I Need A Thin (but Quality) Sub-Woofer - Any Ideas?

[im]

Sadly I'm restricted due to it having to fit a certain space in my lounge.

Various reviewers don't like this one - its the YAMAHA YSTFSW100 :


It fits the space but its cheap at £109 so I suppose Audiophiles wont like its price-point to begin with. Although if you have one I'd be interested to hear your opinion.

Anyway...anyone got any suggestions?

[Maxf]

I use the one which came with my kef 5005.2 kit, its pretty small but I wouldn't want anything more powerful in my current house (I even use 5.0 at night sometimes).

[Graham E]

Infinity cascade model 15 - utterly brilliant, but expensive.

http://www.hifibitz.co.uk/product.asp?id=6516

[Mr_Yogi]

SVS do some compact cylindrical subs, they get great reviews but I think they are a few times the price of that Yamaha.

[im]

Whoosh...both the Infinity & SVS are north of £850 notes.

Now, just like the next man, I like a deep-rumble but crikey thats too rich for my blood.

Anything under (say) £300?

[Maxf]

Still over budget, but this is whay I have: http://www.superfi.co.uk/index.cfm/page/moreinfo.c...

I bet there are used ones around as people upgrade them.

[Mermaid]

im said:

Whoosh...both the Infinity & SVS are north of £850 notes.

Now, just like the next man, I like a deep-rumble but crikey thats too rich for my blood.

Anything under (say) £300?

A used B & W PV1?

[im]

Mermaid said:

im said:

Whoosh...both the Infinity & SVS are north of £850 notes.

Now, just like the next man, I like a deep-rumble but crikey thats too rich for my blood.

Anything under (say) £300?

A used B & W PV1?

hmmm......tell me more

[Mermaid]

im said:

Mermaid said:

im said:

Whoosh...both the Infinity & SVS are north of £850 notes.

Now, just like the next man, I like a deep-rumble but crikey thats too rich for my blood.

Anything under (say) £300?

A used B & W PV1?

hmmm......tell me more

http://www.whathifi.com/Review/BandW-PV1/

Price new is quite steep, bit it has been out for a number of years

[PJ S]

Sunfire HRS - one on eBay currently with 2 days to go, but £350 already with 1 bid.
Look out for others in 2nd hand dealers or online selling forums, possibly even AVForums.

Edited by PJ S on Tuesday 9th February 22:05

[OldSkoolRS]

I've seen a wall mounted subwoofer somewhere (can't remember at the moment where) but it probably wasn't cheap and not necessarily that good either due to lack of cabinet volume. There was also a guy that put 4 x 18" cones in his wall as an 'infinite baffle' subwoofer and it uses the other room as a cabinet I think it went down to about 5Hz @ 110db or something ridiculous.

Really a little sub will add a bit of thump (and probably just bassy colouration) to satellite speakers, but for a real sub (ie below 20Hz) you need something big and costly IMHO.

[Plotloss]

Plenty of wall mounted subs (100mm depth) and some of them are very very good.

They are however not cheap but serve a purpose.

Floor mount and ceiling mount also available.

[PJ S]

Artcoustic - Diablo is the entry level one, £1100.
Rel is an obvious choice, but small they ain't.

[CRACKIE]

im said:

Sadly I'm restricted due to it having to fit a certain space in my lounge.

Various reviewers don't like this one - its the YAMAHA YSTFSW100 :


It fits the space but its cheap at £109 so I suppose Audiophiles wont like its price-point to begin with. Although if you have one I'd be interested to hear your opinion.

Anyway...anyone got any suggestions?

The Yamaha was developed to work with their sound bars I think ~ it appears to be a success with end customers though http://www.testfreaks.co.uk/hifi-subwoofers/yamaha...
What other kit are you using and how loud/deep do you want your slim sub to go ? The Yamaha may be just what you are after......can you get to audition on for yourself ?

[im]

CRACKIE said:

What other kit are you using and how loud/deep do you want your slim sub to go ? The Yamaha may be just what you are after......can you get to audition on for yourself ?

Sadly the only outlet selling this within 30 miles of me is Richer Sounds and thay don't have dedicated room to try-before-you-buy.

Those reviews of the Yamaha do look interesting and conflict with some other blogs on the net from so-called specialists...

A big thanks to everyone for contributing, but it looks like I'd have to shell out in excess of £500 for a half-decent SW from new or get a 2nd hand one with all of the riskd associated with that kind of purchase (ie no warranty etc)

My current Front Left & Front Right speakers are bi-amp able but I understand this doesn't produce a sound anything like a sub-woofer...unfortunately...

