SVS Subwoofers, Popularity Justified?

Discussion in 'Audio Hardware' started by avanti1960, Jun 15, 2019.

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  1. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    SVS subwoofers seem to be a hands down favorite when it comes to performance, value and customer service for the 2-channel music lovers who like the addition of a subwoofer (s) to their system.
    The enthusiasm level seems quite high and I admit that their specs and features look impressive on paper.

    Are they truly that musical and easy to blend into a 2-channel system?
    How is their pitch definition capability?
    Any pitfalls that a competitor might do better?
     
  2. Catcher10

    Catcher10 I like records, and Prog...duh

    I am repeating myself over and over LOL.......I am really on the fence about adding a sub to my system. But like you say the reviews and acceptance is overwhelmingly positive. And for the price I am not sure you can beat them, I mean $699 for a SB2000 and $999 for the new SB3000, and they always have deals in the clearance section for a few scratches.
    I believe their amp section is more than admirable and probably only bettered by a $1500 REL or uber stuff by JL Audio or Legacy.

    If I pull the trigger it will be an SVS....
     
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  3. F1nut

    F1nut Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Mars Hotel
    For 2 channel there are far better choices such as Rythmic or JL Audio. For HT, SVS is an excellent choice.

    Once you've heard a servo sub like Rythmic or Velodyne there's no going back.
     
  4. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    What does Rythmic and JL do better than the SVS?

    What is a servo sub?
     
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  5. Doctor Fine

    Doctor Fine "So Hip It Would Blister Your Brain"

    My pair of older SVS subs came with four "room size" settings.
    PLUS they came with full parametric EQ for notching out "humps."
    Mine has XLR and coax AND speaker inputs.
    Infinite adjustibility for phase.
    I see the same basic models have gone up in price and lost some of the feature set.
    STILL good subs for not a lot of money.
    Mine is nice and tight and works a treat with Harbeths without adding mud or bloat.
    I would still consider SVS on any short list for quality and affordability.
    I bought a pair of two hundred dollar 15" Dayton subs off Amazon the other day just for going "boom" on home theater.
    Those darn subs are NOT junk which shocks the heck out of me.
    We live in good times.
     
  6. BayouTiger

    BayouTiger Forum Resident

    My SVS blows away my old Velodyne, but that was back in the 90’s so likely not a fair comparison. I think it does an excellent job manily because you can tweak it in so many ways. The onboard DSP lets you tweak just about anything you need to blend it, and then there are foam plugs that allow you to open or close any of the three orts to tighten it up as necessary (I find that music is best with them all sealed).

    I do think my smaller subs are easier to blend (REL T3 and Sumiko S.0. - which is a shameless REL copy), at least with my small bookshelves in a small room.

    For the record, I truly think that the Sonos Sub is absolutley outstanding and wish they would sell it as a standalone or at least add an input. It is able to sound excellent in my den where the REL and Sumiko could not.

    For casual listening I often will just let music play on the Playbar and Sub and it soulnds way better than it has a right to.

    I can also say that the powered subs internal to my Triton 1.r’s blend perfectly and as such i am no longer using a dedicated Sub. Last time i was happy withiut a sub in this room was actually the DefTech BP7002’s years back which obviously were much like the GE in that regard, though the Triton’s are many times better in about every way.
     
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  7. pdxway

    pdxway Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oregon, USA
    I owned SVS cylinder sub and sold it many years back as I could not really make it sound good for 2 channels. I still own a 12 inch ported SVS sub and it is just OK for 2 channels. Both worked great for HT. I don't have experience with sealed SVS subs, so can't say much about it.
     
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  8. F1nut

    F1nut Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Mars Hotel
    Sound more musical.

    Check out Rythmic's site for detailed info on servo subs. You can also hit Google, Paul from PS Audio has a good video talking about servo subs.
     
  9. Helom

    Helom Forum member

    Location:
    U.S.
    Many of SVS' subs lack speaker-level inputs.
     
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  10. jbmcb

    jbmcb Forum Resident

    Location:
    Troy, MI, USA
    Rythmic is a better choice, Velodyne has lost interest in the speaker market. Their focus is on LIDAR products now.
     
    F1nut likes this.
  11. F1nut

    F1nut Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Mars Hotel
    Yep, only the 1000 series has speaker level. When I asked why they stated there was no difference between speaker level and line level. Wrong!
     
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  12. F1nut

    F1nut Forum Resident

    Location:
    The Mars Hotel
    I am aware of that. I was using Velodyne as an example of a company that made servo subs of which there are plenty floating around the used markets.
     
    jbmcb likes this.
  13. JoshM

    JoshM Forum Resident

    A few years ago I bought an SVS SB1000. I was happy with it, but due to upgrade-itis, I tried three or four other subs against it, including a Rhythmik L12, and always ended up keeping the SVS. Their subs just seem to blend better with speakers -- at least in my music-only 2 channel setup. (I actually just upgraded to one of the pricier SVS subs.)
     
    Vinny123 likes this.
  14. cdgenarian

    cdgenarian Forum Resident

    Location:
    North Carolina
    I have 2 sealed 12" subs from SVS. I listen to classical music only -- no HT. They are indeed very musical. With the very little rock and jazz I have listened to (e.g., when I have a guest), they really pack a punch. I considered Rythmiks and others, but after much research (money was not a factor), I opted for the SVS products and am very happy with my purchase. If you can swing it, I'd now go with the newer SB-3000 model. Those are on my "upgrade list." :agree:
     
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  15. blowinblue

    blowinblue Kind of not blue.

