hardboot

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Price Paid:  $850.00 from Electronics For Less

Summary:
Wow!!! What a subwoofer. After reading all the positive reviews I thought I would take a chance and buy this sub online. And I'm glad I did. My home theatre is in the basement on top of a concrete floor with a subfloor finished with hardwood floor. I tried a couple of demo subs from klipsch and velodyne and found them too boomy. No matter where I placed them I couldn't get the bass right. Then I tried the HSU. I couildn't believe the deep and tight bass. I played the B52's cosmic thing CD and bass was powerful. Then I tried the beach landing scene from Saving Private Ryan and it felt like I was there. Even my wife commented on how good the bass sounded and felt. She usually doesn't care about or notice these things. Am I glad I bought this sub? At half the price of the Klipsch RT 10d and twice the sound quality. All I can say is YES YES YES.

Strengths:
Deep Bass
Precise Bass
Excellent Price

Weaknesses:
Scares the heck out of my dog

Similar Products Used:
Klipsch RT 10d
Velodyne FS1000
Klipsch RW 12d

Price Paid:  $750.00 from ELECTRONICS FOR LESS

Summary:
WANTED TO GET 2ND SUB FOR BASEMENT 25 FEET BY 25 FEET 9FT HIGH.GOT A PARADIGM PW 2200 V2 WHICH IS A KILLER SUB DEEP BASS AND POWER,I HERD OF THE HSU VTF3MK2 SO I LISTEND TO IT AND GOT IT TO TEST OUT AS 2ND SUB IN REAR OF BASEMENT ,WELL WHAT A SHOCK PW2200 UP FRONT HSU VTF3 IN REAR THESE 2 TOGETHER ROCK MY HOUSE TO HELL, I MEAN SHACK EVERY THING. IN MOVIES ITS GREAT YOU THINK THE HOUSE IS GOING TO FALL APART ,IN MUSIC ITS LIKE YOUR THERE TIGHT BASS AND CLEAN.THE PW WAS MORE MONEY BUT THE HSU HOLDS ITS OWN GREAT SUB ,IM VERY HAPPY WITH BOTH OF THEM.

Strengths:
LOTS OF POWER,CLEAN BASS.BIG BANG FOR THE BUCK

Weaknesses:
NONE WHATS SO EVER,UNLESS YOU HAVE A HART PROBLEM

Similar Products Used:
PW 2200 V2

Price Paid:  $559.00 from Hsu

Summary:
Absolutely the best sub I have ever heard. The first thing I did after receiving the sub was try the Hsu-supplied test CD which features an 18 hz pipe organ track. This monster sub nailed it. Every other test that I can come up with passes with flying colors. Using this SW in my Home Theater has dramatically improved every aspect of the sound. The high power amp in the sub greatly relieves the stress on my Denon receiver and Adcom amp to efficiently do their jobs. This product is not only proficient at LFE in movies but is extremely accurate in reproducing bass notes. Gone is the monotone 1 note rumble. This is a musical instrument that will improve or greatly transform a system. This is the best single piece of equipment that I have ever purchased.

You do not realize how much low frequency enrgy you are missing until you have a quality subwoofer that is truly capable of reproducing it. This piece can truly do it. So far, everything that I have played on it has been greatly improved - movies, HD bruadcasts, DVDs even commercials on ordinary TV.

Strengths:
Built like a tank
Powerful deep bass
Musicality
Excellent design
The ability to scare and intimidate
The pricing (due to selling direct) makes this a steal of a deal

Weaknesses:
The shaking of your house down to the foundation, if that is a weakness.

