Purchasing my first sub woofer

Looking to complement some new Focal Aria 905's in a small living room for HT and music listening. Sadly I don't have a big budget for a sub woofer. Though even on a budget, I am wanting quality over quantity. I'd like to end up with a unit that will let me nicely blend with the Arias when music listening and maybe provide an occasional attention grab when watching films. Living with no sub, most any sub should bring a sizable difference to tunes played in the house regardless of what I end up with, since my current bookshelf speakers (Celestion 5's) go down to just 70hz (now you know I am old!) Here are my contenders so far:

REL T/5i
JL Audio Dominion d108
Definitive Tech. SuperCube 4000 (wicked good sale going on right now)
and after reading some posts here, one more consideration, if I stretch the budget, the Rythmikaudio L22 (the servo aspect is intriguing, with perhaps some complexity that is out of my old man comfort zone).

I read conflicting info about connecting/not connecting mains to a sub woofer (REL suggests its the way to go and you can do so in tandem with the LFE connection from an AV receiver. Their subs claim to manage the signals and also best blend with the mains connected in this manner.) And then other info out there says that mains connected direct is completely the wrong way to hook up a sub, period. I'm not sure if that talk is just manufacture smack down or based on old technology or even new changes in technology. Perhaps there are so many variables in play: overall equipment, room size, reflective & absorptive material in the space, the music I like, the fact that I've had some hearing loss over the years and how many dogs and cats live in the house, etc. that it's rock paper scissors at this level of choice?

I pose my first post on this forum to the kind, considerate & serious audiophile enthusiasts out there that perhaps can recall back to a time when their budget was $600 - $800 for a low end sub and can share their thoughts if my choices are in center field or completely off in left field (as far as sub woofer choices go that is - as far as anything else rattling around in my brain, I'm sure you'd vote I'm off in left field). I value all insight shared and in the big picture, I've got a spouse letting me deal with a mild mid-life crisis through acquiring some new audio gear, so regardless of what I end up with, life is good and I'll be sure to share how it all ends up.
Cheers and thanks for reading and responding!

There are sub by Focal

Focal does have one sub that is small in size, but a bit on the pricey side for what it delivers at least in specifications. A larger one they offer looks impressive, yet is way beyond my budget. Thank you for responding and putting the idea of a matching Focal sub into the mix of my considerations. It seems more bang for the buck may be had with the subs from companies that making sub woofers is primarily their bread and butter.

Best Regards.

Thanks for all the super input. I actually look forward to doing all the tweaking once I get a sub woofer in the house. The hard part will be convincing my spouse to move about the furnishings to accommodate my yearnings to get the best sound possible happening.

There does seem a lot to like with Definitive Technology at the price point at I am looking to spend. The fact that even the entry level subs are manufactured in the US is certainly unique about their company's offerings as well. Thanks for your kind input.

It is good to hear that what seems to be a marketing dominating company in the world of sub woofers is also nicely regarded in the actual sound they provide. Oddly enough, after just posting my question to the forum did I find the SVS product at my price point. The SB-2000 at $700 looks very appealing. I also being drawn to the SB-1000 for just $500 (thinking I can put the extra $200 towards a low end upscale CD player!) (though I can appreciate vinyl, at this stage of my life I won't start down that collection road). I get the feel that a sealed box sub fits my way of how I like to hear low frequencies in general - really low is OK, but always tight and quick - without rattle. (Anything that reminds me of cars with booming bass oozing out from the windows is a big turn off for me.) You got to admit, for the money, SVS, with a policy of free shipping, try it for 45 days and then SVS pays for the return shipping - that's a pretty risk free way to test out a sub woofer in one's home IMHO. I'd value your input if you think the 1000 series would be too entry level (or rather is the extra $200 worth it for the 2000 series). I do find it odd that the 2000 series has only RCA inputs and not high level speaker terminal connection inputs like the 1000 series. I am a bit puzzled why the more upscale model has less variety on making speaker connections. Maybe my overall understanding is a bit lacking on the connections available?
1000 instructions
https://system.na1.netsuite.com/cor...Ze0qK&cktime=131840&cart=59510&gc=clear&ext=F
2000 instructions:
https://system.na1.netsuite.com/cor...YGsnD&cktime=131798&cart=61847&gc=clear&ext=F
And thanks for all your input!

Thanks for the input. It's nice to know the company SVS product's have a wide, global following. I very well may pull the trigger on a SVS sub and try it out. It felt good buying my Focals from a local dealer, but the return mail order policy with SVS is hard to beat. Please feel free to comment on my previous reply about the speaker connections on the 1000 series versus the 2000 series of the SVS SB product line. Surfing off the coast of your beautiful country is on my bucket list! Cheers!

Folsom said:

Rhythmic is hard to compete with for reasonable amounts of money. In fact I mod their amps for people to get them into a high echelon of performance.

Click to expand...

I would love to be at a listening level of equipment and gear to make use of your equipment modification services someday! Thanks for your kind input!