Incredible Bass, Extremly low distortion, invisible bass, Reletivly small, Auto On/Off, Value

Pluged it in, put in a subwoofer tuning CD, and pressed play. WOW! This sub went lower, and clearer than anything I have heard before. Yet the whole time it remains invisible, never giving away its location. Goes below 20Hz in a room setting (especially my small listening room). Incredible for music AND movies. Play the tank scene from Saving Private Ryan and your soul shakes. Then play the DTS sting CD: Incredible. I even tested dance music for transient bass, and it kept right up. Highly recommended, the best value in Subwoofers.

Similar Products Used:

Car Subwoofers

Incredible Bass, Extremly low distortion, invisible bass

Pluged it in, put in a subwoofer tuning CD, and pressed play. WOW! This sub went lower, and clearer than anything I have heard before. Yet the whole time it remains invisible, never giving away its location. Goes below 20Hz in a room setting (especially my small listening room). Incredible for music AND movies. Play the tank scene from Saving Private Ryan and your soul shakes. Then play the DTS sting CD: Incredible. I even tested dance music for transient bass, and it kept right up. Highly recommended, the best value in Subwoofers.

Similar Products Used:

Car Subwoofers

Speed and tightness of its 10" woofer, it has the extension of 12" subs. The size and design of its box produce the bass of much larger subs.

Has an unsophisticated look. The size and design of its box could be a bit more refined looking. (Smaller box with a real wood finish would be nice. Grill cloth to cover that port plug would be nice too.)

This sub is great value. With all the subs to choose from in the world nowadays, few stand out as real dollar for dollar champs. I would definately put this one right at the top. Its performance and sound quality put it up against the venerable Velodynes and Definitive Tech's, while its price catagory place it in the land of Energy and Boston Acoustics. All of the subs that I auditioned were great performers. I'm not really into technical specs when it comes to speakers, because measurments should be left in the lab. It's about sound to me. All of the subs went down pretty low, some lower than others. I was able to localize some of the subs easier than others. With that said, the one that I knew I could live with for a long time and truely be happy with was the Hsu Research VTF-2. It didn't hurt that the VTF-2 was in the middle of the pack as far as price was concerned, and that its performance was close to the top of the pack.

Its musicality was superb, it was very easy to match the VTF-2 to my B&W 602s2's. I set the sub to "Maximum Extension" (25hz) and placed it in the front right corner of my listening room about a foot out from both walls. I drew up a diagram of my room and surrounding halls/doorways for Dr. Hsu and he told me that position would be best. (although he did mention that placing it in front of the listening position, in a "coffee table position", would also be good. I didn't care to have the sub out in plain view with my cable's exposed, so the corner worked best.) Setting the levels of the sub properly took about 4-5 hours of listening to various music at various volumes, but eventually found a level at with which I am satisfied. Most of that time was just sitting and enjoying the music, perhaps getting up about three or four times to make adjustments. In reference to Chris P.'s complaint of port noise, I must say that I did notice some whistling sounds on about two songs off a CD Dr. Hsu gave me (Bass Outlaws, track 1 and 12; he also gave me a pipe organ CD which I didn't care much for), and hunted the origin of the noise. The whistling that I heard didn't come from the port of from the woofer, it came from the seams around built-in amplifier! This was easily fixed by using a #2 square bit to screw it in a bit tighter. I hope this more of an isolated experience and not a quality issue. I would have liked to know that they used better seals and gaskets for this sub.

That issue aside, the sound quality is top notch. It did favoribly well against the Velodyne and Def. Tech woofers I tested. I did like the extention and punch of the Velodyne, but it's price was staggering; with it's price I could have bought two of the Hsu TN1220, which has the lowest extension I have personally heard/felt. The Def Tech sounded good as well, but it was using a 15" woofer, and was a bit larger, and again, more expensive. I'm a sucker for value, so I totally fell head over heals for this subwoofer. I give it a 5 for value, a 4 overall: 5 for perfomance, but knock off 1 for looks and build quality.

