Price Paid:  $200.00 from www.fluance.com

Summary:
The ordering process and delivery was extremely fast. I put an order in during the evening, it shipped the next day and arrived the day after that, perfectly packed and looking great. Immediately, it's easy to see the solid construction. I got everything set up and flicked the switch on the back. There were no LEDs. I plugged the sub into my receiver and managed to get a couple pathetic little clicks before the unit went dead. That's the last noise it would make: I obviously got a defective sub.

Fluance was quick to give me an RMA number (claiming that this NEVER happens to them), but I was not thrilled when I had to drop an additional $50 to ship my faulty subwoofer back to them. The amount I had to pay in order to get my replacement makes a significant difference in the price of the unit. When I complained, they promised to add several complimentary items to subsidize the cost and that the unit would be replaced ASAP. (which wound up being two Fluance hats... gee thanks, guys.)

Jump ahead two weeks (to be fair, this was over Christmas). I contacted them on Tuesday, and they responded that they had already discussed it with the warehouse and that it would be sent out that day. It didn't actually ship out until the following day.

My repaired sub arrived today, and I am very pleased with the sound it now produces. It is rich and powerful, and somewhat tighter than I expected. I have it placed about a foot from the wall, and it fills a very large room with solid bass. I'm overall pleased enough that I have ordered a surround setup from Fluance. Be aware that you are taking a risk when ordering from an on-line company, though I still believe you would be hard pressed to find any other product of this quality for this cheap. Even with the shipping costs, I got a great deal.

Strengths:
-powerful sound
-cheap
-very solid construction

Weaknesses:
-expensive shipping
-if something goes wrong, the costs skyrocket
-a bit boomy

Similar Products Used:
Paradigm