Some (Apartment HT) Subwoofer Guidance please

Sienna

Hello, I would appreciate some advice in regards to selecting a subwoofer for my apartment based home theater.

Background: I started out with a generic Onkyo HTS780 HTiB (been with me for many years). The sub has never been used, because I have always (and still am until I can rent a townhome) lived on the top floor, and I try to be courteous. A month or so back, I decided to try replacing the center channel with the CS1 because Newegg had it real cheap. Well, to my surprise I did hear a difference, and that has since led me to get a pair of Monitor 70s, a CS2, and now four Monitor 30s. Still running them off the original HT-R530 receiver that came with the HTiB package. (I gave the parents the CS1, maybe they will catch the upgrade bug next...)

I don't listen to things that loud, and for stereo listening the M70s seem just perfect alone. However, when watching a movie, things just seem to taper off on the low end (for instance, a helicopter crashing or a building falling ought to stir you, instead they just anti-climax, if that makes sense).

Because I have never ever really had a sub before, I would probably be easy to please. I did see that Vanns has a PSW10 in cherry, which interests me because it would match the rest of my speakers. Is a PSW10 "good enough" for a starter sub? Or would you recommend something larger?

(HT Room Details: The living (HT) room in this apartment is currently say 15' x 20', with a half wall towards the kitchen, a giant opening to the dining room, and two halls. The TV sits on one of the 20' walls (next to the kitchen opening). Construction for the apartment is your basic drywall / wood, but inter-apartment noise seems to be limited to cabinet doors slamming, washing machine dancing, and other impact type of noises. (The floor isn't the best either, shakes when you walk))

Thanks for any help, sorry for the long post!

RyanJoz

I wouldn't go with the 10, but the psw 505 from newegg.com. You can always scale it back since you are in an apartment, but you can't get much more out of the 10.

dkg999

I have a HT in my apt in IL that has LSi speakers and two SVS subs. There are some tricks to effective bass in an apt HT. The first is that you need to go with the biggest subs you can afford. It's all about air movement, not volume. I have a SVS 20-39 PC+ in the front left corner and a SVS PB-10 in the back right corner. Both run at about 3 out of 10 on the gain. They are set to slightly phase cancel each other. They pressurize the room and give you bass you can feel but that isn't loud. The second is to set your subs on something like concrete patio blocks set on wood stands with spikes as feet. Get the subs decoupled from the floor.

No complaints from the neighbors!

grimmace19

Go bigger than the psw10. Had one and even in a small apartment living room it wasn't enough. The psw505 is a good recommendation because it would still match as well as sound a LOT better. Though I get complaints from my neighbors all the time, I feel that some people are overly sensitive and therefore you should be able to listen at decent volumes without issues.

jax3822

I recommend a front firing sub, with ports either front or back to avoid downward thumping.

Energy ESW-V8 from World Wide Stereo is an awsome sub for the ebay BIN price.

The Polk sub is very entry level, and even though it is bigger than the Energy, it will not out perform a better sub on size alone.

Sienna

Ok, thanks everyone for the advice!

I guess I can wait awhile then to save up for a "big" and "quality" front firing sub. I'll add it to the HT savings plan to be purchased after a 1080p projector.

If I was to keep an initial budget around $200-$250, with the plan to spend more later, would the answer be the PSW505? Or would you all definitely wait until you could do the $750-$800 bracket later? (In like a year or two later...)

Also, is 'voice matching' the main speakers important for a sub?

Thanks again!

98Badger

Voice matching is not an issue for subs. I would look into SVS or HSU for a good sub. You can probably find something used, but probably not in the range you gave. Save some $ and get something you are going to be happy with for a long time.

RuSsMaN

DSW400 or 500, done.

mystik610

HSU and SVS will vastly outperform any Polk sub, but they do cost quite a bit more than entry level Polk subs. Scour the used market for a high quality sub, or save up for one. Once you have a good sub, you can go for many many years without even thinking of upgrading it.

Mon40CSMM10

A subwoofer will definitely take the lowest bass frequency load away from the front mains, but it would be expected that Monitor 70's would still output low and powerful bass even when not turned up way loud (note: I got low bass response all the way down to nearly 30 Hz with just the Monitor 40's).

Check #1: Front set to Large, not Small. (Monitor 70 is recommended to be set to Large). If set to small then bass will start getting rolled off at the crossover point.

Check #2: Subwoofer is set to Off or No, then the LFE should then be sent to the front mains and not routed away from the mains to the (currently non-existent) subwoofer.

Check #3: Dynamic range compression, LFE attenuation and/or any Midnight modes are disabled.