The Official Acoustic Audio Subwoofer Owners Thread

[KevinF]

This is a pretty long thread, but from scanning it through my sense is that these subs were pretty reliable performers (with a few exceptions) early on, but that their quality control and/or materials went downhill after establishing themselves. Is that a fair assessment? Or are people still getting good results? The deals on Ebay are still pretty good, and I'd like to get a budget sub to replace my parents' horrible Onkyo HTIB sub, but if they aren't capable of producing much, I guess I'll go Bic (even though I think they'd prefer the cherry finish). I read somewhere where a guy opened the rwsub-10 and the amp said it was 50W rms rather than the rated 200 RMS.

Any thoughts?

Thanks.

[theJman]

Based almost entirely on the exposure generated by this thread I think AA had quite a sales burst, and a lot of people felt as though they had gotten a good deal. Then the faulty amps started showing up and the company pretty much disavowed themselves of the problem, providing little to no support in a lot of instances, so people started to look at other alternatives. AA did find another supplier for amps, but at that point the damage to their reputation had been done.

Because of how infrequently anyone posts in this thread now it's probably not an exaggeration to say they aren't selling many subs. I know AA came out with new models a few months back but when I tried to get some information about them I was confronted with the same apathy that seemed prevalent during the defective amp situation, so things don't appear to have changed all that much. Caveat emptor...

[KevinF]

Thanks, Jim. They still seem to sell them successfully on Ebay, and the more recent (2012) reviews there and at newegg are good, especially on the HD series. I have no idea if they are bogus, but they appear legit.

[PurpleJesus74]

Originally Posted by KevinF

Thanks, Jim. They still seem to sell them successfully on Ebay, and the more recent (2012) reviews there and at newegg are good, especially on the HD series. I have no idea if they are bogus, but they appear legit.

I agree they do seem to sell quite a few on ebay still.I had one of the first run of HD SUB-12's,i never had any issues with the amp,but recently sold it on ebay.For the price,it was ok but i really doubt it put out the watts they claimed it did.

[dvs1270]

i was a victim of the faulty amp. they made the return & repair so demanding, that i replaced the amp with a dayton audio amp. i have not had any other problems with it.

[scott707]

Just bought the 15" hope it sound good!

[scott707]

Looks awesome! Great sound, I can feel. Leather in couch vibrates. The dishes in the china cabinet dance.....its got to go.


73" mitsubishi WD737 now has the BASS to match!

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by scott707

Looks awesome! Great sound, I can feel. Leather in couch vibrates. The dishes in the china cabinet dance.....its got to go.


73" mitsubishi WD737 now has the BASS to match!

Congratulation. Enjoy the vibrations.

[PlasmaMan]

Hi, I found one for $65 and found this thread. I want to feel the T-Rex Jurassic Park shake things. Will this sub do it? Thanks.

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by PlasmaMan

Hi, I found one for $65 and found this thread. I want to feel the T-Rex Jurassic Park shake things. Will this sub do it? Thanks.

If your room is pretty small, an 8" subwoofer may give you enough vibrations. However, two subwoofers or a 12" or 15" subwoofer can do better. A while ago,, I managed to buy a brand new 15" Acoustic Audio HD-SUB15 for $160 from their Ebay store. Although I was happy with its performance, I ended up replacing the driver with a huge $200 driver, added more polyfill, reinforced the cabinet. The subwoofer is now kicking a$$.

[gatorstang]

I had an AA sub 12 a few years ago (black, down firing) but it bottomed out frequently. I believed the amp was too strong and the enclosure too small. It was alright for a starter or small amp. I sold it on EBAY and bought a BIC F 12. Huge difference

[orean]

My AA RW Sub12 came in today and I will start by saying how much I am disappointed in this sub. I was by no means expecting a submersive but I did expect more output than my Polk 8" 50 watt out of the rm6750 set. I tried the sub crawl and all just it is basically like not even having a sub. Well I took a chance but this will be going back.

