Final Update - cleaned up and consolidated post:
Deal:
Partsexpress has their new 10" Dayton/HSU home theater subwoofer on sale for $160 (regular price has floated from $292-300). Shipping via UPS ground should range from about $25 (OH) - $60 (CA).
After first hand review it is highly recommended and is being offered at a particularly large discount which may not be repeated after the unit gains some reputation. The regular $290 price would fit in with the PE product line and general competition well. I cannot think of a better value for this amount of money. It will blow away all the HTIB subs (even the decent Onkyo units) and will best common B&M brands (Klipsch, JBL, Polk etc.) 2x or more expensive than this.
Review:
I bought this sub and these notes are from first-hand experience. The sub is a near clone of this HSU/Atlantic unit they currently have on buy-out sale for $249. It is much different in driver type and overall design than the HSU STF-2 which many folks think it is a clone of. It is not exactly the same as the Atlantic but it is fair to say the same HSU design was referenced. It is very similar. Below are links to the Atlantic sub and actual pictures of my HSU10.
Performance:
- Excellent output, better than many 10" & 12" subs I've heard. Low frequency specs seem accurate. Better output than comparable Velodyne DPS-10 & VRP-1200 models, which occupy similar HSU10 non-sale pricing ranges.
Details:
- The driver is a huge displacement high roll surround driver and the displacements at high volumes use every bit of it.
- The grill is wood with plain black cloth and a simple Dayton logo.
- It's big for a 10" sub. The dimensions tell you this, but nonetheless it is large for a 10" unit.
- Fit and finish is good, but basic, some rounded edges, and nothing objectionable like bad edges. It sits on built-in ~1" composite spikes.
- The amp is a Dayton amp but labeled with the sub PN. It is not a standard Dayton unit offered by PE. Maybe someone can chime in with the exact OEM model. The amp has all common adjustments including a variable 0-180 deg phase setting (not common). I don't think the variable crossover is linear as labeled on the knob. It seems to allow a pretty high cutoff. It does not require a high input signal like some Velodynes, so you have to take care not to run it hot. Though it seems to have some clipping control because at max output I had no indication of bottoming out or hard clipping.
- Port noise is low.
