Musical subwoofer under $2000

@sparksgja

Usually "musical" means enjoying the music as a whole but can also be at the expense of detail and accuracy. What you are looking for is an "articulate" subwoofer where the bottom notes sound like real instruments and not a boomy mess. Finding an "affordable" one seems difficult - I’m in the same boat.

Maybe Vandersteen 2Wq or Sub3 may fit your needs.  There's also the AudioKinesis Swarm, but I'm not sure how articulate they are.  Other articulate subwoofers are priced higher : REL, NSMT. Funk, Perlisten, JL Audio...

Good luck

Rel “S” on sale $400 off At Cable Company here

I listen to a wide range of music - rock, pop, country, electronic, opera, classical orchestral and lots of piano and jazz. I had a friend around about a month ago and he has Triton speakers with built in subs and commented on how my low bass wasn’t there, not badly, but just there was more low bass I was missing. I also feel the low end will give me more presence and atmosphere. I’m not displeased with my system and the midrange and top end are both great. I play mostly CDs and the PSAudio transport and Bel Canto DAC combined with the Pathos amp is revealing but not analytically detailed, but still detailed and tends to being slightly warm, which is great as the speakers are very neutral and I do have lots of hard surfaces. Again thanks kennyc; audiorusty; and sounds-real-audio for your valuable input and I’m hoping kennyc is getting value too as what he describes he is after is the same. 

I have owned Every major brand and the SVS4000-SB meaning sealed 

the driver itself is around 50lbs and weighs102 lbs it has a great app to fully tune your room and adjust the volume from your seat.

for-around $1800 a great sub  and will play flat inRoom true 18HZ or lower 

free shipping ,45 day Audition ,and even free return if-not happy a compact 13.5 inch driver.

5 year transferrable warranty ported,or subs with passive radiator more boom ,output but not as articulate . The JL AudioFathom are better but $4-5k and also isSealed , as is Magico, Wilson . 

REL Classic 98

Nothing compares to REL for musicality and this new model is a close match to my old REL Storm III now 20+ yrs old but still sounding great. The Classic 98 is very close in sound esp with my little Harbeths.