Short list of musical subwoofers

Vandersteen  Rel

 Both High level with their own advantages.

Most folks never heard of Vandertones a group of 11 bass warble tones for adjustments with Vandersteen Sub 3 and others 11 left ch 11 Right ch

Hey its real simple most above may not understand each room varies and has a big peak at the room resonance measured at the listening chair. the new  Vandersteen Sub 3 / Quatro and above use a simple analog adjustment with no processing in the signal path.This not only nips the room issue in the bud but offers a unique High pass crossover when connected to your amp removes its heavy bass lifting, further lowering modulation distortion in your main speakers dramatically increasing the clarity and transparency of the whole system.

 its not how low ya go its how ya go low!

Best JohnnyR                                                                                     Vandersteen Rel dealer

 I sold my svs sb1000 a couple of months ago for lack of musicality. 

I've heard both and think the REL are just better overall - faster, more dynamic, yet call less attention to themselves. FWIW, I would recommend getting at least two subs and place them carefully. The more points you pressurize the room with the better it will sound. Do a little digging into the Swarm subs to learn more. You can basically copy that setup with any subs but the concept remains the same.

@mijostyn,

It is interesting that you disapprove the high level connection. May I know your reason why. Rel believes that the high level connection provides purest signal possible to get to SW. According to Zero Fedelity, circuitry inside SWs adds delay to the incoming signal. Most of time is 0.03-0.04 second but with Rel is down to 0.008 second, with the goal that the signal can pass to the SW, circuitry and finally the driver with as minimal alteration as possible. It is about correct phase and speed to make sure the SW is in tune with the speaker.

On the other hand, although providing high level connection in their gears, Rythmik does not recommend using it. If interested, you could tune into https://www.rythmikaudio.com/faq.html#nospeakerinput for their reasons. Here I just want to warn you that, due to the fact that this connection uses a common ground, it could possibly damage the power amps that have fully balanced output.

Emotiva also believes a line level connection will usually deliver a cleaner signal, with slightly less distortion and noise, and so is usually recommended.

You could see even the manufactures themselves do not agree with each other quite a bit in this matter. Maybe you know something that we don’t.

Dynaudio 18s is a bit above the price range you mentioned ($1700) but imho is very good value for money I find it very musical and defined.

It has dual opposing drivers and you can rest your hand next ti and feel zero vibrations.