Price Paid:  $257.00 from Onecall

Summary:
This sub is great for the price I paid. Very musical. Solid build. Perfect for the living room.

Strengths:
Finish, build, performance

Weaknesses:
For it's size, none.

Similar Products Used:
Velodyne

Price Paid:  $256.00 from www.onecall.com

Summary:
I posted a while back with a less-than stellar review of the Super Sub. Since then, I have lived with the sub for a while, and added a second one to my system after seeing them go on sale at OneCall for $256. At that price, I think this is about the best subwoofer value around, and I’m amazed that they still have them in stock. I might even buy a third one for a future bedroom system.

Over the past 9 months I have grown rather pleased with the sound and performance of my Super Sub. Adding the second sub increased output by 4-5 dB (measured), and, through very careful (i.e. tedious) placement, has eliminated a few of the more annoying room modes. The hum I earlier reported is still there, but at very low levels, and I suspect that it may be due to something in my house since they both have the problem. Nevertheless, I can’t hear it from more than 3 feet away, so I don’t care anymore. I can hear the buzzing from the damn transformer in my Sony STR-DA777ES receiver (an outstanding piece, BTW) more than I can hear the subs. Their performance on music sounds pretty tight now (purely the result of careful room placement), and on movies they seem to have no problem with output – I recently cranked up saving Private Ryan and Star Wars Episode I to demonstrate my system to friends, and the subs handled it without strain, at levels that I could feel in my body, and that you had to shout over to be heard. Levels, I might add, that should have gotten me kicked out of my apartment if it wasn’t for the fact that my neighbors are so cool (so far).

These are very well-built, well-engineered subs. At the original price, there’s a lot of competition out there, and hence my earlier rating – primarily due to the hum problem and difficult placement for good sound. At the clearance price I paid for the second one, you will never find better. You could even buy two for the price of the original and have something that probably outperforms all of the $500 competition. It might also be worth it to look at the replacement – the SW10 – which uses the same amplifier section, but a higher output, forward-firing 10” woofer instead of the down-firing dual 6.5” cones. (In my experience, forward-firing subs are easier to position in any room for good sound).

4 star sub, but 5 stars to balance out my earlier review. 5 stars for value at clearance price.

Strengths:
Review Update

Price Paid:  $199.00 from 6 Ave., NJ

Summary:
I got these on a sale that 6 Ave is running now. They are an authorized dealer and these are the bargain of the century.

I have a HT setup with NHT SuperTwo's as main speakers, SuperCenter and SuperOne's as rears. I have a medium sized room and didn't think I needed a sub. Since I saw the great deal on these, I decided to pick them up.

Wow!!

These are fabulous! They are very strong, and usual tight accurate NHT sound. They integrate very well w/ other NHT's with minimal amount of time. They provide a serious amount of deep bass extension to my system. Excellent for both music and movies.

I have had problems with individual pieces of equipment in the past, and sympathize with others who have problems, but I certainly didn't experience anything like a few others here reported. Tight solid quality construction. If you don't get this, exchange it for a new unit!!

I can highly recommend these, and for the price I paid, I think they are an all time bargain. I am sure that there are bigger and costlier subs out there that would put out more bass, but for the money and for a medium sized room, these are excellent.

Strengths:
Tight bass, excellent for both music and movies, integrates well w/ main speakers, usual solid NHT finish and build quality, reasonable size

Weaknesses:
None

Price Paid:  $500.00 from Crutchfield

Summary:
I wanted to replace my 8” Atlantic Technology PBM 162 “subwoofer” with a more powerful unit for a long time. Not because it sounded bad; I just wanted to upgrade my subwoofer to match the other upgrades in my system. My first choice was Hsu Research’s VTF-2 for $500, same price as the SuperSub, but rated to go much lower and very positively reviewed by many sources. Unfortunately I discovered the limitations of the U.S. Postal System (my only realistic option here), and the VTF-2 was just slightly too large to mail. My second choice was the well-reviewed NHT SubOne, but that, too, was too big. Back to the drawing board, I decided to wait for my next trip to the mainland and bring a subwoofer back on the plane with me, and then my PBM 162 failed and I was forced to go ahead and purchase a new sub. (during my waiting time, by the way, I found that the NHT 1.5’s, which I use as my main speakers, actually had pretty decent bass response on their own in my room)

Based on my good experiences with NHT in the past, I decided to go ahead with the SuperSub, even though there was only one or two reviews here at the time, figuring it HAD to sound good, because NHT wouldn’t produce a crappy sub, right? Crutchfield got it to me in a remarkable 6 days via Priority Mail, and I hooked it up and immediately noticed a hum problem, which got worse when I reversed the Phase switch. After determining that I couldn’t live with the hum (I didn’t remember the AT sub having a hum problem), I contacted Crutchfield, and after some troubleshooting to confirm it was the unit, they sent me another unit in record time (again). Unfortunately, the replacement sub had a hum problem that was actually somewhat worse than the first. After playing around with both units for a while, I managed to get the hum down to an acceptable level on the first sub by leaving the phase switch on the factory pre-set position, and reversing the phase electronically in my receiver. The other (new) Supersub hummed no matter what I did (even when connected to an outlet in another part of the house, with nothing nearby that should have interfered). So after more e-mails with Crutchfield, I finally decided just to call it quits and keep the first sub. During this time, I also e-mailed NHT and received a nearly unintelligible response which I finally deciphered to be about checking my cables, to which I replied I already had, but they never e-mailed me back. I was not impressed. In retrospect, now that I know NHT is releasing a re-designed SuperSub, I should have returned both units.

I have spent the last month and a half or so trying to integrate the SuperSub into my system. It certainly goes deeper than the old Atlantic Technology sub, but I have not been able to get it to sound nearly as tight. Bass, in general, has a soft feel that does not approach the speed or tightness exhibited by the “cheap” little AT (which was rated as the best small sub for music use by Stereo Review in 1998, by the way). I sent the AT’s amplifier section off to AT for repair during this time, which they did quickly, cheaply and professionally, installing additional heat sinks to prevent future recurrences of the same problem. After I got the AT back, I hooked it up and was very disappointed to find that no matter where I put it, it still sounded better than the NHT. Damn! I wish they still made it, I’d buy two and still have spent less than I did on the SuperSub.

Overall, the NHT sounds reasonably good, but that’s probably because after all the trouble and money I spent on it, I desperately want to get some value out of it. I’ve had none of the rattling problems mentioned in the review below. When the new and improved model comes out, I might try asking Crutchfield for a special deal on a trade-in, if they’ll let me…. Until then, however, I am still planning on buying a SubOne or maybe even a SubTwo next time I make it back to the mainland. Thus, the SuperSub has essentially ended up being only an expensive, stop-gap solution to my bass needs.

Weaknesses:
Hum problems on both units – potential design or quality control problem? Bass quality not the tightest. Also, have heard that NHT is releasing a re-designed SuperSub that is front-firing. Perhaps NHT noticed the same problems?

Similar Products Used:
JBL 8-inch sub, Atlantic technology PBM-162

Summary:
Well i was very excited about this product and could not wait to recieve it for it was going to be a "filler" sub with my rear speakers. Took it out of the box..so far so good.Looks like a quality piece,but thats where it all came to an end. The sub rattled like a snake,bottomed out easily and was no way near the asking price of 500 dollars.I would go as far to say that this sub was the biggest piece of crap that i have auditioned in quite some time. How and why NHT would ever come out with a sub-par SUB like this is beyond me. It goes back,and because of its poor quality so does my SUB1.

Strengths:
Its looks

Weaknesses:
Where do I start......

Similar Products Used:
Many,including the NHT sub1