The Official Acoustic Audio Subwoofer Owners Thread

[duneaholic]

Originally Posted by bucho54

BD, have you used the speaker wire inputs on the back of the AA subs? Just wondering if they work the same as the RCA jacks. Mine do not, but I wouldn't be surprised if mine were defective due to the jack issues I experienced.

I have the AA HD sub 12 set up by speaker level in my bedroom and set it up (with BD's help) just like he instructed and it sounds great!

So will the Deep Discount send me one free sub for starting page 1 oh 1.

[callas01]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

I thought they decided to make all their subwoofers in black.

Since I managed to make post #2000, The Deep Discount will be sending me three free HD-SUB15 subwoofers in black, cherry, and maple.

well, I will take the black one off your hands for testing and research, and since I live close enough to you(riverside), I would be the perfect canidate for that... hahaha

[rwojtalewicz]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

I thought they decided to make all their subwoofers in black.

Since I managed to make post #2000, The Deep Discount will be sending me three free HD-SUB15 subwoofers in black, cherry, and maple.

Well, if that didn't get my attention, I don't know what will. Let us know what you did to improve those HD-Sub 15s.

However, the sub I bought was a PA-120 in cherry, not the AA HD-Sub 12. Anyways it wasn't an easy decision because I think the AA HD-Sub 12 would sound incredible as well if I were to add polyfil and put real braces inside the cabinet for making it a better box.

Whereas for me, after my Titanic 1200 died, may it RIP, my DIY sub days are over!!! No more stuffing boxes with polyfil for me!

Hey did someone mention risers!? OMG, I guess I'm a die hard tweaker afterall.

[Blu Titan]

Darn it, I was hopping to get post #2000.

[rwojtalewicz]

Originally Posted by callas01

Rwo, I cannot tell you what the Bic or PA sounds like or which if any is better then the AA sub. I can tell you this tho. The AA matches supremely well with the Energys and keeps up with them nicely and vice versa... ...IF it helps I listen to a very wide range of music, I love hearing pianos & guitars go through the Energys, but also Alternative is what I grew up on, I like bass from all types, punk, rap, dance, alternative, and clasical. I am just not into country, but even that comes through well on the sub.

Thanks for helping me decide. It wasn't easy believe. After posting, I substituted the eD A2-300 for the BIC F-12. The eD A2-300 was the most I would want to spend right now after forking out nearly $1600 on my new 52" Sony Bravia.

Deciding between the AA HD-sub-12, the PA-120, and the eD A3-300, I went with the PA-120. It was a hard decision. You have the AA HD-sub10 which because it's small than the HD-sub12, it's probably sturdier. The tie breaker between the PA-120 and the HD-sub 12 was that the latter isn't adequately braced internally and it needs to have polyfil added in order to achieve better low end response. Also, from what I could tell from the pics, the solder joints joining the speaker wire to the speaker terminals will have to be redone too. Since I have built many subwoofers, I just shrieked when I saw the partly disassembled HD-sub12 that was posted by BD. Aramis109 also obtained internal pics of the PA-120 and posted those in the Premier Acoustic owners thread. Immediately the difference in craftmenship and quality between the two subs was astonishing to me. In fact, I was in disbelief that the HD-Sub12 having such poor craftsmanship could sound so incredible or have such an impressive anechoic frequency response curve as measured by BD. But, it certainly did. BD's measurements kept me wanting to buy the HD-sub12, but the poor craftsmanship, internally anyway (it's beautiful externally), kept turning me off!

Of the three, I wouldn't mind having the eD A2-300. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the PA-120 was the best of both: having lower cost and great value like the HD-sub12 and the quality build like the eD A2-300. What I didn't like about the eD A2-300 was that despite it getting down to 18 Hz, it has the same rated amp that the PA-120 has, 200 watt RMS. It might be overly taxed trying to reproduce lows down to 18 Hz. Now, mind you, that is my opinion, based on my subwoofer building experiences. I only saw the PA-120's plate amp which seemed very well build from based on the pics I saw with a large power transformer and large filter caps. I didn't expect a toroidal transformer at that price though. Thus, I have no doubt that it could get down to f3= 24 Hz or even lower perhaps. With the PA-120 having a solidly built cabinet and a hefty 200 w RMS @ 8 ohm rated power amp, I just couldn't justify spending $100 more for a larger, heavier sub that might or might not produce f3 = 18 Hz very well having a similarly rated plate amplifier.

