Nice Looking sub. Deep powerful. Very good to small to medium size room (with low ceiling). If you have Cathedral ceiling, be careful, it may not work best.

Nothing really if the application is for small to medium room.

This sub rocks. But be aware that depending on your room size, this sub may not work well to you. At first I was disappointed with the lack of punch when I used it at home. I have a cathedral ceiling and have 19ft x 24ft uneven shaped living room. Well the sub goes down really deep but can't feel the punch. When I tried it out to my friends house, where he has bonus room above his garage measuring about 14 x 25 and the ceiling is low, the sub rocked his bonus room and vibrated the floor and walls. I can't believe an almost night and day difference I've heard. With the audio gain you get from the smaller compact room, you can't ask for more for this sub. I have joked that I need to move to get a smaller room for my HT so I don't have to return the sub, but of course I opted to upgrade to a bigger and more powerful sub. The 12" 320watts SVS sub I got just filled my living with no problem. But this is for the HSU STF-2 review so I won't expand more on the SVS sub.

Similar Products Used:

SVS, Sony, Outlaw, Mirage

Accurate sound Superb performance even at low sound levels Professional performance for a reasonable price Not too large

None!

Fabulous subwoofer. Far better than I had expected. I have JBL E60 speakers (excellent) and originally I purchased a matching JBL E150P sub, but it seemed to have no detail, just a thumping, so back it went. I decided to go with the STF-2 based on other reviews and wow the performance is unbelievable! My living room is about 12ft by 18ft with a thick carpet that tends to absorbs sound like crazy. My old speakers sounded dismal in there. The E60s and the STF-2 together are perfect, filling the space with a fantastic soundstage and clarity. I can't believe how well the STF-2 matches the E60s with very little effort on my part setting it all up. My Amanda Marshall CD has very low subtle bass guitar, and for the first time I've heard sounds that I've never heard before - even at low listening levels. At double the price, this sub would still be a bargain. Before choosing any other sub, you have to do yourself a favour and listen to the STF-2.

Similar Products Used:

JBL E150P

Deep and Clean Easy to Tune Hsu support is excellent Hits like a truck

None that I can find, Maybe could be more attractive with wood finish but I use mine as an end table.

Update to my last review. Sub broke in nicely and what is amazing is the fact that it blends so nicely and does not have that boomy effect, the bass is powerful yet tight and fast. On movies the punch is instant then dissapates, rather then hanging around like lesser subs. It is professional grade-

Similar Products Used:

REL Quake Velodyne Paradigm PDR-10 Most$500 an under popular subs

Deep and powerful Clean Looks Musical and detailed

None so far

This is a very tight sounding sub with plenty of punch. I have used it mostly for music and it does a great job. It still needs time to break in though and thats when the fun starts. Already blows away my old Paradigm PDR-10 for sound quality. One of the best I have heard in recent memory and I have been looking for 2 years.

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm PDR-10 CSW P500 JM Labs Chorus S 700SW Klipsch RF Martin Logan

Clear, deep base that doesn't quit or break up. Blends perfectly with my current speaker system. Can't tell where the sound is coming from. Reasonable size and it fits under a table that's about 20" high.

Nothing that is meanigful to me.

This HSU STF2 sub is awesome. I have previously had four subwoofers and returned them all because I was not pleased with the sound. Mostly, these subs were just plain loud but muudy sound. Not so with the STF2. The sound from this sub is clear and deep with no muddiness. I am shocked at how much music and sound that I have been missing with my current main front speakers which have 8" powered woofers incorporated. The first movie played to test the STF2 was Top Gun, which my wife and I have heard maybe 10 times in the past three years. Set at just aboput 20% of power available, we couldn't believe the volume and additional sound that the STF brought out with perfect fidelity. We were thrilled. After, we played a USA patriotic Mannhiem Steamroller CD and knew that this subwoofer was nothing short of awesome. We heard music that had about as low as one can hear, again with perfect fidelity, and that shook the walls and lamps. I had been following the reviews on this site and it was through those reviews that I wanted to try the HSU subwoofers. I am so glad I saw the STF2 at CompUSA and listened there before I bought it. This won't go back. It's the best speaker I have ever bought. Maybe some people would like to pay several thousand to get the equivalent sound and for bragging rights. Not me. HSU's STF2 is a diamond in the rough. Would like readers to know that the room I have the sub in is big -- 22ft wide and 24ft deep and 10ft ceilings and with one and a half of the wall space opening into other rooms. This sub could drive one out of the lower floor of my home (about 1,500 sq.ft.) if I turned the volume up to 50% to 60%. Awesome is my only thought.

Similar Products Used:

Klipsh, Bose, Infinity

Performance, price and customer support

None yet

I picked up my STF-2 at CompUSA based on the positive reviews here and in the various forums. I’d been on the fence about upgrading my sub for about a year and was a little leery of buying a sub without auditioning it but have not been disappointed. I’ve spent the past 10 days or so “tweaking” it, moving it around, calibrating the SPL, playing every DVD, CD, etc. I am extremely pleased with this sub. My wife noticed the difference immediately and last night my 16 year-old told me the avalanche scene in XXX was pretty awesome – he was right. The frequency range is as advertised - 25Hz-120Hz It sounds great with music too. Not overbearing but you can feel the kick drum and hear the bass player pluck the various notes. It’s definitely a keeper. While it’s performance is impressive, the support and dialog I’ve had with Dr. Hsu and Sasha Goodman have been equally impressive. I requested a recommendation on room placement and got a reply from Dr Hsu within 24 hours on a weekend!! I can’t remember the last time I got such great customer support (let alone the president of the company) on a product!

