Carlo_M
Senior HTF Member
- Joined
- Oct 31, 1997
- Messages
- 13,392
So...apparently 20 years is about enough time to elapse to really get me to want to upgrade a subwoofer. I'm currently running an Energy e:XL-S12 that I bought in the late 90s (or maybe early 00s I don't remember). It rumbles fine, but I never really felt it competed with other subs I'd heard in other venues. Then I got my Denon AVR-X4400h with Audyssey, which helped blend in the sub to my mains in a way that previous Elite receivers with MCACC never did (see my separate review on the Denon if you're interested). I'm 50/50 movies and music, and live in an apartment complex so I don't want "bring the house down bass". I want clear, accurate, articulate, and deep bass at moderate listening levels (with the occasional peak level reached when watching Mad Max: Fury Road or any Christopher Nolan movie 
).
Even with the better sound blending, I still felt that the Energy didn't really dig deep as other, more capable subs. Being a nearly 20 year old sub manufactured when the concept of Home Theater was in a different place than it is today, I don't hold that against it. Hell I still run my Energy C6s in my bedroom from that time period and they absolutely sound stellar.
But it was time to see what was out there, LFE-wise. Also there was something funky going on with my Energy sub, with any minor turn of the volume knob generating low frequency crackling, and sometimes it would chuff when there was no signal. I took that as a sign from the LFE gods that it was time to upgrade.
So for the last 2-3 weeks I've been research subs around the 'net pretty heavily. I started with SVS but of course, with their new dealership model, their prices are a bit higher than when I last recalled checking out subs when Stimpson and Vodhanel were still the S and V of SVS.
I decided to Google and see what Tom V was up to and to my surprise (although I guess I shouldn't have been) he'd started a new company: Power Sound Audio. While on their site, their chat window popped up and again to my surprise (and again I probably shouldn't have been) it was Tom V. on the chat! He was very helpful and informative and never pressured me into a sale. In fact when I told him about the Energy acting up, he recommended unplugging it, removing the various knobs, blowing out the potentiometers with compressed air while turning them back and forth 10 times, and seeing what happened.
Like magic: it fixed my Energy. No crackling noise. No unwanted chuffing/activation. It's like new. He could have lost a sale. But like life, karma has a way of coming back to you.
Still, I'm not made of money, and I only wanted to upgrade once for the next decade. I had absolute space requirements. I needed my next sub to be less than 19" wide and 19" deep. I wanted to spend $1K or less (although if something in the $1000-$1200 range were miles better I'd be forced to consider it). I hit AVS's sub forums. I was pointed to brands I'd never heard of before like Rythmik. Hsu Research was popular (and a local pickup contender as it's about 45 miles south of me). And Monoprice has a new THX Ultra line of Monolith subs which apparently is setting the world on fire (and would also be a local pickup contender as they are 55 miles east of me).
So how did I narrow it down? Well the Monolith 15S was the most appealing. They're getting tremendous early reviews. But the size was just way too large for my room. It would jut out nearly a foot more than my current sub and be a foot taller. That just was a no-can-do for my current living quarters. Based on raw numbers, and for an under $1400 budget, that seemed to be a winner performance-wise, and had the benefit of being ported with the ability to plug all 3 ports. If I had a larger room, I probably would have gone with this one.
The Hsu VTF-3 MK5 was also a great contender, and at $799 direct was very much in my price range. However the depth was again out of my requirements (nearly 24" D). Also they still use Class AB amps while most of their competitors have gone to Class D for lower heat and higher efficiency.
Rythmik was intriguing, and I've never heard Direct Servo subs but some audiophiles seem to prefer the sound of them. The F15HP would have fit my sound requirements, and at 21"D it gets real close to my space requirement...but it's also nearly $1300 direct from Rhythmik. Not totally out of my price range but coupled with the cabinet depth, a no-go.
Which brought me back to Tom V. and PSA. The 15S (identical to the S1500 except downward firing vs. forward firing) is $899 shipped, satisfaction guaranteed or you can ship it back at PSA's expense. Performance should be stellar, even if some reviewers and owners I talked to prefer the Direct Servo of the Rythmik or the Monolith's much larger enclosure and triple port configuration. It should no doubt outclass my Energy by an order of magnitude. And if I ever move into a larger place, I can always just order another 15S. I would think two 15S would be enough to drive anything short of a mansion-style HT. At 19.5"H x 17.25"W x 18"D it isn't substantially larger than my Energy, so it stays within my space requirements.
