Sub for my hi-fi or save up for a speaker upgrade?

The PV1 is the sort of thing I had in mind but it is eye wateringly expensive...I'm looking at something around 400 pounds to be honest.

 

I'm thinkin of getting a second hand PV1 when I have some cash.. They go for around £500 second hand.. As previously said a BK XLS200 would be fine and get raving reviews as musical subs and they're like £320ish new and would sell second hand in no time at minimal loss...

I had a friend who had one for a while, and I don't think it can be beaten for the money. There are also a lot of forum members who have them, as well as a fist full of good reviews.....in fact I don't think I've seen a bad review. They also make drive units for other companies as well, or certainly used to.

The other good vfm brand is MJ Acoustics (like the Pro 50) as mentioned above....but over here they are a bit more expensive: http://www.mjacoustics.co.uk/ 

Which ever brand you chose, just go up the chain until you reach what you are prepared to spend.....just avoid ported ones as imo they are not as good for music. 

If you want to up the anti, look at the Velodyne SPL Ultra/Impact/EQ-Max ranges / MicroVee; PV1 (D) or Paradigm Seismic 110

 

My Mezzo sub is great. Musical?? Not sure how they can ever be that? It has an eq too - together with some modest room treatment (see my threads) seems to work wonders with the right source.

cheers

I had a B&W sub once ( ASW 608 )

Great little thing.

Bass was tight and agile.

I would say it all depends on the size of room you have.

If you want it purely to improve music then my suggestion would be to up your budget a bit and actually get 2 subs.

There is a reason for this. To improve a stereo system i have found 2 small subs are much better in a small to medium sized room than one big sub.

Place these small subs right next to your existing speakers. The set-up is obviously more awkward but the end result is much better.

The subs I suggest you look at are REL Acoustics T Zero's (made here in sunny Wales).

Sub, sub, sub all the way! You'll be surprised at the difference it will make to the whole sound of your system. And you don't have to spend anywhere near your £800 budget, either (which is always nice, especially as this is just an interim measure for you, until you get your new speakers). Go down the second-hand route and you can get yourself a great sub for £200. Have a look at REL Strata, for a start. They are one of Rel's range that are for hifi, primarily, and they are brilliant.  

I always liked the old Rel range like the Stampede, Strata 5 (better than previous versions) and Storm 5 (I think the previous models were ported) .

Theres a strata 5 on ebay, right now in immaculate condition. They want £400, but they wont get that. I'd say keep an eye on it, chuck in a bid in the last minute and you could get it for £250. Collection only though, which could be a bummer.

Best value for money in subs is BK Electronics (http://tinyurl.com/ccy442a), partly because they sell directly only.

As did Richard Lord when he first set REL up; BK used to make the subs for him then, hence why they look rather familiar. I've had one of the little ones (Gemini, £200) for my dad. Not tried the bigger ones but there's reference to a review on the site comparing the£400 BK sub with a £2.5k REL one and there not being much difference between the two.

The top range one is quoted as down to 15hz in room at -3db. For £550. There's a form on the site to enquire about delivery outside the UK. When I dealt with them they were very friendly indeed; I think I was speaking to Mrs BK, straight to the top! I have to say if I was looking for a new sub right now I'd be hard pressed to consider anything else given their pricing. Only issue is you can't audition it first, but it is very flexible in how you integrate it to your main system so I personally wouldn;t worry. And it didn't stop me buying a REL all those years ago, and I didn't regret that 

The usual disclaimer; I have no connection with them at all. Have a look at the website and let me know what you think (you'll see they aren't a marketing powerhouse!)

 

 

If it was my money, I'd land a pair of Q Acoustics 2050i and forget the sub.  They'll deliver finesse as well as dynamics by all accounts, and you'll get them for under £600 for the gloss finish option.

Thank you for your comment, it seems that the Mezzo should be an ideal match for obvious reasons but it seems from the reviews that it does movies and power better than delicate music. I need a fast subwoofer and I don't think that it will be ideal I'm afraid.

I love the Mezzos for how they sound in the mid and treble region and I'm yet to come across a floorstander around the price that delivers the same goods after spending a whole day auditioning variour speakers from Tannoy, Kef, Mordaunt Short itself  and Klipsch. I'd rather have a sub and keep my precious

another happy BK owner, seems to be the way to go for now but I'll have a look around the dealers and see what they can muster.

living in Bangladesh here so no ebay I'm afraid.....