Official SVS Ultra 13 thread - Page 102

Honestly, the slam is more than enough in this configuation. I've already confirmed 6 dB more output here and love the way it sounds (much better than I thought it would). With my room, that corner placement seems to work very well. It's a starting point, and if I get bored I may play around some more with placement, but this seems to work. I've also considered running them in "stereo" up front. But this stack really appeals to me. These things are sick man! Just sick. I think they as a pair are a Conquest killer, and much better looking.

The reason I now have two is because one just was not enough in my living space. I found that I was actually pushing my single Ultra to audible distress (if you can imagine that). I estimate with my great room/kitchen that I am looking at nearly 5000 cu ft.

I was lucky enough to call SonicBoom to ask a question or two about the Ultra with no intent on buying till' I sold some other gear to help finance the purchase when Mason (great guy) informed me of a steep price increase coming shortly, I ordered my 13 on the spot! Have had it for about 9 days now...amazing piece of kit.

Yeah I dealt with Mason with my first SVS and he is a big help.
Great timing with your phone call, at least someone beat the increase.

I don't know how spending is going in Canada, but it is declining in the US. If things are getting as tight there as they are here, then distributors are going to have to make deals to make sales. I would call Sonic and offer them the old price. If they are still selling well, they will decline. If things are slow, they may just accept your offer. Can't hurt to try.

steep price increases ... seems odd ?

that said in the UK over last 8 months prices of the Ultra have gone up almost 20% presumably due to the shift in exchange rate US to UK - which would make sense.

If you keep them separate it will even the response but you would gain only 3db. They would still look nice. But I agree they look cool stack and the 6db gain makes it so the single doesn't work as hard. And if you only need spl that how I would have them. And it doesn't require more space. NICE

Yeah, I don't think it's a "steep price increase". I believe the price was around $2000 before, but because the Canadian dollar was ahead of the U.S dollar the prices were dropped to compensate.
Just like Sound and Vision magazine is now the same price in Canada and the U.S. I suspect in the new year it will go back up a dollar for us Canadians.

No where near as bad yet, but after the last few weeks on the markets I would imagine it's going to get there soon. Think auto sales were still actually up month over month as of Sept for instance. Our banks are now finally forecasting a shrinking economy (i.e., recession) starting the next quarter.

The increase in price was strictly due to the astonishing drop in the CDN dollar versus the US dollar over the last 2 months (a drop of over 20%). Mason doesn't carry any stock so has to purchase directly from SVS ...

When you get bored, try them between the mains. 6'-8' apart will get you better than a 3db bonus (it did for me, I got 5). My bass response evened throughout the room and was totally non-localizable (is that a word?).

Oh, I'm not using the SDA's any more, something blew in one (all drivers are good so I'm guessing it's in the crossover in the left one). All by themselves they put out a lot of very deep bass (not as low as the SVS but very very low for a non-sub). What I meant in my post was "when they were in service". Currently I'm using Yamaha HS-80 studio monitors for all non-sub channels in a 5.1 system with an Onkyo Pro PR-SC885. I originally had a matching Yam HS-10 sub but the little thing couldn't keep up, hence my SVS purchase. I cross it over at 80Hz, with the LFE LPF set to 120Hz. It sounds pretty awesome, I just got through playing around with the THX Demo DVD with the Phantom Menace Pod Race scene and several DTS, THX and DD demos.... WOW, especially the pod race and a couple of the DTS demos. That PC13 puts out bass like there's no bottom and no limit to the power. In the first DTS demo there's a note so low it just feels like someone is shaking the couch back and forth with their hand. The DCS logo demo provides another wow moment.

Attached is a pic of my SDA 1C's for anyone asking what they are... They will be up for sale soon. Everything about them is basically EC except the grills which have some fraying, and of course the crossover in the left speaker. Somewhat recently, someone sold just the drivers out of one speaker for $150 on eBay. I also have the original boxes and Styrofoam for shipping.

WOW! Look's awesome.

I wounder if you would get better integration with the double stack if you flipped the top PB13 upside down so the ports were on top? The woofers would be a lot closer together that way.

[I'm politely saying no, I won't do that.]

What about flipping the bottom one?

Are you going to try different tunings?

Just came across this post. The setup looks awesome.


Also, I ordered an Ultra and have to say Mark is very quick to respond and the sub shipped the next day. The fact that they charge less than a hundred bucks for shipping is impressive. Even at a discount it has to cost at least twice that via freight. My first SVS was a 20-39Pci back in 2001. Since then I've owned a lot of subs and have delt with many companies. SVS is among the best. Can't wait to order the second Ultra.

This is my system and I have been very pleased with the SVS subs. The headroom that is available is pretty amazing and they add a lot of authority in the lower octaves with the N804's that I currently have in the Family room. I used to have one Velodyne HGS 15" and the SVS 13 Ultras are a clear improvement even though the driver itself is smaller, especially with music where the velodyne always seemed a bit dull.

The N804s will be moving to the bedroom and replaced with a pair of 803Ds which are on order and should be arriving next week when I get back from Germany. It will be interesting to see how they integrate with the 803Ds since they already have three 7" woofers.

