Not Happy with my SVS...help!! (1 Viewer)

[Nick P]

Hey Ron,

Do you mean you were not able to calibrate the sub level to read correctly on the SPL meter? I have the 3802 feeding to my Dual CS+/S-1000 combo and seem to be calibrating to the appropriate levels just fine. Now you have me wondering if I'm missing something!?

 

[MichaelPR]

Jason I have to say I felt the same way you do. I calibrated it and everything....I think its just that the SVS bass is so clean and not boomy which is what most people are used to....I decided that the difference for me was not worth that kind of investment. I also think I got caught up in the hype. I know many people here really enjoy the sub though. I must say those guys over there are great about everything and really run a great operation. It was just not my cup of tea.

 

[SVS-Ron]

Nick,

Don't want to hijack the thread here. Drop me a note.

[email protected]

Ron

 

[Jason_Dan]

ron and all

thanks for all your help and suggestions

I am going in for another round of experimentaion today

I really hope this work...the guys at svs are so helpful and responsive that this seems to me like the company you keep!

Micheal may be right though...it might just not be for me.

Ron is it possible that the pci plus or other sub would be a better fit for me??

 

[steve nn]

9.) Give it time. As said, especially if you are used to high power car audio, or even in some cases, poor performing home audio bass... the depth, clarity and very flat nature (meaning an SVS will be very even in its frequency response, without the mid bass "peak" that most subs and mains exhibit)... can really be a shock. "Bone crunching" should be easily possible in your small room, but even then it will not be with a mid-bass bloat and loads of harmonic distortion folks often mistake for "what a subwoofer sounds like". Usually, when somone understands they are potentially hearing bass done right for the first time, the clean and deep sound becomes addictive. Most simply can't go back to the "old" sound any more. Accuracy is preferred most times.
__________________________________________________ _________

This is the reason I waited so long to try SVS. I was plainly afraid SVS would not live up to my expectations. Was I ever wrong!

Prior to SVS I had dual 15" Velo's and a monster AV-15 in the house and I have had others. After receiving my first 25-31CS+ in the house, I knew this was the way I wanted to go. Sure with a SVS product you don't have the hump as you would with some other subs but with the high SPL in the lower freqs. Would this not more than make up for lack of perceived bass?? Maybe not.

I honestly never quite get it when I hear this perception of SVS but then maybe back when I started out with the 8"Kenwood and Sony WM-40, I had better bass than what I thought. mmm

Maybe it is one of the reasons Ron stated or possibly another Jason. On my Denon I need to have the tone defeat set to on or my bass can become sloppy. If all is well and SVS bass is just not to your liking then thats no blame to you.

 

[Richard_M]

Jason

I realise that everyone here is talking about non bloated bass in the 35-55Hz range, this maybe great for HT, but if you listen to music this is right in the range of the bass.

Before I get flamed here, I have a close friend that plays bass in a band he uses very good gear.
I have been to a couple of charity gigs where heaps of musicians get up and play for gratis, the comments from other musicians about my friends bass is phenomenal, so in saying that they must think it is good, I certainly like it and model my sub sound based on his sound.

A bass guitar starts at around 37Hz for a 5 string right where people are saying they don't want it being emphasized.

Having a chance to listen to a sub with this flat response I found it to be rather lacking in the reproduction of kick drums and bass guitars. More a lack of upper resonance, from the instruments being played.

When you listen to live music it is the bass that people love to hear & feel, so when I listen at home I like the same reproduction. Sure there is probably heaps of distortion, but aren't we tryng to reproduce the sound not change it?

But everyone is different, with their likes and dislikes; I am just giving you another side of the coin.

 

[Jason_Dan]

ok

so i have moved the sub to another corner, adjusted the phase to 90 degrees, set my dt's to 'small" and threw on the matrix revolution we are now moving in the right direction. i am now rockin' the house!

I am now thinking of picking up a pc+ or maybe a pb2+ and doing a serial comparison to make sure i have "the right" svs for me. and sending the "lesser model" back

any thoughts on this comparison?

thanks again to all!

