Tweak: raising the subwoofer off the floor...

Maxgain, one thing is certain in my future; Vandersteen 2Ce. After reviewing my requirements and hearing a pair, I think that is the way I'm going to go. The subwoofer is another story. I want to listen to the 2Ces for a few months before I add a subwoofer. For all I know, I may not need one, but when I decide, my main two choices are the Vandy and the Rel.

I have a cheap Infinity BU-2 that I took apart, upgraded, tweaked and put back together. It has a 12 inch woofer and is rated at 100w and it can knock the walls down as it is. I am almost afraid of what a Vandersteen or a Rel, subwoofers of higher quality, will do to my place. So, one step at a time.

Right now I am just trying to get the best from what I already have.

There is one thing that I am wondering; how loud do most audiophiles get with their systems? I am thinking that two Vandy subs at 300w a piece could get VERY loud.

Matchstikman, I also have a "cheap Infinity BU-2" sub, but it's in the box in my basement storage since upgrading. I know it's not an answere to your question, but could you help a brother out?
Could you explain exactly how you tweaked it? Maybe it could still serve a purpose in my HT...Thanks, DaveSen

Davesen, my upgrades were minimal, but I actually think it helped. Here is what I did.

1. I took the subwoofer apart.

1. I removed the plastic, rubber feet and replaced them with some steel spikes that I got from Partsexpress.com, I epoxied the feet onto the sub and insured a solid(almost one-piece connection).

2. I removed the 1 piece of dampening foam or whatever it was from inside of the sub.

3. I installed some speaker insulation stuff that I found on the internet. This stuff is egg-crate style pieces about 5 inches by 8 inches. Anyway, I glued them into the interior of the sub until every inch of the inside was covered.

4. When I put the sub back together, I replaced the rubber seals with new rubber sealing. I got this stuff for cheap on Partsexpress.com.

5. After I put the sub, I placed it on a marble square. The sub is about 12 x 12 inches and I managed to find an old marble chess set that I never use, so I took the marble chess plate(about 13 x 13) and I placed the subwoofer on it.

6. Last, but not least, I place a 20 pound weight on top of the woofer and then I place a plant on top of the weight so that it doesn't look that bad.

That is all. It sounds pretty good considering what it is. The upgrades were relatively inexpensive; however, I am still going to replace the sub, but for now, it is better than it was.