Similar Products Used:

Hsu Research TN1220, B&W ASW 1000, subs from Polk, Boston, Energy, Def. Tech. and Velodyne.

other reviews

large size, build quality, ugly, customer service

Having read all the rave reviews of this product I decided to order one up. The process went smoothly and in about a week the HSU arrived. It is a rather large sub for the ordinary enthusiast and the finish and build quality were both sub par even for a $500 sub. Definately will not pass the wife factor in most instances. As for sound quality it was okay but not outstanding. Having worked in a high end audio store for several years at an earlier point in life I am unswayed by the power of a positive review. So many differences in sound quality are actually preconceived by reading specs and reviews prior to even using a product. In other words a buyer can usually talk himself into a product before he/she even listens to it. This is how most hi-end gear is sold. The HSU seems to be a product of this kind of hype. Upon returning the product it is worthy to note that it took four phone calls to actually have a credit processed which was more than a month after the return was logged back in. If you're into reviews then go ahead and spend the money. I reccomend you stick with another brand which you can try with your own gear and not suffer from $80-$100 in unreimburssed shipping costs if you are unsatisfied. Listen to your own ears and avoid all the hype.

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sunfire

no standby mode..light stays green

Good for medium sized room...bigger room may need more power or another vtf2 sub
Blends perfectly no matter where you put it, using w/ Maggies & put Vibrapods (dome side up) under the feet
For the money, it DEFINITELY lives up to the hype
No standby mode is only downfall, if any (light stays green)
check my setup

Mains: Mag 2.5r
Rears: Mag 1.4
Center: Mag MGCC1
Receiver: Nakamichi AV-10 (100w/ch)
DVD: Nakamichi DVD-10
CD: Nakamichi MB-10

Similar Products Used:

JBL PSW-D112

Build Quality, Looks, Accurate Musical Bass Response, High Output for 10" Driver

None

I auditioned several subwoofers in the $400 - $1000 price range and frankly, I really could not tell a whole lot of difference between them. There are too many factors to consider when listening to speakers in a HiFi shop (room acoustics, false coloration from all the other speaks in the room vibrating, type of floor).

I ended up taking a chance and ordered the VTF-2 on its reputation alone and I am very happy with my choice. On the recomendation of Dr Hsu, I placed the unit behind my sofa which is positioned in the middle of the listening room. Once I got the levels set up properly, the VTF-2 just dissappeared. Most of the comments I receive from friends have to do with the great low bass response from my front mains (JBL 4311B's, not normally noted for low bass response). When I shut the sub down, they can't beleive that all the bass is coming from right behind the sofa.

Bass response from this unit is very accurate. If the source material calls for deep bass, this unit will faithfully reproduce it. I ran the ultimate test (Telarcs 1812 Overture). My wife, who was upstairs at the time, unaware of what was about to happen, came running downstairs when the cannons went off screaming that she thought the windows were going to bust out of their frames. You gotta love that!

Awesome Bass, Adequate Controls,

Appearance. Having to pay sales tax for the pleasure of living in California!

I listened to 20+ subwoofers and decided that I was probably going to have to spend at least a $1000 and get a medium to high line Velodyne. After reading the reviews on the VTF-2, I decided it was worth the risk and hassle of return shipping to try it out. I was afaid it would be cheap and overly hyped, with gimmicky features (like VTF!).

When I took it out of the box, my fears came to life. It looks pretty cheesy (BUT solidly constructed). It has a shiny, black, pebbly, epoxy-like finish reminiscent of a 1982 Peavy Guitar Amp. I decided I might as well test drive it.

After getting the hum out (with the 3 to 2 groundless AC plug). I moved it to the spot Poh recommended and began experimenting with controls.

WOW! This is a kick butt sub! It blows away everything I heard that was less than $1000! It is loud, low, and clean!So far, I am totally satisfied. Yes, it looks cheesy to some, but I can hide it under some designer fabric my wife puts on the chairs. It appears that form followed function - so you can save $$$ and get you a great sub for cheap.

As a sub, it probably deserves a 4 (because the $2000 Velodynes will go deeper with less THD). For value, Clearly a 5!!

Similar Products Used:

Velodyne (all of 'em), Sunfire, Energy, Boston, Paradigm, Etc.

