Hey there. I'm looking to get a sub to go with my M3's I'll be buying soon. I have a small living room and will be using this setup mainly for music and some HT. I'm not a fan of tons of bass or huge HT rumble or anything, just wanna fill out the bottom end. The smaller the sub the better, women just don't understand.
Tyler, although the term good small sub isn't an oxymoron, this is another area where size does matter and you have to pay for those special design techniques which manage to get pretty good bass out of a very small enclosure. Probably the most reasonably priced of these designs is the Pinnacle BabyBoomer, especially
here , but even that price may be more than you care to spend. There are relatively small subs available in the $200 area. I take it that 2 SVS 16-46s shouldn't be suggested.
You may also want to consider some used Sunfire subs. They are well known for the surprisingly good bass from a small cube, and have been in the market long enough so that there are many available in the pre-owned market.
Hi JohnK,
I have exactly the same query as TylerC and for the last 6 months, I've been scouting my area for a small sub to go my M3s. I had the opportunity to demo the B&W AS-1 and the Onkyo SW-105. Surprisingly, I found the Onkyo to have clean and tight bass as compared to the AS-1. The AS-1 has only a single choice for Music or Home Theater and a bass level. No adjustable crossover and the bass was boomy and unclear. The SW-105 was able to disappear into the room very well.
But I'm still looking for other subs to demo. You mentioned good small subs in the $200 range. I'd be happy if you could point me to some of them. I'm also looking at the DIY option.
Here are some ideas to research. I have no direct experience with any, so cannot make a recommendation, but these subs seem generally to fit your needs:
Home Theater Direct, Level TWO, $229 + $15 (shipping), www.hometheaterdirect.com
Axiom, EP125, $202 + shipping, www.audioshop.on.ca, 'Nuf said.
Dahlquist, QX-100S, $254 + shipping, www.audioshop.on.ca, Have read good reviews integrating this sub with Axiom bookshelves, ask Marc at Audioshop
AudioSource, SW 10 (down-firing), $150 + $13 shipping, www.myriskfree.com
Energy, S8.2, $239 + $11 shipping, www.audiovideobonanza.com - Goodguys.com has good reviews integrating this sub with Axiom bookshelves
I also have some ideas for subs in the $400 range, if you are interested. Including Aperion Audio, AdireAudio, Athena Technologies
Thank you Curt, for all those details. I am in touch with Marc of Audioshop and he has been a great help to me, especially about the Dahlquist. The thing is, I can't get those subs here so easily and so have to depend on my friends to bring it back from the US in a suitcase. Hence my need for smaller subs.
I'll certainly check out all the sites you've mentioned.
try checking out the EZSUB14 at
http://www.creativesound.ca/ very easy to make the cabinet as it uses a locking mitre joint.
Just to note, other than shipping costs and GST (as usual) there are no duties on speakers coming from the US regardless of their country of origin.
NAFTA policies changed this from previous rules i believe.
Shankar, recalling your unique method of having your M3s delivered to you in India in a suitcase, I don't know if I can suggest anything helpful, but take a look
here and
here .
Thanks a lot to everyone for so many ideas. I really have something which I can decide on now, especially in the $200 range.
Chess, the NAFTA rules have changed but it is still very very difficult to bring in any electronic items into India. The excise department anyway charges a duty of about 40% on the price. In fact, the B&W DM303 which retails for US $300 in Europe and the US retails for $360 here in India which is ridiculous.
Any such items that come in by cargo get confiscated at Customs and if they're not damaged after that, the buyer may have to go to the customs court and justify the need for purchasing this specific item when such similar items (like Sony, Panasonic) are already available in this country. Then a fine is imposed + excise duties. So my M3s might have cost me upto $400 had I tried to get it in by cargo (not to mention the sleepless nights and trips to the customs office and my loss of pay at work). Hence.....the suitcase method :-)
Now that you've all given me so many options, I'll keep myself busy till I narrow down on something. I'm not a big bass freak, just need some nice bass for music.
Many thanks again everyone.
I've coupled a bunch of subs with a pair of M3Tis driven by a 5 watt per channel single end triode ASL MG S1 15DT in a 2 channel stereo system.
I've used both the Velodyne CHT80 and CHT100 (8" and 10") these are very nice subs, very tight and musical.
The Vance Dickason Titanic 10" from partsexpress.com is a bargain, easy to assemble kit delivered for $350. Very strong bass, very musical.
I found a Dahlquist PDQ1500 15" sub for about $100 on ubid a while ago when that auction site was active and full of bargains. It is a wonderful sub, especially if you take it apart and stick some acoustic foam to the cabinet and give it a bit of stuffing. This model is out of production, but if you can find one at a good price, I recommend you GRAB IT.
I don't like the sunfire subs. To my ears they sound like one note thumpers. The Klipsch LF10 (rated at 1640 watts) on the other hand is a small cube with an active 10" and a pair of passive 10" radiators. Sounds excellent. Very strong, very musical.
I have an old Kenwood SW300 10" sub whose driver I blew to pieces playing the Time Machine (Dream Works version) I replaced the Kenwood driver with a 10" Titanic driver from partsexpress.com. What a difference! This sub now rates with the best of the ones described above.
I picked up a gigantic SVS 20-39, but didn't use it with the M3s. It is extremely musical, and an extremely powerful bass generator for movies. Probably would be an interesting combo, small bookshelf speakers coupled with an industrial water heater sized sub. By far the best sub of the bunch I've tried.