Subwoofer Comparison

[Ricci]

Took out ZOD Audio.

This data was taken from data-bass.com.
1. There's no website, so it's discontinued now? I don't know the full story of this.
2. It's also DIY, so it doesn't belong.

ZOD Audio was originally an April fool's joke from back when I started published measurements from my own projects. I also used it as a way to get the B&C 21Ipal testing published way back when B&C didn't want it public and a few other things. Eventually I just used it for my designs. Kind of like a skunkworks / easter egg hunt type deal. Never was a functioning retail company.

Nice spreadsheet BTW.

I was just wondering if anyone here might know what happened to him/his testing.

I needed a nice long break...I got very burnt out after 10+ years. Became too much work and wasn't fun any more. I really needed the time for other endeavors. I may not be done entirely. Who knows.

It sure is nice to sit back and enjoy other people's reviews these days! I'm glad there are a number of reviewers doing in depth objective testing of subs and all other manner of audio gear right now.

 

[sweetchaos]

Welcome to ASR @Ricci
Thanks for the kind words!
We appreciate your contributions to the community.

 

[danzilla31]

ZOD Audio was originally an April fool's joke from back when I started published measurements from my own projects. I also used it as a way to get the B&C 21Ipal testing published way back when B&C didn't want it public and a few other things. Eventually I just used it for my designs. Kind of like a skunkworks / easter egg hunt type deal. Never was a functioning retail company.

Nice spreadsheet BTW.



I needed a nice long break...I got very burnt out after 10+ years. Became too much work and wasn't fun any more. I really needed the time for other endeavors. I may not be done entirely. Who knows.

It sure is nice to sit back and enjoy other people's reviews these days! I'm glad there are a number of reviewers doing in depth objective testing of subs and all other manner of audio gear right now.

Thank you for all your work and efforts for this community. Your the reason I went with RBH speakers by the way. I found a sweet deal on an RBH 1212PR and after reading your review of the previous model had to go with it. I was so impressed with that sub zi eventually upgraded all my speakers to RBH!

 

[JonoJono]

I'm currently considering buying a SVS SB-1000 Pro to pair with a pair of KEF Q350 speakers.
I'm using Sonarworks to calibrate them.

I don't watch any films at my desk, just listen to music and dubiously record my own.
So I want a subwoofer to give me some accurate flat bass without breaking the bank.
But also I don't care about super low frequencies and don't want to have it so loud that things shake.

Is this a good choice? I'm in the UK so the sub is £640 which is $860.

However I saw online something about SPL vs SQ subwoofers and something about how the SB 1000 Pro is an SPL sub so it's not as accurate.
Is this something that I should care about?

(Sorry if this is the wrong thread to post in)

 

[sweetchaos]

However I saw online something about SPL vs SQ subwoofers and something about how the SB 1000 Pro is an SPL sub so it's not as accurate.

Compared to what? A REL subwoofer, that makes your music *sing like the angels*? Please don't give any attention to such odd claims.

SVS makes excellent subwoofers, that are very competitive (both in price and performance) compared to other well-measuring brands.
This isn't my opinion, it's fact based on the data we have.
I see no reason to NOT recommend a SVS subwoofer.
For your use case (music) a sealed subwoofer (by SVS or other well-measuring brands) will work without issues.
My spreadsheet makes the decision buying process infinitely easier...sort by best performing (sealed or ported) sub for your budget, then choose from the top 3 options (depending on size, colour, features, etc). The more output the subwoofer can do, the less distortion you're going to hear, and the better the experience you're going to have, even if you're not pushing the subwoofer to it's limits.

Choosing a subwoofer isn't rocket science. Don't overthink it. Choose from well-measuring brands, and you're done.

Your choice for a speaker is magnitude harder to make compared to choosing a sub (with the help of my spreadsheet, of course).

 

[AdamG]

ZOD Audio was originally an April fool's joke from back when I started published measurements from my own projects. I also used it as a way to get the B&C 21Ipal testing published way back when B&C didn't want it public and a few other things. Eventually I just used it for my designs. Kind of like a skunkworks / easter egg hunt type deal. Never was a functioning retail company.

Nice spreadsheet BTW.



I needed a nice long break...I got very burnt out after 10+ years. Became too much work and wasn't fun any more. I really needed the time for other endeavors. I may not be done entirely. Who knows.

It sure is nice to sit back and enjoy other people's reviews these days! I'm glad there are a number of reviewers doing in depth objective testing of subs and all other manner of audio gear right now.

Welcome Aboard Ricci! Your Sub Reviews were epic and groundbreaking in multiple ways. Thank you for your contributions to our wonderful hobby.

 

[JonoJono]

Compared to what? A REL subwoofer, that makes your music *sing like the angels*? Please don't give any attention to such odd claims.

