I'm hearing a lot about these 2 subwoofers. Basically one is double the price of the other. What am I getting for the double in price?

Is there truely a noticible difference.....and do you agree that if you can stretch your budget to that extra $600 to get the 500.

This subwoofer will be put into my finished basement. In Canada that means a concrete floor (9 feet below grade) surrounded by concrete walls (interior walls finished with typical dry-wall). My point is, it's difficult to shake the house I would think.

Look at the specs, read the reviews. The 350 used to be the top of the line before they came out with the 500 and 600. The 350 is a nice subwoofer, but not in the same league as the newer 500 and 600. And yes, they will shake your house off its foundation. A lot depends on the size of your room and treatments/room furnishings.

Here are a few key specs that can be found on the specs product page for each speaker.

200 watts versus 500 watt amp
28HZ versus 20Hz
std amp versus digital

The two subwoofers are very different designs and price reflects their relative merits and performance. There really isn't much in common between the 2 subs except for the size of the driver. The 500 has the superior driver with its larger magnet and 3" dual voicecoil. The dual voicecoil allows for lower impedance and higher current from the digital amp.

The DSP controlled 500W proprietary amp in the 500 is arguably its finest feature. The 350's smaller 200W amp will strain in comparison particularly at high SPLs down low. The 500 amp mates very well with the 12" driver in the larger enclosure which results in low THD. Its very flat FR linearity is matched by few subwoofers anywhere while the 350 while flat to 30hz runs out of gas at levels 10hz higher than the 500.

The 500 also has XLR connections which are useful for eliminating noise over long runs if connecting to a receiver/processor with balanced outputs. Also the large single flared vortex port provides much more bass output with less port noise than the dual circular ports in the 350. Listening tests usually rank the 500 very highly in terms of articualtion and clarity when compared to other well-known subs in its price range. The 500 really is an outstanding subwoofer design by any standard. The 350 is a good sub at its price point but in this case its not diminishing returns when stepping up to the 500.

I'll have to agree with Randy and Jakeman, to put it simply the EP500 will rock your foundations, Imo if you relly want to get that wow factor in your home theatre the EP500 or EP600 are a must.

excellent replies, very helpful, I think the wow factor is part of what I want......in fact of course it is. $600 over the life of the system is even more of a selling feature (if of course you havn't already maxed out already - which we all do).

I think "enjoy the music.com" review tells the story!

I have a 350 and I love it, but after listening to it for over a year I can tell where the 500 would come in to play. You can tell when the low end of the 350 bottoms out and it needs to keep going. I really like my 350 and it does the job, but I am going to upgrade to a 500 soon because I want that full range of bass, and the extra power!

I'm considering both as well. I'm just concerned that the 500 may be too much base for my tastes. I don't want it boomy, or too overpowering. I assume that with proper calibration it can deliver good base response without sounding like a tuner car, right?

I'm going to buy a set of M60's, a VP150, and 4 QS8's for my basement home theatre that measures 13x19.5x8, and just want to make sure that I end up with the right set and not wishing I upgraded the sub, or chose too big for my room.

It's hard to have too much sub for a room. If it is properly calibrated then it should put out no more bass than a smaller sub (except in extreme scenes where it can deliver what a lesser sub can't).

Exactly. Even systems with multiple big subs sound completely natural as long as they are calibrated correctly.

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I'm considering both as well. I'm just concerned that the 500 may be too much base for my tastes. I don't want it boomy, or too overpowering. I assume that with proper calibration it can deliver good base response without sounding like a tuner car, right?

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At first I worried that the 500 would be too big and overpowering as well, but once I actually calibrated the levels to match the mains, it blended seamlessly. I can't tell whe the mains stop and the sub takes over. The sound from the 500 will rock the house if you turn it up. It is a big WOW factor in my theater.

bflat