Official SVS Owners/Support Thread. - Page 333

Really cool.........running dual subs from day one.............most impressive!

Congrats on your purchase and thanks for sharing the pics. About setting things up in your subs (sledge amps), look at the link attached and jump to page #26 - important thing here is the port configuration. Other new owners were reporting issues with the sub and it was basically due to incorrect configuration between the ports blocked and selecting the correct subsonic filter in the amp. I hope this helps:

http://www.svsound.com/images/svs/doclibrary/pb13-ultra_manual.pdf

How big is your room? You have duals, so I'll recommend going with one port blocked and tune setting at 16Hz.

Congrats again and don't forget to report back as soon you have your system calibrated.

If you have a really keen eye for detail, the port's are larger on the Ultra.

I don't have that keen of an eye myself, so I too am curious. My guess is that they are Pluses (and now that I've aid that will be proven wrong )

They look great either way.

My bet is they are Pluses (see how the driver is flush at the front of the sub).

In any case, this is a major score on the sub dept...........

Agreed.

BINGO. I never noticed that, but you're right. On the Ultra, the driver is recessed, whereas it's not on the Plus. So dual Pluses... at least something I can relate to Still bite my lips about going PC instead of PB, but they simply wouldn't have fit.

And Snowmanick managed to get it right *just by looking at the ports*

hey neutro,

thanks for all the insight. yes, they are pluses. as i figured these are already MEGA overkill, i
think i the ultra would of been way too nuts. i'll be moving to a house in a couple of months so
i'll be able to blast them properly without fear of inconveniencing others soon, i'll be going to run
them at a reasonable level for now. i can blast it during the day and evening, but usually after
11 at night, i take it easy. my neighbours at 3 floors up (my system is in the basement and the main
floor is between them and even with my paradigm i could rattle them out)

so yeah, setting it up basically how my paradigm PS-1000 was setup. crossovers at 80hz check, just gotta
setup the mic and run the ARC again. i've been doing some reading on room equalization and
getting acquainted with the REW software. still kind of confusing as i've never dug this deep into
the world of bass frequencies and room response, etc.

my room has acoustic treatment on the sides, front and rear - i'm going to try running them with
one port blocked and see how that goes tommorow. there will lots of testing and whatnot!

Very nice. I just ordered the last set of svs scs- o2 mains.😀

Dual Ultras... that would be indeed completely nuts.

(If you're new reading this thread, know that there are many dual Ultra owners here, and even a, hum, quad-Ultra + dual-Plus owner).

According to my calculations the dual Pluses are indeed overkill in my situation (small 1600 cu ft room) as if I buy a more capable amp and max the RMS wattage for my mains (that would mean above reference level), and even if I run the sub hot by several dBs, they should still not be maxed out. I.e. the dual Pluses are supposed to be the least limiting factor in my setup right now.

In practice, it's hard to tell how far I am from their limits though. When I'm alone, I listen at -10 to -5 dB from reference, with the subs a bit hot, so probably pretty close to reference level, and the feeling is basically multi-inch seismic waves (although upon inspection, nothing in the room moves for real). Can they go much louder? I may never know

Yes, really there is nothing out of the ordinary in the Plus [EDIT: speaking about the setup procedure here, of course], except perhaps the PEQ and the variable tuning, which are really optional.

I've used REW successfully in conjunction with a BFD (Behringer DSP1124p) as my AVR lacks sub EQing capabilities, and it was really beneficial where I wanted to put the Pluses. However, I only use 4 PEQs, and the worst peak could have been corrected with a single one.

Will you be placing your duals on each side of your display? (e.g. just inside your mains?) If so, the recommendation is to set the phase to 0 on both subs. If you're using more creative positions, then you may want to find the phase setting that maximizes the output at the listening location first and foremost (that is, unless your AVR is able to set distance for two subs independantly).

Acoustic treatment will do wonders with about any HT setup I guess, but where those subs go, they won't do much

Nice catch! But maybe they're not the very last set... they're still on sale at Sonicboomaudio.com in Canada Please tell us your impressions anyway. I almost bought a pair of SBS-02 but I decided against in the end. Now they're sold out even in Canada.

