I respect Chess' ideas that he is sick of hearing about SVS being a great sub, even though he thinks they are ugly. It's a good thing he doesn't find Axiom ugly

So the question remains, then,

What is a great quality and value sub that is NOT SVS, regardless of the looks?

Personally, I can't say I have found a sub that performs the same at the same price.

oh, and just for the record, black is my favorite color (I know, some people say it is not a color). However, I wonder if my system would look better in Boston Cherry or Light Maple, both of which look very pleasing to me.

I agree, I like the black as well and think the shape is much more pleasing than the typical box shaped sub. Most gear is black in color anyways, I think it compliments my Denon 3802 just fine. SVS does make a wooden sub, much more $$ but it does exsist.

I think some of the "waterheater" subs do look a little over the top. I have thought about building one with a 10" driver in a 12" sonotube that can then disguise itself as a plant stand.

Problem is if I'm going to build anything I might as well at least do a 12" and then the tube ends up becoming too large in diameter.

I think you need to decide if it will be a sub and be hidden for the most part or also double as a piece of furniture, possible an end table. That of course then limits where you can place it.

Any wonder I haven't built it yet?

I'm with Chess on the clour black. I have no idea why the majority of components have to be that way, it certainly isn't that way in Japan or Europe.

I think the question of value and quality is very subjective, depends on many factros, not the least of them being the size of your pocketbook.

if i had to do it all over i would have bought the vmps large kit without cabinet and made my own to there specs.
can get the kit for about 300$ add 200$ more for cabinet materials.
you can make a high boy style box if you lack space.
no ports or port noise-external amp of your choice .
the sound is so clean

Hi,

Idle speculation on my part, but looking back, I think we can partly blame Bryston, who has always sold to the professional and audiophile markets. Pro gear in studios has mostly been black since the early '60s. People began associating "professional" performance and standards with black components. Then around 1970 Sansui started producing black components. Back then, most receivers (Pioneer, etc.) were silver. So maybe the Sansui stuff sold really well and everybody went to black.

Yamaha tried to reintroduce silver less than a decade ago--a high-end line--but it didn't sell well in Canada.

Asia loves gold, by the way.

And wasn't the Ford Prefect from British Ford? One of those wretched British cars that never started in an Ontario winter? Neither did the original Jaguar XKE, by the way. A wealthy friend of mine had one when I went to college in the '60s.

Regards,

I think if you don't go SVS than these two are considered price/performance winners:




http://www.adireaudio.com/home_audio/Loudspeakers/exact_series/rava.htm


http://store.yahoo.com/hsusubs/vtf2.html

Hi Alan
yep the Ford Prefect was the four door version of the Ford Anglia, 10hp and 1.17L, vacuum wipers and a suspension right out of the stone ages . Mine was green, not black and the best feature was a crank out front windshield, pressumably to help clear the window of fog on misty days, except we all know it never started on misty days.

Please say that's a typo. Ten horsepower?

no, not a typo, somewhere I have a copy of an advert for the Prefect if I can find it I'll post it.

this is the advert

now getting back onto topic I really like the look of the Axiom subs, espcially the EP350; very much an "in your face" look.

Ravi, in addition to what Steve C mentioned, among non-velvety-black-cylinder quality/value subs the factory outlet EP 350 for $496U.S. including shipping should be considered.

Ford,
that car is hilarious.

Alan,
i can understand how market trend by even one major company can direct the future of products and how customers (similar to sheep) all flock in that direction. Hence the craze for gold in Asia and the lust for black in America. But trends only last so long before customers want something new so I think those times are changin . More and more i'm starting to see the metallic look come back. I loved those old 70s Radio Shack Realistic receivers (at one point i believe they were made by Yamaha i think) which had the wood panel on the side and brushed aluminum casing with light steel dials that turned ever so smooth.

Steve_C, Jason_G,
Thanks for the links.
I totally forgot about the Adire subs. I've read (and heard from local audio crazies) that the Shiva driver is pretty amazing. That Rava would make a nice fit into our decor scheme. Now if only they had a Boston Cherry for Axiom integration...

For anyone a little less concerned about the price being $600-800 or less, Rel is another company i came across that has several model levels and quite a nice wood selection as well as the basic black.
link to Rel

Provided that the tools and space are available, I believe there is no better price:performance value than doing it yourself. I (with very little woodworking ability, but a great deal of interest and patience) was able to build a subwoofer than I am very happy with. The satisfaction of building it yourself, coupled with the HUGE savings, make a DIY sub project a real possibility.

The DIY section of HTF (www.hometheaterforum.com) and Adire Audio (www.adireaudio.com) are great places to start. DIY subwoofers (www.diysubwoofers.org) is a more technical treatment of the topic, but worth a look as well.

-Nick

from my experience... i found that down firing subs to work the best... the dynamics of the way bass travels (in waves) also i've found that 15" and bigger would re-create the deepest bass so thats why i went with i the Klipsch KSW-15 with the bash amp i also was impressed by the servo 15 paradigm sub.

just my 2 cents......

p/s hope that axiom have a 15" sub in the works........

You can custom order a Rava with no finsh (bare wood). Then you can stain it any color you like - Boston Cherry, Purple, Blue, etc.

Check out www.harmonicdiscord.com and the Adire Audio section. Dan Wiggins, the CEO of Adire, hangs out there and answers questions quite frequently.

Here is the link to the conversation on how to order a "raw" cabinet: http://www.harmonicdiscord.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4066

Thanks b_man.
Great info.

That's the kind of thing i like to see in a speaker cabinet. If you can't find the finish the company offers, then at least give you the option of an unfinished cabinet.
Of course this works much more easily for true wood cabinets as opposed to MDF covered with vinyl finish.