I am in the process of building my first serious home theater and need some advice on purchasing a decent sub in the $300-$450 range. I've done a lot of reading and have narrowed it down to a few. I'd like to get some opinions on my choices and possibly others I haven't considered. This will be primarily for HT but I would like it to be on the fast, musical side. I haven't had the chance to audition any of these so that's why I'm here. There is also a Wife Acceptance Factor to consider as well. Here's what I'm eyeing:
AVS Rocket ULW-10 (nice size but a bit ugly) HSU STF-2 Mirage S12 Outlay LFM-2 SVS PB10-ISD (pushing the budget and WAF due to size) Velodyne VRP-1200
There are others in the list but mostly smaller versions listed above. I thought about keeping it close to the $300 mark if I can find something decent but I don't want to have to replace it either if I end up upgrading the mains down the road. I have some Paradigm PDRs in the list but I don't have pricing on those so I don't know if they belong in the discussion.
My setup includes a Denon AVR-2106 which will be running 5 Mirage Omni Nanosats. Unfortunately I missed out on the Mirage S10 selling for $250 at Vanns.com so the search continues. As it stands now, I'm leaning towards the Hsu STF-2 and Mirage S12..unless convinced otherwise.
Thanks in advance for the advice.
Anonymous
Posted on
Mirage S12 = Hsu STF-3 which is a $600 sub, that's the one I'd get.
Thanks Anonymous! After doing more reading (even though there isn't too much on the Mirage S12) I had pretty much made up my mind on that one. I did read one professional review that compared the S12 to the Hsu VTF-3 Mk II ($700 direct). The S12 kept up with it all the way up to all but the highest SPL levels which I thought was very impressive. I won't be cranking this thing up to those levels so it's really a mute point. Your comparison has sealed the decision. Thanks again.
cua
Unregistered guest
Posted on
Now that it's been almost a month. How do you like your Mirage S12? I'm considering to get one too.
Cua - The Mirage S12 is amazing! You wont be disappointed with it at all. It has the power and range you can feel. I have mine set at the half-way point and my receiver at +6dB for that channel (it goes to +18dB I believe). I've had to turn it down to about the quarter mark when watching War of the Worlds because it was shaking the whole lower level of the house and unfortunately I it's a townhouse. On another night, my wife and I were watching the latest Zorro movie at normal levels and there's a part where a bunch of guys on horses come from the rear left of the sound stage but before you see anything you can hear the horses' rumbling as if they were right there. At first, we thought something was going on outside on the back deck. We had to laugh when we realized it was the movie. I haven't had a chance to really demo music through it but the movie soundtracks are amazing and clear. I don't have any other subs to compare it to so I rate it againts any others but I'm very happy with it. Let me know if you get one and what you think about it.