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SVS PB12 Ultra - Arrival a Dud :-(

971 Views 8 Replies 7 Participants Last post by berty52, Jan 8, 2006

xed

Discussion Starter · Dec 30, 2005

My first system upgrade in a long time arrived this morning after much hassle from the shipping company (Bax Global). SVS shipped using them to Canada and I had to go to the airport to self-clear the shipment and pay a ridiculous amount of duty and taxes to my government.

The box was too large to bring home in my car so I arranged the shipper to deliver it today to me.

I brought it in, hooked it up this morning, made sure the SS filter was at 20Hz with all ports opened and put in a basic DVD to watch just to see if it was hooked up properly. Wasn't hearing a peep out of it so I proceeded to turn the lights back on and check the configuration a second time, looked good. Gain on the subwoofer was one notch up from off(?).

Then proceeded to turn the test-tones on my receiver on and then I started to smell something burning. There was white smoke flowing out of the bottom port of the subwoofer. Was not a lot but it went on for about 5 minutes after I unplugged the power and RCA cable.

Already called SVS but no answer and voice mail answered so I left a message, hope they will call back today.

All this to say I'm pretty disappointed. It took roughly 3 weeks from ordering it on December 17th to arrive here in a non-working state. The thing is beefy as heck and it is going to be a huge pain in the ass to get it shipped back to SVS for repair.

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LeeLee

· #2 · Dec 30, 2005

Sorry to hear that. I think what SVS will do is send you a replacement amplifier/driver instead of a complete unit. From what I've heard, it's easy to install yourself.

Bummer.

I had a slightly problematic unit as well, the gain knob on my amplifier made static noises when I adjusted it. It is quiet otherwise. But after using it for a while, the noise went away. It's likely because of dirt/dust in the gain knob pot. SVS told me they would swap the amp out if I wanted, but I didn't want to mess with it since the problem went away.

I wish they tested things out before these subs are packaged so that obvious issues like these would be caught before the units are shipped to the customer.

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dae3dae3

· #3 · Dec 30, 2005

You won't have to ship it back. They will send out parts and give you directions or talk you through replacing whatever the problem is.

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wingnut4772

· #4 · Dec 30, 2005

Sorry to hear that. I had no problems at all with mine so far. I have had it about a month.

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bridgman

· #5 · Dec 30, 2005

I had a problem with a PC+ in Toronto; SVS just shipped me a replacement amplifier.

AFAIK you shouldn't have had to pay much duty on the sub since most of it is made (and all of it is assembled) in North America. I can get you the right tariff code if you want to make a claim and get some of your duty back.

If they send you a replacement amplifier, you might want to think in advance about whether you are going to send the original back. If smoke came out SVS probably won't care if you return it, but you will pay taxes on the way in and the only way to get taxes back is to return the original amplifier then fill out a form (I forget which). Anyways, ask questions on the way in if you think you might want to send it back later and get your taxes refunded.

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Jesse S

· #6 · Dec 30, 2005

Not that it caused the failure but gain at 1 notch above off is way too low.

Also, use email to contact SVS and you'll get a reply in minutes.

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xed

Discussion Starter · #7 · Dec 30, 2005

Well I got in touch with SVS and they're going to send me a new unit on Tuesday of next week and pickup the fubar one at the same time. Unfortunately, being New Years weekend and all, I probably won't have the new one until end of first week of January or the following week but they're taking care of me like I've read they do on these forums, which is great.

I'll look into the duty thing, thanks for the reference number. I think they charged too much cause the customs lady wasn't even sure what a "subwoofer" was.

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xed

Discussion Starter · #8 · Dec 30, 2005

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jesse S
Not that it caused the failure but gain at 1 notch above off is way too low.

Also, use email to contact SVS and you'll get a reply in minutes.

Yes I figured one notch would be not enough but since it was the first time with this beast, I wanted to take it slowly and not bust my ears unexpectedly, etc.

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berty52

· #9 · Jan 8, 2006

Hey xed,

Have you received your new unit?

Please tell me about the duty and taxes (how much)

Thanks

Bertrand

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