Actually they are the last set. Bought them from sonicboom. I have had the the svs-sbs-01 system for years and love them. So decided to move to 7.1 and ordered the scs-02 for my mains.my bro has energy viataras I think there called and you really can't compare the two. Svs's Cabnets are so heavy duty. Even these small speakers are internally braced.

Do you mean "Veritas" (Latin for "Truth")? Depending on the version/model, some of those Veritas are flat out amazing speakers. I still love/covet the V1.8's and V2.8's. D*mn fine speakers.

Yes he has the v minis. Nice speakers but not on par with the svs's

Gotcha. Interesting to see how much the Veritas line changed over the years. For example, here are the old "small" Veritas, the V1.8.



Oh well.

Congrat's on the new speakers. The SCS mains should up the ante a bit over your old SBS'. More dynamic's, etc. And if I remember correctly the SBS system still used an SCS for the center, so this would make for a matching LCR setup, which is very nice.

Those are very nice.

The V-Mini are probably one of the nicest satellite-sized speakers out there. But they're still sat speakers, not full-range speakers. The current Veritas models (which were just discontinued I think) are basically the Energy Reference Connoisseur speakers with a nicer finish and a brighter tweeter. They're *very* nice, but not nearly as nice as the 1st and 2nd-generation Veritas. The V-Mini are based on the RC-Mini.

Now Energy are producing a soundbar and the crappiest subs ever.

I have a question about SVS's Customer Bill Of Rights.

As I'm in the UK I had to buy my PB-1000 from a UK based internet site, http://www.audiologica.co.uk , and I was wondering if SVS's awesome Customer Bill Of Rights applies to non http://www.svsound.com brought SVS's.

Specifically if/how the 1 year trade up policy would apply.

[edit] Since I would have to pay shipping to send it back, it might be cheaper to just sell the PB-1000 and put that towards a PB12-NSD.

Not that I'm planning to upgrade yet, a year is a long time. Hell, my mother, while washing the dishes looked out the window and said "Is there an earthquake!?"

"No mum just watching youtube!" The PB-1000 rocks!
Edited by Ak Gara - 2/17/13 at 9:48am

Directly from the svs site.....

The SVS Customer Bill of Rights apply to continental US customers only. International customers should check with their dealer for local policies.

Thanks, that clears that up

Yeah it's the same thing in Canada. The Bill of Rights don't apply to us but sonicboomaudio is able to offer rather nice warranty terms. But the warranty in the UK is offered by Audiologica, not SVS. It would be surprising if Audiologica offered a trade-up policy, as this is only possible when there's a large used market for subwoofers.

I'm planning to buy a new sub, and need help deciding on which one. Right now I have an 8 year old 20-39 PC+. Has served me well, but time to move on. It rattles a little bit from the driver during low bass passages. I'm wondering if I should upgrade to either the PC12 Plus, the PC Ultra 13, or the SB13 Ultra. Room is about 3000 cubic feet, with 2 openings. Sub will be placed approx. 10 feet from MLP in rear corner, which is about 2 feet behind MLP.

Thanks for any advice!

For a 3k ft^3 room, I'd look at either of the ported subs. Especially if you are getting the current sub to distort a little. The SB's are great subs, but for larger volume rooms and if you have the space to properly place them, the ported subs are going to give much more/output. The Plus would work, the Ultra would be better. Better yet, dual Pluses.

Even better, dual Ultras I guess

But Snowmanick's advice is spot-on.

If I remember correctly, the 20-39+ is a sub that is quite similar to the current PC12-Plus isn'it? Was it passive? Sure, the driver was upgraded quite a bit I think and the 800W Sledge amp in the current Plus is a beast, so going with a Plus would probably be a nice upgrade to begin with. But if you like listening loudish in a 3k cu ft room, the more the better I guess.

