Hey guys! After 2 days of listening and evaluating my PB-2000, I am back to share my impressions of it for you guys. Before I do, it you haven't checked out my unboxing video, please do so here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWjPwAEDVrI
This review will be broken down into a few different sections.
SVS
I really can't think of any better words to describe this company. They are just exemplary! I've heard people praise them on these forums for years, and after having chatted with them online multiple times, to calling them on the phone, and to actually purchasing two products from them, I can't do anything except praise them too. If anyone is hesitating to do business with SVS, DON"T!! I can't stress that enough. They've been nothing but great to me, even way before I even bought anything from them. Returns are so easy, and I had my money back way faster than I thought. I do not want to bash any other ID subwoofer company, because I've never heard their products. I've only emailed Tom at PSA a few times. He was great, and I'm sure his and other companies' products are as well. I'm just talking my personal opinion here. Having said that, as a consumer, I personally love how efficiently SVS seems to operate. They are right on top of their website, and you can get in contact with them a lot of different ways extremely quickly. I LOVE how they have personal chat on their website. Another thing is their products always seem to be in stock, and they will ship your order within 24 hrs. As an anxious consumer who wants their product ASAP, I know I can depend on SVS to make that happen. I don't want to have to track down someone to place my order, send emails that go unanswered for weeks, or wait a month to actually receive my order. I love how easy it is to order and check out on SVS' site too. These are factors that I personally love about SVS. I don't know if any other company operates as smoothly as SVS. If their are ID sub companies that do, I'd like to know who because I might want to do business with them in the future. Having said all of this, SVS is a fantastic company to deal with. I wouldn't hesitate for a second to recommend them to anyone. I was more than happy to give them my money, and they've done nothing but clearly demonstrate why I should give them my money instead of me give it to another company. I have decided here and now that when the time comes, and I build my own theater room, I need to get SVS' flagship subwoofer to try out first. Right now, I can't imagine ever going with another company. We'll see if that ever changes, but for now, I am extremely happy to say that I am an SVS owner
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Looks
Just like with the PB-1000, the PB-2000 is an awesome looking subwoofer. There's really nothing else for me to say. It looks very similar to the PB-1000, and I love it just the same. I do not use the grill. I like the gorgeous driver with the SVS logo on it. My only con is that the grill pegs seem a little to big for the holes. It looks like you need to jam them in the holes. Since I wasn't going to use the grill anyway it doesn't matter to me and I didn't even put the grill on once.
The back
Again, the back is the same as the PB-1000. I love the knobs. Set it and forget it. Simple
Listening
Having already found the sweet spot with my PB-1000, I just simply placed the PB-2000 where I had my PB-1000. I don't think the sweet spot ever changes with different subs, but if someone thinks it does I'd like to hear your opinion because I have not done the sub crawl this time. I'm going to preface this section by telling you my speakers again and my settings. I have a 960 cubic foot room. Polk TSI 500's, CS20, and TSI200's. I have a Denon 1713, a Panasonic DMP-BD210 Blu Ray Player, an Xbox 360 E, and a Logitech Harmony Remote. I ran all 8 places for Mult EQ XT. With the sub's volume knob at about noon, the subs trim was +.5db. That's close enough to o for me
. I kicked the trim on the sub to +1.0db. That's where I've had it and currently still have it. I calibrated all of my speakers with a Velleman Analogue SPL meter. All speakers were calibrated to 80db. I kicked the surrounds and center up a few db for my tastes. I just left the sub alone. I didn't calibrate it with the SPL meter. I have Audyssey just set to "Audyssey". I have Dynamic Volume turned off, Dynamic EQ on, my crossover set to 90Hz, and all speakers set to small. I have the volume on my AVR to read from -79db to plus 13db I think it is, instead of 0 to whatever. My LPF for LFE is set to 120Hz; my bass is just set to LFE, and not LFE+main or bypass L/R.
Starting with the Incredible Hulk again. This has become my go to demo disc. I cranked my AVR to -10db. this is where I usually watch movies at. The school scene again. It was awesome with the Pb-1000, but with the Pb-2000 is what EVEN MORE AWESOME!!
