BIG LOW BASS/PLENTY OF OUTPUT
BIG LOW BASS/PLENTY OF OUTPUT
BIG LOW BASS, plenty of output, bargain-basement price

KNOBS!!!

Though for the most part everyone's reviews are true regarding this sub's pro's and con's, I have to ask everyone if they are experiencing low frequency bass hum on sources that go down below 30hz? This is a rather long frequency hum...probably a standing wave. This phenomenom is most evident during music playback and not during HT. I can't place the sub any better than it is now. Otherwise, the sub is ok. I have a pair Magnepans which are very fast planar speakers. These speakers require a fast sub or else the music sounds overwhelming especially the bass because it is slow...trailing the higher frequencies a great deal. I have the sub crossed approximately around 60hz...can't be sure with the RIDICULUOUS KNOBS...wish there was octave slope adjustment...oh well, for $200 what do you expect???

Bought cheap at an auction site. Feel it is a waste of the money. Now realized that there is a good reason this fat boy is sold that cheap. I don't understand why there are so many people who posted so many positive reviews here. Of course many did so because it is cheap. We are reviewing products here, not prices. Very annoying automatic switching popings. Sound is not clear at all. Tried several spots in the room, none worked. I don't know how many people here have truely compared this with a Velodyne, even a low end one. I have a Velodyne VA ct-1200. Almost no comparison. The Velodyne is just way better.

None that i have found

This is an awesome sub with power that nothing else can touch. I was playing some music at myt birthday party in my garage and my neighbors called the cops on me. I didn't even have it up as loud as it could have been. I like this unit very much because of the deep bass and amazing power. I think almost everyone with a decent stereo could buy this as an add-on. It has about every tpe of input that you could think of including Rca, speaker, and LFE. It also has Gain, crossover, and phase controls to make the perfect sound for movies, cd's, and anything else.

Loud Low Bass

Could be built better

After getting this sub for about $250 online, my Paradigm has been relegated to surround-sub duty. I use my system mainly for Home Theater and some stereo music listening (80%/20%). For HT this sub can't be touched in the

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm PS-1000

I like this sub. Paid 327 dollars for and I would pay about 500. VERY strong low bass. The kind I like. I have is running with my def. tech bipolar speakers. Also, I'm not making fun of any of you here, but theres a reason behind the amp heat sinks being inside the enclosure. If it were sealed, it would probably pose a problem. But it has a HUGE port, which means bass reflex takes in and pushes out mass quantities of air, right? So that means if your amp gets hot, the vent blows all the hot air out anyways! Thats my observation. I, by the way, listen to mostly music, which means the amp current is more constant than in movies, and I have noticed that the amp stays mildly cool relative to its enormous power output. Well, all I can say that this sub is worth what I paid, Bob Carver did a knockout job with the amp(God knows advent could never do it), and I finally have all the bass I need.

Very impressive low response, Direct LFE connection to Yamaha RXV-2090 with 2 main KEF Q70Excellent combination, worm and low bass from “monster” sub, you need place for this BOX.
With price tag of $240 from an auction it is a very good deal.
In order to transfer most of the energy from your system use LFE (Low Frequency E…) or Pre-Amp connection , Connection via your main speakers will deliver less energy to the sub.
I am using it mostly for music; it is sound excellent and bringing new warm dimensions to the Yamaha “clear” sound.
You can find it on Onsale and uBid for a very good price.