I have tried it with just one of the subs hooked up and though it sounded good, two sound much better. If I was using just one I think I would try to move it more to the corner, but with the two having them symetrical next to the mains works out very well in my room.

It went up $200 which to me is a pretty steep increase although I completely understand why they had to do it. Having said that, now that I have experienced this amazing sub, its still a bargain.

I just noticed that SVS started a promotion for free shipping of the PB13 Ultra. I just purchased mine a couple of days ago and it is now in transit. Does SVS usually honor these promos if the sub is not yet delivered?

wow! saw that free shipping includes the SB12 ... i wonder if it includes the PC13 Ultra.

i'm actually considering getting cylinders - moving the boxes around are a witch!

I somehow doubt that would mean free shipping to you in the Philippines. I would think, Mikey, that you do get maximum family discounting whatever that might be.

LOL, i'll be happy with a free continental US shipping thing

i get the standard 5% discount for returning customers thing unless i was buying a pair

to think i had just ordered a textured black SB12 to replace my PG SB12. (piano gloss and rosenut [or other veneers] are too rich for my rough hands)

yeah it's only 50 bucks shipping, but times are hard

im now paying 50 to 1 for the dollar

With the new promo, I'm anxious to purchase a second. Does anyone know if SVS has a layaway plan? LINK This article doesn't mention SVS.



joking. (but seriously, do they? Seems like they'd get some additional business that way during promos.)

My theater is in my basement in a decent size room, 25X30X8=6000ft3. My current set up is all polk but I have been debating adding an Ultra to the set up, which already consist of 2 DSWPro 600's. Right now the base is pretty decent but I think the room still a bit much for them, mainly in the low end frequencies during movies. Right now each sub next to the mains about 6' from each other so I think I get a decent gain in this set up and the bass response is pretty much even through out the room.

What do you guys think about me adding 1 ultra to the mix and put it in the corner of the room, which is still on the same wall as the mains, center, and 2 polk subs? I was thinking about setting up the ultra in the configuration that gets the best 20-45hz response to compensate for where the polks weren't really designed to play loudly. I will probably call SVS to get there opinon and possible room set up suggestions, but I was wondering what you guys think of this idea.

Do you think all the subs would play nice with each other or would they fight this type of configuration?

IMO the polk subs will drag the Ultra's performance down. Imagine pairing computer speakers to your current polk speakers. The PB13 is just in another league compared to polk subs. If you get the Ultra, get rid of your Polk. Polk subs just suck (no offense, but their speakers are much better than their subs)

If so about the cylinder, it may be time for me to buy one.

I am not offended, I got them at a good deal, both for less than an ultra. So due to the size of my room I thought it would be a better way to go, 6000ft3. I know that the ultra is on an entire different level, that can be seen by the massive sub and cabinet size (both of which the polks lack in and result in not so good low end).

I was doing some more reading and found a thread about the PS3 set up and the DRC issue. So I did some testing and set the stupid function to off and the system sound a ton better. I might still add an ultra to the setup if there would be a benefit, but the polks are only a year old so they have to stay in the set up for now. How do the rest of you feel about adding an ultra to my set up? Set up is...

Everything is ran by a Yamaha RX-V1700.
Polk RTi10 mains
Polk Csi5 center
Fxi3 surrounds
2 - DSWPro 600's

Another member suggested that I could possibly use the Polks near field, I am not sure exactly what that means though and the Ultra in the corner. I could do some playing around with placement but would prefer the set up as is and put the ultra in the corner.

chengbin, yes the Ultra is in another league, but guys I know that beat Polk up for years about the quality of their subs tell me the new DSW line is very decent and the MicroPRO line is excellent. A pair may even exceed the Ultra above their tuning. So the poster might benefit running all 3 subs. Rather than as MBMs, I'd try using the Polks as stereo subs on the high level inputs and let the Ultra handle the LFE channel. It would be the easiest hookup and likely sound great. If the Polks don't cut it then sell them and get another Ultra.

The problem I found in trying to mix different subs plus an MBM is intergration. At some point it became obvious that less was more...meaning that sticking with the better performing sub and eliminating everthing else worked better.

+ 1

cross the mains to 50hz (or what you prefer) on the receiver and let the pair of polks run stereo up to 100hz, use the speaker level ins and speaker level outs

http://www.polkaudio.com/homeaudio/s...ual/dswpro600/

looks like they're good for 45hz and above and forward firing capable
http://hometheatermag.com/floorlouds...ti/index3.html

can you share pics of your polks?



http://www.svsound.com/news-news.cfm

box ultra and SB12 only

Thanks, always learning something new.

Thanks for the replies guys, I am always trying to learn something new. In the end I am sure I will eventually just get 2 Ultras, but since I have this equipment now I figured I would ask. I will also call SVS and get there advise as Ron has suggested to me before. Its just a pain to sell equipment so if I can get good performace with out dragging any one piece down due to set up then I might give it a try, I will keep you up to date if I do. Before I do that I need to do some playing around and tweeking the set up with a calibration disc and see if I can get improvement that way as well. With the improvement I just got from changing a PS3 setting tells me maybe my system currently isn't set up to its full potential yet, so I need to do some reading on calibration, level setting, and frequency setting.