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deathBOB

[H]ard|Gawd
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Sep 27, 2003
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I've had my Swans M200s for about six months now. I absolutely love them but I kind of miss the bass in my music. I got a new job recently (hooray for disposable income) and I've been thinking about putting $150-200 toward a subwoofer. I understand that it will be easiest to get a powered sub.

Three questions:

1) What sub should I get?

2) Is my price range reasonable and does it offer good bang/buck?

3) How will I hook it up with my Swans and Creative X-Fi

Any help will be appreciated.
 
Hsu stf-1 $299 - Very good musical sub, good for HT use also.

Acoustech H-100 - New on ebay $245 + $39 ship, OFFER $200 + ship and they probably will take it. Bigger driver, same amp as the Hsu, I own one, love it, great for music and very good for Home theater usage.

Cadence x-sub- Acoustech H-100 outclass it, maybe get it if its a lot cheap. People already did a direct comparison on this and the H100.

Dayton subwoofers @ partsexpress.com - Decent, cheap subs.

AV123 X-Sub - very good for the money $199, out of stock until Sept. lol.


Not sure how to connect to the swans as I don't own them :)
 
I forgot to mention: this is mostly for music and games. Music is more important.

The swans are self powered and take L-R RCA plugs.

Damnit I spelled woofer wrong. Why didn't FF spell check pick that up?
 
aZn_plyR said:
Hsu stf-1 $299 - Very good musical sub, good for HT use also.

Acoustech H-100 - New on ebay $245 + $39 ship, OFFER $200 + ship and they probably will take it. Bigger driver, same amp as the Hsu, I own one, love it, great for music and very good for Home theater usage.

Cadence x-sub- Acoustech H-100 outclass it, maybe get it if its a lot cheap. People already did a direct comparison on this and the H100.

Dayton subwoofers @ partsexpress.com - Decent, cheap subs.

AV123 X-Sub - very good for the money $199, out of stock until Sept. lol.


Not sure how to connect to the swans as I don't own them :)
Click to expand...
Though its a few bucks over budget you may as well add the new budget darling of the avsforums, the ED subwoofers: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=750685

Though from experience i can also recommend the Bic H-100, def a nice budget sub.
 
I gots an H-100, fantastic sub for the money! This thing kicks pretty hard and even with a thorough workout it still wants more!
 
I recently got the JBL Venue 10" sub and it's excellent. It can be had for around $175 if you Google around the web.
 
no offense, but I wouldn't recommend that line of the JBL for music as it's really boomy sounding, not as clean as those listed.
 
aZn_plyR said:
no offense, but I wouldn't recommend that line of the JBL for music as it's really boomy sounding, not as clean as those listed.
Click to expand...
It's all a matter of one's preferences. The sub blends very well with my X-LS bookshelf speakers to produce an excellent sound field for games and music.
 
As part of the original question, how does one go about hooking up a system like this with a soundcard, powered speakers, and powered sub? What connects to what, etc.

(Asking because I'm in a similar situation and am interested :D )
 
Now that could get complicated. I'm guessing you'd connect the sub out on the sound card to the sub and set the sound card to output over the LFE.
 
http://www.electronicexpress.com/product?prod_id=9031

I bought one of these and it's awesome. It was $150 at the store but don't know what you'd be able to find it for. It sounded weak at first but after it broke in ~2 weeks) it was awesome. For the price it's very nice. It'll play pretty darn low and hit really good.

It really rocked when I had this connected to my computer. It makes the Z5500 subwoofer sound like CRAP.
 
Thanks for the tips guys.

I should also mention that I am in an apartment and total power doesn't mean a lot to me. I'm looking for tight, crisp bass more than anything. Should I look at a smaller (8") driver?

And what about hooking it up?
 
dimensions of your living room or the room where the sub will be placed might help determine size

just remember, bigger doesnt always mean better
 
if you get a sub that has line in and like out (passthrough) then you go stereo mini plug to rca into the sub then rca to rca into the swans. in the suggestions above look at the amps and see if they have four rca plugs on the back, many budget subs dont.
 
H-Money said:
dimensions of your living room or the room where the sub will be placed might help determine size

just remember, bigger doesnt always mean better
Click to expand...

Small room, I really don't think I need much in the way of power. I'm looking for quaity and good musicality.

The HSU is too much. :(
 
For that price range, I really like the JBL subs. They are nothing stellar, but they do plenty well. You should be able to get their 10" sub shipped from jr.com within that budget.
 
Oh. My. God. I am so stupid. When I wrote that HSU subs aren't powered, I failed to remember that I plugged mine into the wall. The damned audio cable I used is as big as the ones powering my speakers, and I completely forgot about the power cable. (got confuuuused)
So yes, the HSUs are powered, and they are great.
I'm such a donkey sometimes.
 
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