Subwoofer Comparison

[KantoLiving]

Kanto sub8 audioholics CEA-2010 results here:

Kanto ORA Powered Desktop Speakers & sub8 Review

Kanto’s new ORA powered desktop speakers push their technology further than ever by introducing an active crossover and other innovations. What does this do to the sound? Read on to find out.

www.audioholics.com

 

[Sig.Rossi]

Hello,

I put this old DIY subwoofer back into operation in my living room (see photos).

I'm thinking about constructing some white cover for it or just buying another subwoofer.

Would a modern subwoofer be an upgrade?

Problem: It's a living room where I can only use a nice looking white subwoofer. And just a single one that isn't too big.

Could anyone recommend something? Mainly for music mostly 2.1 or 3.1 or 5.1 stereo. L-shaped room approx. 43 sqm. Setup 5.1 Cambridge CXU -> Teufel decoder station 7 -> active subwoofer.

I haven't been able to take any room measurements yet. Purchasing the necessary hardware will take some time.

I've considered using an antimode 8033 s, but would also be happy to hear better suggestions.

I am in Europe (EU).

 

[Romario]

Hello,
Would a modern subwoofer be an upgrade?

Problem: It's a living room where I can only use a nice looking white subwoofer. And just a single one that isn't too big.

I am in Europe (EU).

Polk hts 10 is small, affordable ( €250-€400) and white. Kef has a small high end sw in white.

 

[memopro]

@sweetchaos
Small corrections for the spreadsheet: the ESI Aktiv 10s has a 100Hz HPF:
View attachment 332808

The KRK S8.4, S10.4, S12.4 also have an HPF at 70/80/90/100Hz.

PS: please consider changing the metric units for volume and footprint to liters (=dm³) and square meters (m²), respectively.
They're just more relatable and readable.

I measured how the sat. crossover ot the ESI Aktiv 10s works (100Hz HPF) and it turned out that it has a high pass filter set to 50hz (6 dB/octave) and not 100hz.
In this case, the subwoofer is muted, and I only use the satellite crossover function. Тhe speakers are Yamaha HS8, and the drop is due to the placement of the speakers and the shape of the room.
Blue line: sat. crossover off
Black line: sat. crossover on

After adding ESI Aktiv 10s + EQ correction the low end improved.

In psychoacoustics mode it looks good.
Measurements were made at 80 dB SPL.
EQ adjustments are 3 points, via the TotalMix Equalizer (RME Babyface Pro FS)
The reason for the dips and spikes around 1kHz is the desk, unfortunately I don't have any more EQ bands and I don't want to use other apps like Equalizer Apо because it's not convenient to work with them because I have other devices to switch.
The room has been somewhat treated, about 50 pieces of rock wool were used in bass traps and absorbing panels.

When placing the subwoofer in the center of the room, i.e. between the two speakers, it overexcited the frequencies around 90hz, and the sub-bass around 50hz was missing, and in my case, placing the subwoofer about 90cm to the right of the right speaker and 1.8m from the listening position was the optimal option.

I'm thinking of buying another one of the same subwoofer and placing it on the left side, and I hope to improve/balanced the low end even more.


Another screenshot:
Green line: measurement taken 2cm from the subwoofer.
Yellow line: measurement taken from the listening position, the subwoofer is positioned to the right of the right speaker at about 1.8m from the listening position and 90 cm from the right speaker , there is a delay of about 7ms.
I think it's ok for the price, there are a few resonances up to about 300-400hz, but they don't interfere with the overall sound picture.
The measurements are not professional, they are simply personal and indicative!

 

[ExPerfectionist]

For the OP who manages the list, I wanted to share that the Monolith 16 THX Ultra subwoofer numbers appear to be incorrect, listed too high.

The Audioholics review that they were taken from was updated in 2023 noting:

"Note (7/26/23): Our initial CEA-2010 measurements were about 2-3dB too high due to a microphone calibration issue that was later discovered. We have since then revised the data table accordingly to reflect the actual output capability of this subwoofer more accurately."

Monoprice Monolith 16” THX Ultra Subwoofer: Brutal Output, Audiophile Performance

The Monoprice Monolith 16" THX Ultra subwoofer sports huge excursion ability with an enormous cabinet, and 1,800 watts of power. This Extreme Bassaholic rated sub is a true bruiser with audiophile chops.

www.audioholics.com

Updated chart shown in the review.

https://www.audioholics.com/subwoofer-reviews/monolith-16201d/Mono16CEA2010table.jpg/image_large

I ended up purchasing one of these today on Black Friday sale, upgrading from a Rythmik F12SE. Very much looking forward to getting it up and running, minus the hauling of the 170lb box into my living room.

