Musical, placement indepent, conservatively rated

none

Well, I have used this sub for a couple of years, knowing the quality behind BA, but had no idea when I compared it to subs owned by friends... My Vr500 can hang with the medium market twelves (and even outperforms a 15 or two) with it's great smoothness and depth (!) and with the measurements of my room, I have actually measured it (-4dB) going down to 24 Hz. It's not very location dependent, and me, being the never-satisfied person that I am, went and purchased the Sunfire True Subwoofer Junior, and after comparing the two, I don't know if I want to let my VR500 go on the aution I already placed it on (dummy->me) to help me recover from the $800 purchase of the Sunfire. While the sunfire is a great piece of equipment, the VR500 is HIGHLY under rated... 100 Watts my A$$. More like two or three times that much. It must use a very efficient driver or BA lied and said it's rated at 100W min RMS. If you aren't into gimmicky subs and you want a great sub for a decent price, find an idiot like me that's letting his go (I love the design behind the Sunfire, and I already bought it) get it, no questions asked... NOW!!! 350-400 bucks if you look.

Similar Products Used:

Sunfire true sub Jr., other 10-12 inch subs

Great musical punch at reasonable price.

None for the money

Tight and fast. I use one up front in the HT with a VR-2000 in the corner. Very effective! I use the other in a smaller music only system with Boston CR-8s. Great sound for the dollar. Give the CR-8s time to lossen up and the value sems even better.

Similar Products Used:

Boston VR-2000, ADS PB-1500(80s)

Versatile, nice size, good range.

My wife thinks it's thundering everytime I watch a movie....

This is my 3rd try at a sub and I've definately found the one I've been looking for. I enjoy heavy, tight bass and this sub delivers like none that I've heard in it's price range. I got it at a local store for $328.00 and couldn't be happier. DVDs in DD/DTS sound nothing short of awesome, all of my Jazz cd's come alive. Even my 12" singles from my days as a DJ at a dance-club sound new and fresh. I did minimal tweaking of the crossover and never moved the sub from it from it's original location. The bass is tight, balanced and smooth. Reminds me of my friend's B&O sub rated at over 1000 watts. I listened to the new BA Powervent subs alongside this one and couldn't find a reason to spend the extra $$$$. Even the Definitive Technology subs (sold in the same store) couldn't bring me to consider them. I had expected to spend $500-$700 for a sub and got a great surprise when I found this one. It's out of production for about 5 months as I write this, but if you can find one....grab it! (BA told me the new PV series we're changed to bottom firing only because they didn't have to put a grill on them)

Similar Products Used:

JBL, Infinity BU-120.

Smoothness, accuracy, lack of 'boominess'

Auto sense doesnt work that great, but so what.

I have owned this sub for about 4 years now, and have been very impressed with the sound. Before buying I did some research and based mostly on reviews, I determined that this was the sub I wanted. For a ten inch sub, with only a 100 watt amp, this sub is very powerful sounding, while remaining extremely smooth sounding. The bass is nearly flawless in either musical use, or home theatre use. I have this in a fairly large room, (about 16x30) and it fills the entire room with powerful bass. And this is with the volume on the subs amp set at approximately 30%. I have listened to a few other subs, but most recently compared it to a friends 12", 150 watt Cerwin Vega. The Cerwin wasnt even in the same class. The CV would play very loud, but the bass was much more boomy, a sonic annoyance totally missing on the Boston sub.

I have had occasion to play this sub outdoors twice, (when DeeJaying two relatives weddings) and even outdoors, it had plenty of bass.

My only problem has been that I did have to take this sub in for repair after about 3 yrs use. But, when the local repair shop couldnt fix it, the factory sent them a whole new amp, at no charge. It has been flawless since then, so I consider this an anomaly due to something like a power surge etc.

I dont claim to be an audiophile, but I have quite a bit of experience in the mid range stereo market, and this sub, combined with my Kef Q series speakers makes for an awesome sounding system that can stand up to systems costing a lot more. If you are looking for a powerful, yet extremely smooth sounding sub, try this one out, you wont be dissapointed.

I rated this 5 stars on both value and overall. Yes, it's not cheap, but sounds as good or better than most costing a lot more, so for value, it gets a 5. I cant think of any reason to give it a value less than 5 overall, so it gets a 5 there also.

Similar Products Used:

Cerwin vega

Handles both music and movies beautifully

Haven't found one yet!

