Any interest in a budget ($100-200) subwoofer “shootout”?

[Trouble Maker]

Was going to suggest the Dayton/Monoprice offerings, too, but as Monoprice only has their own page to work with:
Dayton SUB1000

I feel like putting a single slim sub in there is a kind of tricky thing. There is no real comparison points to similar enough offerings, other slim subs. But if you throw another slim sub in there it either starts to blow up his # of units or you have to remove a traditional shaped sub. Sorry, I don't have a great answer to this issue, but I feel like only having 1 of any form factor in there could be a problem. Maybe 1 is enough for people to decide if the performance hit, if any, is worth it for the form factor?

But, going back to my post above, if he does put a slim sub in there that is the Dayton is the one since it is one of The Wire Cutters recommendations.

Monoprice does have slim subs at every size, maybe this is what you were referencing.
8" $112 https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=33829
10" $160 https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=33830
12" $200 https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=35847

 

[HooStat]

I think this is pretty valuable. It would also be interesting to measure what kind of output one could get from using multiples of these -- how competitive would 3 of these be with one of the top $500-$600 options?

 

[Blumlein 88]

I think this is pretty valuable. It would also be interesting to measure what kind of output one could get from using multiples of these -- how competitive would 3 of these be with one of the top $500-$600 options?

Yes, I've not done it, but intend to use 4 to 6 of the Dayton's in my room. That way the bass can be distributed in a way it isn't very uneven, and the cost won't be more than one super sub would cost.

I'd also be very interested in some of these slim subs. If they really work, they'd be a big plus for my plan to fit them into the room without being obtrusive.

 

[Trouble Maker]

Yes, I've not done it, but intend to use 4 to 6 of the Dayton's in my room. That way the bass can be distributed in a way it isn't very uneven, and the cost won't be more than one super sub would cost.

Sticking a ton of these around the room sounds like a lot of fun!
I have an image in my head of a wall of these things.

I'd also be very interested in some of these slim subs. If they really work, they'd be a big plus for my plan to fit them into the room without being obtrusive.

The specs aren't promising. Though I honestly don't know if the regular form factor subs in this range are any 'better'. I guess that is the whole point of this idea.
Monoprice stated Frequency Response (-10dB) for their slim subs
8" - 30-150Hz
10" - 25-150Hz
12" - 20-150Hz

EDIT: Maybe just the Monoprice ones just aren't so good, not worth testing.
From https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-budget-subwoofer/

 

[HooStat]

Yes, I've not done it, but intend to use 4 to 6 of the Dayton's in my room. That way the bass can be distributed in a way it isn't very uneven, and the cost won't be more than one super sub would cost.

I'd also be very interested in some of these slim subs. If they really work, they'd be a big plus for my plan to fit them into the room without being obtrusive.

I have the same issue. I have a 10 year old JL Audio Fathom F113 which my wife doesn't want to see. I could easily get 3 of the 12" slim subs and hide them behind my entertainment center (95" wide and 7" away from the wall). It would certainly be better than no sub and I would have money left over for some new speakers, after selling the JL Audio sub.

 

[Blumlein 88]

Sticking a ton of these around the room sounds like a lot of fun!
I have an image in my head of a wall of these things.



The specs aren't promising. Though I honestly don't know if the regular form factor subs in this range are any 'better'. I guess that is the whole point of this idea.
Monoprice stated Frequency Response (-10dB) for their slim subs
8" - 30-150Hz
10" - 25-150Hz
12" - 20-150Hz

EDIT: Maybe just the Monoprice ones just aren't so good, not worth testing.
From https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/best-budget-subwoofer/
View attachment 81289

Stick 6 in the room and you get 10 db more or less extra. Then just take into account room gain and EQ flat to 80 hz.

 

[Ericglo]

I kind of feel like you have to throw The Wire Cutter recommended ones in there, unless they are obvious crap. I don't have a reason to believe they are. They are a juggernaut and you will probably get some cross hits to your reviews if people are looking for other sources to guide their purchase.

