I am trying to decide on a new sub. Has anyone done or heard of a comparison between the LFM-1 and the Sunfire True Sub? I know the Sunfire is more money but I have learned that cost does not always determine which is best when it comes to sound equipment. Thanks in advance for your advise and opinions and any other sub suggestions you might have.

PS: Just FYI my system is:

Outlaw 950
Krell KAV-250a (fronts)
Outlaw 7100 (surrounds)
Pioneer DV-563A DVD/SACD
Legacy Audio Focus (fronts)
Legacy Audio Classic (rears)
Legacy Audio Silver Screen Center
And a JBL PB12 sub that no longer works

A little off topic:

I don't think anyone would argue that the LFM-1 is better than the HSU VTF3 mk 2, much less the new versions (high output) HSU is coming out with in november. If your willing to spend more money I'd go there.

If I had to guess (since I've not heard the Sunfire sub), I'd think it would be better at music reproduction without the boom factor (since it's a sealed enclosure design). Those designs are also often rather inefficient, but Bob seems to have countered that by including a ridiculously powerful amp to drive it. 8-)

If you're into the theater aspect mostly, then I'd say you'll probably get more output out of the LFM-1, even though it's got a "smaller" amp because of its inherently more efficient design.

Given your choice of KAV-250 amp for your mains, I suspect you do a lot of 2-channel music listening so you might be more interested in something that does music better while sacrificing raw SPL numbers.

Cheers,

I do a lot of 2 channel listening you are right about that, mainly rock but a mix of it all. I do very much like to watch DVD and cable movies and have never had a sub that I was happy with although I never really had a good one. Most of my money has went into the rest of the system and now it is time to get a good sub. I also listen to DVD music such as 6 channel DVD audio and the Santana Supernatural Live concert DVD in DTS and the Metallica S&M convert DVD in 5.1 and I want to get a sub that will handle the music at high levels without going to pieces or distorting. Also the Legacy Focus speakers have three 12 inch woofers so they out perform a lot of subs. If the concensus is that the LFM-1 will fill the bill I will order one this week. Again thanks for the input I really appreciate it.

I've been very pleased with my LFM-1 for both music and movies - it blends cleanly with my mains (a big plus for music listening, when I don't want to say "oh, look, the sub's on"), and gives me all the "thump" I want when it is needed.

Yeah, if you have good mains you don't really need a sub for 90% of 2-channel listening, since most music doesn't really go below 40hz.

Having become a Sunfire owner prior to the availability of the LFM-1, I can comment as follows:

Just about any reasonably performing sub can be improperly blended in a system and sound “boomy,” including the Sunfire. Just about any reasonably performing sub can be properly adjusted to blend well and make an awesome contribution to the system’s sound without drawing attention to itself.

Regarding low-end performance, I can send sub-sonic signals to a Sunfire and watch the drivers moving without hearing any direct sound, but then some things in the room rattle on shelves and my pant legs are flexing because of the waves of changing pressure traveling through the room from several feet away. Haven’t found a bargain sub that manages this. Is this type of low-end extension necessary for music or HT?

Depends on your goals, but IMHO, very rarely.

When might it make a difference? There might be audible frequencies in some recordings that interact and some portion of the sum or difference between the interacting frequencies results in inaudible frequencies that add to the overall experience. There can be source material where some very low frequencies are enhanced or created and inserted for musical or other effect. How much would this bit extra of performance enhance your experience?

Is it worth a doubling or more of the expense if budget is a concern? Not in my opinion. In a subsequent subwoofer purchase, I tried two subs that were each ¼ of the cost of a single Sunfire. I found that their performance was reasonably good when I’m not looking for that nth degree of low end.

So having been both a Sunfire customer and a bargain-sub-with-decent-specs-but-not-a-lot-of-umph customer, and having been satisfied with both ends of the spectrum with respective goals, I would not push the financial envelope in order to exceed the capability of subs in the LFM-1 class. The question becomes, how big is your envelope?