Best subs I ever heard were the ones that were properly placed in the room, integrated with the loudspeakers and the associated listening positions, correctly dialed in for volume, phase and correct crossover frequency accordingly, and also inherently well matched with the loudspeakers they're crossing over to!
Bass is THE single most critically setup dependent element when it comes to sound from a system! Place even the most highly touted/rated or expensive subwoofers (self powered, or otherwise) in any system - without successfully addressing all of the afore mentioned points of consideration, and you can forget getting anything resembling exceptional performance from your product!-GUARANTEED! In fact, I'd go so far as to state that the above are all far far more important than the inherent overall performance potential and quality level of the subwoofer itself, yes!
I've dealt hands on with some of the highest end powered consumer woofers ever manufactured (including high end Thiel's, Wilson's, Martin Logan's, Entec, and any number of pro/consumer mid-fi offerings on to M&K,Velodyne,Paradigm, yada yada), and can straight out say that I'd hands down rather have even some modest mid-fi level offerings set up well in any system, over spending big bucks on some potential subwoofer nirvana, that's not set up well! Results are always better with the former..trust me
Bass is THE single most critically setup dependent element when it comes to sound from a system! Place even the most highly touted/rated or expensive subwoofers (self powered, or otherwise) in any system - without successfully addressing all of the afore mentioned points of consideration, and you can forget getting anything resembling exceptional performance from your product!-GUARANTEED! In fact, I'd go so far as to state that the above are all far far more important than the inherent overall performance potential and quality level of the subwoofer itself, yes!
I've dealt hands on with some of the highest end powered consumer woofers ever manufactured (including high end Thiel's, Wilson's, Martin Logan's, Entec, and any number of pro/consumer mid-fi offerings on to M&K,Velodyne,Paradigm, yada yada), and can straight out say that I'd hands down rather have even some modest mid-fi level offerings set up well in any system, over spending big bucks on some potential subwoofer nirvana, that's not set up well! Results are always better with the former..trust me