good, affordable subs? (1 Viewer)

[ArnabC]

by affordable i mean

 

[Jeff Gatie]

I hope you are not looking for a 10" "tweeter" in a sub. Subwoofers have woofers, not tweeters. For under $300, most people swear by the Sony or the Dayton.

 

[Tim Stumpf]

The dayton is probably one of the best values you'll find in HT gear, IMHO. Great bang, not many bucks.

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/pshow...=300-632&DID=7

 

[ArnabC]

thanks for the responses--yes, when i typed 'tweeter' i meant woofer.

re the dayton: i had no idea that decent subs could be had for so close to $100. the cheapest boston acoustics sub costs $350 and only goes as low as 38hz--this $122 dayton goes to 25hz. i know most people on this forum sneer at such things (and at budgets/audio-knowledge such as mine) but are more opinions forthcoming on the dayton? and on matching it with boston speakers?

thanks in advance!

 

[Tim Stumpf]

Use the search function to find info on the dayton. I have the dayton as well as a SVS 20-39 PC+. While I obviously can't speak for anyone but myself, I would never sneer at the dayton sub, except if you were looking to use it in a very huge room. (I still would not sneer, but I would roll my eyes! ) That would be true for any subwoofer that's underpowered for a given room volume. It's great for what it is i.e. a smaller sub with less power, but still able to provide high impact bass for movies and fairly tight for music as well. If everything you bought had the same price / performance ratio as the dayton sub, most of us would probably have much nice gear than we do now.

 

[DorianBryant]

Well said Tim. I was looking at the Velo CHT-10 and 12, JBL 150 and 250. I ended up getting the Dayton and it is a great sub. I paid $140 delivered.

 

[ArnabC]

ok, you guys are talking me into it. now how about cables? should i just get the 12' dayton subwoofer cable ($11.70) and have them shipped together or is cheaper cable fine?

 

[Robert_Gaither]

I'd advise go used on this forum every now and then you can get a budget sub for a dirt cheap price.

 

[Max F]

My dayton sub came with a cable. What's the point in getting a cheap sub if your going to buy a good cable?

The cable it came with works fine. No humming noise (the only thing i would worry about in a sub cable).

BTW, i've measured my Dayton and it does indeed get down to 25Hz at +/- 3db. Don't expect much below that, but its only 120 bucks.

While i've got it to play well with music buy using the crossover on the sub (setting it around 80 Hz), if i only had bookshelve speakers and wanted a sub to fill below 100 hz i would look elsewhere (and pay the extra money). I have floor standing speakers and the sub helps with the bass below 40 hz (i.e., slow bass) leaving it turned down a bit.

This sub works great for movies. Integrating any sub for music is much more difficult.

 

[ArnabC]

hmmm it doesn't seem to currently come with a cable--at least the partsexpress page doesn't list it but shows the $11.70 cable in the related items link.

re the sub and the fronts and bass management: my boston vr 940s have a listed frequency response of 51-20,000hz--but i know some people are down on these speakers' low bass performance. do you think if i got the dayton i'd be better off setting the fronts to small and setting the bass output on the receiver to subwoofer only? i'm not sure at what frequency the receiver would cut over to the bass if i did this (i have a denon 3300). i've read (but don't entirely understand) that if i set the speakers to large and set the bass output to front and subwoofer then there is a risk of some bass cancellation between the fronts and the sub.

if i set the crossover on the sub to, say, 60hz and set the receiver bass output setting to sub and fronts does this mean that the sub will take over at 60hz and below? in other words, does the sub's crossover setting serve as the master control if the bass output is set to sub and fronts? once i get the damned thing i can try and figure out what that exact frequency will be for my ears but want to be sure i understand how this relationship works.

 

[Greg-ST]

I've got the Dayton too. Sweet sub that has no match in the $300 or less price range. 25Hz is a truthful rating (I measured my room's response as well).

Go for it.. you won't be disappointed By the way, it does come with a cable (stereo RCA cable). I opted to use an Acoustic Research sub cable.

 

[Nhan_H]

You can get 2 dayton 10-inchers for $300.

Your other options may be:

1. Rocket SW10: http://www.av123.com/products_produc...rs&product=2.1

2. HSU STF-1 (although only an 8-inch sub): http://www.hsustore.com/stf1.html

3. HTD lelel II ($230-240) or Level III ($280-300):
http://www.htd.com/posu.html

4. Velodyne CHT-12 ($250): http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=3693313

5. Velodyne VRP1000 (($250):
http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=3996264

 

[Max F]

If you have a variable crossover setting, you should be good to go. My reciever is stuck at 100hz and this sub just doesn't sound very good (compared to my speakers) at this high of level. I would love to set my crossover at 60hz or below. Instead, i have my mains at large and use the crossover on the sub to supplement the low bass.

If your short on cash get the Dayton! Also buy a cable if you have to do a long run. The one that it comes with is not that long (6ft maybe).

 

[SethH]

If your receiver has a variable crossover you'd want to set it at either 80Hz or 100Hz. You need to leave yourself some overlap with the lower-range of your mains because it rolls of the bass, it does not simply cut it at your chosen frequency.

 

[ArnabC]

thanks everyone, for your responses! this forum is a great resource--and you guys are really patient even though the same questions seem to come up a lot in different threads.

it would appear that the crossover on the denon 3300 is set at 80hz. once the sub arrives--ordering it right now--i'll try setting the receiver bass mgmt. to both "small fronts and bass--sub only" and "large fronts and bass--fronts and sub" and see which seems to work better. can anyone recommend a good movie scene to test this with? i currently have "the phantom menace" and "blackhawk down" in the house. i'm guessing i'll be better off with the front speakers set to small (since otherwise there's about 30hz of overlap and possible bass cancellation)--but we shall see what we shall see. i've read that at 80hz bass is still localizable but perhaps this is true only of dogs.

also, i am planning to keep the sub in a front corner--about 6 feet from receiver and 3 feet from the front left speaker. experience will dictate this final placement as well i suppose but are there any general rules of thumb here?

 

[ArnabC]

just called and placed my order--they say it no longer comes with a cable, so i bought the 12 foot cable--gives me more placement flexibility anyway.