Let's start off with the price. I purchased this sub through J&R Music World for $299. The main attraction was the 500 watt Carver Sunfire amp and the price. I gambled on this product based on the reputation of Advent and Carver. First of all, let me mention that this subwoofer does not have any crossover outputs whatsoever. So, unless you have a subwoofer output on your preamp section with an adjustable crossover, you must add the price of an electronic crossover when doing a price comparision. I know because this happened to me. I own a harmon kardon pt2500 preamp tuner along with a harmon kardon pa5800 5 channel amplifier. I am using a pair of polk m3II's as the satellite speakers. I have yet to select surround speakers for ht. I purchased this with the intent of listening to music so the ht at this time is not all that important. My living room is 12x16 with no room for bookshelf on stands or towers so the polk m3II's fit the bill because of their mountability. The hk pt2500 does have a subwoofer output, however it is full range and does not have a crossover for the satellites. I am planning on purchasing a paradigm x-20 subwoofer crossover for this purpose. The sound from this subwoofer at this price range is out of this world. The bass is thick and reactive and blends in nicely even without the crossover. It works well at low volumes as well as high volumes and sounds better with each hour of break in. Setting this subwoofer up was a breeze. There is no sign of boominess, just floor shaking thick, thick bass. It sounds good with music ranging from jazz to techno. I can't wait to pick up the paradigm x-20 crossover, so that I can fine tune the sound as well as not having to worry about blowing my polks. Catch this great buy from J&R while you can. You will not be dissapointed.

Low frequency capability bellow 30Hz.
Cheap price for the sound quality with minor mods.

You have to brace the sub internally, silicone the sealing surfaces on the woofer and amp and stuff it with some lose packed polyester fill to get good sound quality.
Knobs are hard to adjust but once done right it will sound good.

When I first got the sub a year ago it sounded good but not to my expectation. It had a lot of port noise with buzzes and it sounded boomy at moderate to high volume levels.
My main speakers are Infinity SM152 which have 15" woofers, Yamaha RX495 Receiver (with sub out) and Sony LD/CD player. I mostly listen to Rock and Alternative music with occasional Hip Pop and Regae Music.
As soon I hooked up the Advent av550s subwoofer to my system I noticed a tremendous amount of low bass that I didn't hear before with the Infinity speakers alone. I also found out that this subs is not very good at playing bass notes above 80Hz. I have the sub crossed over at about 60Hz leting the Infinities do the upper bass reproduction. With this setup the sound is incredible from all the types of music I listen too especially music with lots of deep bass bellow 30Hz. For example in the Crystal Method sound track "Trip Like I do" the bass is just unbelievable. It is very deep probably around 25 to 30Hz and the sub produces it with ease. At higher volume levels the sub tends to get very boomy and I could hear the port vibrating inside the cabinet so this is what I did to fix that.
I opened the subwoofer to take a look inside and man is this box cheaply made. Part of the box is 3/4 MDF but the woofer side is made out of particle board ... what gives ??? The port is 4 inches in diameter and about 12" long. The box measures 22" by 18" by 16" which give about 3 cuft of volume so the enclosure is tuned to about 27Hz. I braced the internal walls with MDF 1" by 3/4" strips all accros and along the edges. I wraped the port with polyester fill thightly so it could stop the buzzing and stuffed the box losely with another 2lb. I then sealed all the mating surfaces of the amp and subwoofer driver with good'ol silicone cauching to keep the air from leaking out. What did all this translate to? A very very good sounding subwoofer. The boominess is completely gone, the low frequency sound has been increased and it sounds as good as my 10 inch Orion XTR Pro sub I have in my car.
I'm going to keep this sub for a long time because it matches the infinities very well. The Infinitis reproduce the upper frequency bass >60hz well but they fall short on the <45hz material so the advent sub is a big help.
Maybe when I get sick of the advent and have nothing better to do I will design and build a box for two Orion XTR Pro 12 subs and hook them up to the Carver sunfire amp in a sealed enclosure for the ultimate sound quality. But for now this setup is very pleasing and I recomend this sub to anybody who wants deep bass capability and who doesn't mind doing some minor modifications. If you have small front speakers this subwoofer is not for you.
My friend has a M&K MX200 subwoofer with two 12" drivers and let me tell you that the advent car still go down very deeply even compared to the MK. Sure the sound is a bit tighter from the MK but who wants to spend over 1 grand on a sub when you can spend $350 (including shiping) and with some minor modifications get an awesome sounding subwoofer for a much cheaper price.
I've listened to the Audio Source 15 sub at my other friends house and it doesn't even compare to the Advent. It doesn't go deep enough and it is even boomier than the advent(unmodified form).
Compared to vaious Velodine models at Audio shops, I find Velodine subs to be too boomy to listen to. They give me a headache after prolonged listening times. But that could be due to a poor setup.
Now if you compare home subwoofers to car audio subwoofers than there is no competition. The little 10" Orion sub I have in my car is something to be reconed with. In only a 1 cuft sealed box it sounds extremely accurate and tight with really good low frequency response, mostly attribuited to the cars low resonance effect. Never the less I think the ultimate subwoofer would be made out of drivers from car audio subwoofers. Even the M&K subs are weak compared to a well built home made subwoofer costing far considerably less money. Not too many subs can pound out bass or sound as good as MTX or Orion subs hooked up in a sealed or vented enclosure.
If you have the money to get an M&K sub or some other high priced piece of furniture then go ahead. But if you are looking for a great deal, low frequency response and great potential then I recomend you listen to the Advent. With the money you save you can get other audio equipment like decent front speakers etc...

