I have a confession to make: I've been a woofer wuss for most of my career as an audio journalist. When I started 21 years ago, there weren't many good subwoofers, and the little ones were usually less bad than the big ones, so I stuck mostly with smaller subs for my personal systems. But the shoot-out of state-of-the-art 12-inch subwoofers I conducted for S+V back in 2009 showed me what a great experience a large, high-end sub could deliver. Thanks to improvements in driver design, cabinet construction and amplifier technology, today's supersubs can deliver sound quality even the fussiest audiophile can love.
There's only one catch: Supersubs cost big bucks. Even the most affordable model from my shoot-out, the SVSound PB-12 Plus, costs $1,349, and that's for a 12-incher.
The new Hsu Research VTF-15H may have the same disruptive effect on the supersub market that the Eee PC netbook had on the laptop market. The VTF-15H is a big, muscular subwoofer with a 15-inch driver and a high-efficiency BASH amplifier rated at 350 watts continuous and 1,400 watts peak power. The stiff, heavy enclosure contributes to a back-busting weight of 118 pounds. And the VTF-15H offers more tweaking possibilities than almost any other subwoofer I've encountered.
Now, what would you pay for a sub like this? $2,000? Way over. $1,500? Still too high. Try $879 in matte black or $999 in rosenut woodgrain finish.
What's the catch? Actually there are two. First, shipping and handling on this behemoth is $139. Second, you have to unpack and position the beast yourself. Fortunately, the VTF-15H's patent-pending "integrated flare triangular ports" provide not only claimed acoustical advantages but a useful handhold for lifting the sub.
While I have seen some less-expensive 15-inch subs, most cut corners with a flimsy driver cone, a rickety enclosure or a feeble amplifier. Although it may seem counterintuitive, I've found in the past that a cheap 15-incher sometimes distorts far more than a comparable smaller subwoofer. With that broad expanse of unsupported cone diaphragm, you need a stiff, high-quality, and relatively expensive cone material to keep distortion to a minimum.
I've owned 3 subs. Started with an SVS 12 inch that was a good solid sub but had modest output. Then moved to a Elemental Designs A5-350 15 incher. Awesome sub, very good output and tight! But its strength lay in solid punches at certain frequencies.
Now I own this bad boy. VTF-15H. WOW. What a difference. This thing not only goes lower and louder but equally important - is smooth and wide throughout the entire low end range.
You will not be disappointed if you choose this sub. I'm still amazed it wasn't priced higher.
-K
I'm finding reviews of this sub to be very inconsistent. This is not a knock on this review at all. But I kind of expected this review to be similiar of the review over at audioholics considering how very unforgiving it was, which isn't a knock on that review, but I just expected this review to sound the same and it didnt.
I expected something to be similar to be said of this subwoofer considering how unforgiving Paul at audioholics was when he assessed this subs performance and components. Great to know this sub is capable of pleasing anaudio nut such as Brent though.
Brent could it be that your rooms sound reproducing factor is better and more suitable to subwoofers than someone else's which is why you enjoyed this sub soo much?
@v_squared123: That is certainly possible, although with proper setup a good sub should sound good in almost any room of reasonable dimensions (i.e., not square). I am quite confident that Audioholics' writers have good rooms and would set up their test sample properly. Audioholics is certainly entitled to their opinion, and you should consider what they have to say, but I think if you look at all the reviews out there you'll see that most consider the VTF-15H unbeatable at the price. There are a couple of SVS models I've tested that I like a little better, but they are considerably more expensive (partly because they have much more sophisticated, DSP-based electronics). For the price of a lot of competing subs, you could buy two VTF-15Hs - provided, of course, you have the space for them.