Performance for the price.
Size.
Quality and impact of bass.

None yet.

I was looking for a small sub for under $500 and the HSU had many positive reviews here so I decided to go ahead and get one. It is being used for both home theater and music and so far I am very impressed.

Room placement was pretty easy since the sub is so small. It tucked neatly into a corner behind my right front speaker and is barely noticeable (visually). I have it connected to the LFE output from my Chiro C-802. It was very easy to match the NEAR 50Me IIs that I have for front speakers. The NEARs go pretty low but the VTF-2 went much lower and really added impact and no coloration. I was worried that it would not sound good with the NEARs since they use a metal diaphram and are very quick but the HSU matched easily and did not stand out at all as a seperate speaker. Suddenly I have another 10-20Hz of bass below what I had before.

I've watched a few movies (Matrix, X-Men, Gladiator) and all sounded great. A few times while watching The Matrix I could really feel the action. I'm sure the neighbors a few doors down did too!

For music I've tried "Pictures at an Exhibition", "Toccata and Fugue", "Also Sprach Zarathustra", Enya and a bunch of other stuff and it all sounded excellent. Not too much and deffinately not too little bass.

The HSU sounds every bit as good as my old Velodyne ULD-15 and costs less than half as much and is much smaller. Plus I had nothing but problems with the Velo (granted it was one of their old models). I don't think the VTF-2 can be beat for under $1000 and for $499 it's a real bargain!

Similar Products Used:

Velodyne ULD-15

Very Musical, Plays Loud And Clean, Equally Great for HT and Music, Easy Placement

None Yet

What a great surprise! I thought I would give this sub a shot after reading the reviews in Audio and HT Mag. I wanted to buy an M&K but they got a bit pricy. I was looking for a sub that could keep up with my maggie speakers and not be boomy. This sub is it. Right out of the box I knew I found the sub I was looking for. This sub plays alot louder than its rated 150 watts and 10" down firing speaker. It fills my 18X12 room easily. The Def Tech PF15Tl is a great sub, not quite as musical, but with all that power, it was like killing a fly with a tank in my room. I tried the Hsu in various places around the room and settled on the corner behind one of my magnepans. The extension was more there, but this sub could be placed in the coffee table or end table position as well. Very veristile can change for more extension or more output by changing a switch amd using the supplied plug for one port. I recomend the extension mode. Bought for only $399 from Kays Interiors. Far superior in build quality, sound, speed than the Klipsch KSW12 it replaced(I cant understand the rating that sub gets on this site.) Highly recommended. Better subs out there, but you will pay double. Best in the sub $500 class. I agree with Audio Magazine calling it the best $500 tweek you'll ever do.

Similar Products Used:

Velodyne CT-100, Def Tech pf15TL, Klipsch KSW12

Outstanding accurate bass response

None so far . . .

I read the Widescreen Review "the Essential Subwoofer Buyer's Guide" and was impressed with the evaluation, as compared to all the other subwoofers covered. Needless to say when I got my VTF-2, I was NOT disappointed! This sub puts the Klipsch KSW-15 to shame! I've had friends over that are seasoned Home Theater enthusiast, and the cannot believe the dynamic sound this little sub puts out. Listening to the Matrix, Jurrasic Park and lately the superb Steely Dan "2 for Nature" in DTS, I race on home from work everyday just to hear music like I have never heard it before. No more 2 channel, black and white for this boy! The only thing I wish beyond this one VTF-2 is to be able to afford another. TTFN

Similar Products Used:

Klipsch KSW-15

Deep, fast, bass. High volume output. Sounds great in HT mode and surprisingly very very good for music

No major flaws so far.

$449 out the door with FREE SHIPPING!! Cant beat that!
WWW.NAX.COM
Over the past 10 months or so I started to put together a modest HT system. Up until a few days ago it consisted of a Denon 2800 Recevier, a Denon DVD-1000 dvd player, NHT
Super Ones for the fronts, NHT SuperZero's for the rears,
and the matching NHT center. A good bang for the buck system. The only thing I needed to complete my system was a good sub. So I started looking around for the best $500 sub. I listened to NHT, KLH, Paradigm and various other models at the local electronic super stores. I even had
two KLH 8" subs for a while....didnt work, impossible to tune two subs to various DVD's/CD's. Got rid of the KLH's and went to Northern Audio and Home Theater
(WWW.NAX.COM) to check out the HSU VTF-2. Mark (owner) had the latest version sub on the floor. The new sub offers a defeatable crossover and a couple of other improvements over the original version. When I got the sub home it was too late to crank up but what I heard was very impressive for a unit just out of the box. This sub can play very deep and is extremely efficient. Dont let the 150 watt rating sway you. Its how you use the watts that matters. It not only plays deep but very loud. I have my unit in a corner so it gets some help from the room boundries but I cant turn its volume control past 9:00 because it plays that loud. Even when it was in the center of the room it was very very loud. This sub is-as many others have said- very musical. Alot (most) subs are good for HT but few are really good for music. Most bang out the same slow, one bass note. This sub plays music. It follows the music accurately and doesnt boom the same note. It really is that good. It didnt take long to fiqure out that this was one hell of a sub. Its been reviewed by so many magazines and so many others here that we all cant be wrong. This sub has brought my dvd's to life. It adds impact, depth, and realism to the dvd's and when you use it for music it really fills in the bottom end w/o taking anything away from the music. (I still do alot of 2 channel listening).
It is without a doubt the best sub for the money and beats the crap out of most others that are 3 times the price. Read the rest of these reviews and listen to what everyone
is saying. While I'm here I'm gonna plug my local audio
store. Check out www.nax.com I paid $449 out the door.
and for you out of town folks you get FREE SHIPPING...Thats
not a typo!