Similar Products Used:

Miller and Krisel 200MX
Various Velodine models (can't remember which)
Audio Source 15" drive model
Car stereo subs by Cerwin Vega, Orion, MTX, Rockford of various sizes.

Pros: I purchased this sub a week ago at Sears for $400 and very much enjoy it. Able to produce any low freq I could imagine. Sound that could only be felt and not heard (< 22Hz) is the most amazing. Powerful amp. 15" driver. Built quality is excellent. Works very well with the AVR95.

Cons:
Hear loud 'pop' when turning on or off. Auto shut-off is not very smart that when listening at low volume, the sub oftenly sets itself to 'standby'(hear the 'pop' at this point) and turns-on (another 'pop') when low freq signal is detected. Heat sink is inside which means heat dissipation is not efficient.

Verdict:
The sound is excellent(5 stars) considering the price. The 'pop' can be solved by putting a speaker sentry (delay) but requires some tinkering. The auto-off can be bypassed (I believe), but also requires some effort. I'll do these mods if I couldn't find a worthy replacement (which I believe I couldn't). Five stars for the quality of sound the sub can attain at its price.

When I bought this sub I couldn't find a review anywhere so I too just gave it a shot. I got it from an auction, new for only 259$ and after listening to it I think I would have probably paid as much as 500 for it. I listened to all the popular mid-fi subs out there and I was so unimpressed. Power was lacking and the base didn't go low enough. I have a carver THX amp that puts out 180wpc+ in two channel mode and I needed a sub that could keep up. This one definitely does the job. I had no problem using the sub with the regular outputs form my Parsound preamp. I have the Monster subwoofer interconnect which is excellent. Definitely extends and clarifies the low end. I have the crossover at about 95HZ which seems to work best so far. The sound is very natural and not boomy at all as long as I leave the gain down. Cranking the gain up I would probably shatter the windows on my house. I have listened to this with music and movies and it is incredible. I can't emphasize enough that if you set the gain and crossover correctly it is very natural sounding. So far Into the Fire by Sarah Mclauchlan has been the most incredible song I have heard. Even at a modest volume this song shook the floor, the roof, the walls, everything!. The shooting scene in The Crow is also pretty impressive.
I agree with one person who mentioned the heatsink being inside as a drawback, but I have listened at high volume for quite a while and have not been able to get any part of the sub enclosure to get more than slightly warm. Hopefully that's a good sign that either the amp isn't working too hard, or the heatsink is doing a good job, even tucked inside. I really don't worry considering it's a Carver design. The Carver amps tend to run cool anyway.

No problem with the sub switching off even at low volume. Maybe it has something to do with current rather than volume.

Anway if you are looking at subs give this a listen. I think it compares very favorably with much more expensive subs and nothing in it's price range compares. I listened to Polk, Infinity, JBL, Yamaha and higher end subs from KEF, Velodyne and NHT. This sub definitely beat the midrange stuff and I honestly couldn't hear any significant difference in the much higher priced subs I listened to until I got into dual voice coils and much more expensive options.