TheEAR Posted August 15, 2004 Share Posted August 15, 2004 PSG, Tu vit a Rimouski mon grand,ben ecoute moei ben capitaine. J'va dire comme on dit par icitte qu'un beau Paradim PW2200 descends plus creux qu'un RSW12,pis y'coute moin cher! Attends la,c'est pas tout! A Montreal il y a plusieurs "dealers" en bon francais qui peuvent te faire un bon prix sur un PW2200. La j'menvais chercher une caissse de douze au dep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psg Posted August 15, 2004 Author Share Posted August 15, 2004 Translation for others out there: The paradigm PW2200 goes deeper than the RSW12 and costs less. There are dealers in Montreal who can give me a good price on it too. Of course, his version used slang. :-) Thanks Ear, but I figure the best price I could get on the PW2200 is about C$1000 with taxes. I heard it at the local Stereo Plus outlet (who ask C$1000 plus taxes) and it was the worst audition ever. It was booming on regular dialog! Granted, I should go back with a better salesperson... Still, that C$125 more than the Hsu. I think I can get a better bang for the buck with a Hsu STF-3. Plus, I find it annoying to have to "deal" to get a fair price or else pay 20% extra. But that's just me. So if Paradigm ask me why I don't buy Canadian, I'd answer that they should sell for the lowest price instead of trying to dupe unsuspecting clients. :-) How would you compare the PW-2200 to the Hsu STF-3? Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheEAR Posted August 15, 2004 Share Posted August 15, 2004 PSG, Bon okay la.Pu de franglais The new PW2200 should outperform the STF3 down low.But yes the price premium is not easy to get over You would do no wrong going HSU,after all they make great subs and are known as great buys in the sub world. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psg Posted August 15, 2004 Author Share Posted August 15, 2004 Thanks for the vote of re-inforcement. I'll likely be ordering the Hsu this evening via email. Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firefighter Posted August 17, 2004 Share Posted August 17, 2004 psg, let me know when you get your sub, I'm interested if it will keep up with the LaScalas speed and volume. The small Boston that I currently have can barely be heard when I turn up the volume. A friend is buying the Boston on the 24th of August so that will leave me without one. Who are you ordering yours from and how much is going to cost with shipping? I have never heard of hsu before reading your post, I may also go with this instead of the cht 15. Thanks, Jack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psg Posted August 17, 2004 Author Share Posted August 17, 2004 Jack, It should be here tomorrow or so. It was shipped yesterday. Hsu and SVS subwoofers are highly regarded in other forums such as http://forum.ecoustics.com/bbs/messages/1/8666.html and that is what I'm basing my choice on. SVS are not available in Canada, so I'd have to hassle with customs and such. Hsu sells direct on the internet (http://www.hsuresearch.com/) but they have a Canadian distributor who are shipping one to me for C$799.50 + C$20 freight + GST = C$876.87. In the US, you can get one for $599 + $50 freight = $649 (or C$848). You can find a revire here: http://www.onhometheater.com/product/20040401.htm I haven't heard the CHT-15 and was more weary of buying it without hearing than the Hsu. The Future Shop store had the XHT-12 on the floor, but not the CHT-15. I wasn't very impressed with the CHT-12 (in the poor environment that it was in); it sounded boomy and monotonic to me on music (Holly Cole). I'll come back to this thread with a mini-review after I have played with it a bit. Why is the Boston not heard when you raise the volume? Is it topping out? Is this on movies or music? What frequency are you crossing over at for music? I would think that setting a sub at mid-way on its volume dial would mean that it would never top off on LFE material played at reference levels on the receiver. Am I wrong in assuming this? I found that matching the volume on even a small Paradigm PDR-10 to the LaScalas left the sub at about mid-way on its volume dial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boomer9911 Posted August 18, 2004 Share Posted August 18, 2004 Paradigm with La Scala's...did I miss something here..enlighten me.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psg Posted August 18, 2004 Author Share Posted August 18, 2004 boomer9911 wrote: Paradigm with La Scala's...did I miss something here..enlighten me.... I borrowed a small 10" Paradigm PDR-10 to try out when I started thinking about adding a sub. Volume calibration with an SPL meter and a calibration DVD lead to setting the volume knob at mid-level on the PDR-10. I therefore assumed that it shouln't clip on LFE movie content, ever. But I guess a full-voltage blast at very low frequency might be too much; I don't know. I'll admit I never pushed it to the limit, as I never listen to a movie at 0dB setting on my receiver (-13dB is theater reference on my setup and I typically watch movies around -20dB). