Ladies, ladies...settle down!
It's amazing what you get in some of these [supposed] "audiophile" threads. It's an interesting mix of agenda, cognitive dissonance and helpful information.
It's just difficult to say something [seemingly] simple like: "I'd like to know the best subwoofer for under $250, pair with Arx A1s on an old Pioneer receiver, that is to be used primarily for music in a 12x14 room on the second floor, that my girlfriend will buy for me as a Christmas gift" and get a reasonable answer.
Now, while "best" is obviously subjective you get a lot of the following:
1). "Any subwoofer under $300/$3000/$30,000 is going to sound like crap, so who gives a shit what you get? Also, while we're at it, why don't you go fuck yourself? Your mother's a whore!"
2). "You should build one! That's what I did! Here's a link to my build blog! Feel free to click on the ads in the sidebar. Be sure to remember to tell your girlfriend to buy a big enough drop-cloth. I got a smaller one and ended up staining the carpet a little bit. If your girlfriend has hardwood floors this won't be a problem"
3). "Check Craigslist! I once spent a night camping with a one-eyed sailor who spoke in hushed tones about Ye Ol' Craigslist Find of Aught-six; when one man, braving all manner of harsh condition, triumphed against the odds and found a Nad M2 for seventy two-cents. All he had to do was defeat the Kracken! Tell your girlfriend to pack her trident"
4). Guy One: "I like the Polk PSW10 sub for a $250 budget." Guy Two: "How could you like that one? I demoed the Thunderbolt by Alon in a hermetically sealed listening room once when I worked at Nasa and it BLEW the Polk out of the water! Hey everyone, don't listen to Guy One, he's a moron! His mother's a whore! Anyway, just save up a little more and get the Thunderbolt. You'll be glad you did!"
5). "I love Bose!"
Okay, so I made that last one up, but the other four are pretty much standard issue answers.
Now, lest you think me stupid, allow me to say I understand two things are at play here. First off, I'm asking for help, and none of y'alls getting paid for this, so I appreciate it whatever "advice" people can give.
Secondly, I understand price/performance isn't linear. There are some times when it makes sense to say "Listen, you can do MUCH better for yourself if you spend 10-30% more. Here's a link to reviews that show that for your application, you'll end up much happier in the long run with...." But people rarely frame it like that, and while there probably isn't any hard and fast rule, if you're going to go outside someone's price range by more than 25% (ish), you're not really answering their question, you're answering something else entirely.
But really, sound quality or no, my girlfriend's not building me a sub. Nor is she gonna go demo used equipment all over the greater Los Angeles urban area.
Anyway, it's just funny what comes out in this (and other) audio equipment threads. Luckily, I take all of it with a grain of salt and a good laugh.
For those of you who offered good suggestions in the $150-$300 range, thank you, and I'll be following up on your suggestions. If you have any more, I'm all ears.
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