Similar Products Used:
NHT MA1/SW2
Hafler
NEC

Price Paid:  $559.00 from Factory

Summary:
I read evry review I could lay my eyes on about this product and this company and I've never seen so many raves about a product of ANY kind. So, naturally, being in the market to replace my old NHT SW1/MA-2 sub/amp combo and always having been curios about Dr. Hsu, it made sense to explore further by actually taking a chance and buying one online. Normally, buying speakers of any kind sight unseen and sound unheard ,IMO, is nuts. But 3 days ago, my audio life was transformed. The first thing I saw , when the product arrived, was the FedEx guy lugging the enormous box over his shoulder. I felt sorry for him and I told him I had a dolly he could have used and he just shrugged, as i signed the manifest,and said,"What is your name?" If he didn't look like an NFL lineman, I would have called a chiropractor for him because the box is HUGE.

Skipping to 1st listening impressions - WOW! I played the pipe organ track from the demo CD, which says an 18 hz tone has been reproduced live.I can definitely tell you that this beast of a sub nailed it. I mean I could SEE the wave that rolled over me. This was just placing the sub in the corner and firing itup, without any tweaking. Of course after careful placement and proper tweaking, the overall impression is that this was the best addition to my HT that I could have aver made.
Movies and music have been utterly transformed. Every movie and sound track has benefitted greatly.The Omaha Beach scene from Saving Private Ryan was even more terrifying than ever before. The artillery explosions were not just louder and deeper but they were fatter. Peter Gabriel's Secret World Live, already one of my fave concert DVD's, was just mind blowing.

On a scale of 1 to 10 on the volume level, it has never been set over 3 and that is probably a bit hot. This amp is pwerful! Be careful - my first casualty was a picture crashing to the floor. My wifes first impression upon entering the house while I was expermenting was that she heard the windows shaking UPSTAIRS. The HT is in our walk-out basement on a carpeted slab of cement. This piece of equipment has the potential of underming the structural integrity of your home. Check with your insurance agent to see if your policy covers earthquakes.

Strengths:
Superb packaging - double containers
Deep, accurate bass reproduction
Heavy Duty construction
Just the right amount of controls on the back panel

Weaknesses:
None

WAF might be a problem but that is not a weakness - just a concern

Ability to scare the hell out of you on some passges - once again not a weakness but a concern.

Similar Products Used:
Hafler, NEC, NHT,Velodyne, Boston Acoustics, Paradigm

stoker

Overall Rating
 5 of 5

Value Rating
 5 of 5

Used product for
Less than 1 month

Visitors rate this review
3.75 of 5, 4.00 votes

Price Paid:  $699.00 from Hsu Research

Summary:
Whhheeee Doggies! This is some subwoofer! I bought it after doing research on-line and it's everything the company says and more. It doesn't bottom out till it reaches 10 Hz, and that can only be rcognized by the number of thing vibrating in the room. I e-mailed Hsu Research with my room dimensions and they said stick it in the right-hand front corner, and that's what I did and that's where she stays. They got back to me in a timely fashion, and it took a week for the sub to arrive, packed nicely with simple instructions and the ability to hook it up with line level, high level or LFE output.

I haven't had much occasion to turn it up past the 10:00 position (it starts at 7:00) because that's where it matches my Legacy Signature III's, which go down to 20 Hz. I just like a little more bass and Hsu delivers.

I also like how they don't push "audiophile" cables. They can only make a fraction of 1%'s difference and they know it. Their site is full of information and nearly all the forums speak highly of their products. The fact that they don't keep "updating" the same product every year shows they don't see aany need to tinker with what is a sound design to begin with.

It has helped me establish a sound-stage that I never heard before, it has zero hum, it just does everything it's supposed to, without calling attention to itself.

I'd recommend it to anyone interested in getting a real subwoofer without paying for middlemen and expensive stereo shops. So the stock finish is black -- it fits in fine with my listening room and I've saved a lot in not paying for a fine finish veneer.

Strengths:
Does exactly what it says, the web-site explains what you're options are and it's a quality product worth the money.

Weaknesses:
Well, it's nit-picking, but I have trouble reading the fine print around the switches.

Similar Products Used:
Klipsch