    Location:
    SoCal USA
    There’s always a better choice, especially when you’ve put self-imposed restrictions on how much you’re willing to spend on your home audio system (as I have). I just recently purchased a new SVS SB-3000 to fill in the deep bass that was missing. Absolutely love it. It’s everything I was expecting it to be. My system would be considered budget by the standards of this forum. But the SB-3000 is a perfect fit for me.

    It’s all about priorities. I have more dollars invested in my two most expensive bass guitars than I do in my whole stereo system. And my property taxes are 13,400 per year. But that buys me a listening room to die for (one of the big reasons we chose this house). Which makes my humble stereo sound way better than it has any right to. Yes, there’s always a better choice. And we all choose differently.

    In answer to the OP’s question, I believe the popularity of SVS subwoofers is justified.

    M. M.
     
    Sugar Man, Szeppelin75 and Ezd like this.
  16. The Pinhead

    The Pinhead KING OF BOOM AND SIZZLE IN HELL

    An absolute no-no for me. No sub out on my vintage amp and receiver.
     
    SBurke, AlmanacZinger and Bingo Bongo like this.
  17. jeffmackwood

    jeffmackwood Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ottawa
    Don't forget PSA. While I don't own any of their subs, I have listened to a number of them in friends' homes. For the obvious reason, PSA has been doing many of the same great things that SVS is known for.

    If I were shopping for a new sub I'd call both PSA and SVS and ask them which of their products would best suit my needs. Between the two companies it's guaranteed that you'll find something nearly-perfect for your needs within your budget (with perhaps the exception of a super-low budget - in which case you should be shopping for used.)

    Jeff
     
  18. The Pinhead

    The Pinhead KING OF BOOM AND SIZZLE IN HELL

    Is it sealed, or bottom ported ? The website doesn't specify.
     
  19. pdxway

    pdxway Forum Resident

    Location:
    Oregon, USA
    "Sb" of sb1000 stands for sealed box.
     
  20. Leigh

    Leigh https://orf.media

    I have had a PB-12 Plus for about 5 years now and have been happy overall. My main beef is that there is a frequency that causes it to rattle as if the speaker cone is damaged. I have replaced the amp twice and the speaker once and the sound still pops up on certain tracks. It's a specific mid bass note that does it and it only happens on a couple tracks - I won't hear it for months.

    Aside from that odd very rare thing (that I think is some internal resonance within the speaker driver) the sub is great. I have a large listening area that opens to an entire basement so the bass is really flat and super low bass sounds great.

    I'd say they are a great bang for the buck and if I get another sub it will probably be one of theirs (I like that they are made in the midwest as well).
     
  21. The Pinhead

    The Pinhead KING OF BOOM AND SIZZLE IN HELL

    What do you mean midbass ? At what frequency is the x-over set ? I don't think you can call 80hz or less ¨midbass¨ . There are a LOT of thing that may resonate (rattle) on a room; you just didn't pinpoint it yet. Don't think anything is wrong with your sub.
     
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  22. mdm08033

    mdm08033 Senior Member

    Back in the mid to late 90s I heard a lot of subwoofers at my day job. While my employer did retail Velodyne new, we took a lot of them in trade. I was never impressed. My favorite sub was the top of the line NHT. I waxed poetic about this nine years ago.

    “The original SW3P acoustic suspension subwoofer was an excellent piece of kit. The beauty of it was the simplicity. I think it had an outboard 250 watt class g amplifier that could be easily rack mounted. The 19"x19"x19" piano gloss black cabinet with a 12" woofer moved planty of air. NHT tech folk told us to remind our clients to use a long run of inexpensive speaker to experiment with placement and then fish or hide the wire. They also claimed that the amplifier was capable of driving two woofers for more evenly distributed bass, not louder bass. I never had someone buy a second SW3 but I'm sure someone did. At the time most customers were all about the dino bass a la Velodyne. I loved the SW3 but I guess the bass was to natural for most people. We sold only a few of the SW3s and rarely see them for sale on the used market. My boss actually bought one to go with his mid 1990 KEF Reference II home theater setup. The only down side of the original SW3 was the very large black box that you had to sell your significant other on.”
     
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  23. Leigh

    Leigh https://orf.media

    I spent a lot of time on this. It was coming from the inside of the box, probably the speaker itself. I recorded it, filtered it, sent it to the SVS folks, etc. It moved with me from one state to another. I have learned to live with it.

    Here's an example of the distortion: This is what a microphone held a couple inches from the driver sounds like on a specific old Fleetwood Mac track: second-driver-distort-highpass.mp3

    I've high pass filtered the sound to cut the bass out. I can't recall for sure but I think the vocals etc. are coming from the woofer... remember, I have it at "normal" volume and have filtered the bass out, this is the residual.

    I have the crossover set at 60 Hz or thereabouts. Oh, and I've had the sub since 2011!
     
    Last edited: Jun 15, 2019
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  24. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    I am really interested in the app based controls available for the SB -3000 and also the Martin Logan Dynamo 1100X. Being able to adjust all of the settings (especially continuous phase) from the listening spot would be fantastic. It was so tedious and time consuming dialing in my old JL Audio sub. App based adjustments are even more so valuable when trying to integrate two subwoofers.
     
  25. avanti1960

    avanti1960 Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Chicago metro, USA
    Yeah I saw that video but he likes Rel subs too. I have to admit reading about the Rythmic's system sounds intriguing. Especially the paper cone on the F12G. Reports are that it is extremely accurate sounding with acoustic bass and portrays it with best in class realism.
    Their web site is so cryptic though, it really needs some work.
     
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