Have a9's Which sub goes well with them?

CinderLyon

I have a9's on the way and own an adcom 555 amp to drive them as well. I tried to find a thread on which subs for use with A9's but the info seemed pretty scattered. Primary use both HT and music.

What powered subs would you recommend. Trying to keep it under $500 but willing to delay my purchase if only subs in the $1000 range will do the job.

rpf65

The A9's dig pretty low. I would look at HSU for a sub if I were you. The VTF series are all under 1k. The SVS 12 plus and PB-13 cost a little more, but will also work

CinderLyon

Thanks much, that put me on to an excellent path to research. I have seen some really nice reviews now done by audiophiles on those exact models. I think I am pointed in the right direction now.

62caddy

I'd suggest you hold off on sub(s) until you've logged some time with the A9s on their own.

Inspector 24

Just picked up a VTF-15h. It's amazing. Digs low where the a9's fall off. Still playing with setup but listened to Audioslave last night and it had very nice depth and tight bass, just like the a9's....But deeper!

CinderLyon

My plan is to log at least a month with the A9's before even considering getting a sub. I expect the a9's to have a ton of base, maybe even enough.

I have an old sub that I can audition with them but from what I am reading, If i even feel i need a sub, this one i have might not do anything. Its an older polk psw100, that i think is about 20 years old now.

An ulterior motive is to save up some money so that I have some options. My research on the basses mentioned in this thread cost bettween $700 - $1500

chiptouz

I have a HSU VTF3-MK4 and LOVE it. I recommend it 100$ This sub is the $700 price point that you mentioned.

fossy

don't forget the used option..... you can get more bang for the buck ... don't know your local but craigslist can produce some good deals

rock on

pietsch288

svsound has a 45 day trial....With free shipping to and fro. Now thats confidence!!!!!!

pietsch288

I'd get this one...... http://www.svsound.com/subwoofers/sealed-box/sb13-ultra#.UcaBf3fn_IU
I know its a little over budget but every review I've ever seen is fantastic, as well as many reviewers have started using it as their reference sub. rich

Inspector 24

After playing with the A9's and the VTF-15h some more, I'd say any sub that can play tight bass below 40hz. The A9's continue to impress me with how much musical bass they have in the low end, but stuff below ~ 40hz falls off quick. The VTF-15h fills in those lower registers very nicely without muddying the bass like the PSW505's did.

F1nut

The A9's are good to 30Hz, if you're not getting that low you might consider a different amp. I've heard them rumble using a he-man amp.

Inspector 24

Using a Parasound 2003, 220wpc, what is a he-man amp, something like a HCA-3500 350wpc or more?

Irrenhaus

I have my RTi12 using a Adcom 585 and they produce a very nice low bass, sometimes I forget the sub is off.

CinderLyon

i have read about forgetting the bass being turned off a few times now. That is why I was thinking I might not need a base. Though everywhere I read that a base is sort of a must have, generally not in reference to the A9. I am hoping my old sub base might work, but somehow I doubt it. Seems like that if i want the deepest base I will have to dig deep into my pockets.

Inspector 24

It could be a room issue for me, below 40hz is where I've noticed the sub starts being useful. I have no measurement data to back it up, just tinkering and listening with test tones. Getting a proper meter soon.

Before the HSU, I had forgotten to turn the subs on a few times as well, namely movies with little to no LFE or at lower volumes. But now I can tell what I'm missing when it's off. :razz:

Oh, and previously I had two PSW505's. No way they can even come close to equaling what the HSU can do. Not even close.

F1nut

Inspector 24 wrote: »

Using a Parasound 2003, 220wpc, what is a he-man amp, something like a HCA-3500 350wpc or more?

Yep, something like that.

62caddy

I've found the A9 pretty solid down to around 30 Hz. Below that, sound isn't so much heard as felt. I've tried them with organ music and found very little left to be desired by the A9. YMMV.

Inspector 24

I am very happy with them for music, rarely used the subs as they just muddied the bass, I really only used subs for movies, but so far I I've left the HSU on for music, it's turned down a lot, but fills the lower register so nice without **** up the bass or drawing attention to itself.

CinderLyon

Got my A9's in, waiting on the surrounds still. They are powered by an Adcom 555. First day audition was excellent even though I have not fine tuned the system yet.

