The sub is very nice and it seems well built. I was looking at a sub in the $500 range. I looked at velodyne, Def Tech, B&W, Paradigm and a few other brands at the local store I cannot rememer. I ended up with the B&W for a number of reasons.
1. The Paradigm PS1000 was too boomy for my taste. For HT that may be fine but if you want to listen to music at all (which I like to do about 30-40% of the time) Lots of grunt but it was a larger box than I want to deal with. I also think it had spring clip high level input which I think is tacky. (Even if I don't use them)
2. The Def Tech (PS-100 I think) sounded OK and the box was small but it felt cheeply made and the box was light as a feather IMHO. I want a sub to feel solid, like a tank.
3. The Velodyne was a slot loaded 10 (not sure of the model #) which sounded boomy like the Paradigm.
I went to a different shop and listened to the B&W ASW600 and the bass was much tighter and punchy w/o the boom and the flap I felt I hear with the other subs. The box is STOUT like all B&W enclosurs and it is a sealed unit which I have always been partial to from my car audio days. It may not have been as loud or had the *whump* of the others but I think it is a good mix of power and control. There is a larger 12" sub that goes for $700ish. It has all the qualities of the 600 but with greater output, unfortunately the wife gave that the line item veto.
My brother has a REL which I think trumps the ASW in all departments, and it is tiny. But I also think he paid $1500ish for it so it was a little out of my range:-)
Good Luck.
