Hsu Research
VTF-3 Subwoofer
In the early days of the Internet and
mail-order audio equipment, a handful of companies built speakers primarily for direct
sale to customers. Many of those firms are no longer with us, but the ones that are have
earned reputations over the years for excellent value and customer service. Hsu Research,
a pioneer in this market, is no exception -- you’ll find people singing Hsu’s
praises all over the Web.
Distribution was not the only area in which Dr. Poh Ser Hsu
was a pioneer. His subwoofers were different from all the rest in using as enclosures
fiberboard tubes -- actually, cylindrical concrete forms used in the building industry to
pour pier footings -- rather than the standard wooden boxes. It was a novel idea, and very
successful; the enclosures’ continuously curving sides reduce internal standing waves
and resonances. Also, the tubes are lightweight and inexpensive, presumably reducing both
manufacturing and shipping costs. On these basic design principles, Dr. Hsu has built a
company widely recognized for making high-quality subwoofers at very low prices.
The downside was that not everyone was thrilled with the
idea of a big black tube sitting in the corner of the family room. In response, Hsu
Research introduced a line of conventional box subwoofers. The subject of this review is
one of these, the VTF-3 ($849 USD), which occupies the middle of the line, sandwiched
between the smaller VTF-2 and the functionally similar but better-looking
rosewood-veneered VTF-3R. All comments about performance should apply equally to the
rosewood version.
Description
Unpacking the VTF-3 and moving it into place can be quite a
chore. It weighs 93 pounds; you’ll probably need a shower by the time you’re
done setting it up. The first thing you’ll note as you unpack it is the black-crinkle
paint finish, which some will find attractive and many will not. But don’t rule out
the VTF-3 on looks alone -- it has a lot to offer for the money. If you really must have a
piece of furniture, look at the VTF-3R.
The physical configuration is standard stuff. The VTF-3 is
15" wide by 20" high by 22" deep; the 12" woofer cone is mounted in
the front, and magnetically shielded for placement close to a television. The VTF-3’s
frequency response is rated as 18Hz or 22Hz to 125Hz, +/-1dB, depending on the mode (more
on that in a bit). The amplifier power is rated at 250W continuous.
Around back are two large ports, the internal amplifier,
and the volume and crossover control, the latter variable from 30Hz to 90Hz at
24dB/octave, and bypassable for use with a digital receiver or preamp. The phase switch
can be useful in blending the subwoofer with the main speakers. Power is supplied via a
heavy IEC power cord; a cheater plug is provided in case you have problems with
ground-loop hum -- not all that uncommon, in my experience.
 While
the VTF-3’s construction and appearance may be standard, its acoustic configuration
is another story. By use of a supplied foam port plug and a third switch on its rear, the
VTF-3 can be configured for either maximum output or lower extension. The operation
involves removing or inserting the plug in the appropriate port and setting the Bass
Extension Switch to 20Hz or 25Hz. Be careful when doing this -- Hsu Research warns that
you can damage the driver by setting the switch incorrectly and playing the sub at high
volumes.
Setup
Moving this beast into position was an effort. Its size and
weight mean that moving it is best done by two people, or by dragging it on a heavy
blanket. Once it’s in place, however, you should have little enough reason to move
it. One nice bit of customer service is that if you give Hsu Research your room dimensions
and a handful of other details about your space, they’ll make suggestions about where
to place your sub for the best results. It turned out that one of their suggestions for my
large listening room was a good starting point, and required only minor tweaking of
position to fine-tune the result. I tried the VTF-3 in maximum output and maximum
extension modes in this room and finally settled on maximum output. Though I think
I’d have been perfectly happy with either, the VTF-3 was a little more dynamic in
this mode.
I used the VTF-3 with Ascend
Acoustics CBM-170 speakers, an Onkyo TX-DS696 receiver, and a Sony DVP-NS755V DVD
player.
Movies
One movie that’s certain to give any subwoofer a
workout is Star Wars: Episode II -- Attack of the Clones. As Senator Amidala’s
spaceship passes in the opening scene, the VTF-3 shook the room, floor, walls, couch,
pictures, doors, and everything else! The dog, which had been sleeping up to this point,
sat up and took notice. The cat left the room. My wife, who was in the next room, peeked
through the door, wanting to know what had happened. Ditto with the speeder chase through
the city after the assassination attempt. The Hsu VTF-3 was as much felt through the seat
of the pants as heard.
In U-571, it’s not necessarily how low the
bass, but the amount and definition of the bass that are the test of a subwoofer. The
VTF-3 excelled, producing deafening results during the famous depth-charge scenes
(chapters 15-18). My own sealed subwoofer (I designed and built) starts to complain loudly
at these levels, and would soon give up for good if I continued the kind of abuse the
VTF-3 was capable of absorbing. Bass definition is also key in this sequence, and the
VTF-3 delivered. Many will argue that bass definition is entirely a matter of
upper-frequency harmonics, that there’s no such thing as "fast bass." While
it’s true that the behavior of your main speakers has a great deal to do with bass
definition, the subwoofer itself must react quickly to changes in energy. This requires
good control over woofer-cone movement, and that box resonances be kept to a minimum.
