HSU Research STF-1 - Subwoofer - 150 Watt
See it at Amazon.com for $375.00Average Customer Rating
(5.0 out of 5)
Amazon Customer Reviews
Most Helpful First | Newest First (5 out of 5)I do NOW own one and read reviews for hours
From what I gathered after intensive (obsessive) research - there are five good makers of subwoofers. Hsu and SVS are the most highly recommended under $1000, but there are other good ones.
The STF-1 is the Hsu Research lowest priced sub and is superb. The STF-2 is even more highly recommended (goes lower but is bigger).
Both were more than I thought I needed. I bought a Velodyne CHT-8 (one of the other of the five good subwoofer makers) cause I didn't need "perfection" and wanted to save some money. A year later I sold the Velodyne (not a bad subwoofer) and bought this (a very good one at a good price).
ecousticsdotcom is a good place to read up on subs and to search easily for professional and user reviews. Also here at this site.
(5 out of 5)Amazing for the price and size
...especially if you're in a smallish room, say 10x14 or so. Hsu has a host of bigger and more powerful models at their website (hsuresearch dot com) for bigger bass appetites and bigger rooms. As an internet-direct manufacturer they and SVS offer amazing bang for the buck, positively annihilating the store-bought brands like Klipsch, Polk, Infinity, Sony (gag!) and Bose (gag! choke! cough!). And with their liberal return policies you have nothing to lose really.
I borrowed a friend's (next model up) STF-2 for several days and was very impressed, and that's with a 6000 cubic foot room with 20 foot cathedral ceilings! Just amazing value and quality.
(5 out of 5)Makes movie-watching at home a great experience
Subwoofers enchance any tv/movie watching experience at home but the Hsu subwoofer in particular is superb. No distortion, not overly sensitive but it still picks up the deep sounds you want to capture in your living room. I'm impressed by the subtleties it eminates; it picks up bass beautifully in parts of movies I've been watching all my life and didn't know had this undertone. I'm not an audiophile at all and not a tech, gadget, or entertainment system wizard by any means but I can't go back to watching movies at home without my Hsu sub now!