My PA-120 should arrive sometime between 08/19 to 08/25.

I'll post my findings on it in the PA owner's thread after several hours break in and using it for awhile.

As for music, I am mostly into classical and opera. Reproducing a tenor's or soprano's performance during the most demanding arias can be a challenge for any speaker. The C-300s do that job magnificently. Both sound natural and not stressed. There is hardly any LFE found in classical or opera CDs. DVDs and better, and BDs are of course unbeatable. Bass rarely gets below 40 Hz on CDs unless you listen to Bach's toccata and fugues recording on a 64 ft pipe organ. I also listen to a lot of native American music including pow wows. I regularly attend the Gathering of Nations every year in Albuquerque. That's my primary source of native American music. The large ceremonial drums can get quite low in the bass end however and a good subwoofer brings them out quite well. But, no recording ever made can faithfully reproduce the music the way it's heard at a pow wow though.

[callas01]

Originally Posted by rwojtalewicz

Thanks for helping me decide. My PA-120 should arrive sometime between 08/19 to 08/25.

I am sure that the PA-120 will be a great sub also. I trust Aramis' reviews. Hope you get it soon.

[bucho54]

Originally Posted by Big Daddy

I finally did this as a favor to you so that you can have peace of mind. It was a lot of work as I have 4 subwoofers in the room and the AA sub is in the back of the room. I disconnected the other three subs, moved the AA sub forward, and placed it next to my front speakers. I ran two set of speaker wires to the left and right speaker inputs and played some music and played a few movies. The bass sound was great and the one subwoofer was able to give good bass sound in my large HT room (20ft x 25ft). I could not tell the difference between the RCA inputs or the speaker inputs. My conclusion is that your sub must be defective or your setup is not correct. Here is what you have to do:

• Run two set of speaker wires from the front left and right speaker outputs on the back of the receiver and connect them to the left and right speaker inputs on the back of the sub.
• In the receiver's menu, set the front speakers to LARGE (full-range).
• In the receiver's menu, set the subwoofer to NO.
• In the receiver's menu, set the other speakers to SMALL with a crossover of 80Hz or any other appropriate number.
• With this type of setup, all the LFE and the bass from the small speakers will be directed to the front speakers.
• You have two options as far as the front speakers are concerned.
  1. Connect the front speakers to the right and left speaker outputs on the back of the subwoofer. Your front speakers will be at the mercy of the crossover inside the subwoofer.
  2. Connect the front speakers simultaneously to the back of the receivers with another set of speaker wires. If you do it this way, your front speakers will be running full-range and there is a possibility of cancellation of some of the bass frequencies that are coming out of the front speakers and the subwoofer.
• Since the receiver assumes you do not have a subwoofer, you have to adjust the level of the subwoofer with respect to the other speakers by adjusting the dial on the back of the subwoofer. An SPL meter may be helpful.
• This also applies to the low pass filter for the subwoofer. You must adjust it on the back of the subwoofer.

Thanks for verifying that for me BD, I didn't mean to have you go through all that trouble. It might be the equipment I was trying to do that with, but I'm not sure. I haven't tried with my HT setup yet, but when I tried with my vintage equipment I only got a bit of movement out of the sub (completely not audible). I don't have a receiver in that setup to configure anything like speaker size, or subwoofer. No big deal, I want the subwoofer to live with my HT setup where I do have a subwoofer out/RCA out. Thanks again for the expert insight!

[rwojtalewicz]

Originally Posted by callas01

I am sure that the PA-120 will be a great sub also. I trust Aramis' reviews. Hope you get it soon.

Thanks callas! I hope so too! Over at the AVS form PA 120 owners thread, folks have been having to wait a long time to get their PA 120s from Eric and Mike, the ebay sellers who are the only outlet for these subwoofers, and others as well. Those guys are swamped with orders.