I tested them, they go down to 18Hz without a sub. So i can see not needing a sub when playing most music. Do folks still recommend a powered sub for HT?

cr136124

CinderLyon wrote: »

Got my A9's in, waiting on the surrounds still. They are powered by an Adcom 555. First day audition was excellent even though I have not fine tuned the system yet.

I tested them, they go down to 18Hz without a sub. So i can see not needing a sub when playing most music. Do folks still recommend a powered sub for HT?

Yes, you really need a good subwoofer to enhance your experience while watching a movie. I does help with music too......;o)

I'm using SVS subwoofers (two) at my HT, but this other subwoofer (PSA-XS30) might be a good option to pair it with your A9's:


http://www.powersoundaudio.com/collections/power-x/products/xs30


From PSA website "Once the XS30 is placed in a medium to large sized room, true extension to 9Hz-14Hz is typical."

CinderLyon

I noticed no one mentioned any of the Polk subs. Wasent one of them designed to go with the A9's? Or is it that other manafacuters just are making better responding/value subs?

tonyb

The bigger of the micro-pro series of subs from Polk would go well with A9's. Other sub makers however take it to another level and specialize more so in subwoofers than Polk does.

pearsall001

Look into the SPL series from Velodyne. I can't say good things about my twin pair of SPL-1200's. Simply amazing with both 2 channel & HT. They can be had for a decent price on the used market.

Thorton

I have 2 dsw660wi's with the A9's. The A9's dig deep and if I never heard them without subs, I would be hesitant to spend more money for low end bass. I needed 2 - 660wi's because I have a very large room to pressurize. With proper placement and set-up, the subs with the A9's are great for music and movies. I'm not a bass hog, but when I turn off the subs for music you can definitely tell the difference (with switching the A9's to large). I prefer having the subs and believe they blend in fantastically with the A9's. No boom or localization, just nice tight clean bass. Are there better subs out there? Yes. Did I want to spend 1.5 - 2 times more for subwoofers than I did the A9's? No. I got both 660's for 2/3 the price I paid for the A9's. If you spend more or luck out in the used market on the other highly recommended brands mentioned above, great and enjoy. The 660's with the A9's are good enough for me.......at least for now. Good luck.

Geoff4rfc

cr136124 wrote: »

Yes, you really need a good subwoofer to enhance your experience while watching a movie..

+1

tonyb wrote: »

Other sub makers however take it to another level and specialize more so in subwoofers than Polk does.

Nicely put.

CinderLyon wrote: »

I noticed no one mentioned any of the Polk subs.

Good observation, Tony explained that quite well.

Congrats on your new A9 purchase, countless hours of ear joy ahead.

I noticed a difference in bass going from 200 to 300wpc driving my 9's. It's bass you can feel under your feet in the floor, and is plenty for my taste during 2ch music, but nothing replaces a dedicated sub for chest pounding in your face bass when watching your favorite action movies.

I would recommend Epik but I believe they are on hiatus right now, and what a shame, their Empires are earth shaking, I know, I have two and I've had to move twice

I hope you find the one that fits your set up the way you like it. Welcome to the club and be sure to drop a line when you're all set up.

CinderLyon

anyone have any thoughts on two PSW125. Polk has them on sale right now at a very nice price.

F1nut

The only two Polk subs worth considering are the DSWpro660wi and the DSWmicroPRO 3000.

CinderLyon

does either of those ever go on sale?

RamZet

The ASW610 by B&W is cheap (~600 bucks) and will blow your face off with its lows and compact size. Rubberized paint is cool too.
B&W CM series subs are great too, but now we're talking big bucks.
Polks psw505 12" sub isnt all that bad too. lows could be cleaner though.
Sunfire makes a mean sub too. not sure about price.

Inspector 24

Agreed, if you've got good amp power to the A9's you need a good strong sub to match. Two PSW505's kept up ok in my 17x34 basemetn, but left me wanting a bit, especially because turning them up louder killed sound quality, it just got louder.

To their credit, they would put out some awesome bass, just not clean or musical...and often was too boomy for movies. A smaller room with smaller speakers or less amp power to the A9's they would work much better.