# Subwoofer Choice Help!!



## CherM2222 (Oct 4, 2012)

Hello everyone, I have purchased everything in my home theater so far except for the sub. What I have coming at the moment :

DENON AVR-1912
Polk CSi A4 center
Polk monitor 70's front
Polk monitor 40's back

Now for the sub I've been reading and reading and going back and forth and now I'm even more confused than when I started. The room it would go in is in the basement which is pretty large and would be for about 80% movies 20%music. The subs I've come across that fall into my budget the best :

BIC pl-200
Polk PSW505
HSU STF-2
Lava LSP12
Cadence CSX12

Any suggestions on which you all believe would be the best fit would be much appreciated, thanks!


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## theJman (Mar 3, 2012)

What is your budget? There may be other options available to you.


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## CherM2222 (Oct 4, 2012)

Unfortunately no more than $350. So far from what I've been able to read of those listed Cadence seems to be the best performer. Any other suggestions/options are more than welcomed though.


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## theJman (Mar 3, 2012)

What type of performance is that? Are you referring to total volume capabilities, sound quality, extension, something else perhaps? Different people favor different qualities, so performance becomes somewhat relative.

I did a review on the Cadence, which you can find here. Not a bad sub, for sure, but it all depends on what your priorities are. For $350 you won't be able to have it all, but you'll be able to get something pretty decent. How big is your room?


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## CherM2222 (Oct 4, 2012)

Actually the reason I said that was from already reading your review and one other haha. The way you described it as being able to handle the lows in those movie scenes (as well as my budget allows anyways) while staying crisp is really what I'm looking for. Would you say the Cadence would be a better choice than the BIC? I've pretty much narrowed it down between those two, plus I get grab the Cadence for $300 shipped. 

It would be in the basement which is an odd shape and open. The actual listening area is about 13x15 though. 

Thanks for the help thus far


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## theJman (Mar 3, 2012)

CherM2222 said:


> Would you say the Cadence would be a better choice than the BIC? I've pretty much narrowed it down between those two, plus I get grab the Cadence for $300 shipped.


$300 shipped? Did they lower the price? I thought they were $400.

If you're interested, a few other worthy contenders are the Klipsch RW-12d and the Energy S10.3. The latter is discontinued, so you'll have to act fast before they're all gone. It's an over-achiever, in ever sense of the word. The Klipsch has a DSP, so you can tailor the sound to your liking more so then with other subs. A lot of people find that beneficial.




CherM2222 said:


> It would be in the basement which is an odd shape and open. The actual listening area is about 13x15 though.


It's not that simple I'm afraid...

Unlike speakers a subwoofer sees all the physical space, not just the virtual boundaries you apply. However big "odd shape and open" is that's what the sub will try to pressurize. Too small and it will struggle, becoming overwhelmed. You can mitigate that to some extent by placing it very near your seating position, but that doesn't completely eliminate the issue. What's the total size of the area in question?


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## CherM2222 (Oct 4, 2012)

I don't have enough posts to put the link but it's on Ebay. Just search Cadence CSX12 and it'll come up, new in box with 2 year warranty and free shipping. 

Ahhh more options lol. If those, the Candence, or the BIC were your only choices which would you buy for HT usage? The more I read they all have good reviews with their own shortcomings so I keep going back and forth.

Oh yea I would definitely do a sub crawl and place it somewhere closer to the seating. No matter what it won't be perfect because of the size of the room and only having one sub, but since this is my first HT setup I'm sure it'll keep me impressed until I can afford the next step. If I were the guess the size of the room, I would say it's 45x15x8 so 5400 cubic feet.


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## theJman (Mar 3, 2012)

CherM2222 said:


> Ahhh more options lol. If those, the Candence, or the BIC were your only choices which would you buy for HT usage? The more I read they all have good reviews with their own shortcomings so I keep going back and forth.


If you're limiting your options strictly to those two I would probably go with the Cadence. I've never heard the BIC, but one of the CSX12's strong suits was it's ability to play loud. Given the size of that space you have output (volume) will be your ally. And, quite frankly, the Cadence is worth more then the $300 you can get it for, so that to me is another bonus.


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## CherM2222 (Oct 4, 2012)

Great, Cadence it is then. Thanks for the help Jman, really appreciate it.


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## theJman (Mar 3, 2012)

CherM2222 said:


> Great, Cadence it is then. Thanks for the help Jman, really appreciate it.


You're welcome. I hope it works out for you.

Be certain to come back and post your impressions after you've broken in the sub and had a chance to see what it can do. It might be a good idea to add your thoughts to the Cadence review thread as well. That way others can read your opinion too.