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psg Posted August 18, 2004 Author Share Posted August 18, 2004 I received the Hsu STF-3 today. I unpacked it and was a bit disappointed to find a deep half-inch to an inch scratch on the front-right edge as well as a scuff mark in the front panel. Did I get a B-stock with retail price? I set the volume to mid-level and set my receiver to something low, like -30dB or so, then put on Darla hitting the aquarium with her finger on Finding Nemo. My wife swears that the patio furniture on the outdoor concrete patio was shaking. I was in trouble. There was no way that sub was staying now. The whole house shakes! I tuned the volume level with a calibration DVD and SPL meter and it turns out I need to turn down to volume to a bit below 1/6. So maybe the sub is too powerful for my room. Then, I tried music. I had tried a few subs last week for a few days, including a small Paradigm PDR-10. There's no comparison at all. I could hear things even with the receiver volume at -40dB that I have never heard before. The first track of Sting's "Brand new Day" has bass I never knew even existed. The "Heel freezes over" DVD never sounded so good! The sub is staying! Fantastic! I'm only concerned about those scratches... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Audible Nectar Posted August 21, 2004 Share Posted August 21, 2004 Psg, Glad to hear that you ended up with the HSU. In reference to your comment about "too much sub", with LaScalas there is no such thing! The extra ummmph that sub has will be there for you when you need it. So your worries that you have too much sub are unfounded - in reality, your new sub, especially for the $$$$ invested, seems "just right". Good job on the calibration - that is the key to getting proper bass performance. Most fail to do this, giving the system bloated, unnatural bass. The sub should compliment the system by "disappearing" sonically - it should sound like the bass is coming from the LaScalas. As for the damage, you may try to get some money back on this (some vendors will give you a discount for damage if you choose, instead of swapping for a new one). Otherwise, call the vendor and arrange for a swap on a proper condition HSU. Shipping damage can and does occur, so vendors have experience dealing with such problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
radiob Posted August 21, 2004 Share Posted August 21, 2004 check into vmps subwoofers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firefighter Posted August 22, 2004 Share Posted August 22, 2004 psg, I was reading on another forum and comments were made that the vtf-3 had a huge amount of port noise, did you find any with the stf-3, did you resolve the issue with the scratches, does it have any chest slamming qualities, and last but not least does the sub seem fast enough for the LaScalas? Sorry for all the questions but I'm looking hard at the same sub. Jack. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psg Posted August 26, 2004 Author Share Posted August 26, 2004 psg, I was reading on another forum and comments were made that the vtf-3 had a huge amount of port noise, did you find any with the stf-3, did you resolve the issue with the scratches, does it have any chest slamming qualities, and last but not least does the sub seem fast enough for the LaScalas? Sorry for all the questions but I'm looking hard at the same sub. Jack. Hi Jack and others. Sorry for not following-up on the thread. My home computer died and then I had to leave on a work-related trip. I did not notice any port noise at all, but I'm only running it at 1/6 on the volume level dial. The distributor emailed back about the scratches, apologizing and saying there were no B-stock units, and asked me to take a few digital pictures and send them along. A friend of mine is a drummer and he said he very rarely experiences the "live chest slam" on the kick drum with sound systems, but he does with mine and it sounded very realistic. :-) It sounds great to my ears with the LaScalas. Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firefighter Posted August 26, 2004 Share Posted August 26, 2004 PSG, Thanks for the reply to all the questions, There is one other sub that I am looking at, the SVS PB1-ISD, it is very similar to the HSU-STF3. Sooner or later I'm going to have to make a descision and quit analyzing it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psg Posted September 1, 2004 Author Share Posted September 1, 2004 On 8/26/2004 2:34:27 PM firefighter wrote: PSG, Thanks for the reply to all the questions, There is one other sub that I am looking at, the SVS PB1-ISD, it is very similar to the HSU-STF3. Sooner or later I'm going to have to make a descision and quit analyzing it. Hi Firefighter, I don't know whether you have purchased anything yet, but I was thinking... Earlier you said your budget was $500. For US$399 + $25 shipping, you can get the smaller Hsu STF-2. It has the same low end as the larger STF-3 but has a lower max output (108 dB vs 114 dB). Since I'm only setting my volume level at less than 1/6, I'm sure that the STF-2 would still have ample volume to keep up with the LaScala's. Something to consider anyway. Peter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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