I am looking for a new subwoofer. My system has the following Definitive Tech speakers now. CLR 3000 center. BP2000 mains. BP20 rear surround. BPVX/P as a middle speaker between the two back surrounds and a pair of BPVX at roughly the 3 and 9 o'clock positions. I have an older Def Tech Powerfield 1500 subwoofer with 15' woofer and about 300 watts. The speakers are driven by 4 Carver TFM 35X power amps. I am unsatisfied with the crunch and thump of the system. I am looking at SVS PB2 Plus and the Def Tech SuperCube Reference. Unfortunately I will have to buy either of them without an audition. The room is large, about 20'x 30'. Any thoughts on these two options guys? Any other recommendations? I only have about $1500 to spend, so please don't recommend some $3000 uber-woofer.

Paul,

Large room - yes.

But not enough oomph with that gear!? What did you do? Treat all the room's surfaces with 6 inches of batting?

I'm a fan of multiple subwoofers. Four's the magic number in my books. So since this is an Outlaw forum, let me first suggest that you add three LFM-1's - if you are looking to spend all $1500 (or so).

If you want to spend all $1500 on one additional sub, then why not go back to Def Tech?

As for the "lack of audition" situation, I take it that you can't get to a dealer to check it out beforehand - or that no dealer will alow you to test drive one in your home. Too bad because my local Def Tech dealer would. Perhaps another reason to try Outlaw.

And since Velodyne is my favourite sub manufacturer, I gotta suggest that you check out their product line as well. See how much $1500 will buy from them.

But I really have to believe that adding three LFM-1's would definitely solve that lack of oomph!

Jeff Mackwood

ps. I know this may sound stupid, and I don't want to insult your intelligence, but I'm still puzzled as to why something is lacking with your current gear. Could you perhaps have a phase problem between speakers that's doing some serious bass cancellation at your listening position? Poor accoustics? Some medical condition that doesn't allow you to feel vibrations when the whole world around you is vibrating?

youd be looking at an spl sub from velodyne... the other two on your list im sure are excellent as well. seems like the velodyne will run you a little less for the spl, so perhaps you could get an hgs or dd series if you find the right place to buy. i have been talking about velodyne so much lately they should make me a salesman, so ill not dwell on them here. i will just say that they make excellent subwoofers and whichever you get in your price range from them would be superb.

i think the svs's are overpriced, def tech uses a different approach than most sub manufacturers so i think they would sound the most unique and perhaps a better fit with what you have. however you have one of their subs now, so maybe it is time to change...

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A few more pieces of information may be in order...I am primarily a home theater enthusiast. 90% HT and 10% music. The LFE cahnnel is my primary unhappiness. The older BP 2000 mains cannot accept an LFE input, so the only LFE channel is the 9 year old Def Tech Sub I have now. The powered subs in the other parts of the system work fine on music but I feel the visceral earthquake I crave is simply not present in the LFE effect from that Def Tech Powerfield 1500. As far as putting 3 Outlaw subs in the room...The WAF would not allow three more ugly boxes in her (our?) family room. Thanks for any further information or advice guys.

Paul Britt

I can't believe you don't have enough bass from that set up!I am assuming you have calibrated and re-calibrated trying to get the ooomph you are looking for. What processor/reciever are you using?In my opinion, I would probably stick with Def Tech and try out the reference sub as a fellow Def Tech owner.I would be suprised if your local dealer would not let you audition at home, mine did.let us know what you decide.

I'm in love with my Hsu Research VTF-3 in Rosewood and my wife appreciates the real wood finish. Similar to the LMF-1 but tune-able and $950 for one. If you send your room dimensions and layout to HSU they may be able to advise you. I can pressurize my 17' x 27' x 9' room with ease. If the LMF-1 had been available, I would rather have two of them, however. Can you throw some fancy material over the top of them or somehow hide them in corners? Its hard to beat stereo subs. Good luck!

the man doesnt like the sound that his sub is giving him compared to the quality of the other speakers... get over it. if i were you, which im not, i would buy the 1 best sub that my budget could afford. if for some reason your room is VERY poorly shaped, then 2 subs could be better, however 99.9% of the time 1 is enough, unless you just want more for the hell of it. you are on the right track with the ones you are interested in.

how come you cant go demo the deftech sub? what draws you towards the svs and the deftech in the first place? out of those two, the deftech should be far superior. however, i would buy neither, opting instead from one of velodynes offerings... i bet you could get an hgs-x for same price as the deftech, maybe the 10in. shop around.

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I have only room for one subwoofer(even though it can be large). The room is simply a 20'x30' rectangle, with three openings. The sub will have to be placed on a back wall, near the main listening position. The Deftech is not available within 50 miles of my home so listening is difficult but not impossible. I condidered the DefTech because the other speakers in the system sound fine. I may have to break down and drive the 70 miles to New Orleans. There I could demo a Velodyne and maybe even the large Def Tech. I will let you folks know what happens and I thank you for your input.

Maybe you could trade your 2000s for a pair of 7001s. I can assure you would have plenty of bass then.

a small inconvenience for peace of mind i would say.

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