Bought the 1220. I prefer the big tube to a big box. The boxes take too much room in my small room and are harder to match with the other wood furniture. The tube was easy to stash in various out of the way corners, until I got the nicest response spot. (In the closet, under the bed, behind a door, etc.)I don't have kids so the exposed speaker at the top is not an issue. I did have to place the spikes on carpet to prevent vibrations. Am using the small amplifier that Hsu sells. Variable crossover and level control, automatic turn on and off with signal.
I have home theatre and mostly opera and classical music. Adds my personal taste in heft to music (also
took some fiddling to match it with various set up discs but didn't prefer the "flat" settings.

It also vibrates the entire apartment when playing movie material that has it. Jurasic Lunch, you feel the footsteps before hearing them. Very clear and "tight" for music. Paid less than $800 by going to Hsu (near me.) Think they have a cat in their warehouse, my cat can't leave the amp alone.

Great articulate bass that goes very low and very loud.

Exposed woofer on top, crossover selection not as user friendly as some, graphics on 500 watt amp faceplate could look a little more sophisticated

Where can you get clean tight bass going down to 16 hz for $1,200.00? What subwoofer puts out 120 db (two 1220's and one 500 watt amp) for $1,600.00?

Similar Products Used:

Auditioned HGS Velodyne line, Servo-15, Genesis 900, etc

Small footprint, Incredible bass, Low distortion, Cost

None at the price

I was on the look out for a future "dream sub" but all of them just seemed way to expensive to justify buying. One day I came across this site...
http://www.best.com/~eriko/www/bass/index.html
and it was interesting to see that the lowest cost option to low, loud bass was by using a Hsu TN1225 subwoofer. What impressed me further was the price difference between it and the other subs.

Anyway I checked out the Hsu Site at
http://www.hsuresearch.com/
and read all the greeat reviews. Luckily I also managed to find a local distributer here in Australia and bought the TN1220.
http://users.wantree.com.au/~colinf/hsu.htm
Colin was really helpful with everything I needed including a change in the crossover modules...which is currently 62Hz.

Looks:
Despite its unconventional shape once you have it in your living room you'll be suprised how it just blends in with the rest of your furniture unlike a huge, black conventional sub design. The sub itself is very light and has a small footprint making it easy to position. The amp didn't look like anything special and could be a little sturdier. I also noted like someone else that posted on this site that some of the amps screw holes were stripped.

Performance:
Wow! This sub really performs well with both music and home theater. The sub was really clean with very low distortion...this can also be mistaken for not being 'loud' or lacks 'punch' so be careful...but believe me an SPL reading will prove otherwise. Bass was tight, responsive and very very low. I ran a 10 Hz signal to it and the cone was still responding pretty well. How does this translate when watching a movie?

Take The Fifth Element as an example. The part where Bruce Willis is stuck behind the bar and the Mangalores fire a missle and 'boom'...what you get is a bass doesn't just vibrate the couch but shakes right through you as if a bomb had gone off. I tested it with several other movies playing pretty loud and never heard any clipping or bottoming out. The coolest thing about this sub is that the whole room might be shaking and rattling...but the sub seems to be oblivious to all this...it hardly vibrates despite the mayhem it causes all around it.

Music wise it performs just as well. It really adds weight to bass guitars, bass drums and other low pitch instruments.

If anyone has any problems with a Hsu sub I suggest they email Hsu to figure out the problem instead of sending it back immediately. I'm read some 2 or 3 bad reviews about the VTF-2 despite the majority of good reviews.

This sub will suit anyone who wants low, clean and powerful bass without wanting to spend too much money. Its small footprint also makes it a good option if space is an issue...but be careful you don't scare your neighbours away if you are an apartment dweller.

Similar Products Used:

