Best Subwoofer Around $500 USD?

So I’m looking to upgrade my subwoofer in the next two months or so, and I was hoping to get some people’s opinions on what they think the best sub is around this price point. My current sub is the monoprice 8" sub that is part of their Energy Take Classic ripoff 5.1 system, which is ok, but doesn’t really dig down as far as I would like it to.

In my considerations are the SVS SB/PB 1000, Monolith 10" Sub, RSL Speedwoofer 10s, but I’m open to other suggestions.

I mostly play videogames with my surround sound, but I would also like for a sub to be at least passable for music as I listen to a fair amount of that as well. Ideally I’m trying to get pretty solid, clean output down to 20Hz.

The svs pb 1000 might be what you are looking for then. I doubt you will get a satisfactory 20hz response, but you would really have to up your budget for that

Any thoughts on the Monolith 10? Also I’ve hear a lot about the HSU vtf2 mk5 as well as the rythmik lv12r, for about 100-150 more. I’d be willing to wait and save a little longer if those are significantly better than a PB-1000

If you can get the LV12F that would be worthwhile imo, better then the vtf2 and the pb1000 imo

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I put together a Dayton subwoofer kit with 15" driver, sealed box, and 300 watt amplifier about 8 years ago. It still sounds great and is going strong. The reviews of the Ultimax line seem to be quite positive. The following combo is close to $500. I think the amp might be the same as the one I bought (or a similar looking update) years ago. You’ll have to do some assembly and possibly finish the cabinet. But the extension and tunefulness of the kit I have is great. I can’t imagine this combo being a step back:

That would also be a great option if you don’t mind some assembly. Not the greatest for music but would get the job done for sure lol

How big is your room? This is avs forums list of best subs, number 1 is the Bic Acoustech PL-200 II Subwoofer for $300 (I did a little write up about it) and it can play down that low, you should seriously look at getting 2 cheaper subs as opposed to getting one more expensive one, it will really even out your bass response and fill your room as well as giving you more output, also consider doing the subwoofer crawl and finding the best place for it in your room, I use dual subs and I’d never go back to a single after having duals.

That will give more output which is good for theater, but one better quality sub is better for music imo

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Ya I just read the part about him wanting it for games, I uses ported subs for music, I think they sound great, but than again that doesn’t mean jack shit since I’ve never had a sealed sub.

No I mainly mean buying two cheap subs vs one nice sub. The sealed vs ported is a different thing

Ya but with duel subs you can really even out your frequency response over the whole range, and make up for any nulls or peaks you might have the frequency range.

For the bass region, and with a good sub you can do that with only one imo. With a better quality sub you can get more control over the driver with a better frequency response for music

Having 2 subs is totally worthwhile but at this price range I’d rather have 1 quality sub over 2 meh subs

Going for SVS SB/PB1000 or Rythmik lv12r id bet DrDave will be more than pleased.
They like Epic gear compared to the rest of the surround set.

If the good Dr is going to update the speakers later on, both sub’s are still very good choices.
Also if the scale goes more to movies and music the 12" Rythmik gives more.

Unless going for BIG. Heavy speakers upgrades and room has space. Then 2 subs would be good and you can add one later on if 1 is not enough.

I should clarify that my while my sub is from that monoprice system, the rest of my speakers are not. I actually have Elac Debut B6.2s in the front, the Andrew Jones Pioneer Center Channel, and Micca Covo-S for my surrounds.

I don’t really have space (or WAF lol) to go for two subs right now. The room is just a side bedroom that we have in our townhome, I don’t think its bigger than 12’x12’ and honestly it’s probably more like 10’x10’ or 10’x12’.

I’m seeing that there’s also an L12 in addition to the L12F. Is the primary difference between the two just that the L12F has more output due to being ported? I think I can make either work in my room, but if the L12 would be more “musical” and have the same rough extension then I wouldn’t mind losing a bit of output.

I’m not cranking them crazy loud anyway as we’re in a townhome so we share walls and I don’t want to piss the neighbors off too much lol

If you wanted more output, the LV12F would be better, but if you wanted a sub for more music the L12 would be great. I have some rythmik subs and really like them

Does the L12 still have decent extension down to 20 Hz? The FR graph looks pretty good, and I wouldn’t mind paying a little bit less and it not taking up tons of space. Again, coming from a little Monoprice 8" sub, anything is gonna be a pretty massive improvement

Really imo you won’t get a sub that will preform well at 20hz at this price. It will be down to 30 pretty good imo

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I gotcha, how much would you say it costs to perform well at 20 Hz? I think the L12 is probably what I’m gonna go with but I’m just curious how much more it takes

Well I am using a pair of F25’s and it gets low lol. But home theater subs can traditionally get lower, but at the same time with less control. The LV12F will get lower but might not be as “musical”