Watching the DVD "Predator" in the battle seen where Arnold took over a village soon after the movie started. I looked over at my new Hsu Research TN1225HO subwoofer in the corner of my theater room, which sits right next to me with a funny expression and said "DAMN!!! This sub could'nt be this good". I wasnt expecting the sheer power that this sub with its 250 watt amp possesses. I did alot of research on the internet to find what is the absolute best subwoofer for the money. No doubt the $800 Hsu Research TN1225HO is it. You can equate the explosions in the movie to holding up a bowling ball and dropping it to the floor, it shakes that much. I love this thing and it's the best piece of my home theater. I was a little impatient, because I did'nt have the money for this sub so I tried the Velodyne CT-120. Its a good sub for the money at $520 and having an output of 87dbls@25Hz>10% distortion. But it doesnt have bowling ball dropping effects of the TN1225HO with 108dbls@25Hz>10% distortion. I returnrd the Velodyne and finally waited and got the Hsu. A matter of fact this sub according to Widescreen Review is the 4th loudest of nothing but the best subs out there. The Velodyne CT-120 didnt even make the cut. The two biggest Velodyne FSR-18 inch models is only one DB louder at 25 Hz. Then there is the king of subs,the mighty Contraband sub which is 115dbls@25Hz.These three subs are considerably more expensive than the Hsu. A matter of fact check this chart out on the internet for yourself at www.best.com/~eriko/www/bass/wsr_sub_comparison.html and see for yourself that this is bar none the best true powered sub for the money that will put a true smile on your face.

Powerful, Long bass extension, Good looking.

No Grille

Well, let's start with this, every DVD I play I have to worry about my house will get damage by this strong bass shaking my wall, and the water or gas pipe in the wall are making sound. That is how powerful this subwoofer can do to me. I use Hsu's 150w Amp and Denon receiver to drive this sub and the result is pretty impressive. I can feel the bass is good enough on everthing I play, DVD, Music CD, Direct TV. Also it can be too strong to damage house. I had 10" Energy (two) and 12" JBL before, both were not make me happy. I do not have chance to compare this sub to other high-end sub. But I trust my feeling. This is a good sub, and I am happy with it. The customer service is good too.

Similar Products Used:

Energy, JBL

see review -- we find it to be superb

none that we have noticed

We wanted more bass when playing music at very very low volumes and were pointed by the maker of our regular speakers toward the Hsu unit as the perfect solution. With this professional guidance we went ahead and ordered the Hsu TN1225HO, the 'shorter' of Dr. Hsu's two tall cylindrical subwoofers, and we are utterly delighted with it. It comes with its own amplifier and sure enough, we can now play music very very softly but turn up the subwoofer amp to enjoy the full low-end nuance of our music. The sound of it is warm and soft and powerful. "It pushes you ever so softly," says my girlfriend, in that sexy way of hers. She has fallen in love with the sound, and also with the subwoofer itself. With her, the Hsu unit has passed the ultimate wife acceptance test -- my girlfriend is an artist and designer who has turned our apartment into a palace. She loves the Hsu subwoofer so much she wanted to put it out in view, rather than in a corner as is recommended! Now THAT'S wife acceptance! Dr. Hsu very patiently explained to me personally such things as crossovers and polarity and whatnot and took and returned several calls from me seeking help and explanations. Customer service simply could not possibly be any better. At higher volumes this amplified subwoofer delivers with enormous power. It's unbelievable what this thing can do. But I wanted to put this review here just to point out how useful it is at low volumes too. Strongly recommended on all counts.

Similar Products Used:

none - this is our first subwoofer

Extremely loud,clean and deep bass. Design innovation of the subwoofer.

Unlike the innovation of the subwoofer, the 250 watt amplifier seems unconventional.

I have owned this product for almost a year and all I can say is this is the best powered subwoofer for the money. Anytime you can get 108 dbs@25Hz and 112 dbs@30,35&40Hz with less than 10 percent distortion for $800 you have got a winner. For home theater its simply incredible. Take the 4 Oscar winning movie "The Matrix" in which one of its prestigeous tropies came in the best sound catagory. The scene were the helicopter crashes into a building towards the end the movie shook my townhouse down to its foundation. It was very loud and very deep dipping under 30Hz. Most movie bass doesnt go under 30Hz. So even at 25 Hz thats as about expressive as you need for movies. I know there has never been a TN1225HO vs. TN1220HO
competition. But I'd venture to say at normal bass levels in the 30Hz. to 40Hz. range, the TN1225HO would win simply because very deep bass (16Hz-30Hz) was traded for ultimate output with clarity. There are few movies and only very small parts of those movies that sport less than 25 Hz. bass. For the very deepest infrasonic bass such as pipe organ, synthesizer music and movies with T-Rex like stomps in the distance, only a couple of subs can beat a TN1220HO. All in all both are great subs depending on what type of material you like
The TN1225HO is also a great subwoofer when it came to music. It was fast when it came to funk songs like
"Atomic Dog & Bad Mama Jama" and never failed to impress.
My neighbors really love me now. Bravissimo, Hsu Research!!!

