Any reasonable subs for under £100?
- Thread starter Radiation
- Start date
I don't understand, why isn't there a sub under £100 that produces those frequency's accurately or is this just audiophile rubbish?
Im not looking for loud just something to fill out the bottom end better than bookshelf speakers, i refuse to believe there isn't anything decent around on a budget, it's not like speaker technology is that high tech, we should all be able to buy cheap speakers of very high quality in this day and age.
Im not looking for loud just something to fill out the bottom end better than bookshelf speakers, i refuse to believe there isn't anything decent around on a budget, it's not like speaker technology is that high tech, we should all be able to buy cheap speakers of very high quality in this day and age.
The biggest single costs of any speaker is the woodwork followed by veneered finishes. A budget sub isn't going to have a fancy finish, so that leaves us with woodwork. In order for the speaker to stop and start cleanly then the cabinet must be robust and solidly braced. That's just not possible for such a small amount of money, even with volume economics and Chinese manufacturing helping. The best you'll get is a box that sounds a little hollow when you rap on it with your knuckles. This means that the box will sing along with the driver. That's okay if you just want boom and rumble, but not what you want for accuracy.
For deep bass that stops and starts cleanly you need a big driver or a medium sized long throw driver and couple it with an amp that can control the cone supremely well. Those are expensive things to achieve.
Finally, for Hi-Fi use then you'll need an amp with high level inputs. The additional cost of the electronics has to come from somewhere.
These plus shipping and import costs, marketing costs, distribution margins, warranty support costs, manufacturer's profit, taxes and the rest is why the numbers just don't stack up.
For £100 secondhand you'll probably be looking at travelling to go pick up some old Paradigm stuff (PDR8) or Jamo (Sub 200), or Acoustic Energy (Aegis Evo Compact) or Wharfdale (SW150), maybe a old REL Storm, or god forbid some piece of cheap Eltax. The point is all of these subs were built for movies rather than music. So it didn't matter about precision just as long as they did deep and loud. You're looking for something altogether more sophisticated: a sub that does well for music. Straight away you're looking at subs that on average cost £500+ new, and they're not going to come up secondhand for £100 unless there's something wrong with them. That then leaves the new generation mini-subs such as the MJ Acoustics Pro 50 MKI. These hit the market at £300-£400 and undercut the traditional music/movie subs. That means they were very popular when new and also very popular in the used market too. As a result they hold their value well.
In short, unless you drop lucky on someone selling a high-end sub without realising its value then I think you should either be prepared to accept an AV sub or revise your budget up quite a bit to get the proper thing.
For deep bass that stops and starts cleanly you need a big driver or a medium sized long throw driver and couple it with an amp that can control the cone supremely well. Those are expensive things to achieve.
Finally, for Hi-Fi use then you'll need an amp with high level inputs. The additional cost of the electronics has to come from somewhere.
These plus shipping and import costs, marketing costs, distribution margins, warranty support costs, manufacturer's profit, taxes and the rest is why the numbers just don't stack up.
For £100 secondhand you'll probably be looking at travelling to go pick up some old Paradigm stuff (PDR8) or Jamo (Sub 200), or Acoustic Energy (Aegis Evo Compact) or Wharfdale (SW150), maybe a old REL Storm, or god forbid some piece of cheap Eltax. The point is all of these subs were built for movies rather than music. So it didn't matter about precision just as long as they did deep and loud. You're looking for something altogether more sophisticated: a sub that does well for music. Straight away you're looking at subs that on average cost £500+ new, and they're not going to come up secondhand for £100 unless there's something wrong with them. That then leaves the new generation mini-subs such as the MJ Acoustics Pro 50 MKI. These hit the market at £300-£400 and undercut the traditional music/movie subs. That means they were very popular when new and also very popular in the used market too. As a result they hold their value well.
In short, unless you drop lucky on someone selling a high-end sub without realising its value then I think you should either be prepared to accept an AV sub or revise your budget up quite a bit to get the proper thing.
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Soldato
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What would be the sub of choice then?
At this price range it will be whatever active sub you can get that appears second hand. Problem is the majority of people who buy a sub will know what they are getting and will probably know its resale value. Anything at this level is likely to be pretty much rubbish as sub's tend to hold their value.
I've just picked up a Canton Karat As 200 for £75 second hand. Always fancied adding a sub just as an experiment more than anything. Used to own a pair of pretty decent Stand Mount Canton speakers which were great although very bass shy so it should be half decent.
Retailed for around £550 back in 2005 so be interesting how it sounds with my speakers.
Retailed for around £550 back in 2005 so be interesting how it sounds with my speakers.
It should actually be pretty good. But you know the Canton brand as something more than the budget sub-sat kit sold by Richers, so it was less of a leap of faith.
There are hardly any reviews of that sub, so it hasn't held it's value well at all and that worked in your favour. If someone is prepared to take a gamble then a bargain can be had. I wonder though, would a novice sub buyer take that chance on an unknown product?
Caporegime
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I tried this and then realised that i either have to search and wait for a while or stump up the cash for a new one, which means something like a BK Gemini (£215).
Even these secondhand will be worth more than £100.
I ended up spending £450 on a BK 4XXLS400 (£425 + shipping), it is worth it and Lucid is right in that you can FEEL the quality of the construction but touch. For one thing, it weight in at 27kg!
I am not saying it is impossible to pick up something under £100, but you'll have to be patient and really lucky at the same time.
Saying that, I picked up a Wharfedale S something 150 for free a couple months ago on ebay...long story
Even these secondhand will be worth more than £100.
I ended up spending £450 on a BK 4XXLS400 (£425 + shipping), it is worth it and Lucid is right in that you can FEEL the quality of the construction but touch. For one thing, it weight in at 27kg!
I am not saying it is impossible to pick up something under £100, but you'll have to be patient and really lucky at the same time.
Saying that, I picked up a Wharfedale S something 150 for free a couple months ago on ebay...long story
Thats a very good point. I've never owned a sub though and wasn't especially looking for one i just went for a bit of an impulse as it seemed like a good deal. Which obviously worked in my favour.
I've recently had a bit of a nightmare where my amp blew the drivers in my speakers so need to try and replace everything and if this sub means i can consider stand mounts again then it could work well for me.
(When i get this sorted i'm still interested in our deal, its just not a neccessity for me at the minute. Sorry for messing you around though.)
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