best muscial sub..what do you guys think (1 Viewer)

[Chris Trot]

I'm want to purchase a subwoofer to compliment my CBM-170's. I listen to probably 95% music, so I really want a clean and tight sounding sub. Do you guys think the RAVA outperforms the HSU-VTF2 in this catergory. Any other suggestions would be great

 

[Mike Butny]

Mirage Bps400

 

[Tim Ranger]

The standards for musical subs: REL and ACI. ACI is by far the best value. Both the Titan and Force are superb subs for music or HT.

 

[Geoff L]

Any sub considered worth it's beans, is well designed and is both musical & tight, (as so many put it)!
It works well for both movies and music period....

To hold this criteria and have continued extension well below 30-hz is a another thing...

There are many good subs and most carry a heavy price tag along with them.
~NO ORDER HERE & MEANS NOTHING~

Velo-(HGS) Logan-Decent, Krell, ACI, Aereill-SW12 (SP), Wilson, Revel, SVS, Theil, Earthquake, HSU, BagEnd, along with many others. Of course there is DIY-self of which can be rewarding in and of itself. With the right design, equipment, and install, could kick all their asses.

I would suggest you listen to as many different subs as you can and take into conideration just what type of extension and spl your looking for when playing "your type" music and in "your" room.

Ask 50 people this question (whats the best sub for music) and you'll get 20+ different answers.

Not long ago and it may still be running, this very discussion came up at AVS and the same asked question.
Whats the best music sub?
Along comes a list of very high dollar recomendations, a monster thread continued on and on as to why this sub is better than that.
Graphs, charts, explanations, reviews, justification of a purchase, size, power, distortion, etc, and on and on.
IMO there was & is never really a clear winner for every situation), period!

You do need to know 3 things to start before even asking this question. How much area are you filling, how loud do you want it to be capable of, and how much clean extension you need. If you listen to pipe and organ misic, with some heavy spl, along with having a very big or huge room, an Adire Rava just ain't going to cut it. The Rava is a good little sub, but in this case certainly a little Rava would be the wrong choice.
If you primarly listen to jazz at low to med spl level, than the Rava may fit the bill nicely for you.
But asking the little guy to hit 100db in a 5000ft^3 room and at a 16hz pipe note, it's nuts and ain't gona happen.

Do a search here for just what you asked, and see the tons of threads dealing with your very question.
Certainly one of the biggest argued questions in audio.
What the best sub for this or that?

If it's a good sub it dose both well period. Some just do it louder, lower, & cleaner than others, and the cost usualy goes up with it!

Regards
Geoff

Edit: Kinda got off on a tangent their, so to your question of the Rava-HSU, after the thread starter question-->(Best musical sub)..
Their both nice subs and excellent price to performance products. I don't know what kinda of music you primarly listen to, or at what volumes, but given the 2 choices I'd go with the Rava.
If you listen to music generaly with a heavier bottom end the HSU might be the better choice. Both are very good products, excellent actually at their price points.

 

[BradJudy]

Chris,

I have an Ascend 5.1 setup with the Hsu VTF-2 (listening to ~50% music in 2.1) and I am quite happy with it's performance and matching to the CBM-170s. That said, I haven't auditioned any other subs with my CBM-170s (although I might be listening to them paired with a SVS 20-39 CS next week).

 

[Frank_S]

Seamless integration with your main speakers is paramount if you want the sub to appear invisible. You are using the sub to extend the lower frequencies for music so being able to dial it in where your main speakers roll off is important. I own a Rel Storm III with Nautilus 804's. In my room and speaker location the sub is set to 22hz, very low but extremely effective. I only have been able to run bass warble tones to determine that this is the best setting in my room. I use the "house curve", something which has been discussed on this and other forums, it's really personal preference. Anyway, Rel subs have a very unique connection which allows you to have 2 different settings, 1 for HT and 1 for 2 channel. Check out their website for more info if you're interested. Good luck!

 

[Jeff Ery]

Ditto to Frank and Geoff, well stated....

 

[Chris Tsutsui]

There are a lot of musical subwoofers out there, but just because you buy one doesn't mean it will actually sound musical. Reason I bring up this point is because the room plays a big role when it comes to bass sound quality. I just put in 4 bass traps and it was like I was listening to a completely different system.
What I run are stereo positioned dual Adire Alignment Tempests. I added four 16"D x 4'H traps in the four corners of my small 1,000 cubic foot room.
link to DIY bass trap
Still I do agree with others in that subs do sound different than eachother and these traps are not for everyone.

 

[Manuel Delaflor]

I will go as far as to say that if a sub is properly designed (have a good quality driver, has worked out the box resonances and have an extremely good amplifier with high quality crossover slopes) then all you need in order to have a "musical" sub is to get a "musical" room or, at least, a "musical" location of a sub in your room.

The subwoofer itself doesn't account for more than 50% of "its musicallity".

 

[RobCar]

I'm also searching for a "musical" sub and have been impressed with the Boston Acoustics PV600. See these reviews, many of the owners talk about how tight it is for music:
http://www.audioreview.com/Subwoofer...4_2741crx.aspx

 

[Chris Trot]

Thanks Rob, I'll add it to my list, anybody else having any experiences with this sub, especially vs the Rava

 

[Donald Shrum]

Well, I have had a few subs and so far, the most musical sub I have heard would be the Martin Logan sub. But Very close to it would be the REL Strata III I actually installed this sub last night and WOW am I amazed. Blended in perfectly with my Martin logans. Tight, Fast, Accurate and not to shabby on output. This sub really impressed me. Right now I am at the Dilema of which sub should I keep, My HGS-10 or the REL Strata III. I will be trying and testing both subs this weekend. I just sold my BPS-400, and although it was Loud and clean, It couldn't come close to the REL when it comes to music.

 

[Mark Leitch]

The RELs are truly amazing for music. If someone could come up with their crossover connection in an easy to manage box (with balanced ins/outs too please ;-) for less than, say, a Marchand XM9L, I think it would be an awesome product.

M.

 

[Chris Tsutsui]

Forget about "slam" and "tight" bass if you're in this hobby for the music (Then again you don't want boomy bass).
An example of this is how transistor amps can make the bass sound dry (shriveling) when it sounds tight. This means that the sub may actually not be very musical. Musical bass has body, life, and presence. If the bass sounds too tight, it just doesn't sound musical anymore.
I say this because I noticed that in an acoustically dead room with a tight sounding sub, the music beagn to sound artificial. Bass transients were too brief and don't have that resonant life to them anymore. However, add a sub full of rich sound to the recording room, and the bass comes to life.
Just keep that in mind when searching for the "Tight" sounding sub. I'd look for something that sounds rich and full, but also doesn't sound boomy. Then again, you won't be using the sub in an acoustically dead room so by getting a tight sub, it may work well with the room and sound life like again.

 

[JohnBrianW.]

For a seemless integration, i would reccomend you go and check out Totem's new Thunder. It's just been released, I had achance to listen to it, and it really is awesome. If you don't have enough power though it won't be any good to you. Two of the drivers are passive.