While this sounds easy enough, it’s no simple task at the energy and cone-excursion
levels produced by a high-output subwoofer.
Music
Telarc’s version of Tchaikovsky’s Overture
1812 [Telarc CD-80041] is famous for its ability to test a system’s low-frequency
capabilities; that is, it’s famous for frying woofers. The very real, authentic
cannon shots are high enough in volume and low enough in frequency to cause lesser
speakers to go into thermal meltdown. Warnings all over the album jacket admonish the
listener to play the recording at low volume levels until it is ascertained that the
speakers in question can handle the output. By the time I got around to running this
staple subwoofer test, I was sufficiently convinced of the VTF-3’s fortitude that I
let it loose at nearly full scream. The VTF-3 shrugged off the entire exercise with
aplomb.
But that was only part of the story. The cannon shots
should at once be a slap on the forehead and a swift kick in the rear. At worst,
they’ll be indistinct rumbles; better, they’ll startle the unsuspecting
listener; best, they’ll startle the listener who already knows what to expect. The
VTF-3 fell into the last category.
If you want to check your sub for low-frequency extension,
try "Jurassic Lunch," from The Great Fantasy Adventure Album [Telarc
CD-80342]. The main energy of the dinosaur footsteps is in the 10-25Hz range. While most
subwoofers will reproduce some of the upper-frequency harmonics, only the meanest and
nastiest will get the primary frequencies. How can you tell? Well, with the VTF-3 in my
room, there are footsteps at the end of this track that I can only just hear, but that
shake the room like a slipping fault line. I did some crude measurements and found that I
was getting useful output at around 15Hz -- something the rest of the subs in the house
could only dream of attaining. There’s not much music out there with this kind of
low-frequency information, but for those rare occasions, there’s simply no substitute
for a speaker that can deliver the real thing.
If you want to wake the neighbors, the Blue Man
Group’s The Complex [Lava 83631-2] is always a good choice. With the VTF-3 as
the driving force for the low end, you might be hearing not only from your neighbors, but
from their neighbors as well: This is one bass-heavy CD; wimpy wannabe subs need
not apply. Though this music will rock the house, the bass is meant to be tight, with tons
of impact. It shouldn’t sound like your neighbor’s kid’s car subwoofer.
This is especially evident on such tracks as "Persona," on which the bass comes
on with definite slam, then slowly decays. A good sub will give you the slam and the
nuances of the reverberation of the decay, and the VTF-3 did a marvelous job of it: The
initial hit shook the room; as the note decayed, I could hear subtle variations of
frequency. To me, that pretty much defines the ideal of a well-designed, well-integrated
subwoofer.
I normally eschew the test material that manufacturers
occasionally send along. However, the copy of the Boston Audio Society’s Bass Test
CD that Hsu Research sent me turned out to be an excellent resource, with five useful
tracks of music and several tracks of pink noise, warble tones, and the like for system
and room testing. Put "Downward Glide" on repeat and use it to track down all
those little bits around the room that are rattling and need to be cushioned. If you buy a
VTF-3, you might find this a necessary exercise.
Comparison
The only subwoofer I had in the house that was comparable
to the Hsu VTF-3 was that sealed sub of my own design, which uses ACI’s highly
respected (but no longer available) SV-12 driver. The subs are similar in size and
weight, and the sound of mine is very clean, with excellent definition and slam. However,
that’s where the similarities ended -- in every other respect, the VTF-3 outperformed
my sub. Its output was several dB higher, its in-room extension at least 10Hz lower. While
both subs sounded great on the vast majority of program material, the VTF-3 provided that
little extra when things got really loud and low. Most of the time, I never noticed the
difference between the subs, but when I did, the effect was always dramatic. There’s
nothing quite like feeling the rumble of an explosion in your rear end before the sound of
it hits -- in the subwoofer category, that’s what separates the men from the boys.
The Hsu Research VTF-3 ranks as The Man.
Conclusion
The Hsu Research VTF-3 is a killer subwoofer -- there are
plenty of subs out there that cost a whole lot more and perform worse. I’ve heard
many subs that have clearly been designed strictly for boom and wow effects for movies.
Unfortunately, such subs sound horrible with music and shouldn’t be considered for
mixed-use systems. In a movie-only system, the VTF-3 will provide more accurate
reproduction of effects than those subs ever will.
Few subwoofers on the market today offer the combination of
output, extension, and versatility of the Hsu Research VTF-3. The VTF-3 isn’t that
much more expensive than many so-called budget subs, and it sounds far better than many
far more expensive ones.
...Jeff Van Dyne
Price of equipment reviewed
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