Official SVS Owners/Support Thread. - Page 318

Yes passive I wanted passive to get the amp I preferred. Im near Sacramento Cali
16-46

OK, thanks--sorry, but these aren't for me. I'm sure you'll find a willing buyer.

Has anyone here encountered the SVS Legato system in the flesh (two passive subs and an 800 watt DSP amp)? I'm not looking to buy one, but I've never seen a post from anyone who owns this setup or has actually heard it.

I have a separate post about mixing two different families of SVS subs and am wondering if anyone has done this and what Troubles may arise.

I split my use of my theater for movies and music about 50/50. So I was thinking of mixing sealed and ported subs.

Specifically the two 12 inch NSD series. or to save some coin the PB1000 and the SB12 NSD.

I have a large theater room close to 4k Cubic feet. 15'4" x 30' x 8' 6". My Mains a re newly acquired old pair of PhaseTech PC 800's
I can't find specs on their FR. In the specs for the PB12 NSD it has a top FR of 150 compared tot he SB 12 and PB1000 of 270hz.
Would that matter for matching the two different types to my speakers?

Sorry for double thread posting but I should have posted here first
to get more SVS owners opinions as I want to get SVS products.

My current sub is an old VA-1012x( Velodyne) and It still performs well
and surprisingly does shake that room for a small sub. So going to any of the SVS
subs will be a big improvement in depth of base and output.

So opinions and experience with this set up is welcome.

Athanasios

Just got my SVS SB12 NSD hooked up a few mins ago. Seems my Pioneer Elite SC61 sets the sub so low when doing a auto cal that it has almost no LFE effect, i have to go into speaker settings and change the sub setting myself. So far the little sub sounds very good after i made the adjustment in the AVR.

Sure looks good and is not a space hog for my smaller bedroom.

You probably had the gain way too high on the sub when doing the auto-calibration. So your receiver cuts the bass completely. I had the same issue with mine when I first got it, my Denon tried to set -12db on the sub, which is the maximum setting. My gain setting on my SVS PB10-NSD is set just slightly above the first notch on the gain knob. During auto calibration Audyssey sets it to -1db which sounds perfect!!

I did as per what SVS said to do, set it at 12oclock. My older Pioneer Elite SC35 and the newer SC61 also did this with my PB12 NSD.

thats wrong, i know svs says to set it to 12 but its just wrong. on my pb12 its set to 9am, thats the optimal gain setting for audyssey calibration.(it told me to adjust the gain when i started the calibration)

In a lot of cases 12 o clock is way to loud especially in smaller rooms. If your SC61 is setting the trim level on your subwoofer to the lowest setting usually -12db or -10db you have your gain set too high on your sub. Ideally you want the trim as close to 0db as possible after running the Calibration, usually +/-3db.

12 o' clock is a starting point, you might need to turn it up or down depending on how big your room is and where the sub is located in relation to your listening area.

Well I managed to watch "Master & Commander", which is near the top of the bass list if I'm not mistaken. We did not watch that loud but the guns firing were great. I later re-watched the suprise attack scene at -10 dB and it felt very unnerving Yet I think I was more impressed by usage of the surround channels in that movie. It was exquisitely well done with detailed footsteps, creaks, voices, etc. always behind and around you.

Next Saturday I managed to get my GF and 2-yo daughter out of the house to a friend and invite the boys over for a few hours of fun with the home theater setup. I guess we'll listen to music loud, game a bit, watch a few bass scenes; not sure if watching a whole movie will fit the bill but it sure should be fun. If you have any suggestion apart from the classics, they're welcome...

They look good (and freaking tall -- I guess 16-46 stands for 16" in diameter and 46" tall? I don't know the history of SVS model names well enough).

As I bought dual PC12-Pluses, I briefly considered the Legato setup. However it's not readily availbable from SVS's Canadian distributor (Sonicboomaudio) -- although I guess it could have been a special order. The problem I see is that right now the step to dual PC12-Pluses, with 800 W RMS *each*, is not that high at all -- there's only a $100 difference right now! I guess buying a Legato system doesn't make much sense for the moment.

Hi Athanasios. It's generally agreed that using the same -- or comparable -- subs for duals is best, although numerous members report satisfying results with unmatched subs. If you were thinking about mixing sealed and ported subs because of the 50/50 usage, in my opinion an for many in this thread, it would not stand to scrutiny, at least for subs in SVS's league. The reason why people prefer sealed subs for music is the rather bad behavior of ported subs below their tuning point, phase-wise. For the PB12-NSD, the tuning point is 20 Hz, and you'll get bad phase behavior in a frequency range that is inaudible anyway. At and below 20 Hz, what you get is mainly tactile feelings / vibrations / air pulsing effects. Thus there is very little difference between ported and sealed subs for music listening if you go SVS.

Pick a sealed sub mainly for the size / compactness. But if you have both the budget and WAF / space, I'd go with two PBs or PCs in your room because it is very large. You'll need all the output you can get and I'm sure you'll be very pleased with music performance. I personally upgraded from a single SB12 to dual PC12-Pluses and apart from the added slam and output I can't say I noticed much of a difference in reproduction quality. The advantage of Pluses (apart from output) is that they are variable-tuning, so you can run them either sealed, or tuned to 16 Hz or 20 Hz, which is neat.

Congrats on the new arrival. The SB12 is very impressive for its diminutive size. I can attest that apart from sheer output, you'll miss very little of the bigger SVS subs.

I set the sub at -3.0 dB on my AVR and it seems to belt out tight bass. I will play around with and also call SVS.

Hey, everybody. I have a question for owners of the PC12 Plus. I plan to upgrade to one of these bad boys later this year. (I currently use a PB10-NSD)

I want to hear from those of you who've run your pluses in both the 20 and 16 hz modes. I've read some comments that the deeper extension of the 16 hz mode was not worth the loss of output, when compared to the 20 hz mode.

