Matt_Smi
May 1st, 2004, 7:04 PM
I know this post is going to end up longer than I want it to but o well. First a little background info. My room is 19 x 11 and this sub is replacing a Sony SA-WM40, I was sick of how boomy and sloppy this sub got at high volumes. And wanted a nice clean sounding sub for under $400, I first considered the Velodyne CHT-12, but then after a recommendation decided that the STF-2 would be my best bet. I went to my local CompUSA today and got the last one they had. After getting the sub home and taking it out of the box, I noticed that it seems to have been damaged during shipping; there are two small dents on the upper front rim of the sub. On one of them you can see a crack in the material that covers the sub. I called CompUSA about this and they said since there are no others in stock, they can only give me a refund. I asked if they could knock a certain percent of the price off due to the damages, but he said no because it’s already a sale item. So in a way this is good because CompUSA normally charges a 15% restocking fee on returns. But since mine is damaged I have two weeks to decide if I want the sub, and if I am not satisfied I can then return it for a full refund. The plan is too live with the sub for two weeks, and if I am 100% satisfied with it hope that CompUSA has another one in stock by then so I can return it for a new undamaged one. If they do not have another one in stock my two weeks, I may be screwed. And if I am not fully satisfied with the sub I will just return it for a full refund end of story.
So after being a bit disappointed by the damages I hooked the sub up set the volume to around 1 o clock and tried it out. I first played some bass heavy rap songs and right away noticed that the bass was MUCH stronger, tighter, cleaner and more accurate than my old Sony. You could also feel it more and this sub can get very loud! I then watched a lot of select scenes from movies that I was used to with my old Sony. My receiver’s volume goes from 0-30, with my Sony if I had the master volume on 15 (Dolby Digital movie), and the subs level between 1 and 3 o clock it would be too much for the sub to handle, and it would get boomy. With the HSU I had the volume up to 18-20 (something I would never try with my Sony) and the bass remained for the most part clean and tight. For DTS movies with the old sub, the volume would need to be at around 12, and that was even sometimes too much. Now I can bring the volume up to 15 and it will still sound plenty clean. When watching movies with the HSU I had the subs volume between 12 and 3 o clock. After a bit of usage I noticed some insulation was behind the sub, I looked in the port and it seems that the box is stuffed with it and a piece happened to blow out, not a big deal.
So yes even though this sub for the most part does everything I want it to, am I 100% satisfied with it? The answer is no, I have also been comparing this sub directly to my Sony with music and honestly its not all that I expected. The HSU seems to outperform the Sony much more in movies rather than music however. But to judge the sub this early is very unfair for many reasons that I will list below.
- The sub is not in a corner, it is just about in the middle on the room (along a wall), which is not recommended in the HSU Manuel, and behind my chair that I normally listen to movies in. I can make room for it in a corner in the back of my room if I move a few things and put my surrounds to the side, rather than to the rear like they are now. I plan to move it to the corner later in the week. I just hope that I still get good bass response from my chair.
- The sub is on a hardwood floor and there is no throw rug under the sub, HSU recommends having a throw rug under it if you have hardwood floors. The sub is also a bit un-level because of the floor.
- The sub is not calibrated; I had the volume between 12 and 3 o clock for everything I listened to, the cut off frequency set to 70 Hz, phase at 0 and crossover at out. I plan to get an SPL meter and calibration disc so I can set it up properly.
- I think having the sub directly behind my listening chair is a bad idea, since you almost feel the bass too much sometime rather than hear it. Sometimes you can almost feel the woofer going in and out. And I think this makes the bass seem a tad boomy.
So for an un-calibrated sub in a location that is not recommended I would say it’s very impressive. After doing the above I hope it lives up to my expectations. Or maybe I just hyped the sub up too much. Do you guys think I will be much more impressed with it once I do what I listed above? At least I can take it back without a re-stocking fee if I am not fully satisfied. Kudos to anyone who actually reads this whole thing!