I originally bought the PDR-12 but didn't like the way it sounded so I returned it and got the VR-500. Although it costs a bit more the difference in sound quality when compared with the PDR-12 is astounding. I can switch between music and movies without making any adjustments and so far it's performed flawlessly. I can't believe how smooth and well defined the bass is and it's only a 10" woofer. Even with the volume set at only 30% my house rumbles and shakes when I'm watching movies. When listening to music the VR-500 provides bass which is very nicely balanced. This is a well designed, great sounding, reasonably priced sub that I highly recommend you audition if you're in the market for one. I don't think you'll be disappointed!

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm PDR-12

Quite possibility one of the best sounding home subwoofers for the money. It brings in the low end with authority and still does it in a way that it doesn't dominate the system. Warm and Smooth when listening at mid volume yet punchy and explosive when you crank it up. You wouldn't think a little ten inch driver could make so much impact and do it so effortlessly. Simply wonderful.

Great looks, deep sound, tight and quick.

None yet.

I bought the VR500 after many days and weeks of searching for the best value. I came upon the VR500 and a open box model at HiFi Buys for $349. I had been looking on the internet only to find the best price of $550. Once I got the sub home and hooked up it added so much depth and rich sound to my VR950's I couldn't belive it. I really wanted the VR2000, but once I got the 500 running I really think the 2000 would have been to much sub! This 100w sub is under rated big time. Musically it is very fast and tight. If you are shopping for a good sub and want to test the speed at your local store put in some Metallica. Even if you hate this music it is an excellent test of a subs speed. If it can keep up with Metallica's drums it can keep up with anything! Not to ramble on but this is the best value I have ever seen. I give it a 5 on value and a 4 overall. Not that I found anything wrong with it, but nothing is perfect. 4 overall

Similar Products Used:

Infinity

I don't know how I ever lived without this sub in my system! I have been using the Boston Acoustics VR-40 towers as my mains in a stereo / home entertainment setup with a Citation 5.1 Amp and a Yamaha receiver. You can read my reviews of the Citation 5.1 and the Boston VRs on this site. This sub truly creates room rattling bass, especially for the price. I got mine at HiFi Buys on closout for around $350, and it was a steal, I must say. I am mostly a classical music listener, and although there is some bass overhang from the bass drum in loud orchestral works, that has much more to do with the room than the speaker. I look forward to treating my room with acoustic panels to help deaden the room boom, but if you have a fully carpeted room and a few things on the walls, I am sure you would be fine. This sub is great for jazz and will especially kick your butt around with rock and roll. I love to everything from Mozart to Marilyn Manson, so believe me, I have to have a versatile setup. If you have a good set of towers or bookshelves and want to add the frequencies you've been missing, give this sub a listen. The regular price is more than you should pay, but, if you can get it for less than $400, then I would say "Go for it!" The output of the single 10" woofer is phenominal because of Boston's enclosure and extremely conservatively rated 100 watt amp. My room is about 12' X 22' and the sub is plenty for now, but if you want obscene SPLs and even lower bass, try the VR-2000 (my next goal) at twice the price! Happy listening!

I have had excellent experiences with Boston Acoustics speakers, and I had been using their Micro 9000 home theater system for about a year with stunning results. However, a move to a house with larger rooms and concrete walls made the system sound very thin. The Micro 9000 has only a 8", 75-watt sub - it still sounded punchy but could not really rattle those concrete walls!
So I knew the answer was more bass. The VR500 extends the system response down to 27hz. It added a real warmth to the total sound, and blended well with the system and the other powered sub. It is a very musical subwoofer - try listening to the acoustic bass on some recent Keith Jarrett Trio CDs - the VR500 follows along beautifully. It is both "quick" and "deep".

For movie soundtracks, the VR500 handles all the planet-busting explosions, car wrecks, shootouts, earthquakes, etc. with mighty aplomb. And if you look at the driver, it hardly seems to be working hard! This system was designed with a lot of careful thought, and it shows in the quality of bass you get in return.

I purchased the VR500 at Sound Advice in Florida for $499. I look forward to many years of musical and cinematic pleasure from this subwoofer. Highly recommended.

Great bass for it's size

None

This really is a great sub for BOTH music and home theatre.The sound is powerfull in a way that it doesn't overpower your system.It blends in well with the BA vr40's and you wouldn't know it's on till some bass is needed.
On some scenes like T2 where the robot steps on the skull there's a nice crunch,no boom,just nice tight bass.Also the trucks sound is reproduced in a way that you'd think it's right in your room with you.The opening truck scene in Heat and also the shootout in the city streets is unreal.It keeps up with the machine gun fire wonderfully.It's got some pretty good low bass.Bram Stokers Dracula is a good movie for low bass.
It's got all the connections you'll need and isn't position or room dependent like some other subs.
You can't go wrong with this baby and it looks pretty good too.

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Velodyne,M&k