Please share your experiences and preferences.

Thanks!

Hey Neutro! Good to hear from you!! Yes and no the old svs subs were named by their tuning point-height. They came in 25-31, 20-39 and 16-46. Cs was passive and pc was powered. Then each came in a plus which was tunable. I had a 25-39 then upgraded to a 20-39cs+

I recommend the "darla tank tap" scene in finding nemo. You will just laugh. That's all you can do with the bass in that scene.

Second would be the last minute and final credits in the amazing spiderman...same with TDKR

Have fun!
Edited by Brian Fineberg - 1/3/13 at 6:00am

Hello boys

Subi volume PB12-Plus DSP to level 0 (maximum gain of the subwoofer). I did the calculation by measuring with a meter to indicate the LFE 75db. In the AVR to -15 subwoofer gain on the LFE channel and other -10, so achieving the 75 db and the most of them have the power of the PB12-Plus DSP.

All I can say is that the difference is like night and day, brutality is incredible, not even leave my amazement as the massive power capacity that is able to fire this beast ...

You have to try it!

Thanks to Ed Mullen. Now we know how to squeeze the maximum potential subwoofer. What is that if not to the subwoofer (Driver) moves much more, much more than before, even when calibrated to 75 db.

I would like to explain to me that Ed Mullen really because now there is much more explosive and the driver moves too much, even matching the volume level.

You guys were right. I talked to ED at SVS and he said turn the subs gain down to 11 o clock and rerun the auto cal. It's much better now.

Well I just upgraded from a single SB12 to dual PC12-Plus, but alas I can't comment on 20 Hz vs 16 Hz tuning yet -- I just ran them at 16 Hz from the start. In my case, in a diminutive room with duals, I have so much headroom it's not funny, so 16 Hz makes a lot of sense. I'm also pondering trying sealed mode as I have lots of room gain. Not sure when I'll have the time but comparing the tuning modes is in my plans. The great thing is that it shouldn't change the FR very much above 25 Hz or so: I guess I could keep the same EQ and just try different tunings.

Thanks for the clarification. I actually love this naming scheme, it makes so much sense. So the 16-46+ were basically the same tuning and height as PC ultras then.

Thanks! I hope I'll be able to, huh, find the Darla scene somewhere before Saturday.

So you basically say that setting the Plus to 0 dB and lowering the AVR gain accordingly produces a night-and-day difference even at moderate volumes? Interesting. Alas my AVR is limited to -12 dB for the sub volume (don't think I can adjust the LFE volume separately). With duals, I can't really run them above -12 dB each without ruining the calibration. Maybe I should explore the possibility of getting a new AVR. Or, maybe there are cheap ways to attenuate the sub signal. It woud be great if the BFD did it but I think it doesn't. I think the MiniDSP can do it though.

True, but again and leave the subwoofer gain PB12-Plus DSP in the -26 to my Onkyo 809 meter measures 75dB (gain in 0db = AVR), because the other way, it exaggerated the output level is achieved.

Plus normally calibrated -26, brutal and still think so, I have plenty of headroom.

Still, when I presume subwoofer and my friends come to my house so overwhelmed and drooling out of my house, I prepare the subwoofer for maximum volume. lol

Hi,

I have a quick question about the 3 Foams which they came with the PB-12 Plus. Does it sounds better using the 3 Foams for the 3 port holes? I see some people are using just the 1 Foam and put in the Middle of the 3 port holes.

Right now I am not using the 3 Foams but curious if most of the owners are using them or not.

I using this sub for watching movies only.

Thanks for any advice!!
Edited by mantaraydesign - 1/4/13 at 6:08pm

Use one and tune to 16hz.

I'm currently using one for a 16Hz tune. I'm tempted to change to all ports plugged to see how it sounds. Your suppose to get less output but more vibration(lower frequency) with a sealed tune from what I read. This should be interesting with War of the Worlds . BTW, one port plugged sounds perfectly fine to me.

What does 16Hz tune means?

Is the 16Hz tune something I have to adjust from the subwoofer or my receiver?

The ported subs (at least the PB13 ultra and PB12 plus) are can be tuned by plugging one or more of the ports.

16Hz tune is one port plugged. I believe no ports plugged is a 20Hz tune.

Mantaray, you must change the tuning point on the sub amp as well as use one or all foam plugs if you want to experiment with different tunings. It's simple but important as the DSP must be adjusted to properly protect the sub at lower tunings. Tuning lower trades output for extension, basically.

Thanks everyone for your great advice!!

Didn't SVS used to have a repeat buyer discount or is that my imagnation?

They did and, as far as I know, still do.

Have you heard the "Dark Side of the Moon" SACD?

I use 20hz mode, I have a large gain at low frequencies in room. The subwoofer shows its potential in this mode as the output is much cleaner than in the other two modes, it also reduces the anxiety of the driver.

We recommend this mode if you are going to very strong.

they do....it's 5% discount...

You don't by chance know what the discount is do you?

No i've been vaguely aware of SACD for years but it wasn't until this current round of upgrading my family room and bedroom systems that i've really started looking at AV gear again. I really want to upgrade my 2 channel system because of it and include SACD but i've gone a little insane and should probably cool it for a bit before i do. Is it amazing?

As airgas1998 said, it's 5%.

It is, but not just for a forty year old recording, but for any recording. There is still no better single audio reference album for demonstration. The SACD of "Wish You Were Here" is also essential.

If you reply using the [ quote ] button, then edit the quote text appropriately, your replies will be more obviously directed and your answers given context.
Edited by AJCxZ0 - 1/5/13 at 2:31pm