 

[Wil_Bloodworth]

Wow. What a comprehensive spreadsheet. Thanks!

 

[memopro]

I measured how the sat. crossover ot the ESI Aktiv 10s works (100Hz HPF) and it turned out that it has a high pass filter set to 50hz (6 dB/octave) and not 100hz.
In this case, the subwoofer is muted, and I only use the satellite crossover function. Тhe speakers are Yamaha HS8, and the drop is due to the placement of the speakers and the shape of the room.
Blue line: sat. crossover off
Black line: sat. crossover on
View attachment 409356

After adding ESI Aktiv 10s + EQ correction the low end improved.

View attachment 409361
In psychoacoustics mode it looks good.
Measurements were made at 80 dB SPL.
EQ adjustments are 3 points, via the TotalMix Equalizer (RME Babyface Pro FS)
The reason for the dips and spikes around 1kHz is the desk, unfortunately I don't have any more EQ bands and I don't want to use other apps like Equalizer Apо because it's not convenient to work with them because I have other devices to switch.
The room has been somewhat treated, about 50 pieces of rock wool were used in bass traps and absorbing panels.


View attachment 409362

When placing the subwoofer in the center of the room, i.e. between the two speakers, it overexcited the frequencies around 90hz, and the sub-bass around 50hz was missing, and in my case, placing the subwoofer about 90cm to the right of the right speaker and 1.8m from the listening position was the optimal option.

I'm thinking of buying another one of the same subwoofer and placing it on the left side, and I hope to improve/balanced the low end even more.


Another screenshot:
Green line: measurement taken 2cm from the subwoofer.
Yellow line: measurement taken from the listening position, the subwoofer is positioned to the right of the right speaker at about 1.8m from the listening position and 90 cm from the right speaker , there is a delay of about 7ms.
I think it's ok for the price, there are a few resonances up to about 300-400hz, but they don't interfere with the overall sound picture.
The measurements are not professional, they are simply personal and indicative!

View attachment 409363

ESI Aktiv 10S
The measurement was taken 1-2cm from the subwoofer.
Sound level 86db SPL.
Microphone - Behringer ECM8000
Woofer - red line
Port - blue line
Оverall - black line

 

[muzik-rain]

Lots of subwoofers measured, awesome!

I understand the CTA 2010-A / B standard is used to rate the subs. Many of the subs can achieve, for example ~95DB or above evidenced in the spreadsheet, so if one were to buy multiple different brand / model subs that don't distort <=95DB as per the spreadsheet), can one infer the subs are of the same audible quality? Seems overly general IMO.

Also, since subwoofers will most often be used in homes with reasonably close boundaries, how is sound power measured? Units with passive radiators and / ported may yield significantly different sound power levels versus sealed one would surmise.

 

[celroid]

Do we have no measurements for SVS SB-2000 pro since the ones from Erin were removed?

 

[staticV3]

Do we have no measurements for SVS SB-2000 pro since the ones from Erin were removed?

Below are Klippel measurements of the SB2000 Pro, even more in-depth than Erin's usual suite of subwoofer measurements:

I measured 10 subwoofers.

Hi, it's been a while! I would like to thank the people who made this project possible on a scale never before imagined in South Korea. I measured a total of 10 subwoofers, including my own DIY subwoofer(L26RO4Y), and measured them to the CEA-2010 standard using a Klippel TBM module. Below are...

www.audiosciencereview.com

 

[CrustyToad]

Do we have no measurements for SVS SB-2000 pro since the ones from Erin were removed?

Whyw were they removed?
I think I missed something...

