ill be using in for mostly music and some ht. as of now i think im going to buy the hsu stf-2 because its more musical. the svs goes down to 20 htz, but is that all that important if my main use is 4 music? both subs seem real nice but i cant decide yet.
I don't think 20 Hz is necessary for music. I agree with Dr. Hsu's design choice on that. I'll only tell you that I have a STF-3 which has the same frequency extension as the STF-2 and it sounds good on music. It gave me realistic punch on the bass drum. It was easily the best sub I had heard at up to 50% more expensive.
I'm not saying anything bad about the SVS because I've never heard it (not as cost-effective in Canada after shipping, brokerage fees, Canadian taxes, and difficulty dealing with an out-of-country warranty).
The room is 11 x 30 x 8 (or so), but the sub has to keep up with efficient speakers. I'm happy with the size I have and don't think I would have gone smaller. But it's quite possible that a STF-2 would have worked out, I'm not sure. I could dial in a much smaller Paradigm PDR-10 to match my speakers, but the Paradigm wasn't digging very low so didn't need as much power. The impact from the Hsu doesn't compare at all with the small PDR-10.