DB Dynamics, JBL, Sansui

bass extention,maximum output,value

amplifier build quality

The Hsu sub is about all that one could ask of a sub without spending ludicrous amounts of money. I've read all the sub reviews that I could find, and I don't think that you could get anything comparale for less than $2000. It goes very deep. It goes loud. It does so cleanly. Getting the whole house to shake is no problem. This wouldn't matter much though, if it sounded boomy or untidy. It doesn't.The sound blends perfectly with my main speakers. It's narrow tubular shape makes it easy to position anywhere, particularly in a corner where subs work best.
The 500w amp that Hsu sells for this sub is fine for the job. Build quality could be better though.As delivered, it was assembled so out of square that it would rock on a flat surface. The screw holes didn't align well,and there was obvious signs of cross-threading during assembly.Iloosened the screws and held the amp on a flat surface while re-tightening them. This fixed the rocking.
Since I had to partially disassemble the amp, I took a look under the hood. There are heatsinks forming the side panels, but only one of them is used. There are some ic's that I assume are the crossover and equalization circuits. The amp itself appears to be largely made of discrete components.On the main circuit board is silkscreened "BAG END AMP 400".Apparently, Dr.Hsu subcontracts from the competition. The sub is rated at 250w and Hsu confirms that it was designed to operate into two subs, so I suspect that the full 500w is available only when driving a pair. I have no way of confirming this though.
Hsu advertises that if you give them your room dimensions, they will determine the best placement for the sub. They also have a form on their website to enter your room dimensions. I included a detailed scale drawing with my order, but never received any placement suggestions whatsoever. I found the right spot with some experimentation.
I strongly recomend this sub. I wouldn't even consider anything else I've heard at twice the cost.It does everything that a sub can be expected to do. Hsu describes a technic where you strap two subs together in a push-pull configuration. This doubles the output and halves the distortion. Actually, this would more than half the distortion because each driver would be playing at a lower level to get the same loudness. I've been tempted to try this, but I can't imagine why I would need more output in my 15' X 29' room.I was previously using two of the larger VMPS subs,each having a 12" and a 15" woofer plus a 15" passive radiator. A single Hsu goes deeper and sounds cleaner.This sub is excellent with music of all sorts, and is great fun with dvd. I'm not much of a fan of action flicks, but I've been renting them anyway, just to shake the walls.
Not just a great sub for the money, but a great sub period.

Similar Products Used:

VMPS larger subwoofer

nuf said.

nuf said.

Just got a pair of these babies. I haven't found their final listening place yet, but they sound/feel incredible!

Yes, they do fit behind things like a sofa, but they don't sound the best there. (Get them out when the wife is away) If you want to put them behind the sofa, make sure there is a lot of space behind it - otherwise it is too boomy, at least in my room. It is boomy for the same reason that subs often sound boomy in the corner. You do get a great massage. Once I even felt sick after a few organ tracks.

One plea to Dr. Hsu. Almost everyone that has these has mentioned that they are top heavy. Well, they have all understated the case. On carpet I was able to tip the sub with just a few ounces of pressure at the top of the sub. I took a kitchen scale and pushed it over. This is due in part to a heavy driver at one end. BUT the tipping problem could be significantly reduced by having more than 3 spikes at the bottom! If the subwoofer just had 4 or more spikes it would be a lot more stable than it currently is. Maybe there could be an optional base that would have a larger diameter. I may start a project to make my own. Anyone interested, or done this before?

You will have to lay the woofer down or secure it to the wall if you have anyone in the house younger than 20 years old.

These subs may have a small footprint, but make no mistake, THEY ARE HUGE! My room is very large with > 7000 cubic feet and, needless to say, these subs fill it with ease.
It looks like a cannon, especially since the only option is black. If you have two of them, it looks like you have a missle launcher. My friends drop a load in their shorts when they see it AND when they hear it. They are the ultimate conversation starters and everyone demands a lengthy demo. Even women want to hear it because they want to know what justifies a set of pillars in your family room that don't quite make it to the ceiling. Most women just don't understand, but we don't understand the need for 1.5 billion pairs of shoes either. ;)

I don't know what would happen to the sonics, but a wood-like covering would be a nice touch since these subs are very noticable.

I will post at another time when I have a solid audio opinion of these babies.

Buy these subs if you want all out performance and seemless integration with the front speakers. Get two of them if you want even more output with less distortion. This means you get more bass at lower listening levels with two of them. So you can enjoy more movies when the wife is there and she doesn't want to listen at theater/live levels.

Drop me a line if you have questions or disagree with me.

-Brent

Similar Products Used:

Velodyne, Polk(sucks), paradigm

Killer Sub, Extended bass, Great punch, Will outperform other subs costing in the thousands

500 watt amp does not come with frequency control :-(

I would just like to add that costumer support is A++. I needed to replace my Sub due to some problems I had. The people at HSU mailed me a new Cone immediatly and did not wait till I returned my Woofer. I replaced the Cone and Im back in buisness with one of the greatest Subs for under $1000. All you out there looking for the best Sub under $2500, dont think twice get this sub and you wont regret it garantee. The people at HSU are great to deal with and they know how to treat there costumers. Great Work HSU keep it up and pass the word !!!!!

