Subwoofers?

Question

What is the best 10-12 in. home theater, power-subwoofer that money can buy?

Answer 1

If you're looking to just spend money, you probably can't go wrong with the Theil SmartSub (listed in references). However, for most people (and by most, I mean 99.99% of the population), that's just too much bass and too much $$$.

Your best bet is probably to just match your subwoofer with the speakers that you already have in your home theater. The reason is pretty obvious: manufacturers design speakers to operate within a system, and in turn each piece of the system sounds best with the other pieces in the group. The crossovers are matched, the output levels are balanced, and the tonal quality will be reflected throughout.

For the best value, I can definitely recommend Energy or Boston Acoustic brand subs. I've used both brands with great results.

Answer 2

Hi. Real sub woofers are speakers that supplement the main speakers and only play the lowest frequencies (the lowest two octaves below 80 HZ.) Good sub woofers don't play that muddy one-note bass.To integrate sub woofers properly into a system you must place the sub. at the same end of the room as the main speakers.To make the bass less directional and blend better you need to cross it over at a low frequency and ideally use 2 sub woofers.Like everything in audio, quality is more important than quantity. The great subs.blend with your main speakers so that when you switch from movies to music,it doesn't sound disjointed.Choose the clearer sub.over the bigger sub woofer. Buying a subwoofer is no different to buying loudspeakers.You have to listen to them in action(at home ,if possible) and if you agree with my recommendations go for the one with all these qualities. Brand names are not reliable as a substitute to actually listening to them.

Answer 3

Wow - I second everything Mike S. posted.

If you pick up some Stereophile magazines, you will find some fairly exotic companies that have some really good subs in the $3,000 - $5,000 range. These are a bit outside my range so I don't know particular makes/models.

I do know that the Velodyne HSG or Servo subs with the 18 inch drivers (retail $2,300) are spoken of with reverence. A Servo-18 was put on a marble platform at a trade-show one time. It was played all day Fri, Sat, Sun and when they went to pack things up Sunday night, the marble platform was cracked from all the low frequency.

For well smooth bass with extension found only in pipe-organ music - the bigger subs from SVS would be my first choice.

I have one of the mid-range Cylinder series (it's like a small water-heater) and it shakes things in the next room without being boomy.

Answer 4

If you are handly with power tools you can build your own and get a lot of bang for your buck. There are many useful sites to help with a project like this. Just type "diy subwoofer" in any search engine. Partsexpress.com has a few diy kits. good luck.

Answer 5

This is a list of subwoofer for home theater, you can have a look, maybe there is the one you like.
http://www.shopping.com/xPP-home_theater_speakers_and_subwoofers
If you want to save money, you can search at a deal site.
http://dealstudio.com/searchdeals.php?search_keywords=subwoofer

Answer 6

The internet direct companies will give you the best bang for your buck. Check out:

http://www.svsound.com/index.cfm
http://www.hsuresearch.com/

I don't agree with the poster who said to match the sub manufacturer with your speaker manufacturer. It really doesn't matter. If you want the best experience with movies, try to find something with usable output in the low 20hz range (or lower!), something you are unlikely to find with any sub available at the big box stores.

Answer 7

polk psw 1000 is a good start