accurate, non-bloated bass; adjustments for HT effects

not bone-crushingly loud

This is a supplement to an earlier review to correct some misinformation about the ultimate extension of this sub and about a slight bass bloat.

One of the features of this sub is a switch-selectable boost at 40 Hz of either 3 or 6 dB. This gives HT fans a bigger "sock!" for LFEs. It also reduces the ultimate bass extension of the sub.

After the initial review, I discovered I had inadvertently switched in the 3 dB boost @40 Hz. This added precisely 3dB more bass at this frequency -- as measured in my room -- and also, predictably, added a little bass bloat or bloom that I mentioned in the earlier review. Switching the boost out eliminated to bloat or bloom, extended the as-measured bass flat to 25 Hz (pretty much the manufacturer's spec.) and had it 3 dB down at 22 Hz, which is as low as I could measure.

So, most of the complaints I had in the initial review are cleared up. I've seen this sub advertised used in the $300-$400 range. At that price, it's a steal!

Similar Products Used:

auditioned: sunfire, REL Strata, Klipsch

Loud, hard-hitting tight base - great for HT and Music

None.

In the price-range this is the best sub for your money. Don't let the two 8" subs fool you, the bi-polar setup makes it sound like you have two 10"s. I have it in a 15'x 20' room and I cannot set it past the 3 level without blowing out the windows. Yes, there are better subs, but for around $500, none come close.

TONAL ACCURACY,ATTACK,AGILITY,LOOKS,CONSUMER FRIENDLY

not crusher

First of all, I do not claim to be an audiophile. I love my music, and I love to watch dvd's.

This sub is a bargain in every respect. It plays loud enough for small rooms alone without sounding boomy or exhibiting overhang, and two of these could satisfy most needs in larger applications.(stereo subs are a must anyways!)
This is my system:
Athena s3 speakers f&r
Acoustic Research centre channels(2)
lfe sub-paradigm pw-2200
left ch. subs-athena p3&mirage 150i
right ch. subs-athena p3&david 301
rear subs-athena p2s(l&r)

The mirage is a better sub than the david, so I am going to buy another 150i for the right channel and use the david for the centre channel. I use only the l&r for music,and it sounds incredible with the p3's and the mirage! Stereo subs will add depth to your system, and ease the burden. I actually believe that at least 3 subs are necessary for ideal sound in almost any system,a stereo pair, and an lfe.
I have the four l&r subs hooked up via the pre-outs on my reciever, not the .1 channel.
This sub does a great job for music, and a good job for home theatre, at this price point it is awesome. If you love accurate bass with good depth and impact,buy at least one of these mirage's, if you love the fuzzy feeling that 20hz gives, buy 2 of them and a mirage bps-400 or paradigm pw-2200. A great buy for anybody, I recommend the mirage150i for the jaded audio fan and newcomer alike!

I base my rating versus other subs in the price range, for which there is no match.

Similar Products Used:

paradigm pw-2200,athena p3&p2,d-box david 301,energy microstar 12.1

I have owned this sub for the last three years. This sub has more than enough boom for any normal sized room in middle class American households. I have had to tighten up many light fixtures and wall hangings in my family room due to the effects of this sub (cardboard can do wonders for this). My only complaint has not been because of the subs sound but because of the way I have it set up. I have been using an Onkyo 515PRO for the last three years that did not have a sub-out jack so this forced me to have to run the speaker cables through the sub and then to the front speakers. The problem with this is that wherever you set the crossover on the sub it also sets for the front speakers. Again this is not a problem with the sub but with the configuration I have had it in. I have found that very often you have to get up and adjust the sub power output when changing from different sources like cd to vcr. Having to get up upsets me when I have three remotes on the table.I'm happy to say that my Onkyo was hit by lightning this past month so I had a valid excuse to order a replacement. I chose the Sony STRDA30ES which should arrive in a few days. This receiver has a sub-out jack along with DD & DTS so I'm looking forward to trying it out.
The Mirage is constructed very well and looks attractive in the corner. It does seem to spread the sound better in a particular corner of my room which had influence on how I arranged my room. I wondered if a front firing or downward firing sub, as opposed to the two sided design, would have this problem. For this I will give it a 4.5. It does sound really good after you work out the kinks.