Similar Products Used:

JBL TLX 181, JBL SVA Center

I am extremely pleased with this sub. First, Dr. Hsu was very helpful in advising me about room location and integrating it with my sorround system. His advice was right on - and given long before I even bought the subwoofer.
Second, the sub is everything that has been claimed for it. It goes down as low as promised and very cleanly. At the 61hz crossover it is impossible to localize it at all and it fills my large A/V room (15x25x9) with sound. It does what my Velodyne ULD-15 does in my other room, and more, for less.

This is the first major component I ever bought unlistened to and from a direct mail supplier - cant say I've been disappointed.

I bought a 12Va last June with an HSU 250 Watt amp. This sub was an upgrade to an old Velodyne 1012X. I didn't have the opporutinity to listen to many other subs (only the sunfire MKII, velodyne HGS-10, Def Tech. subs, and NHT-SW3) and cost was a consideration so I listened primarily to sub $1,500. subs. My first expectation upon listening to the 12Va at home was to get blasted into the wall. On the contrary, My first impression was not the impact that the HSU can deliver, but its freedom from distortion that I had been listening to with the Velodyne. Long story short, it was my first opportunity to hear what I consider tighter and cleaner low-ends. I never realized how important a good, low-distortion sub woofer makes in Home Theater and music presentation as compared to what I consider an inferior model (Vel. 1012X). I will now zealously recommend that any person spend extra money for a quality subwoofer for their system (even first time buyers) and HSU is on top of the list!I had similar experiences with other customers about the excellent custormer support that I recieved from Dr. Hsu. As a matter of fact, he responded to me by e-mail and phone several times during my purchasing decision.
I must finally say that as refined the HSU sub seems to me for its price, it still kicks like an elephant!. Turn up the volume on this sub and you will soon find every resonant mode in your house/apartment and everything will shake. A definite good deal for people wanting both good music and hometheater presentation. My mains are a pair of Proac Response 2's which are bass shy, and the 12Va sounds great with them! I recommend a cross-over of at least 62 to 80 Hz for this setup. Bravo HSU!

Well I promised an update on the Hsu subwoofer, TN1225HO, so here it is. This is the first update, I'll do another after properly calibrating the sub/system. More on that in the review...
I received the TN1225HO sub today along with the 250W amp from Hsu Research. The packaging was first rate, double boxed with lots of snakes, very well protected. Hsu provided the tracking numbers and shipped both items promptly.

I set it up at home this evening in a hurry with very little setup. The setup I did do was as follows:
- Connected the amp to my Denon 3300's sub out
- Set the xover on the amp at 80hz or so.
- Positioned the sub about 3 inches from the side wall and about 4 feet from the back wall (TV is angled, so positioning isn't correct for the sub at all...)
- Set my mains to large (they are 3 way ported designs which go down to 45 hz)
- Set my center and surrounds to small (the surrounds are very cheap stand-ins until my NHTs are ready. The center is a NHT SuperOne which will move to the surround position when the NHT VS-1.2a arrives next week.)
- Set the Denon sub mode to direct all LFE and 'small' speaker low-bass output to the sub only.

Watched the following DVD segments
- Top Gun (last fighter scene)
- Terminator 2 (THX Intro, movie Into and Bar scene)
- Deja VROOOM! - King Crimson (Three of a perfect pair - DTS)

Results
- WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
- Did I say WOW!???

Ok, now seriously.....
- The sub was *extremely* smooth (don't know how else to describe it) The sound had absolutely no booming or thumping. When I first connected it and played the scenes from Top Gun, I couldn't believe the extension to the soundtrack and realism it brought to the fighters. My lights and windows rattled but there was not a single harsh tone/thud heard.
- The sub can be made *extremely* loud. So loud I thought I was going to break my windows out they were vibrating so much. I had to back the amp off to 1/2 to even start making it match the system. It is by far the best part of my system now. When it was at the loudest, it was still very smooth. I can't believe it made the system sound so much better without any leveling/config...
- The build quality is good, much better than most have told me and that I thought I was going to get. The sub is extremely top heavy and does require a bit of work turning over properly. The lack of a grill on the top is a serious problem for those of us with 6 and 3 year olds! The literature says RS has a grill that can be used with it, I'm buying that tomorrow.
- It has a Wife Approval Factor of 10 (out of 10!) She absolutely loves the look and couldn't believe how much better the entire system sounded with it. When I played the THX intro on Terminator 2, she said it was better than our local Cinemark MegaTheater we usually visit!
- It was wonderful on the DTS disc of King Crimson. The music was very pure and the overall effect was like being at a Crimson concert (albeit without the smell of drugs to cloud the view of the set!!)

So, needless to say I'm very pleased with my purchase so far. I had demoed a Velodyne FSR-15 and the Mirage SS-1000 and the Hsu was better than either of them, both in the smoothness I mentioned and sheer output level I could push without distortion. I think I'm becoming a believer that you don't need to spend a bunch of $$ to get great sound!