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## yoda13 (Feb 14, 2012)

oh, I guess it's to late to throw in another very very worthy contender. I had its little brother, the PA-120 and I can't say enough about the quality of the fit and finish, very articulate, more musical the the Bic and more output than it should for it's price. Here's a resume of a review of the PA-150. It can be had for less than $400 if you call.


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## pharoah (Jul 21, 2012)

i think i showed up a bit late to.dayton c1500k its a good sub that gets no love.


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## lanayapiper (Oct 6, 2012)

CherM2222 said:


> Unfortunately no more than $350. So far from what I've been able to read of those listed Cadence seems to be the best performer. Any other suggestions/options are more than welcomed though.


Cadence CSX12 is the best among your other options. Go for it and I can vouch for it. Sound like a monster after including this to your home theater setup. This is a real value for your money!


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## CherM2222 (Oct 4, 2012)

Yup, it got here this Wed. Unfortunately, the AMP was bad so had to take that off and send it back to Cadence. When I talked to the guy on the phone he said he was really interested in taking a look at it because this was the first time anyone had any problems with he CSX12. Just my luck lol. 

These things happen though, and I must say thus far their customer service has been great.


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## CherM2222 (Oct 4, 2012)

Just thought I'd come back and drop a quick update. The Cadence sub for me personally was a huge headache. For the one day that it worked I wasn't personally all that impressed by it, it got the job done for sure, but I found it a bit too boomy for my taste. However, fortunately I was able to return it for a full refund. 

After putting thought into it I decided to go a step higher and went with the HSU VTF-2 MK4, I've had it for about a week now and all I can say is WOW. My final setup is a denon 1912 receiver, monitor 70s for fronts, CSi5 center, monitor 40s for the surround/surround backs, and the HSU placed directly behind the main listening position. All the speakers are set to small with the crossover at 90hz, Q control @ 5. I threw on LOTR : Return of the King and skipped ahead to where the elephants charge through the front lines outside of Gondor..I was instantly sold. The footfalls of the elephants were unbelievably intense while staying clean and sharp throughout. When I played this scene with the Cadence it was just a standard boom, boom, boom with each step, but with the HSU every one was unique and blended perfectly with the scene. Having the sub so near field just amplified the intensity that much more, it took me all the way to funky town and I loved it. 

Needless to say I'm extremely happy with how things turned out, and I'm sure the HSU will only continue to impress as it gets fully broken in.

*Edit*

I was wanted to give a thanks to hometheatershack for the great responses/help to my threads here. You guys have a great community going.


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## theJman (Mar 3, 2012)

You're comparing apples to oranges there I'm afraid, because those two subs are in a completely different class. But the only thing that matters is you're happy with what you ended up with, and it sounds as though you are. The HSU will probably put a smile on your face for a long time. :clap:


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## informel (Jun 21, 2011)

CherM2222 said:


> Just thought I'd come back and drop a quick update. The Cadence sub for me personally was a huge headache. For the one day that it worked I wasn't personally all that impressed by it, it got the job done for sure, but I found it a bit too boomy for my taste. However, fortunately I was able to return it for a full refund.
> 
> After putting thought into it I decided to go a step higher and went with the HSU VTF-2 MK4 .


As you found out here we are very respectfull to people, everybody would like to have very deep pocket, but we know this is not the reality, that is why we always ask "what is your budget".

I was temped to tell you to wait until you have a bigger budget, because your front speakers are nice and you wanted to complement this with an entry level sub. 

The importance of "good" base is different for everybody, some people just like it loud, some like my wife just does not hear (or care) the difference.

glad you went with something way better
enjoy


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## tesseract (Aug 9, 2010)

CherM2222 said:


> Just thought I'd come back and drop a quick update. The Cadence sub for me personally was a huge headache. For the one day that it worked I wasn't personally all that impressed by it, it got the job done for sure, but I found it a bit too boomy for my taste. However, fortunately I was able to return it for a full refund.
> 
> After putting thought into it I decided to go a step higher and went with the HSU VTF-2 MK4, I've had it for about a week now and all I can say is WOW.


Good call. The HSU, especially located near the listening position like Dr. Hsu recommends, will eat the Cadence's lunch. 



> I was wanted to give a thanks to hometheatershack for the great responses/help to my threads here. You guys have a great community going.


 We are pretty proud of this community. Thanks for joining and keeping us posted on your subwoofer adventure.


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## Dale Rasco (Apr 11, 2009)

The HSU is definitely a great way to go!


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