SVS makes excellent subwoofers, that are very competitive (both in price and performance) compared to other well-measuring brands.
This isn't my opinion, it's fact based on the data we have.
I see no reason to NOT recommend a SVS subwoofer.
For your use case (music) a sealed subwoofer (by SVS or other well-measuring brands) will work without issues.
My spreadsheet makes the decision buying process infinitely easier...sort by best performing (sealed or ported) sub for your budget, then choose from the top 3 options (depending on size, colour, features, etc). The more output the subwoofer can do, the less distortion you're going to hear, and the better the experience you're going to have, even if you're not pushing the subwoofer to it's limits.

Choosing a subwoofer isn't rocket science. Don't overthink it. Choose from well-measuring brands, and you're done.

Your choice for a speaker is magnitude harder to make compared to choosing a sub (with the help of my spreadsheet, of course).

Thanks for replying! Your spreadsheet is excellent.

I've spent the last few days watching any video on youtube about the SB 1000 Pro. And this one video mentioned "spl" and "sq", but after some googling it looks like it's a car subwoofer term where people justify bad subwoofers as long as they're loud.

Looking at subwoofers has really been a confusing journey. There's a lot of weird things people say.
Like subs being fast or slow. Or "tight" bass.
I don't really get what "musciality" is supposed to be.


Thanks for your advice, I think I'll go with the SVS.

 

[AdamG]

Thanks for replying! Your spreadsheet is excellent.

I've spent the last few days watching any video on youtube about the SB 1000 Pro. And this one video mentioned "spl" and "sq", but after some googling it looks like it's a car subwoofer term where people justify bad subwoofers as long as they're loud.

Looking at subwoofers has really been a confusing journey. There's a lot of weird things people say.
Like subs being fast or slow. Or "tight" bass.
I don't really get what "musciality" is supposed to be.


Thanks for your advice, I think I'll go with the SVS.

Welcome Aboard @JonoJono

 

[Atomgeszi08]

HI!


Is there any comparison about Monoprice Monolith 12in THX Ultra Certified 500-Watt Powered Subwoofer versus XTZ SUB 12.17 EDGE?

Which one is better? I know there is no same price but looks like same .

 

[sweetchaos]

HI!


Is there any comparison about Monoprice Monolith 12in THX Ultra Certified 500-Watt Powered Subwoofer versus XTZ SUB 12.17 EDGE?

Which one is better? I know there is no same price but looks like same .

Difficult to say because we don't have the measurements for the XTZ SUB 12.17 EDGE, so we can't compare directly. Sorry.

But I can tell you 2 things:
1. Monoprice THX subs are very competitive in terms of price and performance. Well, that's obvious by looking at my spreadsheet.
2. XTZ SUB 3X12 (2100 EUR) subwoofer was measured, and it hit "extreme" rating, which means its capable of outputting some serious sound. So at least we know that XTZ is not a "weak-performing" company, so to speak, and they know how to design subs. So my initial impressions of the company is positive.

So I guess it comes down to, do you want guaranteed performance or are you willing to risk it? Your call.

 

[Atomgeszi08]

Difficult to say because we don't have the measurements for the XTZ SUB 12.17 EDGE, so we can't compare directly. Sorry.

But I can tell you 2 things:
1. Monoprice THX subs are very competitive in terms of price and performance. Well, that's obvious by looking at my spreadsheet.
2. XTZ SUB 3X12 (2100 EUR) subwoofer was measured, and it hit "extreme" rating, which means its capable of outputting some serious sound. So at least we know that XTZ is not a "weak-performing" company, so to speak, and they know how to design subs. So my initial impressions of the company is positive.

So I guess it comes down to, do you want guaranteed performance or are you willing to risk it? Your call.

Thank you.

I also didnt find test or measurement for XTZ :/

I think, I will buy the monoprice. I dont like risk

 

[sweetchaos]

Improvements:
- Added SVS black friday sale.

See SVS section, and under "Discontinued", you'll see a Green highlighted text.
"Black Friday Sale, but prior to this they were discontinued. SVS is producing a limited run of these."

 

[MeZoX]

I am new to the audio world , and dont have any places where I live that demo audio equipment , so I really cant judge what i am missing out from not having one of the well reviewed subs here

I have found a SVS PB2000 pro available for sale on the used market where i live , would it offer a noticable performance improvement over my current system ?

This is my current setup measurement for a sine sweep , KRK 8G4 + KRK 10s2 subwoofer , I use my system in a small room

 

[sweetchaos]

I am new to the audio world , and dont have any places where I live that demo audio equipment , so I really cant judge what i am missing out from not having one of the well reviewed subs here

I have found a SVS PB2000 pro available for sale on the used market where i live , would it offer a noticable performance improvement over my current system ?

This is my current setup measurement for a sine sweep , KRK 8G4 + KRK 10s2 subwoofer , I use my system in a small room

We don't have CEA-2010-A data for your studio sub, so we can't directly definitively.