You made a great choice, callas. If I were in the market for a 10 in sub, I would mostly likely have bought the AA HD-sub10. Plus in your review of the sub10, you stated that it does great for music. Our speakers at least frontwise are the same Energy towers and center. I take that to mean that it has a fast bass response and can keep up with the bass guitar and drums giving a tight response. Your comments didn't make it any easier for me to decide which to get.

If I got the AA HD sub12, I would end up spending hours making modifications to the cabinet, new amp (dayton 1000SA from my dead Titanic), and more polyfil. The slotted port design in those subs is a selling point and I have made subs that had those. They are good performers but hard to tune properly IMHO. At least AA seems to have gotten it right.

I hope your AA HD sub10 is ok. I think last post I saw from you, it was ok.

[Driver_King]

Originally Posted by rwojtalewicz

Thanks for helping me decide. It wasn't easy believe. After posting, I substituted the eD A3-300 for the BIC F-12. The eD A3-300 was the most I would want to spend right now after forking out nearly $1600 on my new 52" Sony Bravia.

Deciding between the AA HD-sub-12, the PA-120, and the eD A3-300, I went with the PA-120. It was a hard decision. You have the AA HD-sub10 which because it's small than the HD-sub12, it's probably sturdier. The tie breaker between the PA-120 and the HD-sub 12 was that the latter isn't adequately braced internally and it needs to have polyfil added in order to achieve better low end response. Also, from what I could tell from the pics, the solder joints joining the speaker wire to the speaker terminals will have to be redone too. Since I have built many subwoofers, I just shrieked when I saw the partly disassembled HD-sub12 that was posted by BD. Aramis109 also obtained internal pics of the PA-120 and posted those in the Premier Acoustic owners thread. Immediately the difference in craftmenship and quality between the two subs was astonishing to me. In fact, I was in disbelief that the HD-Sub12 having such poor craftsmanship could sound so incredible or have such an impressive anechoic frequency response curve as measured by BD. But, it certainly did. BD's measurements kept me wanting to buy the HD-sub12, but the poor craftsmanship, internally anyway (it's beautiful externally), kept turning me off!

Of the three, I wouldn't mind having the eD A3-300. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that the PA-120 was the best of both: having lower cost and great value like the HD-sub12 and the quality build like the eD-300. What I didn't like about the eD A3-300 was that despite it getting down to 18 Hz, it has the same rated amp that the PA-120 has, 200 watt RMS. It might be overly taxed trying to reproduce lows down to 18 Hz. Now, mind you, that is my opinion, based on my subwoofer building experiences. I only saw the PA-120's plate amp which seemed very well build from based on the pics I saw with a large power transformer and large filter caps. I didn't expect a toroidal transformer at that price though. Thus, I have no doubt that it could get down to f3= 24 Hz or even lower perhaps. With the PA-120 having a solidly built cabinet and a hefty 200 w RMS @ 8 ohm rated power amp, I just couldn't justify spending $100 more for a larger, heavier sub that might or might not produce f3 = 18 Hz very well having a similarly rated plate amplifier.

My PA-120 should arrive sometime between 08/19 to 08/25.

I'll post my findings on it in the PA owner's thread after several hours break in and using it for awhile.

As for music, I am mostly into classical and opera. Reproducing a tenor's or soprano's performance during the most demanding arias can be a challenge for any speaker. The C-300s do that job magnificently. Both sound natural and not stressed. There is hardly any LFE found in classical or opera CDs. DVDs and better, and BDs are of course unbeatable. Bass rarely gets below 40 Hz on CDs unless you listen to Bach's toccata and fugues recording on a 64 ft pipe organ. I also listen to a lot of native American music including pow wows. I regularly attend the Gathering of Nations every year in Albuquerque. That's my primary source of native American music. The large ceremonial drums can get quite low in the bass end however and a good subwoofer brings them out quite well. But, no recording ever made can faithfully reproduce the music the way it's heard at a pow wow though.