Similar Products Used:

listened to many brands before settling on this one.
KLH, Boston, Infinity, Velodyne, etc etc

Incredibly musical, but also good for movies. My wife says she hears it all over the house. Top Gun was an incredible experience.Tried the Sterophile test disc and heard everything.

Very sensitive to placement. My first try had the base sounding wonderful as I walked around the room but disappeared at my listening position. Located it behind everything and it literally filled every inch of the room.

I asked my wife to give me this for Christmas. This is dangerous because she is not into audio and has been abused by dealers in the past. When she ordered they made an extra effort to get it here before Christmas. A class operation. Makes my Rotel Receiver sound great.

Similar Products Used:

My mains go into the mid 30 Hz area so hadn't really tried a subwoofer, but it was the next logical step.

Plays low bass loud (if you want)

Somewhat short auto-standby timeout, like all subwoofers can be tricky to setup.

The HSU Research VTF-2 is an excellent subwoofer in my opinion. The VTF-2 gets really low when playing test tones in my room. The subwoofer adds good punch to movies and a firm foundation for music.

Running through the gambit of bass heavy DVD's and music (Lost In Space; ch 1, Titanic; ch 7, Speed; Bus explosion scene, Matrix; Helicopter Rescue, Matrix; sparring session Saving Private Ryan; Tanks) can say that I have ever heard (or felt) such bass response.

The VTF-2 allows you to choose modes of operation. The first mode provides frequency response down to 20hz and the other mode gives greater output in the 30-60hz range. I have never tried the latter mode.

My room is 23x10 with an additional 12x10 (feet) room adjoined via French doors. Because of the narrowness of my room, the space between the main speakers (and beside the television) was not very attractive place to put the subwoofer. I tried the subwoofer in various positions until finally putting it behind the listening position. During my setup phase, I also faxed a diagram of my room layout to HSU Research for guidance on placing the VTF-2. I got a very prompt reply that confirmed the location I chose behind by couch.

The VTF-2 integrated with my existing equipment very well. I have a Pioneer VSX-D608 DD/DTS A/V receiver driving JBL HLS-610 main speakers with a crossover frequency of 100 Hz (the lowest the D608 will go). However, the standby period is sometimes really short (like 5 minutes). I have never noticed the subwoofer turning off during movies (DD 5.1 and DTS 5.1), but do notice it while watching POTV (Plain Old Television).

Before making my purchase, I read many reviews of the VTF-2 in various magazines (reprints available UN-EDITED at http://www.hsuresearch.com). All of the reviewers for these magazines (Stereophile Guide to Home Theater, Sound & Vision) gave it high marks and ranked it as equaling subwoofers costing 2-3x more. These reviewers have heard many more subwoofers than I have, so I decided to purchase this subwoofer based on their reviews.

Being a small firm, HSU Research supports its products well. Every time that I have contacted the company, I have gotten a reply in a timely fashion. In today's eEconomy, that is an invaluable asset for a buyer.

If you have $300 to spend, beg, steal or borrow $200 to get this subwoofer. If you have $1000, buy your wife something nice with the $500 you save.

Similar Products Used:

None

customer service

output

I,just like Chris fom Napa Ca.,really wanted to like this sub. I bought this sub and was also lucky enough to borrow
the boston pv600,pv800 and the velodyne ct120 from a local dealer. I compared all the subs placed in the same loaction with the same material at the same volume levels. the Hsu while a nice sounding sub just did not pack the same punch i got from the boston(especially the pv600).i dont want to bash the hsu but for the money and for my room (20 by 22),it just work out as well as i had hoped. so off it went back to Ca. and i bought the boston pv600(my first boston product) for a hundred less than the hsu cost. and by the way they were all better than the velodyne.

