VTF-3 MK3 VS MFW-15

[ROBERT760]

WELL I HAVE HEARD THE MFW-15 WHO PEPOLE WERE SAYING THAT IT WAS BETER THAN THE VTF-3 MK3 AND CRAIGSUB RANKING RATED THE MFW-15 AT 103 POINTS AND THE VTF-3 MK3 91 POINTS. YA I THINK THAT PERSON WHO RATED THEM DIDN'T EVEN HERE THEM BECAUSE I TEST THEM WITH MUSIC AND WITH MOVIES AT THE SAME SENCE.THE MFW-15 WAS HITTING HARD AND DEEP BUT WHEN I PUT THE VTF-3 AFTER BY ITS SELF DAM THE VTF-3 MK3 WAS LOUDER AND DEEPER AND I PLAYED THEM BOTH TOGETHER . JUST TO GET THE MFW-15 AT THE SAME SOUND LEVEL AS THE VTF3 I HAD TO PLAY IT HOT AND THE 15INCH DRIVER LOOK LIKE IT COULDN'T TAKE THE PUNCH DONT GET ME WRONG THE MFW-15 IS A GOOD UNIT. BUT THE VTF-3 MK3 IS A BEAST AND WILL SPANK THE MFW-15 IN PROFORMANCE. BEFORE I GOT MY VTF-3 MK3 I WAS GOING TO GET THE MFW-15 DUALS BUT MY FRIEND WHO OWN'S THAT MFW-15 TOLD ME TO GO HERE THE VTF3 I WENT AND WHEN I HERD IT. I TOLD PETE ILL TAKE IT AND A OTHER THING I DIDN'T LIKE ABOUT THE MFW-15 WAS THE PHASE AND THE CROSSOVER WHEN U MOVE IT AROUND. IT DIDN'T SOUND ANY DIFFERENT IT SEEM LIKE IF THOSE FUNCTIONS WEREN'T WORKING.BECAUSE WHEN I MOVE THOSE FUNCTIONS ON MY VTF-3 YOU CAN TELL A SOUND DIFFERENCE AND THE VTF-3 U CAN PUT IT NEXT TO A COUCH FOR NEARFILED. TO FEEL THAT DEEP BASS AND A CORNER AS WELL.THE MFW-15 CAN'T DO NEARFILED IT HAS TO BE NEXT TO A CORNER AND A WALL FOR IT TO SOUND GOOD. WELL THATS MY POINT OF VIEW ON HEREING THEM BOTH. HAVE ANY OF U GUYS HERD THEM BOTH?

[cacihome]

HI, Robert:

What was the movie/music/content used to test them?

I'm curious... since craig said the MFW has a lot more output in the 20hz zone than the 3.3, and I think people everwhere believed it. I think he said (105db vs 99db on the 3.3)...So, basically he is saing that a MFW is twice as loud as a 3.3 @ 20hz.With that numbers it must be very easy to know if its SPL is like two 3.3...
HEHE...Sorry, I couldn't resist the comment...

How about musicality?
Midbass slam?
Have you measured them both?

Thanks,

[shadyJ]

I would say another advantage that the VTF has over the MFW is the probability of continued support. AV123's future seems to be very much in doubt at the moment, whereas Hsu seems like it is going to be around for awhile longer. This is an even greater factor when you consider the MFW's problematic history. Nonetheless, I think it would be a good sub (when functioning), and I nearly bought a used one too that I found for $300, but I decided not to as I was happy with my VTF's and ULS's.

[ROBERT760]

WELL YA THEY HAD A LOT OF PROBLEMS WITH THIER AMPS AND WHO KNOWS IF THIER GOING TO BE AROUND FOR A LONG TIME. WELL I PAIRED MY VTF-3 WITH MY 2 KLIPSCH'S SUB-10 I USE MY KLIPSCH'S IN MY UPER RIGHT CORNER AND MY VTF-3 I HAVE IT NERFILED WITH THE SUB HITING THE COUCH. MAN IT SOUNDS AWESOME.IM T BUYING A OTHER VTF-3.WHAT KIND OF SUB'S DO U HAVE SHADY?

[shadyJ]

Two VTF3's and two ULS 15's. I also have a Elemental Designs A3-300 which I picked up used for pretty cheap. It's a very good sub, but it isn't on the level of the Hsu subs. I used to have a STF2, that was a great little sub too.

[ROBERT760]

DAM SHADY THAT MUST SOUND VERY NICE.DO U HAVE PICS OF ALL SUBS? IS IT A OVER KILL HAVEING THAT MUCH SUB POWER ? THE REASON I ASK IS MY FRIEND SAYS THAT IF I BUY 1 MORE AND HAVE 4 SUBS IT IS A OVER KILL. BUT I TOLD HIM THAT I LOVE BASS ITS NOT LIKE IM GOING TO HAVE THEM AT FULL VOLUME.

[cacihome]

What would happen if you continue buying subs, aside from your wife killing you, is that you will lower the distortion % of each sub you own...So the overall experience will be more accurate.

[shadyJ]

Originally Posted by ROBERT760

DAM SHADY THAT MUST SOUND VERY NICE.DO U HAVE PICS OF ALL SUBS? IS IT A OVER KILL HAVEING THAT MUCH SUB POWER ? THE REASON I ASK IS MY FRIEND SAYS THAT IF I BUY 1 MORE AND HAVE 4 SUBS IT IS A OVER KILL. BUT I TOLD HIM THAT I LOVE BASS ITS NOT LIKE IM GOING TO HAVE THEM AT FULL VOLUME.