The A3-300 has 300 watts of power. Elemental Designs has sold thousands of A3-300's with those amps. The amp is not the only thing that makes the subwoofer. The enclosure and driver also play a huge roll in that. The A3-300 also has a five year warantee on the driver and enclosure and a year on the amplifier. If you have the choice still, you should definitely opt for the A3-300, especially if you're only planning on purchasing one subwoofer.

[kayvan79]

So I’ve been reading through all the subwoofer threads trying to see what people say about which subs and which ones seemed the best value for the money etc..

From what I could gather many people were very satisfied with the AA HD Sub 12 and the PA 120

Now I’ve never heard of either of those companies before but with the general consensus being that they are very good for the money I decided to consider one of those.

Long story short after reading through this thread and seeing BD’s review of this sub I figured what the heck. I purchased the AA HD Sub 12 for $198 from thedeepdiscount.com. Just about the only person with real negative things to say was MJ 79. From his posts he was use to car audio subs. I’d have to say I’m in the same boat in that I have all after market audio in my car and I probably listen to music more in that setting than my HT. I have 2 10” subs that hit very nice and deep with 200 Watts going into each one RMS.

Now I wasn’t really expecting that kind of power to come from the AA but I was expecting a noticeable difference from the HT sub I was currently using (an Aiwa 8” 150 watt thing I bought 9 years ago).

When the box arrived I was very excited to say the least. My Aiwa had only one sub connector while the AA had L+R inputs. No problems as I had the necessary wires but I decided to first try the one wire just to see the difference as BD said using the L+R would yield at minimum a 3db increase.

When I connected everything up and fired up some music that I knew had decent bass my big smile quickly faded away. I couldn’t help but remember MJ79’s thread about how he felt this thing sucked big time. I thought maybe doing the 2 wire thing would yield improved results. It did but still it was rather quiet. I couldn’t help but say “Aw man this totally blows…what a letdown.” The only other thing I thought was maybe this need to break in a bit for it to really sound good. I let it play for a while (a day or two)…and it did sound marginally better but in all honesty my Aiwa pretty much sounded as good.

Also I had to have the level and crossover knobs turned up all the way to get anything out of it. After a bit the plate amp would get really warm even though the sub wasn’t all that loud.

I thought well I guess I can live with it as it didn’t break the bank. The next weekend I just happened to go to Ultimate Electronics.

For those that are unfamiliar with this store they sell higher end stuff than Best Buy does. Probably Best Buy’s highest end stuff is around where Ultimate generally starts for comparison. Not always but generally.

While I was there I saw some of their discounted stuff. Evidently they are no longer an authorized Infinity Systems dealer so they were closing out all of their Infinity products. My original HT had Infinity Primus speakers and I was very happy with them. My car subs are Infinity actually.

I happened to see a new Infinity 12” HT sub (model PS212) for only $150.

Specs are 400 Watts RMS
700 Watts Peak
25Hz - 150Hz

The stats on the AA were better but I said well never hurts to try this out.

Took it home and plugged it in. WOW is all I can say. Now I know this isn’t some high end sub but Infinity is a respectable brand and the sound from this was like 4 times louder than the AA. (with gain at only 50%) And that was from the very beginning. It’s not even broken in yet. It was very deep with no distortion at all and for about $50 less than the AA.

I saw it on the internet stores for around $330 so I got a really good deal. Now is it fair to make a comparison between the two…..ABSOLUTELY. The amps are roughly the same and I did get them for around the same price. The Infinity plate doesn’t get anywhere near as warm as the AA does so I can only conclude the components in the Infinity are much better quality.

For what it’s worth every lady I asked which one looked better said the AA looked cooler. They then said the Infinity sounded WAY better.

I guess the AA would work well as a secondary sub. But the Infinity is plenty loud enough. Last and not least I think the Infinity’s finish matches better with my Polk Monitor speakers.

I’m almost curious to see if maybe one of the connectors to the sub got disconnected (maybe it’s only getting half the signal?) But I don’t have the time to really play around with opening it up.

At somewhat louder levels it does sound ok. It just doesn’t bump like the Infinity does…

So what do all of you think? Also what should I do with this thing?