EDIT: I have been spending some more time with the sub, I normally have the volume at around 12 or 1 o clock and only higher it if I really want to see what kind of impact the sub can give. One thing I really noticed when watching the first Matrix is that every punch and kick has much more of a tight impact that you can really feel to it. And I am still amazed at how high I can bring my volume levels on my receiver with the sub volume at around 12-1 o clock. I still have not really gotten the sub to sound too boomy yet, and I now longer feel like my sub is holding back my speakers. I love how this sub has good output even at only half volume, my Sony would put out next to nothing at half volume even with the receiver volume high. I still hope that It will sound better once I do everything I listed above however.
So after being a bit disappointed by the damages I hooked the sub up set the volume to around 1 o clock and tried it out. I first played some bass heavy rap songs and right away noticed that the bass was MUCH stronger, tighter, cleaner and more accurate than my old Sony. You could also feel it more and this sub can get very loud! I then watched a lot of select scenes from movies that I was used to with my old Sony. My receiver’s volume goes from 0-30, with my Sony if I had the master volume on 15 (Dolby Digital movie), and the subs level between 1 and 3 o clock it would be too much for the sub to handle, and it would get boomy. With the HSU I had the volume up to 18-20 (something I would never try with my Sony) and the bass remained for the most part clean and tight. For DTS movies with the old sub, the volume would need to be at around 12, and that was even sometimes too much. Now I can bring the volume up to 15 and it will still sound plenty clean. When watching movies with the HSU I had the subs volume between 12 and 3 o clock. After a bit of usage I noticed some insulation was behind the sub, I looked in the port and it seems that the box is stuffed with it and a piece happened to blow out, not a big deal.
So yes even though this sub for the most part does everything I want it to, am I 100% satisfied with it? The answer is no, I have also been comparing this sub directly to my Sony with music and honestly its not all that I expected. The HSU seems to outperform the Sony much more in movies rather than music however. But to judge the sub this early is very unfair for many reasons that I will list below.
- The sub is not in a corner, it is just about in the middle on the room (along a wall), which is not recommended in the HSU Manuel, and behind my chair that I normally listen to movies in. I can make room for it in a corner in the back of my room if I move a few things and put my surrounds to the side, rather than to the rear like they are now. I plan to move it to the corner later in the week. I just hope that I still get good bass response from my chair.
- The sub is on a hardwood floor and there is no throw rug under the sub, HSU recommends having a throw rug under it if you have hardwood floors. The sub is also a bit un-level because of the floor.
- The sub is not calibrated; I had the volume between 12 and 3 o clock for everything I listened to, the cut off frequency set to 70 Hz, phase at 0 and crossover at out. I plan to get an SPL meter and calibration disc so I can set it up properly.
- I think having the sub directly behind my listening chair is a bad idea, since you almost feel the bass too much sometime rather than hear it. Sometimes you can almost feel the woofer going in and out. And I think this makes the bass seem a tad boomy.
So for an un-calibrated sub in a location that is not recommended I would say it’s very impressive. After doing the above I hope it lives up to my expectations. Or maybe I just hyped the sub up too much. Do you guys think I will be much more impressed with it once I do what I listed above? At least I can take it back without a re-stocking fee if I am not fully satisfied. Kudos to anyone who actually reads this whole thing!
EDIT: I have been spending some more time with the sub, I normally have the volume at around 12 or 1 o clock and only higher it if I really want to see what kind of impact the sub can give. One thing I really noticed when watching the first Matrix is that every punch and kick has much more of a tight impact that you can really feel to it. And I am still amazed at how high I can bring my volume levels on my receiver with the sub volume at around 12-1 o clock. I still have not really gotten the sub to sound too boomy yet, and I now longer feel like my sub is holding back my speakers. I love how this sub has good output even at only half volume, my Sony would put out next to nothing at half volume even with the receiver volume high. I still hope that It will sound better once I do everything I listed above however.