Product of the Day, Day 18: Dayton SUB-100 10″ 125 Watt Powered Subwoofer
Dayton 10″ Powered Subwoofer
For quite a while there was only one budget subwoofer that was a resounding recommendation and a clear standout, the Dayton SUB-100 from Parts Express. Though there is another compelling choice now, the Dayton definitely deserves to be on your shopping list.
Dayton SUB-100 with grill removed
Many inexpensive subwoofers sound OK in home theater use, but suffer when playing music. It’s easy to make a sub that creates bass to increase the sense of presence or shake the walls, but creating a satisfying, natural musical performance with tight, controlled, musical bass is a much more difficult task. What makes the Dayton SUB-100 so impressive is its performance with musical sources and its compatability with a wide range of speakers. It’s a great match for the Insignia NS-B2111 I have raved about in the past, and I have a good friend who uses the Dayton SUB-100 with her Magepans, to her complete satisfaction.
Dayton SUB-100 rear panel
The SUB-100 has a 10″ front-firing woofer, dual rear-firing ports, a 125 watt internal amplifier, and both line-level and speaker-level inputs. It currently sells at Parts Express for $131.80 + shipping + $9.95 shipping surcharge.
This brings us to the Dayton SUB-100’s competition: the ASW-10 10″ powered subwoofer from The Speaker Company. The ASW-10 has a 10″, downward firing aluminum woofer, a 100 watt (200 watt peak) amplifier, and connections and controls nearly identical to the SUB-100. The sonic performance is identical but the ASW-10 price of $149.97 includes shipping as well as free return shipping if you are not 100% satisfied. This makes the ASW-10 a bit less expensive (and much less expensive if you live on the west coast) and a safer bet if you are tough to satisfy. The Speaker Company has a five year warranty, Dayton’s powered subs are one year.
I’d say get the Dayton if you want a forward-firing woofer, and get the ASW-10 if you want a downward firing woofer.
Check out the Dayton SUB-100 at partsexpress.com.
See you tomorrow for the Product of the Day!
