Boston Acoustics Subwoofers, any good? (1 Viewer)

[Matt_Smi]

Hey,

My Uncle (Who I talked out of Bose) is now going with a set of Boston Acoustics Mirco130 satellite speakers along with a Micro Center. He wants a nice sub to go with these speakers, he does not want to spend a ton and I believe his budget is around $400. As an STF-2 owner I obviously recommended that, and told him that he would be hard pressed to do better for the price. He has also heard the STF-2 at my house and was really impressed by it. Anyway he gave me a call a few days ago and asked about BA subs, I honestly know nothing about them so I figured I would ask here. This is the one he was looking at http://www.bostonacoustics.com/hs_pr...2&CategoryID=6 and from the specs (100 watt amp, only goes down to 38Hz, only weights 28 pounds) it seems pretty unimpressive, even the $700 PV900 “only” goes to 26Hz, and for that price you could do much better! So I am going to go ahead and assume that he would be much better off with the STF-2 for $400 (CompUSA no longer sells it for $350). Anyway he still wanted to get some input on BA subs so let me know what you think. Thanks.

 

[Robb Roy]

Matt,

I've heard many BA subs, and used to own the PV-1000. Don't get me wrong here -- I'm a huge fan of BA speakers (I own the VR-M series all around) but I'm not that big a fan of their subs. The PV-1000 is impressive for its small size, but at that price you could do so much better with an SVS or a Hsu for less money. I suppose their other models are comparable in price and performance with the majority of B & M offerings, but your uncle can do better, in my opinion.

-Robb

 

[PaulDA]

I have a PV900 and though I'm sure better is out there (and I didn't pay retail, so I think a got a fair return on my dollar--at retail it is not a value purchase, I agree) still, it is no slouch. I don't want to discourage anyone from buying another brand, I'm just pointing out that the BA subs are not "wimpy, one-note" thumpers. As for the PV500, in my opinion, it has its place in a small room as a low frequency supplement to bookshelves or sats for most music (rendering the ensemble similar to a broad range floorstander), but is inadequate for LFE effects in HT. That said, BA sub or not, there are many people out there who are not interested in the same kind of bass output that those who frequent these boards are (we are a curious lot, aren't we ) and for them the PV500 or something similar is more than adequate.

Just my two cents.

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Matt,

The consideration shouldn’t be that he heard a certain sub at your house and he liked it. What’s critical to a sub’s performance is the size of the room it’s in. Thus his liking your sub would only be relevant if his listening space is the same size as yours, or smaller.

I’ve never heard a Boston sub, but a small-driver, low-powered sub will only carry the mail in a very small room if you run anything resembling theater volumes.

If $400 is the budget you might look into an Adire Rava. I’ve heard great things about its performance-per-dollar value.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Joey_V]

big no no on BA subs... not good at all.

 

[Leigh_M]

Joey_V, I'm curios why you say that? I've owned two PV600 subs and think they are very nice subs. Now, before you jump into the standard SVS is the best ... I also own an SVS 20-39PCi. Since I don't watch my movies at reference volume, in most situations the Boston subs do a great job. Also, if you ask my wife, she will take the Boston any day. She hates the size of the SVS.

 

[Joey_V]

I dont mean to come out as that "svs is the best" because I know it isnt.

Here is what i experienced:

When I was auditioning speakers, I auditioned several subwoofers as well (this was back a few years ago when I was helping my parents build a Klipsch system). We started looking at some subs to anchor the system and among the several that we auditioned, we heard a BA sub (i dont remember the model number, had a 10inch woofer, cost $999). It rattled.

Bottom line in this audition, the Klipsch KSW-12 (for half the price) outdid the BA sub.

So for the money, you can certainly do better than a BA in my opinion. Of course I havent heard your sub so I cannot say that about yours. However, my experience with BA has not been a good one.

Also, I am not here to comment on size versus performance because I know that the BA are generally smaller (svs vs ba) - but so are a lot of other subs that I feel have better extension and spl than the one I listened to at that price range. For one, the Klipsch RSW-10 versus the $1000 BA sub I listened to was not a contest at all.

 

[MikeNg]

If you want to wait around, I've seen a couple of b-stock Onix UFW-10's roll on through over the last couple of months for $390 on AV123. I've never heard BA subs, but I have heard the Onix, and they should be on your short list of subwoofers to consider. If you can score one at b-stock price...

 

[Joey_V]

yeah! i completely endorse the ufw-10 recommendation. now that sub is so quick and musical.. wow!

 

[Robb Roy]

That's got to be the PV-1000 (BA's top of the line). If the one you heard rattled, it was broken or on an uneven surface.

-Robb