Massive amounts of bass, adjustable for movies or music

none

I just added the Hsu to my main system, I never really thought I needed a sub since I use Klipsch Forte's as the mains, if you have ever heard them they are anything but bass shy. Well was I surprised, the amount of extra bass and bass that I have never heard was tremendous! I balanced the system with a sound meter so that all were level to make sure I just didn't have the sub turned to high, the output is only at the 9:30 position and in my 14 by 23 foot room it fills it with bass.
I tried the Klipsch 12 and 15 inch subs and there is no comparison. I also tried Def Tech 2002-2006 and they just did not measure up to the Forte's and Hsu combo
***2 Service comments

1) My first sub was damaged by FedEx Ground and I had to return it, let me say the service I received from Poh Hsu and Mark at nax.com was excellent!! There was no problem getting the replacement sub.
2) nax.com had this sub at 449.00 and FREE shipping, that makes this purchase even easier.

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none

Outstanding value. Great musically. Tight/Clean Bass. HSU Customer Service.

none found yet.

I am delighted with this product.

First of all, I believe that subwoofer performance is much less subjective than, say, speaker performance...either bass is tight, or it's not...either it goes low, or it doesn't. So I feel confident in my recommendation.

I had become so disenchanted with other subs in this price range that I did something I've never done before...ordered a piece of equipment without listening to it. (I'd heard very good things about the VTF-2 and I figured it couldn't possibly be any worse the others). I was also very very impressed that the folks at HSU took time to promptly answer my questions months BEFORE I purchased their equipment. I am happy to say that the HSU-VTF2 blew the others away. In fact, in my opinion, it blows away much more expensive units.

Some may take issue with its "utilitarian" looks...but I'm personally not interested in paying hundreds of extra dollars for purely asthetic features. If I want rosewood, I'll buy some furniture ;) I'd much rather spend my money where it counts--on the electronics. Ironically, nine times out of ten, you will tuck it in a corner or behind an end table anyway.

Those of you (who, back in the day, probably had 12-inch bare woofers connected to your 4W/Channel 8-track and were totally convinced that bigger=louder and louder=better) who gauge sub quality strictly by it's room shaking ability...look elsewhere and get something with high numbers. But,if you want a sub to do what a sub is supposed to do ...which is...accurately reproduce low frequency signals", get one of these. Trust me: It will produce movie thrills and has more than enough power for home applications.

For the record: I am not knocking those other brands...In fact, my fronts are Infinitys and I'm very pleased with them...it's just that as far as "affordable" subs go, the HSU-VTF2 is a much, much better value than it's competitors:

Similar Products Used:

Auditioned: AR, Infinity, Velodyne, JBL, and Others.

well built, flexible, loud and inexpensive.

vibrates the floor so that it makes my CD player skip

I decided that my 10 year old Sony system has about had it. It wasn't perfect, but it had surround before pro logic. I have a home recording studio with some decent stuff (Alesis Monitor 1's,Mona,lexicon,) and have used a pair of 18" subs for years when playing live for my synth. I decided to go with the Denon 3802, toshiba 5700 dvd, and the Klipsch RF3,rc3,rs3. I wanted a good sub that was more than a rumble box, I had originally wanted the KSW12...until audioreview that is. I went out and listen to them and compared serveral including Cambridge, Klipsch, JBL. But I just was fascinated by the VTF-2 and HSU. Can it really rock with only a 10" woofer? will it fill my 12x30 room with gut thumping bass? should I get an ARS-500 instead? after considering price vs. performance I bought the HSU. I ordered it from www.nax.com on monday and got it friday morning $449.00 shipping included! from what I could tell when I set it up with my old system, it rocks. Music was first, and what better choice than Saint Sanes Organ symphony....wow...except for what this..my old CD player keeps skipping..and skipping...mmm the disc is unplayable? Ok in goes Frank Zappa and "who are the Brain police" (great bass) skip skip skip....wow the floor is vibrating the ol CD so much that it cant play, even with a blanket under the sub. Well I know the CD player is really old but still, impressive, considering the volume of the sub was about 1/4. I then popped in a THX version of Independence Day VHS (the DVD hasn't gotten here yet) and wow this sub can play musically and can vibrate my whole couch, rattling stuff off the wall I'm sure would be no problem for this beast. Hsu even included a Virgil Fox CD on a great pipe organ. Thanks guys here at Audio Review and Dr. Hsu.

Similar Products Used:

18" PA subs, Klipsch KWSR12, various others