I am looking at getting the SB-12 Plus. I have a couple of questions... The recommend not using this sub in rooms more than 2400 cubic feet. I have right at about 3200. I don't want a huge overbearing subwoofer box in the room though since it's the main area of the house. I used to have an Uber 10 Sub from orb audio and it seemed to fill the room very good. Will this sub be able to fill the room up pretty good as well? I listen at moderate levels and sometimes turn it up pretty good for a party or so. Next question..It has the parametric EQ on it. This looks like total greek to me! I don't understand the Q function and I don't understand how all the controls affect each other. Can you bypass this? Can you really screw up the sound based on these controls? Help please!

Just call or email SVS customer support. They're really good and would gladly explain it all to you.
Basically one knob sets which freq you want to adjust, one knob sets how much adjustment and Q adjusts the width.

I was looking for a small footprint sub too and ended up going for the SVS PCi 25-31 (now PC NSD) which is a ported 12".

Make sure your room measurement includes the entire room including any adjacent room that is open to the listening area.
I once thought I had a 2,700 cf room, but if I included the dining rm & kitchen which my listening area was open and adjacent to, I ended up at 5,200 cf.

My PCi 25-31 is corner loaded and it barely can satisfy me. :)

I am looking at getting the SB-12 Plus. I have a couple of questions... The recommend not using this sub in rooms more than 2400 cubic feet. I have right at about 3200. I don't want a huge overbearing subwoofer box in the room though since it's the main area of the house. I used to have an Uber 10 Sub from orb audio and it seemed to fill the room very good. Will this sub be able to fill the room up pretty good as well? I listen at moderate levels and sometimes turn it up pretty good for a party or so. Next question..It has the parametric EQ on it. This looks like total greek to me! I don't understand the Q function and I don't understand how all the controls affect each other. Can you bypass this? Can you really screw up the sound based on these controls? Help please!


Based on what I saw on the Orb web site, the SVS SB-12 Plus should at least match or exceed the Orb.

As to the PEQ, talk to SVS customer support, you will get the hang of it very quickly.

Sounds good.....one other question....would any of you choose the paradigm 3100 sub over the svs sb-12 plus sub?

I am looking at getting the SB-12 Plus. I have a couple of questions... The recommend not using this sub in rooms more than 2400 cubic feet. I have right at about 3200. I don't want a huge overbearing subwoofer box in the room though since it's the main area of the house. I used to have an Uber 10 Sub from orb audio and it seemed to fill the room very good. Will this sub be able to fill the room up pretty good as well? I listen at moderate levels and sometimes turn it up pretty good for a party or so. Next question..It has the parametric EQ on it. This looks like total greek to me! I don't understand the Q function and I don't understand how all the controls affect each other. Can you bypass this? Can you really screw up the sound based on these controls? Help please!

When you turn it up for a party, I assume you mean for music. The SB12 will have no problem there. It actually has fairly strong output in the music range. It is with certain types of movies with very deep bass soundtracks where it came sometimes be overmatched.

To bypass the parametrics, turn the "level" control all the way counter-clockwise to "min". If you do that, all three parametric controls are effectiveley bypassed. Yes, you can screw up the sound somewhat with these.

I have never changed the PEQ controls on my SB-12plus. Everything is turned as far couterclockwise as it goes, like it was when I first got the sub. What are the chances that I am missing something? I think the sub is great sounding as is.

and to be on the safe side, i believe setting the SB12 on room compensation : "small room" would give you more headroom and less low end boost (which kills headroom and eats up driver xmax)

cylinders are no go?

I have never changed the PEQ controls on my SB-12plus. Everything is turned as far couterclockwise as it goes, like it was when I first got the sub. What are the chances that I am missing something? I think the sub is great sounding as is.As long as the level control is turned counter-clockwise, the PEQ does nothing. It won't cause you to miss anything because those controls can't add anything. They can only be used to cut. The right way to use the PEQ is to first plot your frequency response, then use the PEQ to reduce the largest peak. In my opinion, it makes no sense to use the PEQ without knowing the frequency response.

When you turn it up for a party, I assume you mean for music. The SB12 will have no problem there. It actually has fairly strong output in the music range. It is with certain types of movies with very deep bass soundtracks where it came sometimes be overmatched.

Do you know of any specific examples (where it would be overmatched)? I just watched Kung Fu Panda with my 5-year-old with DTHD, and it was just .... outstanding with my SB12+.

