small but mean and powerful sub !

[darkraver]

Hi all,

Just bought me the RF7 + RC7 center.

Great sound !! Am thrilled.....

Now I am looking for a small sub but which one works out well with my speakers.

The sub should be small when it comes up to dimensions but huge when it comes up to output / slam / depth. Unfortunately the RSW12/15 are way too big for me.

Does anyone have experience with:

Sunfire Subs ( true, dominator, solitaire )

Mj Acoustics Pro 1650 / 500 / Ref 1

REL R505 / Q400

Velodyne SPL1200 R

Regards,

Marcel

[TheEAR]

From your list and reading your needs...Sunfire Signature EQ.Beats them all in output and goes very deep.A proven workhorse,I had the non EQ.What a blast,and mated great with RF7's,keeping up where SPL will be irritating.

The second choice is the Velodyne SPL1200,very potent less expensive and also a proven sub.

REL's Q400 would be better suited with Dynaudio Contour speakers or Spendors mostly for music.

MjAcoustics never had a chance to hear them,they look like REL counterparts and get very favorable reviews.

[darkraver]

Hi Arthur,

Thanks for your reply !!

Did not listen to any of these little subs, yet.

Sunfire is hard to find overhere in Europe and Velodyne too.

I could buy the RSW12 for a very good price, just this one is really to deep ( size ) for my house.....

Did you ever compare the Sunfire with any other well known sub ? RSW 12 Klipsch......

I sure do like the RSW12 just the size ( tears......)

Regards,

Marcel

[TheEAR]

Do I ever? I had the Signature,the Mark IV and Junior.And have all the RSW subs,so not only did I compare I can tell you the Sunfire Sig gives no place to the RSW12 on deep bass and more than keeps up down low.

Comparing like many do in a store is worthless,or close.You need to know the room acoustics,have a spot you know is a "neutral" as possible(as percieved at the listening position) while not being a subsonic abyss eating up bass.

The RSW12 is not big at all,maybe is because I have subs that are a good deal larger and am used to them?

[darkraver]

The Ear,

What would be the best sub to add to the RF7 in your opinion ? The RSW12 or the TRUE EQ ?......( not the signature but the normal True EQ )

The RF7's already have a hard punch due to the double Chassis and go down to 30HZ if I am not wrong..........and the RSW12 does not go much lower ?) ?) So would it be wise to add the RSW12 to my system ?

Speaking in terms of deep bass, power, reaction speed and slam which sub would help the RF7 best ?

If it does deep and hard and power is required which of these 2 subs holds on longest ?

[DrWho]

What kind of budget are you looking at? Have you considered any of the new subs klipsch just came out with? I believe they are much smaller. You should also look into the Klipsch THX Ultra2 subs...they are actually rather small (15" cube?) and probably one of the best options out there in terms of sound quality.

[darkraver]

Hi Dr Who,

Do live in Europe !!!!!!

The RSW12 will cost me 699 Euro and the little Sunfire TRUE EQ 1375 Euro so twice as much

My max budget = 1500 Euro

Just remind Europe is freaking expensive for example a standard SVS Plus 2 will cost me 1699 Euro so about 1950 USD or slightly more ( for the standard black text. version, so the cheapest version ) 1 liter of regular petrol costs 1,30 euro so about 1,50 USD a liter, a gallon contains 3.75 liter so overhere one gallon of regular fuel costs 3.75 x 1,50 = near the 5 / 6 dollar for a gallon !! Sad but true !!

At the moment ok the Klipsch if it comes up to the $$ is the best just I am afraid the RSW12 will not really make a huge impact on my system ? it goes down to 22HZ so probably reach its max output around 35 / 40 HZ while even the tiny Sunfire reaches 18 HZ or something like that with a claimed 110 DB ??

What would better suit the RF7 in general, a punching in the chest sub like the RSW12 or a deep impact monster like a PB2 or the more moderate sized Sunfire ??

In my opinion the RF7 already do have a real tight punch ! So adding a punching sub ?

The RSW15 is not available in EUROPE............( hate that policy )

The new Klipsch subs RT12D will cost way too much and besides that will probably enter European markets somewhere next year ?? Europe generally gets new US stuff much later......

Regards,

Marcel

[TheEAR]

With RF7's you do not ned a sub with punch,it would be a total WASTE.You need a subwoofer that will only extend,and you know the RF7's are SOLID down to 40Hz.Flat to 40Hz at near full output type solid. K

So you need a Sunfire EQ or in europe you have REL,take a good look and listen to REL.Like Sunfire they go deep,very deep and you should have a better value with REL as it is made in the UK.And not overseas.

MJ Acoustics from what I hear(as I never heard them)is a potential winner,nothing but rave reviews!

The Klipsch THX sub setup will cost way more,so crossed out.

Good luck

[DrWho]

One thing you might consider would be to go DIY...I'm not familiar with

all of the European driver manufacturers, but I know Beyma has some

offerings you might be interested in.

[darkraver]

Dr Who / The Ear,

Really thanks so far, you are helping me alot !!

Did listen yesterday to the Mj Acoustics Ref 1 MK3, in my opinion on the same level as a REL Storm 5. The MJ went really low and quite loud but it did not give me a 100% good feeling (besides that it was a hell of an ugly piece). It went deep, really deep but I missed simply something so the MJ has failed my test. It played together with some smaller Dynaudio Bookshelf speakers....... I found this sub played a bit boring just like it looked! Hard to explain..........

The Sunfire I have no opportunity to test unfortunately, so I will need to buy it blindly in a different country (Austria) as Sunfire Holland / Belgium and Germany do not reply to any emails. ( did not contact them before so it is hard to understand for me that they are not interested in selling products ) For me it is hard to believe such a tiny Sunfire box really will kick my ugly European *** hard and on a mean way now I have heard the MJ REF 1

I also heard some smaller European Subs, like Quadral Powercube 400 but they all also did not convince me. These tiny boxes and especially all the European Subs in general play loud but as soon as frequencies go really deep ( lower than 30 / 40 HZ ) they miss the power. They do acchieve a lot of DB but not when things go really low then the DB output fades away.

So at the moment I think I can better quit thinking about a small subwoofer that kicks ***.I am now thinking about perhaps the SVS PB PLUS 2 or the Axiom EP500 now. I will have to re-organise my livingroom drastically then but I do not wanna buy something that does not satisfy me at all.

Overhere the PB Plus 2 will soon get the new drivers so maybe I can get the PB PLUS 2 with the previous drivers cheaper ? I also did contact Axiom Canada for the EP500 if they have 230 V versions available for the European markets and perhaps are interested to send me one of their subs for a reasonable price?

Do you guys have experience with the SVS PLUS 2 and the Axiom or perhaps now any other great / better American sub for the same price as a PB plus 2 or the EP500 so I can contact that company. Or is the PB plus 2 really the ultimate one in its price category ?

Sure did wish I would live in the USA, better equipment, better prices, better SUBWOOFERS..........

Best regards,

Marcel