Small discreet sub-woofer for dining room...

scene

Well-known member
I'm looking for a discreet sub-woofer to use with my KEF 2005.2 eggs. The original PSW2010 has gone phut, and even if I reppair it, I was wondering - or to be more precise, Mrs. Scene was wondering - if there as another sub I could get that wouldn't impinge so much on the room space, as this sub is for our new dining area (under construction)?

I like the look of the Sub that goes with the Q-acoustics Q7000 5.1 system, but it's not available till November @£350 (probably) and is 21cm deep. The older Q-acoustics Q-AV subwoofer was very nice as well, but seems to have been discontinued...

So I guess wall-mounted is good, and white / gloss white is also good.

Anyone got any recommendations. Would prefer to be under £350...
 

scene

Well-known member
Juzzie Wuzzie said:
Given your dining room is under construction, I remember visiting the What HiFi show a few years (2-3) ago in London and there was an "in wall" sub that you mounted between dwangs ... just a thought.

Unfortunately, the walls are constructed... :wall:

So on wall, not in wall...
 

TheHomeCinemaCentre

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The Paradigm Millenia Sub is discreet and would go on the wall. It will work with the KEF's although it may be slight over kill. There is the K2 sub from KEF that will go flat against the wall - it is bundled with the T-series.

Failing that the Dali Sub1 is the smallest cube sub that I would recommend - available in gloss white or black at your price point.
 
A

Anonymous

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Check out BK Electronics stuff, good stuff and very reasonably priced. Certainly more bang for your buck, then the usual brands (Rel, MJ Accoustics etc). Check out their XLS200 or Gemini subs (£315 & £215 respectfully).

Do bear in mind, when it comes to subs, size is always a trade off on deep bass response. A small sub, will never get really deep down.
 

philipjohnwright

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I'll second the comment about BK subs, their Gemini is an ideal match - I set one up for my dad to work with his Kef 2005.2's and it sounds good. It's also pretty small, any more so costs a lot of money. BK used to make the subs for REL before they took manufacture back in house. The controls on the Gemini are very similar to on a REL, which makes them very flexible. The cost is low as they only sell direct, so no dealer margin. Service is also good.
 

moonfly

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Gott give another vote for BK subs here. I wouldnt touch a Kef sub with someone elses (had 2 die on me and other forums have dedicated threads to the problems thay have had inthe past with reliability), and the BK will not only outprform the equivilent Kef, but unless your really unlucky it will outlive it by a long margain. If there are any problems with you BK sub, then they are known for having a very good customer service record.
 

TheHomeCinemaCentre

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moonfly said:
Gott give another vote for BK subs here. I wouldnt touch a Kef sub with someone elses (had 2 die on me and other forums have dedicated threads to the problems thay have had inthe past with reliability), and the BK will not only outprform the equivilent Kef, but unless your really unlucky it will outlive it by a long margain. If there are any problems with you BK sub, then they are known for having a very good customer service record.

You have been unfortunate with two faulty subwoofers from KEF. The issues with reliability from KEF subs generally relates to the PSW2010 model that was supplied with the original KHT2005. That unit was sold in the thousands and a great number suffered a fault. To be fair to KEF they owned up to the issue early on and replaced the amp board free of charge on units all through the warranty as you would expect but also well beyond into year five and further.

As for BK I know of similar cases highlighting issues with the quality of finish, delivery issues and reliability.

From my experience subwoofers are generally very reliable. Across all brands I have supplied through my time in the industry the failure rate is very low. Certainly in the last five years I can count a handful of issues from hundreds and hundreds of units.
 

CnoEvil

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The best tiny sub I've come across is the Velodyne Microvee (9"x9"x9.6"), but it blows your budget clean out of the water.....maybe keep an eye out for a 2nd hand one.
 

moonfly

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TheHomeCinemaCentre said:
You have been unfortunate with two faulty subwoofers from KEF. The issues with reliability from KEF subs generally relates to the PSW2010 model that was supplied with the original KHT2005. That unit was sold in the thousands and a great number suffered a fault. To be fair to KEF they owned up to the issue early on and replaced the amp board free of charge on units all through the warranty as you would expect but also well beyond into year five and further.

It was indeed the 2010 model and I am well aware of the issues with that particular model. Kef denied any issue for a long time till internet forum pressue and many many unhappy customers finally got them to change their stance, well, that and the fact they got caught using employees to post on the forum as happy customers, but thats in the past now anway. I wont mention the 50p fix they charged £80 a time to repair.

The newer subs do indeed seem better, but some new ones have shown the odd sign of dying like the 2010's did.

BK have of course had the odd issue, but their feedback is generally very good, and their fixes to problems typically very quick and satifactory. Suffice to say, I can link to many more customers banging on about how good their BK's are than I could about the lower end of the Kef range that sists in the same price lime up as BK's subs. BK biggest criticism is that they generally dont communicate that well via e-mail. Once you order you generally get no further communication till your order is ready to dispatch, sometimes even if you mail asking for an update, and for some this has been unacceptable, which is fair enough I guess. A quick phone call has almost unanimously solved that problem though. To be fair to Kef, I cant recall ever seeing any comment on issue with the finishes on their products.

Finally, the independant testing of BK's subs has confirmed they shoot well above their weight when it comes to purchase price, and a £450 Monolith will put any equally priced Kef sub to shame.

I'm not here to pick on Kef, but at this price range the BK's are very hard to beat in performance terms, and even with longer than many delivery times (because each sub is built to order), the vast mojority of customers are happy they waited. Of course, I wouldnt wish to be to blame for any loss of sale of Kef subs you might suffer due to my comments, but sometimes things need putting into perspetive.
 

scene

Well-known member
TheHomeCinemaCentre said:
The Paradigm Millenia Sub is discreet and would go on the wall. It will work with the KEF's although it may be slight over kill. There is the K2 sub from KEF that will go flat against the wall - it is bundled with the T-series.

The Paradigm looks wonderful, but I think 300W RMS and £1250 make it overkill for both the KEF eggs and my wallet...

I assume you mean the T-2 Sub that's bundled with the T-series? Looks lovely. A little steep on the price @£600, and I might have trouble persuading Mrs. Scene that black blended in with her new decor... :(

Failing that the Dali Sub1 is the smallest cube sub that I would recommend - available in gloss white or black at your price point.

The Dali Fazon Sub1 looks interesting - though does seem a little hard to find in stock...
 

scene

Well-known member
Well the BK subs get a lot of votes - and I can understand why! I'm a fan and planning to get a BK Monolith or BK XXLS-400 for my main system.

Yes, a white Gemini might well keep Mrs. Scene happy :bounce:

Then again she may want light oak and try to pretend it's a bit of furniture - until the fruit bowl vibrates off it... :rofl:
 

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