Please recommend "Quiet" Sub (1 Viewer)

[Dave HW]

I presently have my HT setup in my basement and am happy with it. Probably the weakest link is the sub. I have an Energy 8". It's not bad but I know there are better.

Most of my DVD watching is late at night - kids in bed and all that. Therefore I don't generally get to crank things up too high.

I have considered the SVS PB10 and the comparable HSU, but as I say, ear shattering bass is not what I want. Can anyone recommend a clean, good sounding sub at lower volumes.

Thanks,

Dave

 

[TonyWright]

I would recommend the SVS pb10-isd. Even though you don't want ear shattering bass, you should still think about the future. You don't have to turn the sub up if you don't want to, but in my opinion, it would sure be nice to have that ability if need be. Especially when it can be had in an SVS for less than $500 shipped.

Just my $0.02.

Tony

 

[TonyWright]

What is your budget?

Tony

 

[John Garcia]

"Quiet" and "sub" do not belong in the same sentence. As Tony said, you don't have to turn it up. You can either create a macro that turns the sub down for night listening or just use the receiver's speaker settings to adjust the sub down manually or turn it off.

At night, I just put it in direct mode and turn off the sub.

 

[kevin tate]

Tony, since you listen at low volume anyway, why waste $ on another sub? I am not sure if another sub will give you improvement at low volume. Most subs sound better at medium to loud volume.

 

[Thomas Willard]

I have a sealed 12" sub and often listen at moderate volume levels. Having a larger sub and listening at moderate volume helps bring out the bass content that an 8" sub won't provide as well.

 

[TonyWright]

Kevin,

My point is I always look at the "What If" scenario. I look at it as if I knew I would want to be able to listen louder in the future or sometime when you know you won't be bothering anyone, then I would want a sub that could do a little more. The way I see it is if you spend just enough now to get a sub that will perform well at low volumes, you may find that you have shorted yourself and decide spend more to upgrade in the future, possibly costing you more than the better sub would have in the first place. Why not spend just a little more now and then just run it quiet until you need to turn it up.

That is, of course, unless you know you will never turn it up.

Now maybe you don't need to go as far as an SVS pb10, but if it were me, I would try to find the best bang for the buck even if it did cost just a little more than what I would have wanted.

That is just the way I look at it.

What are others thoughts?

Best of luck in your search Kevin.


Tony

 

[TonyWright]

This may be something you may be interested in.

$125 approx. and it seems that people have had good success with them.

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshow...number=300-632


Tony

 

[Brian L]

I don't see this as a sub problem; its a human hearing problem.

I think what you are facing here are the effects of the Fletcher/Munson curve. At low volumes, you are much less sensitive to low frequencies, thus you would want to boost the lows some amount when listening at low volumes to restore the perceived frequency balance that you have at louder levels. That's why most old school receivers had loudness buttons. Why contemporary gear lacks this feature I don't know; human hearing has not changed, as far as I know!

Does your receiver have any sort of "Midnight Movie" mode? Thats a compression feature of DD sound tracks that will flatten out the dynamic range so that you can listen at lower volumes and not blow people out of bed. That may help as well.

Having said that, what you are describing is to me more of a loudness compensation issue, which will require a level adjustment of the bass when listening at low volumes.

BGL

 

[MarkMel]

Get some bass shakers and mount them to you chair. 'Quiet Sub'

 

[John Garcia]

Wow, that seems like the most obvious idea...good one Mark.

 

[DonnyD]

I agree with the bass shaker idea. My son's wife had a LARGE problem with his sub but when he added the shakers to his couch and turned the sub down to HER "required" level..... everyone was happy.
Shakers are simple to add and definitely add to the HT experience......

 

[Dave HW]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I hadn't even considered bass shakers.

Yes, I do have a midnight mode and will set that up.

Dave

 

[Eric Ha]

I would spend the money on a smaller, quality sub that can truly get down to 20hz, and try to set it as close to your seating position as possible. A sub that will get down to 20hz is impressive, even at lower volumes, and you do actually hear tones down there. Down the line, when you can turn up the volume, you'll be set. (You would be extremely happy with either brand mentioned.)

 

[Dave Simpson]

Definately agree with the shaker suggestion. My recently-installed shakers allow me to enjoy loud action movies at three in the morning without disturbing the neighbours on the other side of the shared wall of my townhouse. Cheers.

DS.

 

[Kenneth Harden]

Buy your kids ear plugs and enjoy the show

 

[Rutgar]

Ear plugs don't work with low frequencies.

 

[Kenneth Harden]

Perhapse you missed the point

 

[Mike Holland]

Nice 8" Sunfire should do the trick.