Subwoofer blues

I use a Hsu Research VTF-2 subwoofer. It has a 10 in. down-firing woofer and a 150 watt amp. While it doesn't have the slam of other subwoofers it sounds more musical to me. There are two ports. With one of the ports plugged the woofer will produce clean bass down to 25 Hz. With none of the ports plugged the woofer extends to 32 Hz but has more slam; ostensibly this would be used for movies. I keep one port plugged at all times - I would rather have extension than volume. Check www.hsuresearch.com for more info. It retailed for $499 about a year ago.

Jim, I had a Paradigm PS-1000 dual cavity ported bandpass sub which was room shaking for HT put was sloppy and muddy on tunes. Swapped it for a MB Quart D1200si- 12" forward firing, 150 watt amp. It is quick and tight on music (rock and blues) and most important to me was that it disappeared once it was dialed in! It does an average job on movies[(settings-50 hz xover, 1/4 to 1/3 gain)coupled w/full range fronts]-- It easily bested the Paradigm PDR10 and PDR 12 on tunes. It's a $500- $650 class sub. I highly recommend it for digital front ended audio - you asked :-) have fun

If your budget is limited, I would look into buying a used sub. Many can be bought for less than half of what you want. I know of a Velodyne servo 10 inch that is currently sitting at 222 dollars. It also sounds like you should stick with a sealed sub. because they tend to be tighter. Even though the Hsu is ported that is the best option if you want new.

vmps has *by far* the best performance value per dollar. and, as far as music-listening is concerned, two subs are essential, to preserve proper soundstaging/imaging. bonus is ya get the same spl w/half the distortion.

I have owned a few and tried a lot, from B&W, Infinity, Carver, ect. Settled on the Velodyne CT-120. Very tight, not boomie. Has a 270 watt amp with an adjustable frequency and gain control. I use it mostly for music (smooth jazz) but watch an occasional movie sounds great. Circuit City sell's them around $580.00. Good luck