I have had the 12va for about 6 weeks now and am loving life. It blends seamlessly with my B&W CDM1's. I never realized what I was missing. Should be buying a DVD player in the near future. Can't wait to experience that!

Read my accolades on previous posts

impedance very low. Ohmed out to 4.1 ohms original woofer. New woofer a low 3.3 ohms. read below for more information.

Technical tidbit for all who may have or wish to buy this now discontinued subwoofer. I found out the hard way that my power amp was not up to the task of running the HSU without losing control even well before its' limit. Result; a destroyed woofer. Playing T2 judgement day, the city desintigration scene produced tones of low frequency and high amplitude. My NAD 2400 bridged to mono lost control and the woofer overtraveled. While true most amps work great bridged in an 8 ohm load, 4 ohm is out of the question. I had been lucky for over 2 years without incident, so time was against me on this one. Since the woofer is not monitored via a "SERVO" like a lot of the newer designs that incorporate a built in amp with the subwoofer, overtravel is a nasty possibility. I blame no one for this but myself. I should have known better. But, with around $100.00 and a new woofer from HSU, I am running again and can shake to room once again. Though now I will get an amplifier that is stable in a 4 ohm load down to 2 ohm with plenty of punch to spare. Enter the Mackie M1400 power amplifier. From a most unlikely place, these folks have an amp that will drive long and hard into low loads bridged, and it even has subwoofer management in the way of a dual fixed crossover points at around 63hz, and around 120hz I believe. It uses a Bessel system, and a Linkwitz...something or rather for the crossover. See Mackie.com for the whole scoop on this one. So, my answer to amplifier stability running a low load and plenty of power and control maybe answered with this amp. I could buy the HSU power amp with crossover, but the MACKIE gives me more for the money, in my humble opinion. So in the final lesson here, if you are running with a great monoblock amplifier that loves the low impedence here, rock on and enjoy. If not, be aware that you may be teetering on disaster here. I hope that I am the only one here stupid enough to let this happen. Over 25 years of doing audio and I never blown anything up, until now. Don't let this happen to you. Sincerely, a concerned and hopefully wiser audio nut. V.C.

Similar Products Used:

Velodynes etc...

The Hsu Research 12V is without a doubt the biggest bargin in the world of subwoofers. I have had mine for almost a year and the sub still continues to impress me. I blends perfectly with my Paradigm Refernce Studio 20s. The bass from the Hsu is loud without being very boomy, a trait I found with several other subs I listeded to. As stated in other reviews its only competition is the Velodine F1800, which costs nearly twice as much and only performs only slightly better. The Hsu has NO competition in is price range, period.
I had listened to various subs before purchasing the the 12v, Velodine, M&K, Polk etc... None of them really impressed me, so I figured I would just wait until I could afford the big Velodine or the Paradigm Servo 15. Then I read a few articles and decided to take the plunge. My friends could not believe that I would buy a sub without listening to it, but I have no regrets. With movies it shakes the house and with jazz it is docile as a kitten, a tough mix to attain in a sub.

My only complaint is the cheesy looking amp, which otherwise spoils a handsome speaker that draws no attention to itself (All that bass is comming from your coffee table?!).

If you are in the market for a sub Under $1000 that performs like the big boys I would seriously consider the Hsu 12V.

The new Hsu 12Va subwoofer is an extraordinary bargain in Hi-End audio. I use Mirage M-3Sis as my main speakers which perform
very well for music going down to 30Hz and then taper off. I was
looking for a subwoofer that would augment the very low bass notes
around 20-25Hz to get that extra weight without in any way making
the bass sound boomy or slow. The 12Va was a perfect fit using
24dB/Oct highpass/lowpass crossovers set at 51Hz.

When calibrated properly using an SPL meter, it blends perfectly
with the Mirages and produces very deep floor shaking notes
very clean, when called for.

It performs a lot better than the more expensive Sunfire sub
and further I was surprised to find that the 12Va beat Mirage's
own BPS-400 subwoofer which lists for $1300. The 12Va goes down
lower and tighter than both. It is also way better than all the
Velodyne VA-series subwoofers

The only contender is the Velodyne F1800RII ($1999 list). Movie
buffs who prefer to listen to high levels of very low bass artifically
boosted up will get a kick out of the F1800RII. It can sure move
a lot of air, and it plays very clean. However, the fixed 6dB/oct high
pass makes it harder to blend in with the main speakers compared to
the adjustable 24dB/oct high pass on the 12Va. At properly calibrated
levels, the 12Va performs equally well as the F1800RII at half
the price for movies and blends more seamlessly for music.

I am giving this a 5 star rating and would enthusiastically
recommend any one to give the 12Va a try.

A must-have component for an audiophile quality home theater.

I wish to thank Hsu Research for the opportunity of trying out the Hsu 12VA subwoofer. I often enjoy listening to Bach organ music (partiularly Tocatta and Fugue in D minor) and some very dynamic music (one of my favorites it the Mannheim Steamroller, Fresh Aire V, particularly track 5 "Creatures of Lavania"). I'm also very fond of Pink Floyd, who tend to be quite dynamic.
The Hsu performed admirably on all of these and more. I heard a comfortable bass extension that was full and rich and never heard in this house before. On the more casual side, TV information contained previously unheard frequencies, which made everything more natural and accurate.

The sound of these speakers cannot be denied. I found them best sounding (with little testing) just off center in the sound stage.

The only problem is that they are quite large and my wife was highly resistent to their placement in the family room. As a result, I was forced to return them to Hsu Research, who were extremely gracious about the whole affair. On speakers and service, I must give the Hsu 12VA 5 stars, then take off a little for visual appeal for some.

I have had the Hsu 12Va subwoofer for several months in a dedicated Home Theater application. I've been very happy with the accuracy and amplitude of the bass. It can go quite loud without audible distortion. The amplifier being separate is a useful and convenient feature. Able to keep up with Dolby Digital soundtracks at reference levels without any need to limit the sub output.