I've had this sub for four years. I did not buy it for HT use, but to supply bass for my "monitor" main speakers -- Snell K-II's originally and now Joseph RM-7si "signatures." I was looking for a sub that sounded musical and did not screw up the sound of the main speakers, rather than one that was overwhelmingly loud. Of all the subs I auditioned at the time (Velodyne, Klipsch, B&W), this one sounded the most musical. It has both line and speaker level inputs. I've used it both ways, speaker level inputs seem to work best. It does take on the character of the "main" preamp; when I switched to a Krell integrated a year ago, the sub seemed to "tighten up." I've now used a Radio Shack sound level meter and a Stereo Review/Chesky records CD to adjust the crossover and level controls for best bass in my averaged-sized room. (This is a very modest investment for great sound that any subwoofer owner should make.) As measured and heard in the room, the sub is flat to about 28 Hz, with useful output to 25 and some output to 20 Hz (about 10 dB down). Significantly, the sub is quite distortion-free, even below its useful operating range. So, when output falls off as you reach down into the 20s, you just hear nothing, you don't hear higher-order harmonics that trick you into thinking that you've got real low bass. The sub generates more than 90 dB in my room (loud enough for me), which produces all kinds of spurious rattles and buzzes in the room that I can't fix (glass rattling in windows). Bass definition is good, but not perfect. You can hear some overhang on reproduction of a bass drum in a symphony orchestra, for example. But the sub works very well with the main speakers to reproduce a string bass or a Fender bass. One of these days, I'm going to audition one of the REL subs (Strata II or Storm) in my system and compare. Otherwise, I've heard subs that are louder and maybe a bit lower, but a lot less musical. The Sunfire sub, for example, produces more volume; but in all the demos I have heard, the Sunfire's sound is slow, thick and non musical. If you want to feel an explosion in your chest while watching a video, the Sunfire is probably the way to go. It's also about twice as expensive. But if you want to listen to music, I think the Mirage, at half the price will do just fine. It's also a great sub to use with Magnepans.

This is a very good sub for the $. I have both Mirage M7sis
and OM10s. As all reading this probably know ea. of these are excellent speakers on their owm merits. Adding the Mirage BPS 150 i to any of these speakers gives them the extra bass extension that is needed for that more "viseral" experience with out screwing up the original speakers fine tonal balance. I higly recomend this sub especially when matched up with speakers such as the Mirages mentioned above.

I needed something to pair with a set of bookshelf Missions for almost exclusively music listening. I listened to Boston, Klipsch and Mission subs.
*The Mission lacked umph although it seemed pretty tight and blended nicely.

*Boston was somewhere between boomy and tight, but was overly present, it just didn't blend well at all.

*The Klipsch's were loud and blended ok, but too boomy.

*The Mirage blended better than all the others except maybe the Mission, but it kicked butt with some tight , hard hitting bass that makes my Pergo floors thump quite nicely.

The longer I listen to it, the more it seems to break in and the performance gets better. The number controls on the back allow for adjustment to just the right settings. I've placed the sub in many different parts of the room and it seems to work great no matter what. If you're in the market for a sub in it's price range it'd be worth auditioning. I'm curious to hear it in an HT setting.

I auditioned over twenty different brands of subwoofer in the $1500 to $2000 price range; including Velodyne, M&K and countless others. None of them produced such deep powerful distortion free bass as the Mirage did. No other subwoofer blended so seemlesly into my system. The BPSS-150i just disappeard into a perfect soundstage. I listen to a lot of audio and home theatre and so required a sub that was both musical and still had plenty of attack and impact for home theatre. The Mirage satisified.If you desire powerful deep clean bass which blends perfectly into your system then I strongly encourage you to audition a Mirage. Its pure Vanilla.
I have ordered a second one. :)

I brought this sub home and put it up against a Paradigm PW2200 and an M&K V75 MII. All 3 were able to shake the room with HT so I decided to compare them based on their musical ability. My summary:I tested with both a tower speaker (12" woofers) and some smaller bookshelf speakers as mains in separate tests.

Paradigm - This sub was too overwhelming and boomy. I give it credit for being extremely powerful but I think it belongs in a MUCH larger room (or club/hall). I had to run it at 15-20% or else it was too evident and overpowering of the rest of the system. It was even too noticeable during HT for me to consider it for that.
M&K - Blended in much better than Paradigm. Had lows evident that shook the room without being 'heard'. I think a good choice if I hadn't demo'd the Mirage.
Mirage - I was slightly skepticle putting this dual 8" sub up against a couple of 12" guys. I didn't think it would keep up. To my surprise, this sub was able to shake the room during home theater but yet sounded so tight, powerful, yet invisible during music demos. It blended in so well without drawing excess attention to it. The tight, non-boomy bass and the fact that I encountered less 'dead spots' in the room was very refreshing. I suspect that the bi-polar design was significant in this.
I have a reasonably large room (20x24) with cathedral ceiling and this subwoofer has no problem filling it with bass. I was told by various salespeople that I needed a lot of power to fill a room like this but I found this sub to be totally satisfying. The pleasing appearance of this sub was the final attribute that caused the others to be returned to the showroom.

I am rating it a 4 star since the first unit I brought home developed a power supply buzz and had to be returned.

quick bass transients

can't go real low (but what do you expect for 8" drivers)

I original purchased this sub to go with my Magnepan SMGa speakers and they were a nice match. It is a quick sub and is very good for music listening. I recently swithed over to Mirage Omnipolar home theater speakers and this sub also blends well. I have found that if placed in the corner there is a considerable amount of bass resonance and that placement along a sidewall about 1 foot from the side and 4-5 foot from the rear wall gives a much smoother response. It is ok for home theater but can't play really low, but it has the ability to shake the walls. Over all this is a good sub for music and HT but it is a bit pricey and there are a lot of other subs out there with larger drivers for considerably less money.

Similar Products Used:

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