Beautifully Rhythmic and articulate.Difficult to describe the joy of the intergration with my JBL lsr studio active monitors.My yamaha yst 800 has 1000 watts and alot of grunt and visceral reaction.Great for movies and a terrific buy at 450$.The hsu's are on a different plane much more cohesive that makes small satellites so much more tempting.Much more musical than my Athena S3/P3 combo.I would love to try the paradigm servo 15 and the velodyne 18 also.

Fending my 8 cats from using it as a giant scratching post or worse my dog taking it for a tree trunk.Poh Hsu actually replied in one day to my facetious E-mail,suggesting some pepper.Can anyone beat that for service?

Very quick service.I ordered on the internet for the special B stock.The stuff is perfect as far as I can see.The set up is intuitive and inspite of feeling unstable it stands quite securely.The amp feels like a tank.

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YamahaYST 800,athena technology S1/P1,athena S3/P3.ArcamCD72.Sony scd-775.denon 3300,marantz SR5200.Rotel 990B amp.Audiosource preamp.Sony NS-500V.JBL LSR 25 active studio nearfield monitors

Great intergration with main speakers. Tight clean bass and LOTS of IT

A little top heavy.

Following is email I sent to Dr. Hsu. You can call up and talk to the owner/designer and get great advice!!: Dr. Hsu: Set up the Subwoofer as you suggested. Sounds incredible, and has turned > the Triangle/Creek 5350SE/Rega Planet into darn near a Stereophile Class "A" > system for about $5,500 TOTAL. > > The sub/amp is a great piece of engineering and the variable crossover let > me blend in the Triangle roll-off with the sub perfectly. > > This is a screaming bargain. You ought to offer stereophile magazine to > review the TN1220HO with the amp (instead of the 1225 they have a "Class > c"). I think the 1220 is Strong Class B, maybe borderline A.

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Auditioned Velodyne - HSU is much more bang.

Performance. Not a "one-note" subwoofer here. Detailed and fast--it will keep up with ribbon drivers. Plus it is inexpensive, even with the matching amp. It is also light (about 40 pounds) and easy to move around.

It's a black upright tube, so it isn't a piece of furniture. Because the driver is located at the top, it is top-heavy and can be tipped over easily. A small rubber-backed rug should be placed beneath to keep it from "walking across the floor" during loud passages. Given the position of the speaker terminals, forget spade connectors, you can't get them sufficiently tight--use banana plugs for the best connection and the best sound.

The $800 price above is for the TN1220HO, the 250w/ch amp that Dr. Hsu provides if you need it, and delivery charges. This is a tremendous subwoofer/amp combination, and for the price, one heck of a bargain. I should note that I am not using it for home theater but solely for CD and LP playback. My modified Newform Research R645 main speakers employ a 45-inch ribbon and twin 6 1/2-inch Scanspeak 8545 drivers per side and are extremely fast, detailed, and are capable of tremendous dynamic contrasts. I run them full-range, and even though they are rated to play flat to 30 Hz, I know from much experience with more than a dozen speakers that my room doesn't allow the placement of any speaker for optimal bass without that placement ruining other parts of the sound spectrum and the soundstage. And where the midrange and treble sound best and the soundstage most realistic, is poor for low bass response (true even with the Gershman Acoustics Avant Garde RX-20 and Silverline Audio Sonata that I've owned). The Stereophile Test CD 3 shows I have noticable roll-off below 60 Hz. The Hsu subwoofer with the internal crossover of the Hsu amp set for 60 Hz integrates seamlessly with the Newforms. It adds the extra foundation of well-produced bass notes that makes the music sound more realistic. The sound displays not a trace of being muddy or tubby and detracts nothing from the detail the main speakers reproduce. They don't do that at first, however, unless you are awfully lucky in set up. It takes effort to achieve that level of integration--I played around moving them here and there in the front of the room for a month before I found the optimal spot (in my room that was in the front right corner, 18 inches from the front wall, and 10 inches from the side wall--yours may differ). Even small changes in placement (less than an inch forward or backward or diagonally) can change the way the subwoofer will integrate with the mains. Flipping the polarity switch on the subwoofer amp makes a difference too. In the end, I found that running the subwoofer with polarity set opposite the main speakers locked everything into place. The soundstage depth increased by 2 to 3 feet, room resonances (above 20 Hz anyway) disappeared, and the sense of "musical punch" was significantly increased. Retrieval of detail in the low bass was excellent. I am extremely pleased.

Similar Products Used:

Sunfire True Subwoofer. Dealer demos of Velodynes and M&K's.

