MattCPT
Stunt Coordinator
- Joined
- Jun 13, 2002
- Messages
- 135
I'm not about to bash my subwoofer, but I do have some concerns. I received my SVS PB-1 a couple of weeks ago and have done my best to properly calibrate it. My listening room isn't an ideal space (13ft.x 23ft. with 8 ft. ceilings, tile floors and an open stair case to the back of the room). I have the subwoofer placed against the side wall in between my main speakers (Def. Tech BP-30s) and my listening position. I can only move the sub about 6 inches to either side because my room won't allow for any other placement. I find that my room has some significant dips and peaks with the low frequencies, as much as 8 db depending on where I place the SPL meter when taking readings. I set the sub at the position that I felt was the best compromise.
The PB-1 volume is at half way with the receiver sub setting at -4db. From what others have said about putting their SVS at 1/4 to 1/3 of the way up I get the feeling that mine is set too high. I don't find the bass to be too much at this setting however. In fact I don't find the bass to be much different than If I run my BP-30s as large without the sub. My receiver (Marantz 8200) uses an 80hz crossover.
I find the PB-1 does add some low end to movies that I didn't have before, but I need to run the volume over 1/2 way to really notice it. The difference is less noticeable if I just run my main speakers without the sub and with the receivers bass setting at +5-6. I don't doubt that the PB-1 is capable of more but I'm not hearing or feeling the difference the way that I expected. The problem may be my room acoustics or the placement of the sub, but I can't change those.
I'm considering returning the PB-1 because I don't feel that it makes the improvement that I had hoped for. I find that I prefer to listen to both Cds and Music DVDs without the sub and SACDs and Movie DVDs with the sub. I've read hundreds of reviews from users of SVS subs and I wonder if I was expecting too much or if my room set-up is just so bad that I'm not experiencing the effect that others have. Don't get me wrong, I find that my system sounds fantastic with or without the PB-1, I just haven't felt the pounding through my chest bass that others have described.
If anyone has any ideas of what could be wrong please let me know before I make the mistake of returning the PB-1.
Thanks,
Matt
The PB-1 volume is at half way with the receiver sub setting at -4db. From what others have said about putting their SVS at 1/4 to 1/3 of the way up I get the feeling that mine is set too high. I don't find the bass to be too much at this setting however. In fact I don't find the bass to be much different than If I run my BP-30s as large without the sub. My receiver (Marantz 8200) uses an 80hz crossover.
I find the PB-1 does add some low end to movies that I didn't have before, but I need to run the volume over 1/2 way to really notice it. The difference is less noticeable if I just run my main speakers without the sub and with the receivers bass setting at +5-6. I don't doubt that the PB-1 is capable of more but I'm not hearing or feeling the difference the way that I expected. The problem may be my room acoustics or the placement of the sub, but I can't change those.
I'm considering returning the PB-1 because I don't feel that it makes the improvement that I had hoped for. I find that I prefer to listen to both Cds and Music DVDs without the sub and SACDs and Movie DVDs with the sub. I've read hundreds of reviews from users of SVS subs and I wonder if I was expecting too much or if my room set-up is just so bad that I'm not experiencing the effect that others have. Don't get me wrong, I find that my system sounds fantastic with or without the PB-1, I just haven't felt the pounding through my chest bass that others have described.
If anyone has any ideas of what could be wrong please let me know before I make the mistake of returning the PB-1.
Thanks,
Matt