So after 2 weeks of exhaustive research, I'm was back to the guy who gave me free advice and potentially lost a sale...now gaining a sale. I've ordered the 15S and have my tracking number. I'm taking Friday off to take delivery, install and calibrate it.
And of course, I will update this thread to include my thoughts on it if people are interested. Oh, and the craziest thing? I think I will have paid just a couple of hundred dollars more for the PSA 15S than I did twenty years ago for the Energy sub. It's a good time to be a home theater nut.
).Even with the better sound blending, I still felt that the Energy didn't really dig deep as other, more capable subs. Being a nearly 20 year old sub manufactured when the concept of Home Theater was in a different place than it is today, I don't hold that against it. Hell I still run my Energy C6s in my bedroom from that time period and they absolutely sound stellar.
But it was time to see what was out there, LFE-wise. Also there was something funky going on with my Energy sub, with any minor turn of the volume knob generating low frequency crackling, and sometimes it would chuff when there was no signal. I took that as a sign from the LFE gods that it was time to upgrade.
So for the last 2-3 weeks I've been research subs around the 'net pretty heavily. I started with SVS but of course, with their new dealership model, their prices are a bit higher than when I last recalled checking out subs when Stimpson and Vodhanel were still the S and V of SVS.
I decided to Google and see what Tom V was up to and to my surprise (although I guess I shouldn't have been) he'd started a new company: Power Sound Audio. While on their site, their chat window popped up and again to my surprise (and again I probably shouldn't have been) it was Tom V. on the chat! He was very helpful and informative and never pressured me into a sale. In fact when I told him about the Energy acting up, he recommended unplugging it, removing the various knobs, blowing out the potentiometers with compressed air while turning them back and forth 10 times, and seeing what happened.
Like magic: it fixed my Energy. No crackling noise. No unwanted chuffing/activation. It's like new. He could have lost a sale. But like life, karma has a way of coming back to you.
Still, I'm not made of money, and I only wanted to upgrade once for the next decade. I had absolute space requirements. I needed my next sub to be less than 19" wide and 19" deep. I wanted to spend $1K or less (although if something in the $1000-$1200 range were miles better I'd be forced to consider it). I hit AVS's sub forums. I was pointed to brands I'd never heard of before like Rythmik. Hsu Research was popular (and a local pickup contender as it's about 45 miles south of me). And Monoprice has a new THX Ultra line of Monolith subs which apparently is setting the world on fire (and would also be a local pickup contender as they are 55 miles east of me).
So how did I narrow it down? Well the Monolith 15S was the most appealing. They're getting tremendous early reviews. But the size was just way too large for my room. It would jut out nearly a foot more than my current sub and be a foot taller. That just was a no-can-do for my current living quarters. Based on raw numbers, and for an under $1400 budget, that seemed to be a winner performance-wise, and had the benefit of being ported with the ability to plug all 3 ports. If I had a larger room, I probably would have gone with this one.
The Hsu VTF-3 MK5 was also a great contender, and at $799 direct was very much in my price range. However the depth was again out of my requirements (nearly 24" D). Also they still use Class AB amps while most of their competitors have gone to Class D for lower heat and higher efficiency.
Rythmik was intriguing, and I've never heard Direct Servo subs but some audiophiles seem to prefer the sound of them. The F15HP would have fit my sound requirements, and at 21"D it gets real close to my space requirement...but it's also nearly $1300 direct from Rhythmik. Not totally out of my price range but coupled with the cabinet depth, a no-go.
Which brought me back to Tom V. and PSA. The 15S (identical to the S1500 except downward firing vs. forward firing) is $899 shipped, satisfaction guaranteed or you can ship it back at PSA's expense. Performance should be stellar, even if some reviewers and owners I talked to prefer the Direct Servo of the Rythmik or the Monolith's much larger enclosure and triple port configuration. It should no doubt outclass my Energy by an order of magnitude. And if I ever move into a larger place, I can always just order another 15S. I would think two 15S would be enough to drive anything short of a mansion-style HT. At 19.5"H x 17.25"W x 18"D it isn't substantially larger than my Energy, so it stays within my space requirements.
So after 2 weeks of exhaustive research, I'm was back to the guy who gave me free advice and potentially lost a sale...now gaining a sale. I've ordered the 15S and have my tracking number. I'm taking Friday off to take delivery, install and calibrate it.
And of course, I will update this thread to include my thoughts on it if people are interested. Oh, and the craziest thing? I think I will have paid just a couple of hundred dollars more for the PSA 15S than I did twenty years ago for the Energy sub. It's a good time to be a home theater nut.