[Big Daddy]

Originally Posted by orean

My AA RW Sub12 came in today and I will start by saying how much I am disappointed in this sub. I was by no means expecting a submersive but I did expect more output than my Polk 8" 50 watt out of the rm6750 set. I tried the sub crawl and all just it is basically like not even having a sub. Well I took a chance but this will be going back.

Your subwoofer is probably defective. Have it replaced.

[theJman]

Originally Posted by orean

My AA RW Sub12 came in today and I will start by saying how much I am disappointed in this sub. I was by no means expecting a submersive but I did expect more output than my Polk 8" 50 watt out of the rm6750 set. I tried the sub crawl and all just it is basically like not even having a sub. Well I took a chance but this will be going back.

I can sympathize with you. I did a review on the Theater Solutions Sub12D, which is essentially the same mass-produced, generic sub but with a sticker on the front that said Theater Solutions instead of Acoustic Audio. My opinion was the same as yours; the thing was truly awful. It was so bad I sent it back before I even finished, which is the one and only time I've ever done that.

AA released the CS-PS series last year, and I had wondered if they were any better. TheDeepDiscount never responded to any of my emails though, so I couldn't get any information about them. Their website still doesn't even list the subs dimensions, which I mentioned to them probably 6 months ago.

[orean]

After some more tweaking it acts like it wants to rumble but the only way to get any half decent output out of it is if I turn my receiver all the way up.to the point of clipping. I have a pioneer 1018 and I thought I could turn the trim up on this channel but I am unable to find it. I'll keep trying.

[Tom V.]

Originally Posted by orean

After some more tweaking it acts like it wants to rumble but the only way to get any half decent output out of it is if I turn my receiver all the way up.to the point of clipping. I have a pioneer 1018 and I thought I could turn the trim up on this channel but I am unable to find it. I'll keep trying.

Goto page 48 in the manual.

Go through the manual setup. Set all speakers to small and start with a 80/100 crossover for all.

There will also be "channel level" option. This will allow you to increase the bass signal going to the subwoofer.

Lastly, remember sub placement will have a big effect on its performance. Try a corner for the sub----preferably a corner near the key seating.

Tom V.

[orean]

Tried placement with no evident gain and I have them all small with a 80 crossover. I have put it at about +3db just seems like it wants to thump but just don't really start until I have my receiver turned up to clipping lvls. Any thing else you can think of with the pioneer 1018? I have read a few forums just doing a Google search and a lot of people say after running mcacc the thump just isn't there.

[theJman]

Originally Posted by orean

Tried placement with no evident gain and I have them all small with a 80 crossover. I have put it at about +3db just seems like it wants to thump but just don't really start until I have my receiver turned up to clipping lvls. Any thing else you can think of with the pioneer 1018? I have read a few forums just doing a Google search and a lot of people say after running mcacc the thump just isn't there.

Perhaps this is stating the obvious but... is it possible your cable has a problem? If you have another it might be worth swapping them just to see.

[orean]

I tried 2 cables as well took the one I was using with my 8" and the one supplied. Also the y spliter and all. Not sure really it just almost seems like the receiver is holding it back, does that make sense at all? I played.with the channel with not much gain but I could have swore I once was able to turn the trim on this channel up like what is able to be done on the other 5 channels. I have always noticed to me at least my 1018 seems to not like mid bass or lower frequencies much. It always seems to me to set everything "bright". And again this is to me and my ears but I do work and have for many years in very loud industrial factories. Who knows no two ears are alike they say.

[Tom V.]

Originally Posted by orean

Tried placement with no evident gain and I have them all small with a 80 crossover. I have put it at about +3db just seems like it wants to thump but just don't really start until I have my receiver turned up to clipping lvls. Any thing else you can think of with the pioneer 1018? I have read a few forums just doing a Google search and a lot of people say after running mcacc the thump just isn't there.

I'd skip the MCACC for now. That just adds an unneeded variable.

Also, what do you mean by "until I have my receiver turned up to "clipping" level" Why do you think its clipping in some manner?

Tom V.