 

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Jason,

Two words: Parametric equalizer. Something like the Behringer Feedback Destroyer will smooth the peaks and valleys and make your sub sound phenomenal.

Regards,
Wayne A. Pflughaupt

 

[Ralph B]

theres the 3rd for an EQ, I think you have a winner!


BTW: there is no going back once you get use to TRUE bass od a SVS Sub! dont go back to the old sound you will def miss the SVS!

 

[Edward J M]

Richard_M:

SVS designs its subs to display a flat ground plane response when subjected to a test frequency sweep. In other words, SV subs do not over-emphasize or under-emphasize the source signal; they are very accurate.

If the source recording has hot and loud bass guitar and kick drum, then the SVS will certainly play it that way. If not, then it won't.

What we were talking about above is a subwoofer that is deliberately designed to emphasize frequencies in the 35-55 Hz region. It will do this with all source material, and it sounds unnatural. But some people are used to this sound, and switching to a more accurate subwoofer is often a letdown after your ears have grown accustomed to inaccurate bass reproduction. The owner of an inaccurate sub expects everything to boom, thud, and otherwise push him around the room. The SVS will only crush in your face only when the source material actually calls for it.

 

[Thomas F]

That's strange. I also have a 3802 and one Ultra/Sampson 1000 in a 16'x26'8' room. At the sweet spot, with my Paradigm 40's calibrated at 75 db on VE, I have to run the receiver sub out at -9 db, to get 75 db (~3 db hot) on the RS SPL meter at the sweet spot 12' from the sub in the corner. I suppose I could be sitting in a peak, but it sounds awesome. One of these days I'll plot the frequency curve, but for now, I couldn't be happier with the performance. Jason, it's not hype, it's true - SVS subs are great.

Thomas

 

[Jason_Dan]

any thoughts on my going up to the pb2+???

 

[Ned]

The PB2+ can put out more SPL but the problem you're having doesn't sound like it's related to the sub itself (unless Ron was right and it was damaged in transit). Figure out what's wrong first with your setup, you can always get another 20-39 or the pb2+ later.

 

[Jason_Dan]

I AM AN IDIOT!!!

changed the dvd player to output in bitstream instead of pcm! and OH MY GOD!!!!!


The dB out to the sub is now at 0

The Gain on the sub is less than half way up and....

I am reasonably sure I am going to need a kidney transplant from the vibritory energy that has just passed through and destroyed them!


That thing is dangerous!! somebody is going to lose an eye!

Why didn't somebody jump through my computer and slap me!!!

I am afraid of this sub! there is no need for one that produces more than twice the spl!!!!

Thanks to everyone who was so patient!!!

Thanks again to the guys at SVS!

Jason

 

[Joe Mihok]

haha, what a happy ending . glad you're happy man. I can't wait to get my first SVS now ....

 

[steve nn]

So do I understand you correctly then Jason that there is some validity to what us SVS users have been saying?

Good ending and now go play all you DVD's over again and don't forget your music. SVS is great for music also.

 

[Edward J M]

Ron Stimpson bird dogged the bitstream vs. PCM in his first post. I think a personal thank you is in order.

I can't tell you how many times I have seen equipment improperly configured for the application. Dynamic range compression circuits in both the DVD player and the AVR, electronic bass limiters, THX room gain attenuators, LFE channel attenuation, bitstream, enabled and/or cascaded low pass filters - this list goes on and on. HT gear is quite complicated these days and there are SEVERAL areas where one wrong step can throw a wrench into the entire works.

Glad you are loving the sub - that's all that matters. Oh, yeah.....my PB2-Ultra does rock. You'd better work up a little nerve and buy a kidney belt before you step up to the big leagues.

 

[terence]

Nice job guys with the support!

Glad you are happy Jason_Dan, now all you have to is change your title of your thread from "Not Happy with my SVS...help!!" to Very Happy with my SVS...THX!!

 

[Garrett Lundy]

Now go buy The Matrix Revolutions and give us a review

 

[terence]

I 2nd that!