Subwoofer for Beginner

Rythmik subs available through Ascend Acoustics provide phenomenal bang for the buck.

There was an Audio Asylum member and speaker builder who built a subwoofer using a Home Depot plastic bucket (NO kidding!) and a Parts Express driver. According to all who heard it, it was pretty darn good. The build was easy to do and the cost was very nominal, less than $100. I think this is a the way I'd go if I were you.

Here is the link:
http://thehornshoppeforum.com/index.php?topic=406.0

-RW-

HSU Research specializes in subs and has good return policies/user support. The VTF-1 Mk2 is very musical, well reviewed and on special direct from site for $419.

http://www.musicdirect.com/p-77339-rel-t-zero-subwoofer.aspx
It's REL, small footprint, free shipping.
Will give you more than a taste of a musical sub I guess.

I had an svs sb12-plus, which got replaced with the sb12nsd. I really liked my svs sub. The build quality was fantastic and I liked the fact that the older svs12-plus had balanced inputs and outputs.

Ok, ymmv of course but what I learned from my whole subwoofer experience is that they were an absolute pain to integrate a single sub. I could always tell where the bass was coming from. Yeah yeah, lower the crossover, center it in the wall, blah blah, total pain. I believe I would have had better results with 2 subs. What I learned is that for the price of 2 nice subs ($1,000-$1300..?), you could spend the extra $ on a full range speaker and be done with it.

Also, when adding a sub, you'll still have to deal with suckout, humps etc. i really think that you'd be happier addressing your room acoustics; it's amazing how much more bass you can get from some bass traps and absorption panels.

If you do still go with a sub, I'd do a sealed design for tighter, more musical bass. I recommend svs. I'd also suggest buying something decent up front, and buy something that you can get another one of later if you decide to go with 2 subs.

Goodluck, and happy listening!