 

[AnonymousAudio]

Improvements:
1. Added column "Passive", which indicates if the subwoofer requires an external amplifier to function (based on Erin's feedback)
2. Added column "XLR inputs", which indicates if the subwoofer has XLR balanced inputs. This is useful for people who have 'studio monitors' and want to connect to a subwoofer. (based on my own interest)
3. Added another tab "TableLegend", which explains all columns, and colour codes. (thanks to txbdan feedback)

Can you please update your MONOLITH subs on your Spreadsheet, as Audioholics had a microphone calibration issue they later discovered and so they changed ALL of their measurements on 7/26/23. Thanks

 

[geek101]

I have a pair of VTF-TN1s and pair of JTR RS1s. What measurements would be ideal to take to help someone get a comprehensive understating of their performance in my room?. Please provide guidance so that I can have a plan to get all the data ?. Also wondering if I should sample some plots for some movie and music clips?. For example:

 

[AnonymousAudio]

Improvements:
1. Added column "Passive", which indicates if the subwoofer requires an external amplifier to function (based on Erin's feedback)
2. Added column "XLR inputs", which indicates if the subwoofer has XLR balanced inputs. This is useful for people who have 'studio monitors' and want to connect to a subwoofer. (based on my own interest)
3. Added another tab "TableLegend", which explains all columns, and colour codes. (thanks to txbdan feedback)

Heres where Audioholics revised their measurements on all Monolith subs. Please update your spreadsheet as its got false readings currently.

 

[rlal]

Hi all,

I was thinking to add a high performing sub to my current setup. My current setup is Revel F328Be tower speakers, Rythmik 12 inch sealed subwoofer made by Salk ( thicker cabinet wall and more bracing than Rythmik stock models) and two infinity book shelf speakers as rear surround speakers.
My AVR is Arcam 850. I was pretty happy with overall performance.

Can you guys suggest me a good subwoofer which will improve the bass performance? In general I like tight or refined bass and not room shaking bass. I am more interested in music than movies. But I do enjoy good bass in movies. Now I was checking the subwoofer excel I don't see high performance option for sealed subs other than JTR.

Based on little research I liked HSU subs and Rythmik subs. I have shortlisted HSU uls-15 mk2, HSU vtf-tn1 and Rythmik FV15HP2 based on CEC-2010 performance.
Please the performance in the pictures below. HSU uls-15 mk2 seems to be good because it is sealed and may match with Salk rythmik subs. I am not sure it is a good idea to mix sealed and ported subs. As I mentioned before I am not too keen on rumble and more interested in music. My AVR can do Dirac live.

My room is not exactly symmetric. I was thinking of keeping sealed sub close to wall and new bigger sub on the other side which is open or away from side wall.
Now if it is okay to mix ported and sealed I can go with Rythmik 15HP2 which is very good. I also liked HSU vtf-tn1 model.
Rythmik subwoofer distortion seems to be lower because of servo controlled. How important is distortion values in subwoofer performance?
Please let me know your thoughts about distortion and subwoofer.

If I need to go with Rythmik 15HP2 I need to may 600$ more compared to HSU uls-15 mk2. I am okay with that provided the low distortion helps in performance.
Please let me know your suggestions.

 

[AnonymousAudio]

Hi all,

I was thinking to add a high performing sub to my current setup. My current setup is Revel F328Be tower speakers, Rythmik 12 inch sealed subwoofer made by Salk ( thicker cabinet wall and more bracing than Rythmik stock models) and two infinity book shelf speakers as rear surround speakers.
My AVR is Arcam 850. I was pretty happy with overall performance.

Can you guys suggest me a good subwoofer which will improve the bass performance? In general I like tight or refined bass and not room shaking bass. I am more interested in music than movies. But I do enjoy good bass in movies. Now I was checking the subwoofer excel I don't see high performance option for sealed subs other than JTR.

Based on little research I liked HSU subs and Rythmik subs. I have shortlisted HSU uls-15 mk2, HSU vtf-tn1 and Rythmik FV15HP2 based on CEC-2010 performance.
Please the performance in the pictures below. HSU uls-15 mk2 seems to be good because it is sealed and may match with Salk rythmik subs. I am not sure it is a good idea to mix sealed and ported subs. As I mentioned before I am not too keen on rumble and more interested in music. My AVR can do Dirac live.

My room is not exactly symmetric. I was thinking of keeping sealed sub close to wall and new bigger sub on the other side which is open or away from side wall.
Now if it is okay to mix ported and sealed I can go with Rythmik 15HP2 which is very good. I also liked HSU vtf-tn1 model.
Rythmik subwoofer distortion seems to be lower because of servo controlled. How important is distortion values in subwoofer performance?
Please let me know your thoughts about distortion and subwoofer.

If I need to go with Rythmik 15HP2 I need to may 600$ more compared to HSU uls-15 mk2. I am okay with that provided the low distortion helps in performance.
Please let me know your suggestions.