All comments are appreciated. I added a new image gallery of all 3 subs so you can check them out.

http://www.blu-ray.com/community/gal...&folderid=2341

[rwojtalewicz]

Originally Posted by Driver_King

The A3-300 has 300 watts of power. Elemental Designs has sold thousands of A3-300's with those amps. The amp is not the only thing that makes the subwoofer. The enclosure and driver also play a huge roll in that. The A3-300 also has a five year warantee on the driver and enclosure and a year on the amplifier. If you have the choice still, you should definitely opt for the A3-300, especially if you're only planning on purchasing one subwoofer.

You are definitely right about the A3-300. I made a typo in my post. The eD sub I was referring to was their budget subwoofer, the A2-300. It has a 200 watt rms amp and that was the one I was referring to. I just got the model number wrong.

I'll edit my post and change A3-300 to A2-300. Sorry about that.

BTW, man would I like to have the A3-300. But between the ed A2-300
and the other budget subwoofers that I'm considering, my choice went to the
PA 120.

[JasonR]

Originally Posted by kayvan79

So I’ve been reading through all the subwoofer threads trying to see what people say about which subs and which ones seemed the best value for the money etc..

From what I could gather many people were very satisfied with the AA HD Sub 12 and the PA 120

Now I’ve never heard of either of those companies before but with the general consensus being that they are very good for the money I decided to consider one of those.

Long story short after reading through this thread and seeing BD’s review of this sub I figured what the heck. I purchased the AA HD Sub 12 for $198 from thedeepdiscount.com. Just about the only person with real negative things to say was MJ 79. From his posts he was use to car audio subs. I’d have to say I’m in the same boat in that I have all after market audio in my car and I probably listen to music more in that setting than my HT. I have 2 10” subs that hit very nice and deep with 200 Watts going into each one RMS.

Now I wasn’t really expecting that kind of power to come from the AA but I was expecting a noticeable difference from the HT sub I was currently using (an Aiwa 8” 150 watt thing I bought 9 years ago).

When the box arrived I was very excited to say the least. My Aiwa had only one sub connector while the AA had L+R inputs. No problems as I had the necessary wires but I decided to first try the one wire just to see the difference as BD said using the L+R would yield at minimum a 3db increase.

When I connected everything up and fired up some music that I knew had decent bass my big smile quickly faded away. I couldn’t help but remember MJ79’s thread about how he felt this thing sucked big time. I thought maybe doing the 2 wire thing would yield improved results. It did but still it was rather quiet. I couldn’t help but say “Aw man this totally blows…what a letdown.” The only other thing I thought was maybe this need to break in a bit for it to really sound good. I let it play for a while (a day or two)…and it did sound marginally better but in all honesty my Aiwa pretty much sounded as good.

Also I had to have the level and crossover knobs turned up all the way to get anything out of it. After a bit the plate amp would get really warm even though the sub wasn’t all that loud.

I thought well I guess I can live with it as it didn’t break the bank. The next weekend I just happened to go to Ultimate Electronics.

For those that are unfamiliar with this store they sell higher end stuff than Best Buy does. Probably Best Buy’s highest end stuff is around where Ultimate generally starts for comparison. Not always but generally.

While I was there I saw some of their discounted stuff. Evidently they are no longer an authorized Infinity Systems dealer so they were closing out all of their Infinity products. My original HT had Infinity Primus speakers and I was very happy with them. My car subs are Infinity actually.

I happened to see a new Infinity 12” HT sub (model PS212) for only $150.

Specs are 400 Watts RMS
700 Watts Peak
25Hz - 150Hz

The stats on the AA were better but I said well never hurts to try this out.

Took it home and plugged it in. WOW is all I can say. Now I know this isn’t some high end sub but Infinity is a respectable brand and the sound from this was like 4 times louder than the AA. (with gain at only 50%) And that was from the very beginning. It’s not even broken in yet. It was very deep with no distortion at all and for about $50 less than the AA.

I saw it on the internet stores for around $330 so I got a really good deal. Now is it fair to make a comparison between the two…..ABSOLUTELY. The amps are roughly the same and I did get them for around the same price. The Infinity plate doesn’t get anywhere near as warm as the AA does so I can only conclude the components in the Infinity are much better quality.