I think this is a great idea. As someone else said I would love to know where the knee point of diminishing returns is in this area. I suspect for my target it's a higher price point, but I won't know without the data. Also giving quantitative info to regular consumers at regular price points is a worthy endeavor. I personally think more so than info for the few of us who are looking for the best multi thousand dollar setup.

I glanced at the Wirecutter article and would agree. The slim sub recommendation would probably interest a ton of people with WAF.

I did notice that the Monoprice 9723 is $140 on Amazon and $99 at Monoprice.

 

[Grandzoltar]

Those graphs show tests at 1 meter. Certain measurements are at 2 meters. Which to me represent my listening distance better. Subtract 9 db from the 1 meter measurements to compare them to the 2 meter measurements. For $539 hsu vtf2 mk5 measurements can be found here https://www.audioholics.com/subwoofer-reviews/hsu-vtf-2-mk5/measurements and analysis
For 200 more you are getting close to 3-10db more output below 80hz, increasingly more the lower the frequency

 

[hardisj]

I went ahead and ordered the subwoofers I mentioned in my OP. I also reached out to my friend at Parts Express to see if they would be able/willing to send me their 10-inch subwoofer for me to include as this "shootout".

We will see how this thing goes. If there's enough positive feedback on it then I will repeat the same process with 12-inch subwoofers. But that will be quite a bit more costly and if I go outside of Amazon I will need to rely on donations or loaners from the community to be able to do that (remember; I chose Amazon subwoofers for a couple reasons and one of them was the liberal return policy).

 

[KaiserSoze]

I went ahead and ordered the subwoofers I mentioned in my OP. I also reached out to my friend at Parts Express to see if they would be able/willing to send me their 10-inch subwoofer for me to include as this "shootout".

We will see how this thing goes. If there's enough positive feedback on it then I will repeat the same process with 12-inch subwoofers. But that will be quite a bit more costly and if I go outside of Amazon I will need to rely on donations or loaners from the community to be able to do that (remember; I chose Amazon subwoofers for a couple reasons and one of them was the liberal return policy).

No question this will be useful and interesting. If you give people an opportunity on a forum like this to opine as to what they think would be better for you to do, you will get all manner of ideas that range from moderately useful to completely out of the question and not really at all the same as what you had in mind. Hopefully it will go well and bring traffic to your 'tube channel. Maybe it will give you enough reason to do so more of the same sort of thing in the future, to satisfy some of the other desires that have been expressed here. For my part I'm just curious to see whether any of the subs in this price range are worth messing with. We will soon know.

 

[FrantzM]

I have the same issue. I have a 10 year old JL Audio Fathom F113 which my wife doesn't want to see. I could easily get 3 of the 12" slim subs and hide them behind my entertainment center (95" wide and 7" away from the wall). It would certainly be better than no sub and I would have money left over for some new speakers, after selling the JL Audio sub.

Willing to pay shipping from your house to my freight forwarder, for your generous gift..

... Never mind , you would be selling the JL Audio sub

 

[raistlin65]

I think this is pretty valuable. It would also be interesting to measure what kind of output one could get from using multiples of these -- how competitive would 3 of these be with one of the top $500-$600 options?

It would not be replicable from room to room. And if you were talking about SPL output by co-locating them, that can be estimated by knowing the performance of a single sub.

 

[sweetchaos]

Klipsch R-12SW dropped to $189usd on sale at Costco.com and in-store today.
Valid until Sep 27.

Might be worth checking out, as it meets the budget.

 

[dzello]

Cheap sub review are lacking on the Web right now.

I listen mainly to music with my subs and I bought a Klipsch R-100SW in clearance/opened box 2 months ago after I returned a Pioneer SW-8MK2. The Pioneer sounded very good, but was too quiet for my living room.

So far, I'm satisfied with the Klipsch. I mainly listen to music at low volume in a small room. I don't understand all the hate against Klipsch' subs. This one doesn't go low enough for a movie fan, but it gets the job done.

I have another sub in the basement, an old Polk PSW250. This unit is impressive for it's size and age. It's really great for music and the bass is tight. Speaker size is 8 inches and cabinet has 2 ports.

