Axiom Home Page Forums General Discussion Advice from Axiom Owners Advice on a subwoofer

I used the 'Ask Dr. HSU' option on the hsuresearch.com site. I described my media room, my Axiom speakers and other HT equipment, and added the following comment:

Dr. Hsu: which sub should I choose? I want a good clean extension to 20Hz with a flat response between 20 - 150 Hz? I know that the VTF3 MK2 is on sale. However, the VTF3 MK3 seems like an attractive choice. I don\'t want to pay for more than I will need, so I will appreciate your input. Thank you!

He replied: I would certainly go for the VTF-3 MK3. The extra headroom in the low bass is definitely worth the extra money

I'm going with the HSU VTF 3 MK III (no HO).

That is going to be a great sub for ya. Let us know how ya like it.

I am now a proud owner of a brand new Hsu VTF MK-3. Many thanks to bugbitten, mdrew, st patguy and wid for their helpful input.

I now have to:
a. position the sub at an optimum location
b. set the phase and loudness settings to the most appropriate values on the sub
c. move the center channel speaker (which is currently on the entertainment center, in front of my tv, blocking the IR port) on the wall behind the TV using a newly ordered Axiom speaker bracket
d. calibrate the speaker volume levels using the microphone provided with my Denon AVR3805 receiver

I so enjoy this stuff!

Ananth

Congratulations, Ananth! Getting a good sub is quite satisfying. You should hear a definite impact with movies. Music may require a bit of fine tuning. Be patient and do lots of listening and the reward will be great.

By the way, let us know what you think of the new Hsu offering.

You did good.

Does anyone know if there's much of a difference between the HSU STF-3 and the VTF-3 MK2? I bought the STF-3 because the VTF-3 was a little beyond my price point. Would I have been better of buying the VTF-2?

I believe they're basically the same sub but the VTF-3 is tuned a tiny bit lower (22 Hz vs. 25 Hz) and has a switch that lets you plug one of the two ports and tune a bit lower still (18 Hz) with less output but slightly better deep bass.

If you were likely to leave the VTF-3 in "maximum output" mode (22 Hz) then the difference is tiny. At worst, you're going to get a bit more output overall at the expense of a bit less of the deepest bass.

If your question was "STF3 vs. VTF2 Mk 3" then I think it depends on how loudly you want to play. If you have a heavy hand on the volume control then you will be happier with the STF3. If you don't play very loud but want the most deep bass then you might have been slightly happier with the VTF2 Mk 3.

If your question was "STF3 vs. VTF2 Mk 2" then you definitely made the right choice.

EDIT -- I *hate* answering questions like this after the purchase decision has already been made

Congrats on the new sub, your going be in for a nice suprise with that baby

Danial,

You are not giving up much at all with the STF 3 compared to the VTF 3. The STF 3 is actually tuned at 22HZ also. I know it says 25HZ on the specs but 22 is the right number. The VTF 2.2 would not compare at all with the STF 3. Don't worry you did good.

Run some test tone with it and see how low it can go, I think you would be suprised.

I guess I prefer the deeper bass as I usually don't play my music or movies very loud...loud yes, very loud no. I guess I'll have to wait until my speakers arrive to test out my sub. Thanks for the advice!

>>The STF 3 is actually tuned at 22HZ also. I know it says 25HZ on the specs but 22 is the right number.

I was wondering about that. Same box, same ports, same driver, same internal volume, different tune point ?

If the stock tune point is the same that's one less thing to worry about.