You can find honest opinions on just about everything here at ye ole S2ki.com so I thought I'd give my question a shot as there are sure to be some home audio/theater buffs here.
I'm looking for some real world recommendations for a subwoofer for my small budget home theater system. Wish I had more $'s for the premier stuff, but I'll need to take a bigger bite out of my new mortgage for that.
I recently purchased the Klipsch Quintet satellite system to replace my aging speaker set. Although the Klipsch's are very nice, the system came without a subwoofer and my current sub just isn't up to snuff and is now the achilles heel of the setup.
I am considering these subwoofers now:
Klipsch KSW-10 (This is the sub usually packaged in combo w/ the
Quintets)
JBL PB-10
Infinity IL100
Unfortunately, I wish I could listen to all three and compare, but I
am unable and will be buying over the net.
Thanks for any tips, pointers & recommendations!

 

go with paradigm all the way. Excellent price and awesome quality. You can buy paradigm speakers for same or less than circuit city crap and have much better equipment

 

I too would reccomend Paradigm..The quality for the price is outstanding.. I have the 5 channel referance series with the Dipolar surrounds and am very happy with them

But always keep your eye out for a cheap Velodyne...Mine is downright scary when it gets pumpin

 

http://store.yahoo.com/hsusubs/vtf2.html
But you can find it a bit cheaper elsewhere.

 

http://www.harmankardon.com/product_detail...UB%2012&sType=C

Harmon/Kardon home subwoofer..

 

For the price of some of the subs in those links, I'd go the DIY route:

Adire Audio Shiva $125:
http://www.adireaudio.com/diy_audio/driver...adire/shiva.htm

Partsexpress.com plate amp (250W) $119
http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showdetl.cf...t_ID=9388&DID=7

Adire has several reference box designs for the shiva on their site (linked from the url above) that can be built for well under $100 in materials. So, you're looking at somewhere around $300-$325 for a 12inch woofer with 250Watts RMS that is guranteed to keep the neighbors awake at night!

 

I would recomend the Servo-15. Great depth and power,I'm totally satisfied with my purchase.

 

get a pair of Dr. HSU research subs. they will literally rock your world. oh, and a pair of his subs is still chearper than most of the typical subs found in stores.

 

Check out www.hometheaterspot.com for some great opinions. The favorite brand over there is SVS -- reference level performance at much lower than reference pricing. However that's still probably more than you're looking to spend. Personally, I have the Yamaha YST-SW800. Only a single 10" driver, but 3" total movement range, goes down to 18Hz, and 1000W amp. Mmm....

 

Definitive Technology - Actually located in Owings Mills, highest quality products I've seen in a looooooooong time. I have only their CLR2500 center channel w/ built in sub; but their 15" powered sub is awesome. www.definitivetech.com

search for def* tech* on ebay