Really depends on your budget more than anything. Is it $500/$1k/$1.5k/$2k ???

$500 = Monolith 10" THX
(101.6dB@20hz)
$1,000 = HSU VTF3 MK5
(108.2dB@20hz)
$1,400 = Tonewinner D6000
(113.3dB@20hz)
$2,300 = Tonewinner D8000
(116.4dB@20hz)

Also you shouldn't mix ported and sealed subs. Ideally you should match all your Subs. But Tonewinner subs are tunable and can be ran in Ported or Sealed modes and have a bass management phone app just like SVS, but they have much more reasonable prices.

 

[Elitzur–Vaidman]

Hi all,

I was thinking to add a high performing sub to my current setup. My current setup is Revel F328Be tower speakers, Rythmik 12 inch sealed subwoofer made by Salk ( thicker cabinet wall and more bracing than Rythmik stock models) and two infinity book shelf speakers as rear surround speakers.
My AVR is Arcam 850. I was pretty happy with overall performance.

Can you guys suggest me a good subwoofer which will improve the bass performance? In general I like tight or refined bass and not room shaking bass. I am more interested in music than movies. But I do enjoy good bass in movies. Now I was checking the subwoofer excel I don't see high performance option for sealed subs other than JTR.

Based on little research I liked HSU subs and Rythmik subs. I have shortlisted HSU uls-15 mk2, HSU vtf-tn1 and Rythmik FV15HP2 based on CEC-2010 performance.
Please the performance in the pictures below. HSU uls-15 mk2 seems to be good because it is sealed and may match with Salk rythmik subs. I am not sure it is a good idea to mix sealed and ported subs. As I mentioned before I am not too keen on rumble and more interested in music. My AVR can do Dirac live.

My room is not exactly symmetric. I was thinking of keeping sealed sub close to wall and new bigger sub on the other side which is open or away from side wall.
Now if it is okay to mix ported and sealed I can go with Rythmik 15HP2 which is very good. I also liked HSU vtf-tn1 model.
Rythmik subwoofer distortion seems to be lower because of servo controlled. How important is distortion values in subwoofer performance?
Please let me know your thoughts about distortion and subwoofer.

If I need to go with Rythmik 15HP2 I need to may 600$ more compared to HSU uls-15 mk2. I am okay with that provided the low distortion helps in performance.
Please let me know your suggestions.

SVS SB16-Ultra https://www.svsound.com/products/sb16-ultra

 

[Beershaun]

Check out the subwoofer index thread on this forum. If has a link to all the subs that have been tested so you can see the performance and price of each. SVS and monoprice monolith are good performing good value subs. You can be safe going with either of them and just pick the one that matches your budget and space constraints best. Large ported subs get very big and heavy fast as you go up in size so definitely make sure you pick one that isn't to large for your room. I have 2 SVS sb-2000 in my room and together they are flat to 20hz in room measurements.

 

[AnonymousAudio]

Check out the subwoofer index thread on this forum. If has a link to all the subs that have been tested so you can see the performance and price of each. SVS and monoprice monolith are good performing good value subs. You can be safe going with either of them and just pick the one that matches your budget and space constraints best. Large ported subs get very big and heavy fast as you go up in size so definitely make sure you pick one that isn't to large for your room. I have 2 SVS sb-2000 in my room and together they are flat to 20hz in room measurements.

The Monolith Subs were ALL given incorrect numbers. Audioholics who did the testing made their error public yet some Speadsheets like SweetChaos that your referring to still have the outdated wrong measurements.

Also all of those measurements are inflated by 3dB from the source which use Anechoic data. So make sure to double check the numbers from the actual sources.

 

[rlal]

Really depends on your budget more than anything. Is it $500/$1k/$1.5k/$2k ???

$500 = Monolith 10" THX
(101.6dB@20hz)
$1,000 = HSU VTF3 MK5
(108.2dB@20hz)
$1,400 = Tonewinner D6000
(113.3dB@20hz)
$2,300 = Tonewinner D8000
(116.4dB@20hz)

Also you shouldn't mix ported and sealed subs. Ideally you should match all your Subs. But Tonewinner subs are tunable and can be ran in Ported or Sealed modes and have a bass management phone app just like SVS, but they have much more reasonable prices.

My budget is around 2K.
Does our excel have Tonewinner CEA-2010 results? May be I have not checked it properly. Thanks, let me read about it.