Subwoofer ratings by Widescreen Review mag

This forum receives a number of inquiries about "which subwoofer should I buy". There are a number of technical and practical (size, cost, etc.) issues which must be considered by anyone looking for a good subwoofer, but I don't intend to try to cover those considerations here.

Widescreen Review magazine conducted a series of subwoofer evaluations between 1997 and 2000 (which obviously leaves out some of the most recent models). I thought that readers might find a list of the "top twelve" subs rated by WR to be a useful starting point when contemplating the purchase of a new/used subwoofer. You will note that this list does not include the REL brand, since none of them were reviewed in this group of articles. The reviews, however, did include the Sunfire "True Subwoofer" Mk 2, which finished in the middle of the pack of the 50 subs.

The review articles rated 50 subwoofers for 12 factors, and scored them from 5 (highest) to 1 (lowest) on each factor. The rated factors were: music (ability to faithfull reproduce music); effects (ability to faithfully reproduce LFE); impact; tonal definition; overhang (tight vs. flabby bass, with tight being the desired property); rhythm and pace; midrange coloration; enclosure integrity; distress (how the sub performed under severe stress); subjective deep bass; ability to play at 105db or louder at 35 Hz; and ability to reproduce 25 Hz frequencies cleanly.

The highest possible score for a subwoofer would be a perfect 5.0. The subs are listed below, in alphabetical order:

Only one subwoofer had a perfect 5.0 score:
1. Linn AV 5150 (price: $4200)

The best group of subs had nearly perfect scores, with only a few factors rated less than 5, and none lower than 4.0. When looking at the average score, you should also note the price when making comparisons:
1. Bag End Infra-18: average = 4.92 ($2400-2900, depending on finish)
2. B&W ASW4000: average = 4.71 ($3000)
3. Earthquake SuperNova Millenium 15: average = 4.71 ($2000)
4. Energy ES-18XL: average = 4.875 ($1700)
5. Mirage BPS-210: average = 4.92 ($1700)
6. Mirage BSP-400: average = 4.71 ($1300)
7. M&K MX-5000THX: average = 4.83 ($2500)
8. M&K MX-700: average = 4.67 ($1400)
9. Vandersteen 2Wq: average = 4.83 ($1300) (this sub is specifically intended to be used in pairs, which would increase its average score to that of V2W)
10. Vandersteen V2W: average = 4.96 ($1300)