New SVS SB1000 & PB1000 Subwoofers!! - Page 7

We don't disagree - you are correct. I was referring to older films (pre-80's) and films that are predominantly dialog, nature shows, history documentaries, etc.

Thanks for the advice!

Thanks a lot for the review, Vico! Really like your "Man Cave"! Do you let women in there too?

I'll take note of your settings when I get my new SVS box. Good to know the PB is good for both HT and music. Still going back and forth between the PB and the SB's with space the only consideration now.......

I just ordered the SB1000 yesterday. I've been looking for a small sub for a while now. Currently, I have an old 8 inch Kenwood sub and I'm OK with it. Of course, the SB1000 will go deeper but how deep, we're about to find out. I have an Anthem receiver and I have the ARC graphs for all my speakers and sub. I will post the graphs here so we can have basis for the new SB1000.

I'll go out on a limb here and say a lot deeper...

Yes I would say MUCH deeper extension, plus much much lower distortion and more output.

Have to put this out there about my previously reported experience with the PB-1000 that I thought was a lemon. Just unpacked my PC12-NSD yesterday and had similar issues like I had with the PB-1000. I thought, "it can't be the subwoofer doing this." Talked to Ed at SVS and we deduced it to possibly being my external interface that was outputting a weak signal to my sub...the PreSonus Audiobox USB was the cheapest interface at $99 and even the product description on the website omitted the power delivered in the output. Even, Y-splitters from the L/R outputs were no use creating distorted sound in my studio monitors and little to no output in the sub.

I decided to go to Guitar Center and trade in the PreSonus Audiobox for a Focusrite Scarlett 2i4 (Ed helped check the voltage output on the Focusrite and said it should do the job.) With more outputs as well, I am able to run balanced out to my studio monitors and an unbalanced RCA directly to the PC12-NSD. The result is fantastic! The PC12-NSD is perfect for my Tannoy501A's. It has great output and hits hard and low...something I definitely needed since these Tannoy's are ridiculously loud and clear. I'm glad everything happened the way it did.

So, long story short, I didn't get a lemon from SVS. It was a hardware issue finally solved thanks to the guys at SVS. Just needed to clear up my errors from previous posts.

Thanks SVS for all your help and support!

Thank you everyone for posting your impressions. This is really, really helpful as there is no official review yet. Keep your feedback coming. I think we are all reading every single post related to those subs and anxiously waiting for more info to help up us make the right choice with our sub purchase

What Kurt said. Please keep the reviews comin'! Thanks!

Have you managed to retest the Tron disc again. It's little worrying to hear you had a bad PB1000 experience with Tron and I'm really keen to understand whether it's actually a problem/weakness with the PB1000 you've identified or something else?

Ya know, you're the 2nd person to ask me that exact same question today -- and from two different forums no less! -- so maybe I need to address it...

I was supposed to be reviewing a different subwoofer right now, but I needed XLR cables which didn't get delivered today, so I went ahead and hooked the PB1000 back up instead (I'm actually listening to it as I type this post). In total there's probably 10 hours on this unit, so I need to break it in more, but I'll spend some time with it this weekend and then try Tron again. I'll post the results before the end of the weekend.

Thanks Jim. This will be much appreciated. I'd really like to know what the real world limitations are of the PB1000 before diving in head first. I'm also interested to hear more regards the bigger sub review you appear to be doing.

Cheers, Mark

how would these subs perform as a replacement sub in a satellite system ?

Upon 1st listen you will want to replace your satellite speakers

OK, the short of it is I think you'll find the PB1000 is worth $500. This sub pretty much does everything SVS says it will, and strikes me as a solid value. But I did find an uncharacteristic issue...

I did a "mini" test this morning; played a couple of CD's, some punishing electronic music and a few movie scenes. The CD's were no problem, even though one of them I deliberately selected because it has some very deep bass guitar work. The blu-rays were all good, except for Tron again; for some reason it seems to be over-driving this one. If I back the gain down a little it sounds fine, so maybe this soundtrack is recorded hot. I haven't run into that previously, so it's left me a little baffled. For anyone else that wants to try it and see if they experience the same thing select the track towards the beginning where Kevin Flynn gets picked up by the Transporters. For me those booster rockets are just obnoxious. All the others movies I tried -- Avatar, WotW and Ironman -- were fine, and played with authoritative bass.

One thing I found a bit surprising was I could get the port to make some noise, and with a few of the electronic tracks the drive made a sound as well. My quick assessment was perhaps the the sound was coming from surround, as opposed to a mechanical limit of the driver being hit. SVS is actually known for their DSP programming, and are almost fanatical about not allowing their subwoofers to make any unpleasant sounds. The Tron thing is perhaps an anomaly, and more then likely not related to the PB1000 at all, but I have to admit the port and driver noises caught me a bit off guard. I've become fairly adept at pushing subwoofers to their limit though -- I'm the only person to ever get the amp from a PowerSound Audio sub to go into protection mode and shut down -- so what I experienced you may never encounter.