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AR 112PS, Sony SAWM20

Way underpriced for the value. Rich and full throated bass, no distortion and ample volume.

None.

I am using this sub mostly for Home Theater. I am very pleased with the purchase. Although I bought mine at compusa I would recommend purchasing thru the hsu website. I base this on reading several comments concerning bad experiences with damaged products at compusa. I had no problems and consider myself lucky. The sub is amazing. I have it matched to an Onkyo 501 (x-over controlled by the receiver recommend set at 80 and speaker settings to small). The other speakers in the system are 3 BIC America dv62-clr in front and 2 BIC dv62-si as rears. I love the sound from this sub and the way it blends in with my system to give a totally immersing experience watching movies. This sub replaced a BIC v1220 sub. Despite its smaller size it far outperforms the BIC.

Similar Products Used:

BIC America v-1220 KLH (costco 10 inch model)

Way underpriced for the value. Rich and full throated bass, no distortion and ample volume.

None.

I am using this sub mostly for Home Theater. I am very pleased with the purchase. Although I bought mine at compusa I would recommend purchasing thru the hsu website. I base this on reading several comments concerning bad experiences with damaged products at compusa. I had no problems and consider myself lucky. The sub is amazing. I have it matched to an Onkyo 501 (x-over controlled by the receiver recommend set at 80 and speaker settings to small). The other speakers in the system are 3 BIC America dv62-clr in front and 2 BIC dv62-si as rears. I love the sound from this sub and the way it blends in with my system to give a totally immersing experience watching movies. This sub replaced a BIC v1220 sub. Despite its smaller size it far outperforms the BIC.

Similar Products Used:

BIC America v-1220 KLH (costco 10 inch model)

Low crossover, tight, musical, plenty of volume for music, easy to set up, user-friendly. Free shipping.

Not exactly an attractive addition to your home, unless you like the industrial look. I have it hidden behind an easy chair in the corner. If you really crank up the volume, plus set the frequency crossover to 90 (for your disco), it vibrates audibly.

Model year: 2004 I'm using the subwoofer for music, not movies. I had been reading about REL Strata subwoofers for a long time to add some depth to my Magnepan 1.6 speakers. Now, Magnepan speakers have magnificent bass within their frequency range. So the two primary concerns with a subwoofer are 1) the ability to set the crossover low so as not to contaminate the Magneplanar bass, and 2) obviously, tight musical bass. The REL Stratas are famous for having these characteristics and are popular among Maggie owners. However, I never felt the 1.6's were so lacking in bass that I could justify the expense. I had been eyeing the well-reviewed Hsu subwoofers also because they were somewhat more inexpensive than the RELs, but they never quite achieved the price point that persuaded me. So when Hsu came out with the STF-2 at $399, it really caught my attention. This is the highly regarded VTF-2 without the option to switch to high volume party mode, which never interested me anyway. (Unless you're operating a disco, I can't imagine why you'd want more volume than the STF-2 provides, for music anyway. Perhaps more volume would be desirable to have the room shake when you're watching dinosaur movies.) The rest of my system: Budget Sony DVD/CD/SACD player (DVP-NS500V) Emotive Erato Tube Preamp (type 27 tubes) Emotive ETA Amp (6SN7 and KT88 tubes, 64W at 1 kHz, 0.6% THD + noise; 72W at 1.0% THD + noise) XLO interconnects and speaker cables Types of music I listen to: Classical, Jazz, Blues, Rock, Folk, certain kinds of country (e.g., Mary Chapin Carpenter, Julie Miller, Iris DeMent) Speaker cables run between the main speaker outputs of my amp and the "High Level Inputs from Amplifier" on the Hsu. This taps the signal from my amplifer, but since the subwoofer has its own amplifer, there is no noticeable drain on my amplifer. After experimenting with various settings and just listening, I settled on turning the Crossover Frequency Control to its minimum setting, 30 Hz (crossover can be set between 30 and 90 Hz, bypassable). The stated frequency response of the Magggies is 40-22k Hz, +/- 3dB. The stated frequency response of the STF-2 is down to 25 Hz. There is a phase switch allowing the options of 0 or 180 degrees - it sounded better (stronger) at 180. I used the Sterophile Test CD and my ears just to see what difference it made. Without the STF-2, the Maggies gave nice strong tones down to 50 Hz (there's no tone on the disc between 50 and 40 Hz). The tone at 40 Hz was almost inaudible. With the STF-2 added, volume knob at 12:00, I heard a strong tone at 31.5 Hz, and almost nothing at 25 Hz. These are the settings I'm using for music. Most of the time, I'm very pleased with the results. Turning the subwoofer volume between minimum (off) and 12:00 revealed that a surprising amount of music really doesn't need the subwoofer. However, when you feel that added depth at times, it's very satisfying. Usually there's no issue of added bass not blending well with the rest of the music - it sounds very natural, like an essential part of the whole. On certain popular music discs, the bass sounds exaggerated, which I regard as a problem with the recording, not the subwoofer. The subwoofer arrived very soon after I ordered it on the Hsu website, in perfect condition.

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Sony Dream System subwoofers