Similar Products Used:

boston pv600,pv800,velodyne ct120,jamo,def tech

Fantastic value. Very quick, tight and musical. It can rumble with the best and not get boomy.

I've noticed the auto-shutoff and turn on during quiet times.

I just received this sub a few days ago and could not be more pleased with the purchase. My sub connection is a rather long run (40 ft.) and I was worried that this sub would not be as quick as my Energy 8" sub that I upgraded from. The HSU was at least as quick and tight while sounding much smoother without revealing it's location nearly as often. The VTF-2 compliments my NHT 1.5's and AC-1 perfectly. I did notice the same problem others have mentioned about the auto-shutoff and turn on, but only at low-volume backround levels. While I consider the Energy ES-8 to be a great bang-for-buck sub, the VTF-2 is a genuine thriller. I know that this sub will be a part of my system for a long time. Movie effect performance is stunning!

Similar Products Used:

Energy ES-8

Flat Response,Great SPL,Smooth Intergration,Good weight and speed,Very Low Distortion

None except I want a second one for my TV room and my wife wants a re-tile of the bathroom !

I tried many subwoofers up to $1000 and I seem to never be happy with the intergration of the sub to my ML SL3 speakers.
They all seem to lack pitch definition and speed to keep up with my MLs.
Kick drums sounded like Tom-Toms that lagged well behind my speedy MLs.The low distortion and flat response made it seem as though the VTF-2 was made for the job. I was worried at first that the VTF-2 would lack SPL on movies but boy was I wrong.

I slipped in the Matrix DVD and played back the action scenes and boy can this little sub knockout some mean ,tight, and deep bass (the whole room shook).
What surprises me is that it is so smooth and has very little distortion that you think it is not playing as loud as the other bigger subs but after checking levels and comparing them back to back I think I know its secret.

It was capable of doing 105dB in my room (as where the Velodyne,Paradigm,B&W +/-2dB) but it was undoubtably the smoothest,least boomy of all the subs. This was because it had the least distortion over it linear range.
Speed,accuracy and SPL what else could I want ?
Of coarse to pay less than $1000 .
So I won the lottery with this great subwoofer.
Well done Hsu "Awesome"!

Similar Products Used:

Velodyne CT-12/15 ,Paradigm PW-2200 ,B&W ASW-2000

customer service, value

distortion, port noise

I really wanted to like this sub. Dr. Hsu was the nicest guy you could ever ask to do business with. I spoke to him personally when I ordered this subwoofer from his factory and he was great to talk to.

Now for the sub itself - I used this sub in a home theater setup. I calibrated everything with a sound level meter and spectrum analyzer to make sure sub & sat's were properly integrated. At low volume levels the VTF-2 worked well, and seemed to have very good low-end extension for such a small unit. However, the VTF-2 never really seemed to deliver much of a solid punch unless it was driven pretty hard, and even then the impact was somewhat anemic sounding. At higher volume levels the VTF-2 couldn't keep up with my surrounds. Beyond a certain point I could still drive the rest of the theater louder without losing clarity or dynamic range but the VTF-2 gave up early and couldn't keep increasing in volume. Nor could it really fill my relatively small theater room (14 x 12 X 8) with sound the way you would expect.

The sound became quite distorted on Dolby Digital tracks like the Tyranosaurus Rex on Jurassic Park with sound levels above 100 dB. During especially loud peaks in action movie soundtracks at volume levels that were loud (but not unlistenable) the VTF-2 would whistle like the dickens with port noise which was quite distracting and effectively ruined the immersion factor of the scene you were watching. The sub's driver could also easily be made to blat and thwack (hitting the limits of excursion? I think that's what this was) In essence it was very easy to overdrive this sub, and it happened at volume levels you would normally expect to be usable.

This sub is probably not any worse than other subs in this price range, but for a serious home theater system it just doesn't have the authority to get the job done. To be honest it turned me off to this price category of subs, as I realized that to get true high-output 20Hz extension at near-zero distortion you gotta spend a little more cash. The VTF-2 would make a good apartment subwoofer, or nicely compliment a value-priced system that was not going to be used at theatrical sound levels.


FYI - I ended up replacing it with a M&K MX-125 MkII which can be found for about 2 times the cost but is easily more than 2 times as good (I have nothing bad to say about it, it totally rules).

My other theater equipment is:
3 Adcom GFA-535's
6 Infinity Reference 2000.2's
Denon AVD-2000 DD processor
Panasonic DVD-A310
Pioneer CLV-420 LaserDisc player

and for music:
Klipsch Cornwall II's
Golden Tube SE-40
Adcom GCD-575

Similar Products Used:

M&K MX-125, Paradigm Servo-15, Tannoy PS-115