Pretty sure you're right about Tron being recorded hot Jim. I know when I was testing scenes on the SB13-Ultra I reviewed, Tron was one of them, and it just seemed much louder than the other movies I was watching at the same levels. I had to reduce the level from -5db to reference to -10db to reference because the SB13 seemed to be hitting its limiter at -5db more so than when I watched other clips for instance. So my WAG is that it's recorded 3-6db hot..

Tron also has clipping in the mix

Got my SB1000 a couple of days ago. It replaces my old Kenwood 10 inch sub (thought it was 8 inch). The Kenwood sub is longer than the SVS sub and weight is about the same. The big test/question is how deep the bass extension is compared to my old one... I'm pretty happy with my old sub but since I have Anthem MRX 700, I can see the sub chart and I know it can be better. Below is the chart comparison between the two, SVS totally kick a**... Almost perfect chart for just $500. You can only find this kind of chart on subs costing at least twice as much...




Edited by vailvon - 1/6/13 at 4:40pm

Very nice. Thanks for posting those charts.

Not real sure what I'm looking at in the graphs, but if you say the SB1000 is performing well, I'll believe ya!

I just received my PB 1000 last week. I haven't had a chance to watch a full movie yet but have only ran a couple of scenes just to demo it. I cannot believe how low and powerful this sub is for a 10". I was wanting to get an SVS sub as I have heard a ton about the quality and the customer service and just wasn't going to be able afford one. Just my luck they released the PB 1000. Right in my price point and performance is amazing.

Seriously, my couch actually moves and vibrates during intense scenes. I have a 1800 cf room so it isn't huge but this sub fills it incredibly well.

I purchased through Sonic Boom Audio in Canada and couldn't say enough about the service. They were very easy to deal with and exceptionally knowledgeable.

If anyone is considering either of these subs because of price/ small size don't worry about power there is plenty.

CanadianZ

Please watch a full movie and play some music Also, If you happen to have Tron try to go to the scene Jim is referring to the sub struggles and let us know what your experience is.

The Y-axis is the Volume and X-axis is the Frequency, so each chart shows how loud a sub can play a range of frequenscies. With these charts the left sub (SB1000) on average can play 20 Hz at 77 dB but the right sub (Kenwood) can only play 20 Hz at 57 dB meaning the SVS can play that frequency louder. In theory looking at the chart will show you the range that the sub is suitable for.

Thanks for posting your thoughts on the PB-1000...and congrats on your new sub!

The SVS PB10-NSD was an impressive sub for the money, and for being only a 10" sub. It's good to read that the PB-1000 - the PB10 "re-born" - is keeping the faith.

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The left chart is the SB1000 and the right one is my old Kenwood 10 inch sub. Subs should have good low frequencies (20 - 100 Hz). High quality subs should have almost a flat curve like a 'plateau' within this range, which is like the SVS chart I posted. With my Kenwood sub, from 50 - 20 Hz, it sloped down really bad. So at 20 Hz, you wont even feel or hear it.

The difference is night and day. I only use my sub for watching movies/tv and I use my 2 fronts for music. Now, I set it 5.1 even for music.

I wonder what a PB curve looks like.

I need to figure out where I can get $500.

Thanks for the chart explanation, Aidoroboo and Vailvon!

Would love to have the PB1000, but I think I have to lean towards the SB1000 because of space constraints. The performance chart helps me to justify going with the SB.

FYI, the volume on my SB1000 is set at around 1 o'clock. It is useless to turn it up because my receiver (MRX 700) will automatically turn it down to match the volume level of all the speakers. I think the maximum volume is around 5 o'clock.

So, like many others I am considering one of the two affordable SVS subs. But I'm a little uncertain which would be the better between the SB or PB.
Space isn't necessarily a huge concern, but smaller is always nice from a visual and placement standpoint. So that leans towards the SB.
As for listening, I would imagine that it's going to wind up being predominantly TV and movies. So, I'm guessing the PB might get that nod? However, I don't want to go overboard, and sacrifice the response for listening to 2.1 channel music. In fact, I'd rather give up a little bit of oomph for movies, if it means that music can benefit.

Have I essentially just leaned all the way towards the SB? Or is there more to this comparison which I don't yet understand? The SVS site doesn't seem to draw any major distinctions between those two. Or is the performance margin just too slim to notice under "normal" use?

Advice?
Edited by Doug Nash - 1/8/13 at 3:25pm

What type of music do you listen to? I played a few CD's -- blues and metal -- through the PB1000 I have and it sounded pretty good.

I have an extremely eclectic taste in music. The only thing I never, ever play is reggae. But I love classical symphonies & jazz, to modern electronic with all matter of rock in between.