Short list of musical subwoofers
I plan to invest a "musical" subwoofer to augment the music listening experience of my current two-channel sound system. After a few digging over the acting forum and on-line reviews, it seems the following budgetary sealed (primarily) subwoofers are often mentioned and raved:
- Rythmic L12 (18Hz; sealed, servo controlled; 300 watts RMS; $609);
- RSL Speedwoofer 10S (24Hz; front ported; 350 watts; $428);
- Rel T5x (8 in; 32Hz@-6db; 125 watts; $680)
- SVS SB 1000 (24Hz, sealed; 300 watts; $450) or 2000 (19Hz; sealed; 500 watts; $600);
All above claim to have quick, accurate bass that is good for music listening. Rel, although not being able to extend to 20Hz, has been highly rated for easy integration into the sound system. I am not even sure if being able to get down low and/or the wattage of the active amp are critical to the musical application. My living room is about 25 ft wide and 20 ft deep. I do have limited budget but if others are warranted for a higher price tag in your opinion I am willing to bump up the budget. You inputs are highly appreciated.
After owning and hearing many subwoofers (Rel, SVS, Rythmik, Funk Audio, JLA, Martin Logan, Elac, etc.) the best for music was JL Audio. Your SVS and Rythmik are great for HT, music not so much. I would suggest a JLS Dominion D108 which TAS gave a "Product / subwoofer of the year" award in this month's issue. Not bragging here, but I could buy any brand and I have 4 JL Audio Fathoms in my system. Good luck in your search! |
lanx0003 OP -"used correctly"? Who sez? I set up my REL sub as they recommend in the manual and it sounds great. You might be using your equipment incorrectly and I suggest reading the manual. |
So many opinions on which brand is "best". What seems to ring true for everyone is subs are good, and more are better. One might conclude that matching the size, type, location, and integration of the subs with your room and speakers matters more than the brand. I currently own subs from Rythmik, SVS, and PSA. All work well for music. I've also owned some other subs including HSU, Sunfire, and even Klipsch. Some do sound "bad". Klipsch and Sunfire were not very good. Not just not "musical", but not very good for anything. They made noise, but that was about it. I didn't think the HSU subs were very robust, but I had some older models. They may have gotten better. If I were to generalize, I'd say stick to sealed subs, get as many (up to 4 or 5) as you can afford and have room for, and experiment with placement and tuning. All of the subs I own are "musical" and integrate well with my mains. This is in large part due to the fact that I have 4 of them throughout my room in my main system and have a massive amount of headroom. They don't call attention to themselves in any way when there isn't a lot of bass content and can deliver the goods in a very visceral way, much like what you experience with live music. I have a couple of secondary systems where I only have one subwoofer. While it doesn't rival my main system in terms of scale, I have an inexpensive SVS SB12-NSD sealed sub and Harbeth P3ESRs in a small room and it rivals my main system in terms of listening pleasure. Using the right tool in the right way for the job at hands matters more than which brand in my experience. |
