Worst subwoofers that money can buy? (1 Viewer)

[Ted_Wern]

To whoever stated that the B&W subs were inferior....all I will do is laugh. After auditioning 8 different subs at my house......the one that sounded the best was the B & W. I took home a Velodyne, a HSU, a Definative, Polk, Paradigm, and a few others. It's a matter of preference and I know alot of you are sold on the HSU, but I didn't see why. A little too boomy for me....I like tight bass and the B&W was the one I bought.

 

[Cam S]

LOL Asif Paradigm is high end

As for the subs that have horrible price/performance value. If I had the money, I wouldn't care about the price/performance value. I'm sure this is why those subs sell. People are paying for a premium name brand and premium quality, that's all they want.

 

[Dustin B]

Ted, I didn't say they were inferior, I said they didn't have the greatest price/performance ratio.

Where did you take home the Hsu from? Did you have them all at your house at the same time? Were they positioned the same when tested and level matched to the rest of the system?

 

[Michael R Price]

"$300 speaker kits can easily compete with $2k+ commercial speakers."
Oh, I like it. My thinking is, Dan Wiggins and Dannie Richie are way smarter than me, so I'll leave it up to them to design a crossover and baffle layout with their kilobuck measuring equipment and years of experience, then buy their kit at less than the sum of parts cost and build something really neat. Of course, the cheap commercial electronics I bought to drive them are really not worthy... I'm busy catching up now.
DIY subwoofers aren't so bad either. I wouldn't buy a commercial subwoofer even if I did have the money. It's just since so little work can reward us with so much performance for less money. You know, the usual. And don't get me started about DIY amplifiers.
Sorry for staying off topic... I'd have to say the worst subwoofers are those that ignore linearity and hence provide distorted sound. I can't stand that annoying "chest thumping" distortion that so many people seem to love. Luckily for us, recently a lot of companies that make real subs are gaining momentum, even among less knowledgeable or enthusiastic customers.

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Mike,
I know you built your own amp.... And I know you asked me
if I would be doing my own and I said no..
I found some schematics for some nice tube amps today..
Wanna build me a couple?

 

[Steve Zimmerman]

I'd just like to point out that DIY doesn't have to mean design the entire thing yourself. There are plenty of kits that will give you a tried and true design along with everything you need (just add elbow grease). The Bottlehead Foreplay preamp and the VMPS RM-40s come to mind.

--Steve

 

[Michael R Price]

Brett,
Only if I get to keep them if I like them.

 

[Guy Usher]

Then there is Danes "Evidence" at 85,000.00 a pair on a good day. I know of a pair of these, listen to them often, but 85K. . . . .

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Guy,
I think there comes a point where you know the money is
merely going into buying the name, not the performance of
the speaker it's self..
I honestly believe no matter how well contructed you are
paying merely for the name on the speakers when you get in
the 5 and 6 digit range.
Look at the Grand Utopias for example.. Beatiful speakers
but the drivers are readily available to anyone and Focal
drivers aren't "that" expensive.
Same goes for all the companies that use Scan-Speak revelators
anyone can purchase the raw drivers and to build the most
exotic pair of reference towers you might tie up what? 5
grand in materials? what's the labor worth another 5 grand
perhaps? Okay so that's 10K total not including R&D and the
equipment.
I realize some of the high high end speakers use some fairly
interesting construction. Dynaudio uses Billet CNC machined
aluminium baffles on it's reference lines, Wilson-Benesch
uses pure carbon fiber enclosures (my dream speakers!) and
Benesch makes thier own drivers unlike most other high end
companies who just pull off the shelf units.
But still the prices are merly for status, for bragging
rights.. It's like that bottle of wine from 1800 that has a
$40,000.00 price tag.. Why? Is it worth it? Did it cost that
much to make it? No... Your paying for exclusivity.. And I
won't pay to be exclusive I never bought into that club..
But if I was so filthy stinking rich and bored and had nothing
to spend it on.. Sure I would pay $18,000.00 for a pair of
1 meter speaker wires just for the hell of it.. We all
would if we had THAT much money.. Heck it'd be fun to have
everyone call you crazy and eccentric! (well okay they do
at least call me crazy now..)

 

[Cam S]

Now I know we are talking about Subwoofers, but I just gotta say something about these speakers. If money was no object I would own these Avalon Sentinel in a heart beat. They are just too beautiful for words. 910 pounds per speaker, man that is crazy.

 

[Brett DiMichele]

Cam,
Those are gorgeous