Cheers,
Paul

This is for the TN1220HO Model. I cant seem to place it there so Im placing it here.I had a Sunfire MK II for about 2 years and I grew tired of it. It sounded good on movies but it lacked speed and punch when listening to audio music. I did some homework and I decided to order this Sub after selling my Sunfire. At first I was a bit skeptical about this sub even after reading all the reviews which state that this SUB can beat them all. When it arrived I was again skeptical seeing its rather unusual built quality and its cheap looking power amp which is rated at 250 watts. The Sub is not very heavy and easy to move around in order to find the sweat spot. After hooking it up and moving it around my small Living room I understood what the hype was all about! This Sub is a serious monster that can move a ton of air and rattle the floors to the point where you feel it will collapse on top of your neighbor’s head. Its far more musical than most Subs I heard and it will Kill even the Sunfire Signature. I did hear it clip at some times, but the output level was at the point where my apartment structure was in danger and things started to move around my apartment as if there was an earthquake. It has speed and tightness, an excellent grip on the cone, music sounds right with this sub. It takes little time for break-in but you must place this sub like All subs in the right position. I moved it far from my living Corner because the Bass was too powerful in that Area, It is placed against the wall at a distance of 6 feet from the corner. I saw a movie " The Matrix on DVD 5.1" and boy was this Sub giving me the chills. On the part when the two are practicing Kung-Fu and the trainer dives down and kicks a hole in the floor with his foot my apartment floor seemed to open up as if a T-Rex just entered the room. Clean Bass without distortion is one thing this SUB knows. In Home Theater I cant think of a better Sub on the market for under 3000$ that can outperform this Monster and I heard allot of Subs. I never got a chance to hear the Paradigm Servo-15, which I regret but I heard from more than one resource that the HSU will outperform even the Paradigm. I cannot Imagine what two of these Subs will do and I’m not going to find out soon because my insurance does not cover self made earthquake damages. If anyone knows if this is HSU's top model Sub please tell me, I might return it for a better HSU Sub because I am hooked. This Sub can, and will go into clipping if you abuse it, Its not a DJs Sub you find in a Club but it should be loud enough to rock a 1000 sqf Home theater space. If anyone heard a better Sub please let me know. I heard all the Velodyne Subs and they don’t touch the HSU except maybe the 18 Inch subs they sell which cost a fortune and weigh a Ton. I can only say that HSU should make there Subs a little more attractive with a bit better parts because they have a clear Winner. For the money and Sound I give it a 6 if I only could.

Aragon 8008BB
Acurus A250
Acurus A150
Sony TAE 9000ES
Sony DVP7700
Sony Wega XBR250
DH Lab cable
Paradigm Studio 80
Paradigm studio 20
Paradigm CC450
HSU Sub

I bought two TN1225 about a year ago and all I can say is WOW!!!! These subs still rock my house. I also have a M&K MX-150 THX sub which I use as my Low Frequency Effects Channel. Now you might be saying "3 SUBS is this guy crazy"(actually I am but that is a subject for the therapists couch) I did not just add the hsu subs for more volume but I also added them because my room would not allow me to use just one sub and get the desired effect to the entire viewing area (not just the sweet spot) and with the HSU & M&K subs you can also jump start your heart!!!!!!
If you have the space the HRSW12Va is even better, I listened to this sub in the HSU factory when it was in Santa Fe Springs, the 12Va was placed in front of me like a coffee table and I kid you not I almost fell of the couch when I heard this thing it literally scared me. I would have bought it but my space was limited.

I have been hearing that they are coming out with new sub with (1) active 12" Driver and (2) Passive 12" Drivers with a possible 800 watt amp that is in a smaller enclosure than the HRSW12Va, That would be awesome!!!!!!

the fit & finish of these subs leaves much to be desired but the performance to price ratio is unbelievable (if you happened to have a 6 channel amp you can purchase these passive for about $350 and run them of your spare amp channel just make sure that your amp will push at least 150 watts into a 4 ohm load)

If you are looking for A great sub at an even better price do yourself a favor and try out the line of subwoofers from HSU. I am waiting for that sub with the (3) 12" drivers I am gonna try to put it under a coffee table in the center of my room and scare the hell out of myself. hehehhehe........

This subwoofer blew me out with its powerful bass. HSU has come up with this fantastic sub woofer which occupies little space (.8 sqft) but sounds like its big brother 12Va. Utilizing a 12'' driver and a 250W MOSFET amp, I have measured 100db spl at 31Hz in my house using a radio shack meter at moderate volume.The sub woofer blends perfectly with my present music system and with HT its fantastic.
I compared the TN1225 with Klipsch SW12 and the Velodyne F1200 at my home and the HSU came out the winner in terms of performance, clarity and loudness.
I would highly recomend the TN1225HO who is looking out to add a sub to their system.
I like the cylindrical shape and the looks of this sub. It can be tucked away in any corner of the room.