 

[Soniclife]

This seems a great idea, good for people that one cheap sub, great for people that want lots of cheap subs.
Do you have the ability to run a swarm of different models to illustrate how mismatched cheap subs might work? It would be fascinating to see if they looked like they could out perform one good one.

 

[hardisj]

Do you have the ability to run a swarm of different models to illustrate how mismatched cheap subs might work? It would be fascinating to see if they looked like they could out perform one good one.

Not without spending way more money than I care to risk (in the event that I am unable to return them).

 

[MZKM]

remember; I chose Amazon subwoofers for a couple reasons and one of them was the liberal return policy).

I have heard that they will contact people that they feel are abusing their return policy, so I would be careful, or else your return requests in the future may get denied.

 

[hardisj]

I have heard that they will contact people that they feel are abusing their return policy, so I would be careful, or else your return requests in the future may get denied.

Yea. I've heard that, too. I order enough from them (and keep it) that I think I am OK. But I try to keep it to a minimum.

 

[Chrispy]

I feel like putting a single slim sub in there is a kind of tricky thing. There is no real comparison points to similar enough offerings, other slim subs. But if you throw another slim sub in there it either starts to blow up his # of units or you have to remove a traditional shaped sub. Sorry, I don't have a great answer to this issue, but I feel like only having 1 of any form factor in there could be a problem. Maybe 1 is enough for people to decide if the performance hit, if any, is worth it for the form factor?

But, going back to my post above, if he does put a slim sub in there that is the Dayton is the one since it is one of The Wire Cutters recommendations.

Monoprice does have slim subs at every size, maybe this is what you were referencing.
8" $112 https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=33829
10" $160 https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=33830
12" $200 https://www.monoprice.com/product?p_id=35847

LOL as I mentioned I linked the slim by mistake....and thought I fixed it so just added the SUB1000 as a p.s.

As far as slim subs most of them are fairly weak performers but could be better than nothing, but think using tactile transducers is another option somewhat along those lines....

 

[VeloCast]

Hey, guys. I’m considering ordering a few different budget-friendly powered subwoofers from Amazon and conducting a shootout of sorts to kind of give my YouTube channel a good kick in the butt. FR and max SPL data (CEA-2010, most likely) will be part of the data set. Is there any interest from you guys in this sort of thing?

I am specifically targeting Amazon because I want to test the most common subs. The kind where someone says “I need a subwoofer this weekend, so let’s see what Amazon Prime has”. And with Prime, I can send them back without eating the full cost. These are the ones I have keyed in on:

Polk Audio PSW10 10" Powered Subwoofer
Klipsch Reference R-10SW
Elac SUB1010
Sony SACS9 10-Inch Active Subwoofer
Yamaha NS-SW100BL 10"

These are all 10-inch subwoofers. That just seems to be what is in this target price range. I am trying to keep the list relatively small and limited to the best sellers. I plan to test them all the exact same day so the test conditions are all 100% the same. And if this has enough positive feedback then maybe I can expand the test to 12" subs. As it is, these 5 would be close to $1k and that's quite an investment (if only temporary) but if there is one that really needs to be considered then I might add it or replace one of the ones above.

Thoughts?

The higher in price you go, so it does the watts! The subwoofers you list are around 100-150 watts. If the Yamaha NS-SW100BL comes with AUTO switch, I will buy it. Otherwise, I will go with the Sony SA-CS9. The Yamaha goes down to 25 Hz and the Sony to 28 Hz. The LINE IN (in both subwoofers) do not show LFE IN (low frequency effects).

Higher wattage is required to play lower tones, because lower frequencies require larger quantities of air that must be moved in order to create an audible effect. Bass output, as with most things, demands a comparison of quality vs quantity. More bass does not necessarily mean better bass. Electronics and design enclosure plays an important role.

An useful insight from the Niteshade Audio:
Key factors in determining how much power is needed:

-Power and Speaker Sensitivity
-Room Size
-Listening Habits
-Type of Music Listened