The 20-39 pc+ is like the pc12 as far as size goes.... But the pc12+ has a an 800 watt amp vs. the 525 watt in the 20-39+. Of course they have also improved the driver. I'll probably go for the pc13 ultra, but I'm not too crazy about the additional 7 inches of height.

In the grand scheme of things, 7-8" is not much if it's the only obstacle to getting an Ultra. The problem with the high-end, in my opinion, is the diminishing return on each dollar invested in terms of dB SPL and extension gained. The massive Ultra driver and additional 200 W RMS of the 1000-W Sledge amp will provide about 3 dB SPL more than the Plus if I'm not mistaken. The next step, going dual Pluses, will provide maybe a couple dB SPL more than an Ultra, but also provides the benefit of a smoother frequency response and uniformity.

But looking at the price points, you go from $1200 to $1700 to $2400, which is a bit punishing. I'll leave the price of dual Ultras as an exercise to the readers

Sure makes me regret not buying two plus' or really look forward to another Ultra! Guess time will tell.

I hear ya about the diminishing returns....that's why I'm torn between the PC12 Plus & the Ultra 13. My gut tells me the PC12 Plus would be enough for my room....but then I keep looking at the pictures of the driver in the Ultra....! At this point I'm leaning towards the Ultra because even though it's a pretty big room I can only place 1 sub in it, and I don't really upgrade very often, so I want to buy the best I can afford now. The 5% discount for being a previous customer will take a little of the sting out of it....LOL.

Thanks for your help!

In that case Full steam ahead on the Ultra! If your anything like me you'll get the Plus and then wonder what the ultra would be like.

Wondering what better sounds like is such a pain. But so much fun hahah

I come from a PC13-Ultra DSP. Change for a PB12-Plus DSP.
The improvement is not a difference in sound, but it is a little more output, maybe 2db 3x as much for the ultra.
Actually both models are very close, more than what people think. The ultra has 5% more capacity (Required, that may already be moot).

You can watch the new PC / PB Plus DSP PB/PC13 like a 750w BASH amp with their performance in SPL maximum capacities are similar. It's a good way to encourage him that would pull the trigger on plus models of SVS.

I don't quite know what you're saying here.....

That was not really my goal Sure having duals is nice but it's no panacea either -- I still use EQ with my dual Pluses, and there are still spots in the room where bass is less or more pronounced than the listening position. That, for only double the price I'm not bitching, really, it's just that physics is in our way when we want uniform FR down below 20 Hz at high SPL levels!

Well if budget is not an huge issue, then as Brian and Hybridfive said, you'll know you'll have SVS's flagship model. Since you're eying the cylinder version, I guess you're not keen on big square boxes, so it's not worth saving your money for the next step (e.g. JTR Captivators, Seaton Submersive, Funk Audio 18.0, etc.). Unless I'm mistaken, short of doing it yourself, the PC13-Ultra will be the best subwoofer you can fit in at 17" diameter footprint by far. And if you want duals one day, you'll have a headstart on the best duals you can fit in two 17" diameter footprints

Basically, Lester had a PC13-Ultra (recent model with DSP) and actually downgraded to a Plus. The current Plus have roughly the same performance as the older Ultras with the 750-W BASH amps. It's true that the Plus and Ultra have the same legacy and their design is very similar: if you don't push them at their limits, they'll probably sound exactly the same. The question becomes: will I push it to its limit? It's hard to tell. It seems like you're pushing your 20-39+ to its limits, but the current Plus is way beefier. Then again, you certainly have less chance pushing an Ultra to its limit than a Plus. In that sense, buying an Ultra is a bit like purchasing an insurance. The question becomes, is the price difference ($500) worth it... Lecter basically says "no", but then again, he's not in a 3000 cu ft room.

Since it's really easy and fun to spend others' money, I'd go with the Ultra But if you're in the US, and you're budget-wary, you could go with the Plus, see if it's strong enough for your needs, and upgrade if needed (using SVS's 1-year upgrade policy). The only fees for the upgrade will be for shipping the Plus back to SVS.