2. home-theater
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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
willland's avatar
willland
846 posts
 
Now, if you purchased your RW-12d new within 5 years and
New Egg is an authorized Klipsch dealer, then you should
be covered under factory warranty. If not authorised,
then of course you are on your own.

I know of two or three people who sent their RW-12d's amp
boards to Sybesma's Electronics http://sybesmas.com/site/
and the total cost was around $200.00 but that was a
couple of years ago. May be the same or more now. Funny
thing is that I have owned my RW-10d since 2007 and RSW-
10d since 2008 with never a problem at all.

With that said, you must decide if the
"trouble" is worth it. Personally, I think the
RW-12d is acceptable for HT but so so for music. IMO,
not up to par for music with your B&K, Oppo, and Monitor
Audio rig. If you could stretch your budget a bit, maybe
an SVS SB2000 would do the trick.

Bill
mechans
3,048 posts
 
I think that there should be a fuse for the amp elements. It is unusual to have none at all especially with the kind of power that subs use. Speakers don't always have fuses I think most don't.
stereoisomer OP
41 posts
 
Have not cracked the case yet so I am not sure if a fuse is involved but I did follow up on some suggestions. I found a new REL T7 under full factory warranty from an authorized dealer and since a few of you have at least heard these (more than I can say), can you give me a clue how that sub might compare to the Sunfire SDS-12? The best part is the REL T7 is on sale for the very same price as the Sunfire sub. It seems the dealer needs to clear some floor space because he is bringing in new Sumiko subs. So....I could be getting an $1,100 sub for the same price as the SDS-12 (about $600).

What do you think?

Oh, and FWIW, nearly all my applications are for music, a tiny bit of HT, and a bit more for gaming (Xbox One). But almost entirely for music. I am an old, stuck in the mud, 2 channel-only, aging gracelessly audiophile geek.

Thanks again for all the replies!
internetmin
258 posts
 
You may want to check out this list of the best subwoofers under $500 on the Poor Audiophile: www.pooraudiophile.com/2014/12/best-subwoofers-under-500.html

I would also add HSU to the mix of subs to consider on this list within your price range with my personal preference being to SVS and HSU.
zd542
5,339 posts
 
I don't like making recommendations without having first hand experience with a product, so don't take the following literally, or in any way conclusive. Traditionally, Rel has been a sub you would buy for 2 channel music. The Carver is more of a theater product. If you're just using the sub for music, Rel is probably a safe bet. If I were in a position where I couldn't demo and had to take a chance, I would go with the Rel. But remember, that's just my best guess. I could be wrong.
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