Looking for a small sub (1 Viewer)

[Arron H]

My wife took one look at the SVS cylinder subs and said no way, not a chance, forget about it. In fact, she is really adamant about purchasing a smaller sub (no big box subs like Paradigm's Servo 15 allowed in the living room, doh!). I am looking at the following subs and am wondering if anyone can provide some input on them: REL Q150E ($1099 MSRP), REL Strata III ($1295 MSRP), Velodyne HGS 10 ($1500 MSRP), B&W 650 S3 ($700 MSRP) and HSU VTF2 ($450 MSRP). I can probably spend around a $1000, maybe $1200. I am not limiting myself to looking at just these subs. In fact, If anyone has any suggestions for other small subs, or a better value smaller sub, I would greatly appreciate it.

The room size for my system is 16 x 14 x 8. My speakers are:

B&W 603 S2 (fronts)

B&W 601 S2 (rears)

B&W LCR6 (Center)

My receiver is: Yamaha RX-V1200

Once again, any ideas/suggestions are greatly appreciated.

 

[Dan Hine]

I would add the Sunfire True Subwoofer Junior . An Incredible amount of performance from a 9" cube. List is $895 but I'm sure you could find it for a bit less. Velodyne and HSU also have many happy users. I haven't heard them myself though. Happy sub hunting!
Dan Hine

 

[Paul Clarke]

For the money the Hsu is an absolute jewel...Musical and great HT extension...Tunable to any purpose and acoustic need...for less than $500...Only in America.

 

[Greg Br]

Sunfire True, I prefer the standard one verse the junior, they are both still very small and produce some serious wall saking bass, but thats why they are $1500.

 

[Randy G]

As a point of information, Velodyne just upgraded their HGS line to the HGS Series II in order to address some reliability concerns. Due to their low distortion, I'd pick the Velodyne over the Sunfire, but that's only MY opinion.
It really depends on how loud you wanna blast it. If you're looking for a discount, I can hook you up with a brick&mortar dealer who will sell the Velo for about 33% off. You can email me at [email protected] if you're interested.
Regards,
Randy

 

[Brian Bunge]

In addition to Randy's suggestion, you might want to take a look at the ACI Titan II LE subwoofer. Many users have preferred it over some of the REL subs that are quite a bit more costly than it.
http://www.audioc.com/speakers/TitanII/2001Titanle.htm
Otherwise, Randy's "size is all that matters" Velodyne recommendation should be a good one!
Brian

 

[Arron H]

I picked up a True Subwoofer Junior for $650 (it was the last one in stock). I may pick up another later on if we move to a bigger house with a room dedicated to HT. Thanks for the input everybody.

 

[MarkO]

The best small cube sub ive heard was the REL Q200E. Musicaly its (IMO) better than the Sunfire. I havent heard the 150 so I cant comment.

 

[Arron H]

The REL201E is preety much out of my budget range (it lists for $1599). At $650, the True Sub Junior was a better fit for me.

 

[Manuel Delaflor]

Arron,

Congrats, good buy! Where did you got that price? and secondly, can you give us some feedback on your impressions?

 

[Dustin B]

If you ever get the oppertunity to DIY a sub, an interesting option for a tiny sub that should put out nicely would be a Mass 2010 with a pair of 12" passive radiators. Say a 100% stuffed 13" cube using 3/4" mdf with some internal bracing tuned to somewhere between 20 and 25hz.

Using two 12" PR they could be mounted on opposite sides which should prevent the sub from doing any dancing. I'd expect this could easily outperform a Sunfire JR.

Cost would be about $280 for the driver and $120 for the two passive radiators. So $400 plus box construction and finishing materials. So just over $500 for the sub plus whatever you decide to spend on an amp.

Definately not the best value in DIY, but cost is a trade off you have to make when you are going for small size.

 

[Arron H]

Manuel,

I picked up the Sunfire from a local studio recording retailer who is selling out all of it's HT equipment. I bought their last Sub Jr. Impressions? Unbelievable bass from such a small cube. It's preety freakin amazing.

 

[Martice]

Adire Shiva driver, 250 watt plate amp, cabinet constructed by Link Removed
Hard to beat cost and performance wise.

 

[Dustin B]

Scratch my Mass 2010 idea. I really should have looked into PR more before I opened my mouth. I understand ported and sealed enclosures reasonably well, but I was way off on PR. Now that I have learned a littl more there isn't a 12" PR that I'm aware of that could handle the mass required to tune that design below 25hz.