OP, we want to help you. We all really do but if you really want to learn/make the best choice for your money you have to be open to what we're saying and try to understand.
The best analogy I have to what you're asking is it's basically like saying
http://shop.lenovo.com/us/en/desktop...x-series/x510/
"Has anyone had experience with this PC and is it a good purchase for the price?"
Now if I told you there was a better PC for the money would you ignore that statement because I've never owned that specific PC?
Now we can tell what PC is better for what task or if it's better at all tasks based on parameters/specs. We know that AMD's Kabini will be destroyed by Intel's Haswell, but we also know that they're not competing in the same market. We know that you can find a Mercedes with similar performance as a Hyundai and that yes, the Mercedes cost more and looks better, has a couple more features sometimes but that most of the worth is in the name brand (and I'm a Mercedes enthusiast as well and I'll admit that the money could be spent elsewhere but Mercedes is just what I like).
We'll try and explain it to you as best as we can as to why your choice of a B&W sub isn't an optimal choice. But either you can A) believe/trust us (Everyone has agreed the B&W isn't the best choice so it's not like there are varying opinions really), or you can B) do your own research and learn everything there is to learn about subwoofers/speakers.
I recommend A if you don't plan on making this a hobby. I took route B) last year when I purchased my Polk Audio towers and Klispch RW-12D sub. I didn't want to learn too much, but took the advice of forum users on avsforum. I later came back to learn more once I got the "bug" as people call it I guess. Learned more and I was at the SAME crossroad you were except with speakers. Route B is hard and time consuming and there is so much to learn about how sound works that unless you really love home theater and spend lots of time on it, it's not worth learning.
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Also on a side note, I just can't help myself and I don't mean to insult you but the reason that infinity speaker was shown to you had nothing to do with it's annoying shine (which is the reason it's actually not recommended is because of it's shine). It's because of the actual build quality of the subwoofer. It's hard to actually understand the point he's trying to show unless you've seen the speakers/subs in other companies. Even my B&W speakers right now that I just tore apart to repair so I can sell them, the internals of those compared to the DIY kit I have ordered is ridiculous.
Anyway, I've really tried to help you understand OP in many ways as possible throughout this thread. I really would like you to pick something you'll enjoy/get the maximum experience from the first time around. I feel lots of us in this thread are posting because that's how we feel. This hobby is great, and we want others to get the same enjoyment out of it we do. It's easy to just let you make a choice and take the B&W because ignorance is bliss. We have ALL thrown away money in this thread on less optimal choices. We are speaking from experience.
But sometimes, you really do have to learn for yourself.
I hope you'll listen to the advice we have all tried to give you here. Or I hope you'll at least head over to AVSForum and ask over there as well and get the same answers and maybe someone will explain it in a way that clicks with you.
Edit:
I just read post #36 of yours and I think I understand your issue. You're just worried that you can't hear each sub first which is why many of us have purchased these subs and have written reviews and done measurements online. So when you ask whether SVS, HSU, or Epik is better, we do have those numbers actually as well as TONS of listening experience from members. Google "Avsforum shootout" or just head to the subwoofer section and start browsing. If I could link you to the threads I would but I don't remember the name to google for them. I've read hundreds of those types of threads because I was in the same position you were. I didn't know how I could compare subs/speakers I could hear, to those I didn't.
I'd say the most eye opening experience though was reading threads on AVSForum of people tearing down their speakers. Just taking them apart to compare the internals of speakers like B&W, Polk Audio, etc. compared to Internet Direct companies internals. Then, seeing those internals, and comparing them to the DIY market or the "Assemble it yourself" market (which I prefer since I'm not genius with woodworking/eletrical stuff). As you move from each market, the internals change and get much better and the product gets much better.
Really though, when you compare speakers/subs you'll want to compare to similar companies. So we know that HSU/SVS > B&W/Polk/(A lot of companies I don't undderstand why so many companies make bad subwoofers...) but you want the comparison of B&W vs Polk or HSU vs SVS. For that, we have lots of posts on AVSForum about it.
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1367811/subwoofer-shootout-subwoofer-roundup-url-lists
That's a megathread of subwoofer shootouts.
http://www.avsforum.com/t/1387178/archaeas-kansas-city-blind-subwoofer-shootout-2012
That one above is a specific shootout. One of the first subwoofer comparison threads I read on internet direct companies.