This time I could def feel the lower notes, and I got much more of a slam in the chest feeling than I ever did with my PB-1000. I could feel the bass in my whole body and I could've sworn my pants flapped a few times. there was def a difference between the two subs. I could not get the smile off my face for the longest time
Top Gun, again, another favorite of mine also sounded awesome. My door actually rattles in the hinges with the PB-2000. The PB-1000 was unable to do this. Minority Report Sonic Boom gun scene again was awesome. It had more slam to it than before. I popped in Avengers and found myself watching a lot of it just cuz it sounded so good. Mind you, in every one of these scenes, the bass was reproduced so cleanly. I had the sub setup properly to my tastes as well. No overstated bass, or overpowering bass. Pure, clean, raw, bass, but with more slam factor than the PB-1000. The bass blended perfectly and was a complete natural extension of the sound. This thing ROCKS with movies. It's just an awesome subwoofer.
Now, you may know that I'm not much of a music guy. I love the extra low notes in movies so much, but where the PB-2000 REALLY impressed me was with music! I have Metallica's S and M album playing right now as I type this. This sub is AMAZING for music too! I know people want to hear my opinions of the PB-2000's music abilities, and I can't think of any other word but AWESOME! The PB-1000 didn't impress me this much with music. This sub makes me just want to sit down and listen for hours. Which I actually have been doing for a good part of the day today. I don't know if it's the more upper bass slam that this sub produces or what, but the bass sounds a lot fuller with music than my PB-1000 did. "Pony" by Ginuwine had more slam to it. "Follow You Home" by Nickelback also had more slam to the bass drums in the intro. "Animals" all around sounded awesome. Metallica's Black album sounded great too. The PB-2000 effortlessly reproduces the bass, and again, it sounds so natural. -10db is as loud as I crank anything, but the PB-2000 wasn't even breaking a sweat. I played Bass I Love You and yeah it should and rattled more stuff than the PB-1000, but I'm not going to sit down and listen to that track at reference level
I say enjoy what you enjoy, and listen to what you're really going to listen to. Test tones and all of that other stuff are cool for annoying people and measuring your room, but you're not going to listen to them like you are actual songs and movies. I gotta say, this sub surprised the hell out of me with it's musical abilities. I'm not an audio expert or anything, but I think it sounds great for music.
Before I get to my conclusion, I just want to stress something. Make sure you tune your system properly! Do the sub crawl and find where your sub sounds best. If you notice in my pictures the sub isn't exactly in the corner, it's moved out a little bit. I'm not the biggest fan of it sticking out like that, but that is where it sounds best. More it forward or back a little and I totally lose the impact and slam that I can feel in my seat, and this sub is more than capable of producing. Placement is crucial, as well as tuning your system. Play with the settings! PLEASE! Find what you like best. Ex: I set the crossover to 80Hz to start and went through all of them, and I found 90Hz to sound best to my ear. Don't let anyone tell you different. If it sounds good to your ears, than that's all that matters. Just make sure you balance and tune your system to your own tastes and desires. I enjoy a completely balanced sound. No overpowering bass or anything like that. I LOVE my system. I think it sounds awesome!
Getting that SPL meter for Xmas was one of the best upgrades I've made to my system. it sounds so balanced now, and the PB-2000 just gives my room the ultimate low down. Again, PLAY WITH SETTINGS!! It takes a while, but it is well worth it. I'd hate to see someone give this sub a bad review because they didn't tune it properly.
Conclusion
The PB-2000 ROCKS!!!! I am finally content with my system! The PB-2000 has more slam to it than my PB-1000, and that alone is worth the extra $300 to me. The PB-1000 would've worked just fine in my room. It did actually, but I wanted more. I got it with the PB-2000. Movies sound better, but music sounds sooo much better to me. If anyone has any doubts about trying this sub, just buy it already!! Seriously. It's an amazing sub from an amazing company at an amazing price!!! SVS is AWESOME!!! About this whole ported vs sealed debate: IDK what to say. I have a large ported sub in a small room, and it sounds AWESOME!!! If anyone has any questions or anything, feel free to ask me. I'd love to help anyone since you guys helped me out so much with advice over the past few years. Thank you for reading, and thank you guys for all of your help, and for leading me to SVS. I can't thank you guys enough!!!!
JUST BUY THIS SUB!!!!!