P.S if you are a real bass freak with allot of space then get 2 subs with a 500 ($2000) watt amp that can run the two and warn your neighbors that its no earthquake they are about to hear and feal!

Similar Products Used:

Sunfire, Velodyn, M&K, Energy, Infinity, If heard them all including some Subs with weird names going for $5000 and I still wouldnt trade my HSU

Small footprint (.8 ft.). Deep, powerful, clean bass. Excellent for both HT and music. Incredible value.

None

It is difficult to express in words how satisfied I am with the service I received from Dr. Hsu (who took my order on a day off on his cellular phone!). A lot of companies offering internet sales could learn a few things from Hsu Research.

I purchased two TN1220HO subs and the 500W amp (@ $1800 shipped with 5 yr extended warranty on amp and two extra crossover modules). The amp has been redesigned with a thick aluminum front plate- very nice looking. After placing the subs in my room as per Dr. Hsu's recomendation, I fired up the Stereophile Test cd. At twenty hz at -20 db, I soon found myself collecting falling objects from the floor of my 1800 square foot listening/HT room. The beach scene in Saving Private Ryan (DTS) is frighteningly real with this equipment. In short, the low frequency extension is extraordinary, especially for a sub in this price range.

Musically, I was skeptical, considering that most subs with this level of HT performance lack musicality. However, these subs are accurate and clean, regardless of the type of music they're reproducing.

I would recommend this setup to anyone looking in the $1000-$3000 price range. (One sub and 250W amp come in at around $900) Take advantage of their 30 day audition. I suspect you'll like what you hear. (And in many cases, more importantly, what you don't hear)

By the way, the subwoofer humming problem is easily solved with a 69 cent 3 to 2 pin ground floater for the amp plug. This product truly lives up to its hype.

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm, Velodyne, Infinity.

Bass, Built, Sound, Explosion

None !

It’s a shame that someone broke the chain of 5 stars on this post but I guess that all good things must come to an end. I am surprised to see that this Sub did not work out for someone considering the fact that most people returned $2500 Subs for the HSU. You must remember that speaker placement especially Subs have to be correct or you won't get the sound and feel of the bass. It took me some time to find the right placement for this Sub but when I finally did after moving it around from one corner to the other I got it right. I needed to move the Sub far away from the corner in order to reduce the boomy sound I was getting from this powerful sub. I would recommend trying different placement in the listening room and moving it around to different corners, keep it at lease 3-4 feet from the corner also. It might be that your room is to small for this monster sub and you might consider a smaller HSU. Costumer support is A++ and DR.HSU was very helpful when I spoke to him. I am upgrading to their newest Amp (500 watt) which looks more attractive and can power two TN1220 at the same time. There is no doubt in my mind that the TN1220 is the best Sub on the market for anyone looking to spend under $3000.

Similar Products Used:

Sunfire, Paradigm, B&W, Pold Audio, Klipsh, Energy, Velodyne, I heard them all

Its Performance

not one thing

I brought this in Oct99 and I can not believe every time I turn it on it knocks me out with its low bass performance.
I am running it off a Hsu 250w amp and it kicks a Velodyne 18's butt. I do not know whats inside this tube but its just Unbelievable.
How can this light cyl with only a 12" driver do this ?
Unreal Performance that rocks my theatre with only 250watts.
10 Stars


Michael

Similar Products Used:

Velodyne,Paradigm,Krix,Energy

Just great in any way

None really (crossover, maybe, I am not sure)

I use two subs with the 500wt amp in parallel with
Klipsch ksf-8.5 powered by Outlaw. I am greatly enjoying
them for more than a year now and cannot imagine a better sub. It took for me awhile to set-up the system and find the right level of volume (I use 8 for stereo turned to max of bass and 9.5-10.5 in the direct mode) and the right placement (also using excellent communication with Dr. Hsu: extreely good service). My idea was to use to subs make 3-way speakers out of two ways Klipsches, and I think it works very well. I had some problems using the amp's crossover: the sound is very clean, but sort of lacks liveliness and bass. I tried 34hz and 41hz modules. Now I use preouts to mains to split them betweem Outlaw and
sub's amp (crossed at 41hz), and find it much better.
The bass is tight and loud and, which is the main point for me, I do not identifiy them as subs - they simply work as tight as a regular speaker system. Amazingly good subs.
I like the look too.

Similar Products Used:

Klipsch, Velodyne, M&K