Studio subwoofers offer features that are often convenient, such as passthrough and both high-pass (mostly not available for hifi subs) and low-pass filters (available for all hifi subs). But if you buy MiniDSP 2x4 HD (US$225), you can do a high-pass filter that way, so it's easy to do.

The general consensus is that studio subwoofers don't offer the same level of performance (in output) as hifi subwoofers (like svs, hsu, rythmik, monoprice, etc). So if you want to play it loud, go with hifi subs.

 

[MeZoX]

Studio subwoofers offer features that are often convenient, such as passthrough and both high-pass (mostly not available for hifi subs) and low-pass filters (available for all hifi subs). But if you buy MiniDSP 2x4 HD (US$225), you can do a high-pass filter that way, so it's easy to do.

sorry for asking a total noobish question , but does that mean the crossover frequency setting in the SVS PB2000 pro only cuts off low frequency from going to the speakers ? but the sub itself will still play the full range ? so i would need an additional device like the one you mentioned for it to perform crossover like my current studio sub ?

 

[sweetchaos]

Improvements:
- Added Starke Sound's Black Friday sales. Thanks to @snaimpally for the heads up

See Starke Sound section, and under "Discontinued", you'll see a Yellow highlighted text.

 

[Hydrav]

Can I just say I really appreciate the work put into this, it's an excellent comparison tool and makes deciding on a subwoofer much easier. I hope it continues to be updated. My only regret is I didn't come across it sooner.

Incredible work, thanks!

 

[sweetchaos]

My only regret is that I didn't make this sooner.
I've had this idea for about 4 years before this post (about 5 years ago now), as soon as I learned about Audioholic's Bassaholic rating.
At the time, I researched and bought my first subwoofer, HSU VTF-3 MK5 HP, after seeing HSU subs reviewed on Audioholics, and ranked very favourably.
After comparing with all subs ranked by data-bass.com, I saw that there weren't many subwoofers that could hit an "extreme" room rank for US$800.
So I bought it, and was very happy with it's performance in my home theater since then.
Not needing to think about upgrading, this thought disappeared.

Then, after joining ASR 2 years ago and seeing Erin's efforts to continue testing subs, the idea re-emerged.
I remember saying to myself that "It doesn't matter how many hours I put into this, this needs to be done."
Countless hours later, it's complete (mostly, haha).

 

[Hydrav]

My only regret is that I didn't make this sooner.
I've had this idea for about 4 years before this post (about 5 years ago now), as soon as I learned about Audioholic's Bassaholic rating.
At the time, I researched and bought my first subwoofer, HSU VTF-3 MK5 HP, after seeing HSU subs reviewed on Audioholics, and ranked very favourably.
After comparing with all subs ranked by data-bass.com, I saw that there weren't many subwoofers that could hit an "extreme" room rank for US$800.
So I bought it, and was very happy with it's performance in my home theater since then.
Not needing to think about upgrading, this thought disappeared.

Then, after joining ASR 2 years ago and seeing Erin's efforts to continue testing subs, the idea re-emerged.
I remember saying to myself that "It doesn't matter how many hours I put into this, this needs to be done."
Countless hours later, it's complete (mostly, haha).

It's such a great tool for more objective comparison of subwoofer output vs size, and will lead to better and cheaper products down the road if a lot of people start using it. People can make a more informed decision than simply relying on subjective impressions. Manufacturers will not be able to rely on brand name alone.

Of course there is always the issue of some wrong measurements, but with critical evaluation and more reviewers independently measuring subs these issues should be weeded out in time.

I really think independent measurements of speakers, subwoofers and headphones have fundamentally changed the game for people buying cheaper audio products. It's made navigating the audio world and steering around the snake oil a lot easier for me at least.

I don't think anyone saw this change coming and I wonder what the future holds.

 

[Sancus]

Something people may not know, but you can use Multi-Sub Optimizer to generate PEQ filters and if your sub has those you can enter them manually and it will work fine. You don't actually need a miniDSP.

I was pretty disappointed with Audyssey(XT32) on 2 subs. It did eliminate a peak, but only by turning into a big null over 40-60hz. Not cool. And this was even worse in 1 of the 3 seats, it didn't even reduce seat-to-seat variation.

Audyssey-Only 1 sub vs 2

Spoiler

I'm planning to eventually buy an AVR with Dirac Bass Control, so I didn't really want to buy a miniDSP. Arendal 1723 subs have up to 7 filters each and the ability to set delay in the sub as well, so I figured why not try it out? I bought an RCA splitter so that Audyssey would see the subs as 1, did measurements with Audyssey off, used MSO to make the filters, put them into the subs(using the app) and then ran Audyssey again.

MSO results

Spoiler

Final Results

Spoiler

I did use 8 measurements spread over 3 seats. So if you only wanted one seat perfect the results would be even better. And all with only 2 subs.