Price Paid:  $250.00 from Graffitti Audio

Summary:
This is really a review of the Powercube 10 product. I did not see an entry for the Powercube, and this is the closest entry I could find. I'm not sure how similar the products are exactly. They are both 10", but the powercube is downward firing. Anyway, I feel compelled to reviw the product because in my experience it is a very poor product. And this is nothing against Wharfedale. I am purchasing their Diamond 8.2 bookshelfs and think those are a great value. Anyway, I mainly picked up the Powercube to help up the Diamond 8.2's and thought I would stick with Wharfedale. Bad idea. I had problems with humming and buzzing from the start. About 1/3 of the time, the sub worked fine, 1/2 of the time it had serious buzzing/humming, and other times it would just turn itself off. I tried everything: different room locations, different phase settings, different crossover settings (on both the sub and the receiver). Nothing seemed to work, it would continue to randomly buzz or just shut down. If I turned it off for a few minutes and turned it back on, it would be OK briefly. Anyway, I took it back to the store and told them I wanted another one. They asked me all these questions about how I had set it up and stuff -- they didn't believe me and thought that I had just set it up wrong. So they plugged it in to try it out. They didn't get the humming/buzzing (probably because they didn't leave it on long enough), but they quickly concluded it was a very low quality sub (weak and not very tight). They made some very disparaging remarks about the amp, although I did not completely understand what they were implying. So I switched to the Polk SW? 250 (or something like that). It was $50 cheaper, a little smaller (8" rather than 10"), much tighter, and did not buzz or hum under the exact same conditions that caused the Wharfedale to hum/buzz. Honestly, I would not recommend the Wharfedale Powercube at any price.

Similar Products Used:
Polk SW? 250 (8")

Price Paid:  $200.00 from Amazon.com

Summary:
I bought this sub for my parents home theater system. They inherited my old Yamaha bookshelfs and center channel, as well as a cheap pair of Sony bookshelfs for surrounds. The Sonys never got hooked up because of wiring issues. My Dad purchased an inexpensive Panasonic 5.1 receiver to power the system and the have a pretty nice Samsung DVD player. They view the whole thing on a 64" Sony projection TV (not HDTV ready.) With this said, the Wharfedale sub installed easily and quickly. I placed it in a corner of a fairly large basement family room and immediately noticed the difference. Watched Mel Gibson's "We Were Soldiers" and was pleased with the extended range of the sound. Is it the sub I would buy for my own system? No, but if you need some good rumble for a little money, grab one of these. The cabinetry is first rate, and the controls are easy to use.

Strengths:
Good rumble for the price. Well built and easy to use. Can take the high volume if necessary.

Weaknesses:
Not designed for the audiophile. Designed for movies, where tight bass does not matter as much, and for those idiots who drive by in their cars with their rear windows shaking from too much bass.

Similar Products Used:
Polk

Price Paid:  $450.00 from Heathcote Appliances

Summary:
I purchased the Topaz SW10 to match my Wharfedale Valdus 400, Valdus Centre and Valdus 100 home theatre setup. Although the 400's have copious bass for music, the SW10 comes into its own when playing DVD or LaserDisc movies on my system. It is not exactly tight or defined, but very loud and confident, and gives great 'effect' to movies. Beware, though, if you're thinking of it for music - it lacks pinache.

Strengths:
Price, value for money. Well constructed.

Weaknesses:
Woolly, slow, internal power-saving device makes annoying click that draws attention to itself when switching on/off during a film.

Similar Products Used:
Panasonic SCHT80

Price Paid:  $260.00 from Hi-Fi tower

Summary:
It's good. I chose it because it is better than Klipsch KSW-10

Strengths:
Price, Deep bass

Weaknesses:
appearance, Placement