Best cheap subwoofer (£200 or less)
Discussion
I have a few quid of xmas and birthday money to spend and quite fancy a nice subwoofer to beef up the low-end from my hifi setup. I'd like something that can gently fill-in the low frequencies at low volume levels when listening to music, but that will also produce a decent dose of floor-vibrating rumbleage when called upon e.g. action movie sound effects etc.
As it stands I'm using an Arcam AVR100 as a 2-channel amp, driving a pair of Mission M52 floorstanders.
Most of the subwoofer options within my £200 budget seem to use an 8" drive unit, e.g. Mordaunt Short Alumni 9 (£200), Cambridge S90 (£150). Trouble is I'm a bit old-fashioned and thus as far as subs are concerned, bigger is better! I've spotted a Wharfedale SW150 for £150 which uses a healthier 10" driver, and seems to get decent write-ups hence this is the current favourite.
Are there any others that I should look at? Do the 8" jobs manage to punch above their weight, or is the Wharfedale by far the best bet?
One feature that would be useful is an auto on/off when it senses an input signal. Not sure how much use remote control is on these things as I've never owned one; do people find themselves adjusting the sub often (making a remote useful) or is it more a case of set and forget?
I'm not too fussed about the finish. Rosewood to match my speakers would be nice but as it'll be tucked out of the way it's not critical. Black is fine. Just not bloody white; it may be trendy amongst the ipod generation but I loathe it!
Ta in advance,
Jonny
As it stands I'm using an Arcam AVR100 as a 2-channel amp, driving a pair of Mission M52 floorstanders.
Most of the subwoofer options within my £200 budget seem to use an 8" drive unit, e.g. Mordaunt Short Alumni 9 (£200), Cambridge S90 (£150). Trouble is I'm a bit old-fashioned and thus as far as subs are concerned, bigger is better! I've spotted a Wharfedale SW150 for £150 which uses a healthier 10" driver, and seems to get decent write-ups hence this is the current favourite.
Are there any others that I should look at? Do the 8" jobs manage to punch above their weight, or is the Wharfedale by far the best bet?
One feature that would be useful is an auto on/off when it senses an input signal. Not sure how much use remote control is on these things as I've never owned one; do people find themselves adjusting the sub often (making a remote useful) or is it more a case of set and forget?
I'm not too fussed about the finish. Rosewood to match my speakers would be nice but as it'll be tucked out of the way it's not critical. Black is fine. Just not bloody white; it may be trendy amongst the ipod generation but I loathe it!
Ta in advance,
Jonny
I'd consider the Gemini II from BK Electronics.
http://www.bkelec.com/HiFi/Sub_Woofers/Gemini.htm
Also check out if Acoustic Energy have anything half decent in their Ebay outlet shop.
http://www.bkelec.com/HiFi/Sub_Woofers/Gemini.htm
Also check out if Acoustic Energy have anything half decent in their Ebay outlet shop.
J.R.B. said:
Santa delivered one of these yesterday. Lovely little thing so far but I'm still setting up and tweaking.J.R.B. said:
I'd consider the Gemini II from BK Electronics.
http://www.bkelec.com/HiFi/Sub_Woofers/Gemini.htm
Also check out if Acoustic Energy have anything half decent in their Ebay outlet shop.
Thanks J.R.B. That's given me some good options to chew over! The BK is an interesting curve ball, thanks for that, had never heard of them until now but it seems to get universal acclaim. Also spotted a Neo V1 on AE's ebay page at £175 (also a Radiance for slightly more but it seems this is the same as the Neo except for the cabinet finishes).http://www.bkelec.com/HiFi/Sub_Woofers/Gemini.htm
Also check out if Acoustic Energy have anything half decent in their Ebay outlet shop.
The LF cut-off is not quoted for the BK, though, which makes it tricky to compare the two units. -6dB @ 26Hz for the AE seems decent but the extra inch of drive unit in the BK (10"/250mm as opposed to 9"/220mm) should mean the laws of physics are in its favour! (As is the option of a rosewood finish to go with my Missions... )
Judging by the unholy racket coming through the wall I'd guess the neighbours' kids have got one of those godawful karaoke game things for xmas.
That'll be a definite on the subwoofer, then! Noticed some nice, sofa-vibrating low-frequency effects on Inception this eve, and that was just through the little 5 or 6 inch drivers in my Missions. Should be good fun with a bit of subwooferage!
That'll be a definite on the subwoofer, then! Noticed some nice, sofa-vibrating low-frequency effects on Inception this eve, and that was just through the little 5 or 6 inch drivers in my Missions. Should be good fun with a bit of subwooferage!
Gingerbread Man said:
Did you decide on a sub in the end?
Just about; the specs are pretty similar but I'm leaning toward the Gemini rather than the Wharfedale SW150. based on the use of a sealed rather than ported box I would expect the sealed Gemini to give a "cleaner" sound (reduced resonance effects etc) - various reports on AVForums suggest this is the case.(Incidentally, what evil b***ard invented all this Singstar crap? Sick of hearing talentless bellowing but can't be arsed to get out of bed to bang on doors, so currently drowning it out with the White Stripes. Karaoke twunts, be warned: when my sub arrives I will be giving it a thorough running in using a selection of metal, drum and bass, happy hardcore and films with juicy LFE throughout. With the sub on its side, drive unit facing the party wall at a distance of a few inches. I hear (or maybe just decided) that, due to various celestial alignments affecting transistor amps and bass being scared of daylight, subs work best between midnight and 4am; handy when I'm on call through the night. Perhaps this would also be the ideal time to do a spot of hammer drilling as well, while the bricks are asleep and off their guard... Enjoy!
)My BK Gemini II finally arrived today!
I ordered it in Jan, but BK had problems getting the rosewood timber, so it took a while... in fairness they did keep in touch so thumbs up to them!
As for the sub itself, thus far I'm impressed. It's a really neat little thing, very nicely made and finished, and this evening I've given it a bit of a "running-in" with Dr Dre's The Chronic album, followed by the Old-skool Drum 'n' Bass compilation from a few years ago, before finally watching Inception all the way through (I started watching it just after xmas, then decided to leave it until I had enough low-end to do it justice ).
I'm not much of a hi-fi reviewer; I can't sit there and waffle on about upper mid-bass suckout or how it added a depth of emotion to dialogue, or some such b
ks. What I can say is that the wee Gemini made a lovely deep rumbling which I could actually feel from 12 feet away (and this was only at volumes on the sensible side of moderate, neither gain control more than 1/4 of the way up on the sub).
Blinkin' excellent!
I ordered it in Jan, but BK had problems getting the rosewood timber, so it took a while... in fairness they did keep in touch so thumbs up to them!
As for the sub itself, thus far I'm impressed. It's a really neat little thing, very nicely made and finished, and this evening I've given it a bit of a "running-in" with Dr Dre's The Chronic album, followed by the Old-skool Drum 'n' Bass compilation from a few years ago, before finally watching Inception all the way through (I started watching it just after xmas, then decided to leave it until I had enough low-end to do it justice
).I'm not much of a hi-fi reviewer; I can't sit there and waffle on about upper mid-bass suckout or how it added a depth of emotion to dialogue, or some such b
ks. What I can say is that the wee Gemini made a lovely deep rumbling which I could actually feel from 12 feet away (and this was only at volumes on the sensible side of moderate, neither gain control more than 1/4 of the way up on the sub).Blinkin' excellent!
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