Best home theater subwoofer to mate w/Aerial 7B's

I do like the the HSU for the money (they're under $500), but I like the REL better if you can afford them ($1,000+ and up). All the components on the Stereophile list are recommended components, I was just pointing out that the Home Theater ratings are not the same. The REL Q subs were made for HT. I have a Q100E in my dedicated HT setup. It has a depth/slam switch that changes the character of the sub for when you want extra slam. Depth is the normal setting you would also use for music. RELs have two sets of connections; one is better for music (high pass), the other is designed to work with a AC-3 or other decoder. They can be setup and adjusted separately, and the sub automatically switches between the two setups when no separate signal is received from the HT decoder or receiver.

Sugarbrie, I take it your not an HSU fan. Are these not good subs for HT?
Mahandave, It is after all a dedicated HT room, so natually I would like the "overblown explosions". My friend just bought the Sunfire sub, it's hard to keep that sub from dancing all over the room. I wasn't really that impressed with it. I agree with you that the Aerial sub is too expensive for what you get. I love the REL's for music but how are they on HT LFE?

Do you want to relax, stick with the Rel of any kind. But if you want overblown explosions and a room full of presure, go with the new version subs like the Sunfire Sig. - You do not need something as big as the Aerial sub or as expensive when Sunfire is 100percent the equal of it for half the price and one quarter the size in a LFE position (direct a/b comparison in my large room). Aerial 7's are great speakers, I have the 8b's But their sub is way overdone (price and size) for the LFE channel especially if you are in a small room or are going to use more than one. For music my oppinion would be rel only!

Just a note: The Class A in the Stereophile Home Theater magazine is not the same thing as a Class A in the Audio Magazine. I believe the HSU is Class C or D in the Audio Magazine. The REL's are mostly all Class A and B in the Audio Magazine depending on model.

The Hsu Research (www.hsuresearch.com) VTF-2 was given a "Class A" rating in Stereophile's Guide To Home Theater magazine. Best of all, you could get TWO of them for about $1k. What other powered sub can offer such a value? It is definitely one (or a pair of them) to consider for your Aerial system.

If it is dedicated HT, you may want to consider the Q series REL's like the Q100E, Q150E, or Q201E. They are all excellent at their price points. The 150 and 201 have a small footprint also. The Q series are also very musical.

Ken and Ed,
That is the obvious choice, but I'm thinking that they are just to big and maybe overkill for a 12x12 room. They are also a bit pricey! Would one (or two) Storm III's work. I'm not sure these are the proper subs for HT.

How about the Aerial SW12? couldnt' get much more perfect than that.

Without trying to state the obvious have you auditioned an Aerial SW12? I now have two of them in my system with Aerial LR5s. I recently owned the 7Bs and had the SW12 mated with them. The sound was seamless, clear, and very powerful. If you check out the back panel is more of a command center than a control panel. I know that it’s pricey but discounting is available and the unit is, IMHO, as good as it gets.

Ken