Kindly recommend me a good quality, low end sub-woofer

I have the cheapest subwoofer I could get at the time... an $80 Sony box that sounds farty at all but the lowest volumes.  I guess I figured something was better than nothing... turns out nothing is pretty much what I got for my money.  I run the THX test for subwoofers, and boy... it sounds terrible unless I turn it down to the point where any bass is inaudible.  So my question is, what IN YOUR EXPERIENCE is a good low end subwoofer for $200 or less?   I would really appreciate some advice finding one I can actually use that doesn't sound farty and distorted, but I can't break the bank.   

Thanks... and this is for a home therater btw.  I currently connect my (crappy) subwoofer using an RCA-esque cable... doubt it's RCA, but that's what it looks like... only black.

I have the cheapest subwoofer I could get at the time... an $80 Sony box that sounds farty at all but the lowest volumes.  I guess I figured something was better than nothing... turns out nothing is pretty much what I got for my money.  I run the THX test for subwoofers, and boy... it sounds terrible unless I turn it down to the point where any bass is inaudible.  So my question is, what IN YOUR EXPERIENCE is a good low end subwoofer for $200 or less?   I would really appreciate some advice finding one I can actually use that doesn't sound farty and distorted, but I can't break the bank.   

Thanks... and this is for a home therater btw.  I currently connect my (crappy) subwoofer using an RCA-esque cable... doubt it's RCA, but that's what it looks like... only black.

donalbane

Tried using THX setup on Star Wars Ep II disc, and couldn't find a setting that sounded 1) audible, and 2) distortion free. Any setup pointers?donalbane

Hodge podge speakers ( I don't even know the brand of my main ones. My roomie bought them out of the back of a van lol, but they are big and sound great.) My satellite's are mid range quality. My reciever is a failry decent Yamaha (RX-V530) and I have everything set up rather mindfully (used Digital Video Essentials for this.)

I really appreciate the help... if you could save me the $ of getting a better one (that may have the same issues if it's my settings) then that would be super!

Hodge podge speakers ( I don't even know the brand of my main ones. My roomie bought them out of the back of a van lol, but they are big and sound great.) My satellite's are mid range quality. My reciever is a failry decent Yamaha (RX-V530) and I have everything set up rather mindfully (used Digital Video Essentials for this.)donalbane

Many thanks! I greatly appreciate your assistance. Now if only I could see the HZ level on the knob! As far as I know, it's just a simple, unlabled knob without any numeric indication, but you get what you pay for ($100 3 years ago... its a Sony though!) Perhaps I will get matching speakers in the future then... just don't wanna break the bank, ya know. Any good values out there for a small to medium room? And once again, thanks for the assistance. You're very helpful.donalbane

You welcome dude. Sony must be slacking if they didn't label the knob. That's a pretty loser thing to do. Anywho, If you are looking for a matched set for your room size then I might have some ideas. I picked these up about 7 mos. ago but it looks like they've been discontinued. Their is a new model out that looks pretty cool. It's about $50 more than you are willing to spend. The ones I have are great. I'm sure the new type sound just as good! That sub is small but it really shakes the floor!!!

The type I have:

 http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7067719&st=Yamaha+speakers&lp=9&type=product&cp=1&id=1108126065790

The type available:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7688656&st=Yamaha+speakers&lp=10&type=product&cp=1&id=1138083309560

First, in all due respect, your friend is a moron for buying the speakers from the "white van guys".  It is a scam

http://www.scamshield.com/Feature.asp?id=1

Second, for a subwoofer that doesn't distort and will sound good, http://www.svsound.com/products-sub-box-10nsd.cfm  Problem is, it is $429.  Anyway, probably didn't help but I wouldn't spend only $200 on a sub since it will distort just as well as your other sub.

First, in all due respect, your friend is a moron for buying the speakers from the "white van guys".  It is a scam

http://www.scamshield.com/Feature.asp?id=1

Second, for a subwoofer that doesn't distort and will sound good, http://www.svsound.com/products-sub-box-10nsd.cfm  Problem is, it is $429.  Anyway, probably didn't help but I wouldn't spend only $200 on a sub since it will distort just as well as your other sub.

audiophile25

For a $200 budget. I would recommend looking into the small "HTIB" Home Theater in a Box setups. There are several at BB and CC that are around $200. They come with 5 speakers and a sub.

While not great by any means, this would also give you a "matched" set of speakers which probably would sound much better than your cheapo van speakers.

For a $200 budget. I would recommend looking into the small "HTIB" Home Theater in a Box setups. There are several at BB and CC that are around $200. They come with 5 speakers and a sub.

While not great by any means, this would also give you a "matched" set of speakers which probably would sound much better than your cheapo van speakers.

cryofreeze

For that price point I don't have a recommendation.  However, in terms of watts, that is tricky.  In subwoofer designs, the smaller the enclosure for the sub, the more watts you need.  However, if it is housed in a larger box, the power needed isn't as great as a smaller enclosed one.  Perhaps the used market might be an option.

http://cls.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/cls.pl?homesubw&1173393380

Audiogon.com or e-bay. The above is an example but I did find a $200 one and $175 one that were pretty decent. 

After some examination last night, I did find out how to set it to 75 hz, and upon testing noticed a much improved sound from my subwoofer. Thanks so very much for the help. Saved me $200 bucks! And when I'm ready to upgrade my hardware in the future, you guys gave me some great ideas. Thanks a million, all.donalbane