For what it’s worth every lady I asked which one looked better said the AA looked cooler. They then said the Infinity sounded WAY better.

I guess the AA would work well as a secondary sub. But the Infinity is plenty loud enough. Last and not least I think the Infinity’s finish matches better with my Polk Monitor speakers.

I’m almost curious to see if maybe one of the connectors to the sub got disconnected (maybe it’s only getting half the signal?) But I don’t have the time to really play around with opening it up.

At somewhat louder levels it does sound ok. It just doesn’t bump like the Infinity does…

So what do all of you think? Also what should I do with this thing?

All comments are appreciated. I added a new image gallery of all 3 subs so you can check them out.

http://www.blu-ray.com/community/gal...&folderid=2341

Posts approved.

[mj79]

Originally Posted by JasonR

Posts approved.

great sig!!

[mj79]

Originally Posted by kayvan79

So I’ve been reading through all the subwoofer threads trying to see what people say about which subs and which ones seemed the best value for the money etc..

From what I could gather many people were very satisfied with the AA HD Sub 12 and the PA 120

Now I’ve never heard of either of those companies before but with the general consensus being that they are very good for the money I decided to consider one of those.

Long story short after reading through this thread and seeing BD’s review of this sub I figured what the heck. I purchased the AA HD Sub 12 for $198 from thedeepdiscount.com. Just about the only person with real negative things to say was MJ 79. From his posts he was use to car audio subs. I’d have to say I’m in the same boat in that I have all after market audio in my car and I probably listen to music more in that setting than my HT. I have 2 10” subs that hit very nice and deep with 200 Watts going into each one RMS.

Now I wasn’t really expecting that kind of power to come from the AA but I was expecting a noticeable difference from the HT sub I was currently using (an Aiwa 8” 150 watt thing I bought 9 years ago).

When the box arrived I was very excited to say the least. My Aiwa had only one sub connector while the AA had L+R inputs. No problems as I had the necessary wires but I decided to first try the one wire just to see the difference as BD said using the L+R would yield at minimum a 3db increase.

When I connected everything up and fired up some music that I knew had decent bass my big smile quickly faded away. I couldn’t help but remember MJ79’s thread about how he felt this thing sucked big time. I thought maybe doing the 2 wire thing would yield improved results. It did but still it was rather quiet. I couldn’t help but say “Aw man this totally blows…what a letdown.” The only other thing I thought was maybe this need to break in a bit for it to really sound good. I let it play for a while (a day or two)…and it did sound marginally better but in all honesty my Aiwa pretty much sounded as good.

Also I had to have the level and crossover knobs turned up all the way to get anything out of it. After a bit the plate amp would get really warm even though the sub wasn’t all that loud.

I thought well I guess I can live with it as it didn’t break the bank. The next weekend I just happened to go to Ultimate Electronics.

For those that are unfamiliar with this store they sell higher end stuff than Best Buy does. Probably Best Buy’s highest end stuff is around where Ultimate generally starts for comparison. Not always but generally.

While I was there I saw some of their discounted stuff. Evidently they are no longer an authorized Infinity Systems dealer so they were closing out all of their Infinity products. My original HT had Infinity Primus speakers and I was very happy with them. My car subs are Infinity actually.

I happened to see a new Infinity 12” HT sub (model PS212) for only $150.

Specs are 400 Watts RMS
700 Watts Peak
25Hz - 150Hz

The stats on the AA were better but I said well never hurts to try this out.

Took it home and plugged it in. WOW is all I can say. Now I know this isn’t some high end sub but Infinity is a respectable brand and the sound from this was like 4 times louder than the AA. (with gain at only 50%) And that was from the very beginning. It’s not even broken in yet. It was very deep with no distortion at all and for about $50 less than the AA.

I saw it on the internet stores for around $330 so I got a really good deal. Now is it fair to make a comparison between the two…..ABSOLUTELY. The amps are roughly the same and I did get them for around the same price. The Infinity plate doesn’t get anywhere near as warm as the AA does so I can only conclude the components in the Infinity are much better quality.