[JustinP1]

im said:

CRACKIE said:

What other kit are you using and how loud/deep do you want your slim sub to go ? The Yamaha may be just what you are after......can you get to audition on for yourself ?

Sadly the only outlet selling this within 30 miles of me is Richer Sounds and thay don't have dedicated room to try-before-you-buy.

Those reviews of the Yamaha do look interesting and conflict with some other blogs on the net from so-called specialists...

A big thanks to everyone for contributing, but it looks like I'd have to shell out in excess of £500 for a half-decent SW from new or get a 2nd hand one with all of the riskd associated with that kind of purchase (ie no warranty etc)

My current Front Left & Front Right speakers are bi-amp able but I understand this doesn't produce a sound anything like a sub-woofer...unfortunately...

As a sound engineer, I can tell you it is nigh on impossible to get deep sounds out of a small speaker.

If you can, they will be compromised unless there is some kind of money no object trick involved.

Is there a reason why it has to be flat. My feeling is that this 'halfway house' may be no better than just using your own speakers. Are they of a decent size?

The other option is to go big.

I have one of these: http://www.bwspeakers.com/downloadFile/speakerMode...

Which is a 75kg two foot square black block. Until people ask, it is so big that they have no idea it is a subwoofer at all. If you go to the second hand market, you can find some bargains. One that size literally shakes the room and up loud hits you in the chest so hard it affects your breathing.

[Mermaid]

JustinP1 said:

As a sound engineer, I can tell you it is nigh on impossible to get deep sounds out of a small speaker.

...

The other option is to go big.

I have one of these: http://www.bwspeakers.com/downloadFile/speakerMode...

Which is a 75kg two foot square black block. Until people ask, it is so big that they have no idea it is a subwoofer at all. If you go to the second hand market, you can find some bargains. One that size literally shakes the room and up loud hits you in the chest so hard it affects your breathing.

Great choice. I enjoyed a couple of REL Stentors, and the bass was sublime. Size, it seems, is everything if you have the space.

[gifdy]

I had a similar problem. Ended up buying a KEF PSW 3500 off ebay. It's a downwards firing sub which gets used as a stool/pouffe. Few people guess it's a sub (unless they're sitting on it during film or when music is playing ). It's tuneable to suit your other speakers & room dimensions so it doesn't boom too much.

[im]

JustinP1 said:

Is there a reason why it has to be flat?

Yes...I have 25cm to fit it into - picture below is a mock-up of the space available and the Yamaha fits...just...but I'm looking for options should the yamaha be rubbish:

JustinP1 said:

My feeling is that this 'halfway house' may be no better than just using your own speakers. Are they of a decent size?

Each 'speaker box' is about 7" wide by 12" tall by 8" deep (I'd have to measure to be sure) but that doesn't tell you the dimensions of the cones which I suspect is what you are talking about.

JustinP1 said:

The other option is to go big.

I refer the honourable gentleman to the picture I posted previously

[JustinP1]

im said:

JustinP1 said:

Is there a reason why it has to be flat?

Yes...I have 25cm to fit it into - picture below is a mock-up of the space available and the Yamaha fits...just...but I'm looking for options should the yamaha be rubbish:

JustinP1 said:

My feeling is that this 'halfway house' may be no better than just using your own speakers. Are they of a decent size?

Each 'speaker box' is about 7" wide by 12" tall by 8" deep (I'd have to measure to be sure) but that doesn't tell you the dimensions of the cones which I suspect is what you are talking about.

JustinP1 said:

The other option is to go big.

I refer the honourable gentleman to the picture I posted previously

My thinking is a thin subwoofer behind a sofa may not be effective at all.

Subs work by putting out a powerful long soundwave. If that soundwave cannot get 'out' then you simply won't get the sound and it will just vibrate your behind a bit.

Although you *can* put a subwoofer behind your listening position it is a compromise to the overall sound. Anywhere else in the room would probably be better though. Mine is actually 4 feet in front of my main pair and 'firing' at 90 degrees into the centre of the room. Sounds perfect.

The main compromise though would be a sofa like that in front. I think you would get hardly anything useful out of it at all.

Edited to add - just had a brainwave.

If you get a front - firing sub then you point it to the side. If you want more power, then get a second identical sub then point it in the opposite direction. This would also help with any direction problems as if the sub only has a limited space to work you lose the 'omnidirectional' characteristics.

That said, that would be a solution to fit the problem, you would still be better off not having it behind the sofa.

Edited by JustinP1 on Wednesday 10th February 17:44