ceiling atmos and rear pairs). LEts me connect 6 speakers with only 3 connectors that way so less chance of errors working blind. I really see no reason to use Speakon connectors unless this sub has only a female Speakon for the input connector. If so go to parts express
http://www.parts-express.com/cat/speakon-hpc-speaker-connectors/1510
and pick up the appropriate Speakon connector to fit the sub and use a banana or whatever fits your amp output on the other end of any decent wire you wish to use. I do not understand if you are feeding an amp output to a sub amp why you are really carrying any appreciable current but may just be using a simple way of connecting equipment with an impedance matching resistor for the input of the speaker amp. You could probably use 18 gage wire if you wanted! If you are feeding the amp of the speaker with an amp output it is set up like some car audio. For good wire at a reasonable cost try bluejeans cable. I really doubt that using the fancy wire makes a bit of difference from using a good flexible wire with a banana plug or other amp type connector unless the input to the sub is only Speakon female.
If so it seems likely that this sub is not really designed primarily for home use. The Speakon connectors are really good for frequent connect/disconnect sturdy connectors for mobile equipment. They lock into place so are easy to plug in and stay in place till you want to remove them. Bananna plugs come out easily and are not ideal for a stage use for performers.
bacardi's avatar
bacardi
663 posts
 
I second Mattmiller on the REL. I just bought a Rel G1 and it is stunning. Without being broken in yet(maybe 30 hours) and waiting for a custom speakon cord, it does so many things my Svs PB13 ultra didn't do. The remote is definitely a bonus when adjusting volume or crossover. I played some sound effects and actually found my ears to hurt as the room pressurized so I had to back off the overall volume. Everything in my room sounded like it was vibrating apart. Simply stunning.......
bdp24's avatar
bdp24
9,862 posts
 
j---As you are in Dallas, you may be willing to take a trip to Austin to visit the headquarters of Rythmik Audio, maker of a line of unusually good subwoofers. Rythmik's owner/designer Brian Ding is not an ordinary Hi-Fi guy, having a PhD in Electrical Engineering. He has created a patented subwoofer design he named Direct Servo Feedback. His subs (both sealed and ported, as well as an OB/Dipole model designed in conjunction with Danny Richie of GR Research, known for his high-value OB speaker DIY kits) are making converts of perfectionist sub dislikers such as myself, one by one. Ignore Rythmik at your own loss!
srosenberg's avatar
srosenberg
209 posts
 
+1 on Rythmik... fantastic subs, and right in your neighborhood (down in Austin). they have a couple of models in your price range. you could do a (whole) lot worse than bryan's subs.
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