For what it’s worth every lady I asked which one looked better said the AA looked cooler. They then said the Infinity sounded WAY better.

I guess the AA would work well as a secondary sub. But the Infinity is plenty loud enough. Last and not least I think the Infinity’s finish matches better with my Polk Monitor speakers.

I’m almost curious to see if maybe one of the connectors to the sub got disconnected (maybe it’s only getting half the signal?) But I don’t have the time to really play around with opening it up.

At somewhat louder levels it does sound ok. It just doesn’t bump like the Infinity does…

So what do all of you think? Also what should I do with this thing?

All comments are appreciated. I added a new image gallery of all 3 subs so you can check them out here

Well put man.. much more detailed than my rant... lol

Well ive had my AA for a while , it now has about 1.5 pounds of polyfil in there and is angled in a different position in my room on a riser and port firing into the corner of my wall , about 18 inches away.. It sounds a little better but nowhere near the volume of my polk 10 or depth for thatr matter.. But what do ya do, sometimes you buy a good product that YOU yourself are not satisfied with.. Its happened to me on enclosures and fabrications ive built in cars and its a bummer but if your on a budget you need to expect anything..

I have VERY high expectations of what a sub should sound like , so when i heard ppl compare this sub to the likes of hi end klipsch, SVS eD etc i was excited, but then disappointed ...

I dont want others to not try this sub because "I" was not satisfied, but i just wanted to let people know from MY standpoint on what i thought about its performance.... I put a JL audio W1 v2 car sub in the AA HD enclosure and it pounded pretty damn good... Although i still think the enclosure itself is poorly made and the amp SERIOUSLY is WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYY over rated... MAYBE this thing puts out 200 rms, because of all the testing of subs and swapping enclosures something just doesnt match up..

my only option now is to go with a quality setup or drop $400for a titanic 12 and a 500 watt dayton.. or find someone to buy this and start all over...

[duneaholic]

Originally Posted by kayvan79

So I’ve been reading through all the subwoofer threads trying to see what people say about which subs and which ones seemed the best value for the money etc..

From what I could gather many people were very satisfied with the AA HD Sub 12 and the PA 120

Now I’ve never heard of either of those companies before but with the general consensus being that they are very good for the money I decided to consider one of those.

Long story short after reading through this thread and seeing BD’s review of this sub I figured what the heck. I purchased the AA HD Sub 12 for $198 from thedeepdiscount.com. Just about the only person with real negative things to say was MJ 79. From his posts he was use to car audio subs. I’d have to say I’m in the same boat in that I have all after market audio in my car and I probably listen to music more in that setting than my HT. I have 2 10” subs that hit very nice and deep with 200 Watts going into each one RMS.

Now I wasn’t really expecting that kind of power to come from the AA but I was expecting a noticeable difference from the HT sub I was currently using (an Aiwa 8” 150 watt thing I bought 9 years ago).

When the box arrived I was very excited to say the least. My Aiwa had only one sub connector while the AA had L+R inputs. No problems as I had the necessary wires but I decided to first try the one wire just to see the difference as BD said using the L+R would yield at minimum a 3db increase.

When I connected everything up and fired up some music that I knew had decent bass my big smile quickly faded away. I couldn’t help but remember MJ79’s thread about how he felt this thing sucked big time. I thought maybe doing the 2 wire thing would yield improved results. It did but still it was rather quiet. I couldn’t help but say “Aw man this totally blows…what a letdown.” The only other thing I thought was maybe this need to break in a bit for it to really sound good. I let it play for a while (a day or two)…and it did sound marginally better but in all honesty my Aiwa pretty much sounded as good.

Also I had to have the level and crossover knobs turned up all the way to get anything out of it. After a bit the plate amp would get really warm even though the sub wasn’t all that loud.

I thought well I guess I can live with it as it didn’t break the bank. The next weekend I just happened to go to Ultimate Electronics.

For those that are unfamiliar with this store they sell higher end stuff than Best Buy does. Probably Best Buy’s highest end stuff is around where Ultimate generally starts for comparison. Not always but generally.