Kung Fu Panda is a perfect example. It's just a matter of how much output suits your needs and how deep you want your sub to go. The bottom 1/2 octave or so of bass material in that movie will be pretty much ignored by the SB12 if you try to play it at theater-like levels. It can't and it won't play the deepest parts at a useful volume. To understand the difference in sound and especially, in feel, you would need to compare it with a much larger sub playing the same material. It's really quite different.

With music, that difference is much less obvious with most content.

Do you know of any specific examples (where it would be overmatched)? I just watched Kung Fu Panda with my 5-year-old with DTHD, and it was just .... outstanding with my SB12+.

I have a SB-12Plus, which I have had now for about 10 months, and a brand new PC-13 Ultra. I tend to listen to my movies fairly loud, about -5 to -7 below reference level on my AVR. More specifically, I have listened to Kung Fu Panda on both of my subs seperately. On the Skidoosh scene in particular, the SB-12plus cannot compete with the Ultra. The Ultra gave much more sound/clarity/ and that shake/quake visceral feeling in the chair. I love the SB-12plus, but I heard and felt the difference here. For other parts of that movie, it is harder to tell a great difference between the two subs, but the Ultra is always at least a little louder on most scenes anyhow. But I can wholeheartedly agree the SB-12plus is a mighty mouse of a sub, which will put a smile on your face nonetheless.

When they say that you shouldn't use it in a room of more than 2400 cubic feet, they are being cautious because they know some people have high expectations. By high expections, they mean playing very demanding movie material and expecting it to fill the room at high volumes. I don't really usually listen to my system that loud, and the SB12 shows no sign of strain at all, ever. The SB12 is quite an overachiever for its size, so if you are coming from an Orb sub, you will have no problems. Music even at high volumes shouldn't be a problem, the sub protects itself pretty well against damage

As far as the PEQ, unless you have the tools to know how to set it, I'd say forget about those controls. Just keep them all turned counter clockwise, and they have no effect. Even people that have the tools to figure out how to set them find it a fairly touchy affair. These days, the typical auto-setup of a receiver does a fairly good job of setting up the sub for you.

The SB12 was made for wife-friendly applications in main living areas where you just don't want the audio equipment to dominate the room, but it still packs a punch when you need it too. Oh, and the sound quality is positively excellent too.

Great music sub, very clean for music and covers everything except for the lowest notes on an organ perfectly well, very little output capability below 30 hz (it stops getting significantly louder in the mid to high 80 decibel range below 30 hz without serious dynamic compression) so don't expect it to shake the room regardless of its size, especially at 3200 cubic feet.

I have mine in an 1800 cubic foot room and it does everything I want it to do, 3200 cubic feet is really pushing it unless you don't care about the subwoofer part and really just want to extend your bass to 30 hz or so.

It is very WAF friendly and extremely well built and looks great.

how would the SB12 compare to the larger boxed PD10? I would think it could go lower?

how would the SB12 compare to the larger boxed PD10? I would think it could go lower?

Nope. The PB10 has response down to about 18hz. The SB12 starts rolling off sharply below about 25hz.

I am looking at getting the SB-12 Plus. I have a couple of questions... The recommend not using this sub in rooms more than 2400 cubic feet. I have right at about 3200. I don't want a huge overbearing subwoofer box in the room though since it's the main area of the house. I used to have an Uber 10 Sub from orb audio and it seemed to fill the room very good. Will this sub be able to fill the room up pretty good as well? I listen at moderate levels and sometimes turn it up pretty good for a party or so. Next question..It has the parametric EQ on it. This looks like total greek to me! I don't understand the Q function and I don't understand how all the controls affect each other. Can you bypass this? Can you really screw up the sound based on these controls? Help please!
I have a SB12+ in a room open to the rest of the 1st floor- a whopping 15k cubic feet or so (~1600 ft^2 with 9' ceilings). I sit about 13 feet from the sub, and at low to moderate levels, it far exceeds my needs. The -3dB point is at 27 Hz, when room EQ is off, and the PEQ really helped with a 40 Hz peak that took about an hour to minimize. I haven't taken max readings at my seating position, but I'm pretty sure it's up in the 90+dB area, plenty for my "moderate" levels.

I also have a PB10, and the SB12+ edges it out for bass ~40Hz on up. The SB12+ also excels at the tight punch in music, which is perfect for my family room for entertaining.

I haven't heard the Uber10, but the SB12+ has a larger driver and more power.

SB12 is awesome for music.