Low frequency, Price, Musical, Looks

None

I have heard many subs costing from $3500 and lower and I had some of these subs in my home Like Sunfire subwoofer and others. I heard subs from Velodyne, M&K, Polk, B&W, Pardigm, Klipch and many more. The HSU blows them all away in every area. When listening to Music the Sub does not draw too much attention, they blend in perfectly with your main speakers. In Home theater the floor shakes every time an explosion or other event happens in the movie which requires low frequency, no other sub I heard can produce the lows like this sub, clean lows not boomy. Some reveiwers here did not like this Sub probably because they dont own it and wished they did or because they dont know how to set it up properly. I have spent years listening to Subs and this clearly is a winner not deserving 1 star. Sub placement is key to having the right sound, remember Low frequency needs to travel and keeping the sub too far or too close to the wall can make a big difference. HSU can actualy make the sound that can be fest but not heard, super subsonic sound.

strong tight bass

the 150 watt amp supplied

I received this amp and sub-woofer via fedex and was impressed with the way in which it was shipped to me in Canada , I had no problems with shipping unlike some people listed below. I love this subwoofer, while the build quality is some what "kit" like , it frankly looks cool and sounds great, I have had it for over 3 months now, and it is broken in finally, it works great with movies and is seamless with my other speakers that I am using, I particularly like the way it handles music, the sub is tight and fast enough to work with both movies and music. If I have one complaint it is with the amp provided Hsu advised me to purchase the 150 watt amp, I agreed, however what I didnt realize is that the 150 watt amp is basically the amp from the vt series, literally taken out of the back of a vt series sub , it is a little square box with hole drilled in the back of it so that speaker wire could be passed out of it to a binding post, it is reallly ugly and hard to incorporate into your system as you are suppose to stand it upright to keep it cool. If you are going to get the amp go for the more powerful amp that Hsu has it is easier to incorpoate into your system.

Produces super clean high output bass.

Top heavy,needs a heavy base to keep it planted solid to the floor.I installed a 16 inch dia marble base to the unit, this eliminated the top heavyness.

This is an excellent sub.Im using Klipschorn mains LaScala center and Heresy surrounds.Before purchasing ,I was concerned about the HSU being able to keep up with such a high output system (124db). I found that the HSU plays loud enough. Im running the front and center full range with the Hsu kicking in at 50 Hz.This sub blends flawlessly,and hits with clean strong , powerful bass.

Low Bass, very low and you would never be able to hear where it is all coming from. awesome speaker with tons of movement thanks to a huge rubber surround.

This sub really is amazing. I have never heard this much low bass before. The 20 hz signal on my test disk shakes just about everything in my room and rattles windows beyond belief. This sub is untouchable when it comes to movies. With music the sound is also excellent but it lacks that punch that is sometimes needed. However to have that punch also means that it will be able to be located. That i do not want so i can live without that punchy bass. The cabinet is huge and more than 1 person has told me it looks like a water heater. This speaker moves a ton of air. The port is about 6" and extends almost throughout the entire 50" enclosure. I got the 250w amp and was disappointed at first because it looks like a cheap piece of equipment. After a good amount of listening i figured out HSU's approach is strictly business. Cosmetics are obviously no first priority with both speaker and amp, but SOUND is. I am very happy with this purchase and it arrived right when HSU said it would. The TN1220HO is an awesome sub for about half the price of another that probably wouldnt even do what this does. Much cleaner than Sunfire and Velodyne. If you are interested in having low bass and have a place to put this monster then get it. Highly recommended and by far my favorite piece of equipment.

CURRENT SYSTEM
Denon AVR-1700 receiver/preamp
Marantz MA-700 mono-amps (2)
Paradigm Studio 60
Paradigm LCR-350
Paradigm ADP-150
Kimber Kable 4-TC
Panasonic VCR & DVD

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velodyne 15, mirage ps180, cerwin vega

price,and ability to rock the foundatoin

none

received my sub in the mail hooked it up threw in a cd called bass mechanics and rattled the whole damn house with plenty of power to go .i only have one problem i have a little hum tried hooking up cable ground but still have a little hum ,i will try calling hsu on monday to see if they can help ,but in the mean time i am open for suggestoins please e-mial me at gash01 thank you.by the way this sub rules

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nothing for the price and qaulity

Deep, very deep, bass. Low distortion.

It's big. Small footprint, yes, but it's quite big.

I have a huge, and I mean, huge listening room, very dead as well, and the HSU 1220 is able to give me over 100 db (verified with sound meter) at 20Hz at my listening position. I am unable to measure distortion, but I can subjectively (therefore, I can't be fully trusted) say that its distortion is very low, having lived with two of the measurably low Velodyne F1500Rs for many years.

The Hsu measurably gives me many times the bass that even two of the Velodynes did. I was very happy with a Sunfire MKII for a while as well, but when I measured them side by side, I realized the Sunfire was giving me many times skimpier bass (I probably liked the distortion). You could get the Velodyne HGS-18 and be as happy, but it would cost you much, much more.

I had all my questions answered promptly by Dr. Hsu and shipping was quick as well. Highly recommended.

Similar Products Used:

Velodyne f1500R, Sunfire True MKII, M&K (several)

Very tight and accurate bass. It's fast, and can go down low without distortion.

Needs a good amplifer to drive it.

This sub has exceeded all my expectations. I was not prepared for the level at which this sub achieved so easily. It went low and stayed tight with very little boom is any, it blended very well with my B&W 804's. I used the internal crossover of my Casa Nova to set the crossover at 40hz. This made for a perfect combination. My only regret is not getting the amp from HSU, I am currently using a 200 watt Adcom to power the sub, which is find but it started clipping on the very low stuff. This a steal at this price, highly recommended.

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Rel Storm & Storm III, Velodyne HGS-12, M&K, B&W, Gensis and Bag End.