While I was there I saw some of their discounted stuff. Evidently they are no longer an authorized Infinity Systems dealer so they were closing out all of their Infinity products. My original HT had Infinity Primus speakers and I was very happy with them. My car subs are Infinity actually.

I happened to see a new Infinity 12” HT sub (model PS212) for only $150.

Specs are 400 Watts RMS
700 Watts Peak
25Hz - 150Hz

The stats on the AA were better but I said well never hurts to try this out.

Took it home and plugged it in. WOW is all I can say. Now I know this isn’t some high end sub but Infinity is a respectable brand and the sound from this was like 4 times louder than the AA. (with gain at only 50%) And that was from the very beginning. It’s not even broken in yet. It was very deep with no distortion at all and for about $50 less than the AA.

I saw it on the internet stores for around $330 so I got a really good deal. Now is it fair to make a comparison between the two…..ABSOLUTELY. The amps are roughly the same and I did get them for around the same price. The Infinity plate doesn’t get anywhere near as warm as the AA does so I can only conclude the components in the Infinity are much better quality.

For what it’s worth every lady I asked which one looked better said the AA looked cooler. They then said the Infinity sounded WAY better.

I guess the AA would work well as a secondary sub. But the Infinity is plenty loud enough. Last and not least I think the Infinity’s finish matches better with my Polk Monitor speakers.

I’m almost curious to see if maybe one of the connectors to the sub got disconnected (maybe it’s only getting half the signal?) But I don’t have the time to really play around with opening it up.

At somewhat louder levels it does sound ok. It just doesn’t bump like the Infinity does…

So what do all of you think? Also what should I do with this thing?

All comments are appreciated. I added a new image gallery of all 3 subs so you can check them out here

I myself am having some problems with my AA sub 12. I'm not going to say it's the sub...yet. It doesn't want to play anything really low without some major distortion. The emerging WOTW scene at half volume(rcvr gain at 0 db) makes all kinds of nasty noises. I have to take it to 1/4 volume but then it's a little too quiet. It did it on the sonic cannons on Hulk and other low scenes on TDK. I'm still playing around with it. I'm going to check the box and other things before the verdict is in. It plays loud on things above 25hz no problem(I mean LOUD)! Scenes like loud thuds, dinosours etc...It also did great on LOTR (stomping, rams hitting doors, etc...) It's just that I don't want to have to keep running back and forth to the sub turning it up and down. Now the PA-120 behaves and just ROCKS without distortion of any kind. Hopefully I can find out what the problem is.

[mj79]

Originally Posted by duneaholic

I myself am having some problems with my AA sub 12. I'm not going to say it's the sub...yet. It doesn't want to play anything really low without some major distortion. The emerging WOTW scene at half volume(rcvr gain at 0 db) makes all kinds of nasty noises. I have to take it to 1/4 volume but then it's a little too quiet. It did it on the sonic cannons on Hulk and other low scenes on TDK. I'm still playing around with it. I'm going to check the box and other things before the verdict is in. It plays loud on things above 25hz no problem(I mean LOUD)! Scenes like loud thuds, dinosours etc...It also did great on LOTR (stomping, rams hitting doors, etc...) It's just that I don't want to have to keep running back and forth to the sub turning it up and down. Now the PA-120 behaves and just ROCKS without distortion of any kind. Hopefully I can find out what the problem is.

THIS!!! man i almost forgot all about this... my polk 10 had that full loud hummm while this had basically nothing.. in the EXACT same positions.... i loved that part of the movie too and when i heard it on the AA i actually checked to see if it was on

[duneaholic]

Originally Posted by mj79

THIS!!! man i almost forgot all about this... my polk 10 had that full loud hummm while this had basically nothing.. in the EXACT same positions.... i loved that part of the movie too and when i heard it on the AA i actually checked to see if it was on

Oh I can tell it's on. It just rattles really loud.

[mj79]

Originally Posted by duneaholic

Oh I can tell it's on. It just rattles really loud.

i wish it rattled something

[duneaholic]

Uhhhhh...no you don't.

[mj79]

Originally Posted by duneaholic

Uhhhhh...no you don't.

uhhhhh yea.. ido.. then i would know its on