I just have the pics of the VTFs which I posted earlier. It's not overkill if you love great bass! But they are in two different systems, so I am not using them altogether. The VTF's are in my home theater, and the ULS's are in my bedroom.

It's hard to say if another sub will be a big improvement for you. It's true that more subs will require less gain individually to reach the same SPL level in your room thus lessening distortion, but if you get another VTF, one thing to consider is how much harder those Klipsch subs will be working to keep up with the VTF's. For a cleaner sound overall, I would just remove the Klipsch subs and replace them with another VTF3. I would guess a single corner loaded VTF will be more powerful than two SUB 10's anyway. Multiple subs is a good thing, but when you mix powerful subs with much weaker subs, the weaker subs have to be driven much harder to make a significant contribution, and they could possibly be adding much more distortion to the sound than you would have otherwise. But I don't know how loud you typically listen to anything at, so that may not be an issue for you at all.

[cacihome]

^^^I agree.

[ROBERT760]

HEY GUY'S YA I AM GOING TO REPLACE THOSE 2 KLIPSCH WITH A VTF-3 AND IM GOING TO TRY THE VTF-3 BY THEM SELF'S TO HEAR THE DIFFERNCE. YA MY FRIEND IS TAKEING MY VTF-3 TO HIS HOUSE TO HEAR IT AGINST HIS MFW-15.TO SEE I HE SOULD SELL HIS MFW-15 AND BUY A VTF-3.

[monkuboy]

Originally Posted by ROBERT760

HEY GUY'S YA I AM GOING TO REPLACE THOSE 2 KLIPSCH WITH A VTF-3 AND IM GOING TO TRY THE VTF-3 BY THEM SELF'S TO HEAR THE DIFFERNCE. YA MY FRIEND IS TAKEING MY VTF-3 TO HIS HOUSE TO HEAR IT AGINST HIS MFW-15.TO SEE I HE SOULD SELL HIS MFW-15 AND BUY A VTF-3.

Please make sure to post the results of your friend's comparison between the MFW-15 and the VTF-3!

[Pete_Hsu]

Great pictures Robert! What did your son say about the -3 MK3 subwoofer?

We are looking forward to your friend's impressions too

Sincerely,

[nottaway]

Originally Posted by ROBERT760

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Attachment 1220WELL I HAVE HEARD THE MFW-15 WHO PEPOLE WERE SAYING THAT IT WAS BETER THAN THE VTF-3 MK3 AND CRAIGSUB RANKING RATED THE MFW-15 AT 103 POINTS AND THE VTF-3 MK3 91 POINTS. YA I THINK THAT PERSON WHO RATED THEM DIDN'T EVEN HERE THEM BECAUSE I TEST THEM WITH MUSIC AND WITH MOVIES AT THE SAME SENCE.THE MFW-15 WAS HITTING HARD AND DEEP BUT WHEN I PUT THE VTF-3 AFTER BY ITS SELF DAM THE VTF-3 MK3 WAS LOUDER AND DEEPER AND I PLAYED THEM BOTH TOGETHER . JUST TO GET THE MFW-15 AT THE SAME SOUND LEVEL AS THE VTF3 I HAD TO PLAY IT HOT AND THE 15INCH DRIVER LOOK LIKE IT COULDN'T TAKE THE PUNCH DONT GET ME WRONG THE MFW-15 IS A GOOD UNIT. BUT THE VTF-3 MK3 IS A BEAST AND WILL SPANK THE MFW-15 IN PROFORMANCE. BEFORE I GOT MY VTF-3 MK3 I WAS GOING TO GET THE MFW-15 DUALS BUT MY FRIEND WHO OWN'S THAT MFW-15 TOLD ME TO GO HERE THE VTF3 I WENT AND WHEN I HERD IT. I TOLD PETE ILL TAKE IT AND A OTHER THING I DIDN'T LIKE ABOUT THE MFW-15 WAS THE PHASE AND THE CROSSOVER WHEN U MOVE IT AROUND. IT DIDN'T SOUND ANY DIFFERENT IT SEEM LIKE IF THOSE FUNCTIONS WEREN'T WORKING.BECAUSE WHEN I MOVE THOSE FUNCTIONS ON MY VTF-3 YOU CAN TELL A SOUND DIFFERENCE AND THE VTF-3 U CAN PUT IT NEXT TO A COUCH FOR NEARFILED. TO FEEL THAT DEEP BASS AND A CORNER AS WELL.THE MFW-15 CAN'T DO NEARFILED IT HAS TO BE NEXT TO A CORNER AND A WALL FOR IT TO SOUND GOOD. WELL THATS MY POINT OF VIEW ON HEREING THEM BOTH. HAVE ANY OF U GUYS HERD THEM BOTH?

Something is wrong with your comparison..... I had a VTF3-MK3 and bought a MFW-15 to replace it. The Hsu is an awesome subwoofer, but with a 12" woofer it doesn't have enough excursion to overcome the displacement handicap. 5-6db at 20Hz is A LOT. Furthermore the Hsu bottomed out frequently during low powerful scenes which the MFW has not.

Side note though: The Hsu worked flawlessly (1-2yrs) and ran cool no matter how demanding the playback was. I have replaced the amp on the MFW once already and its not a year old.

[Pete_Hsu]

The VTF-3 MK3 shouldn't be bottoming out easily unless running in the extended bass mode (ie. one port plugged, and bass extension switch set to '1 port open' mode) at high playback levels, or if running quite hot relative to the main speakers. Interestingly enough, based on our internal measurements, the VTF-3 MK3 has more maximum clean output capability below ~ 30Hz, and the frequency response linearity of the VTF-3 MK3 is very good too.

Anyway, this thread is over four months old, so let's move on shall we?