Shane Martin

Pb2+ vs Cylinder series

Though I have not proposed it yet, I plan to see if I will get an objection from the wife on getting the Cylinder series instead of the Box. If I get a "NO" then my decision is made for me.

What I'm looking at is the following:

4300 Cubic foot room with 2 small doorways(one can be closed).

Listen to movies at 0 but when the wife watches a movie we turn it down to -15 to -20. Action movies primarily for me.

Sub in the front left corner about 12 feet away from the listening spot.

From looking at the Cylinder series parts and looking at my budget I'm looking at the following:

Pb2+
Dual 25-31cs+
CS Ultra with S1000 amp


This will be it for a while otherwise if I could buy one now and then buy one later to add to it I would go the PC Ultra probably.

Then again maybe the Pb2+ is overkill as it is..

Any thoughts? I've emailed SVS but I like to hear from others. I assume floor space will be roughly the same.

Edward J M

For Reference Level playback in a 4300 ft3 room, you are into dual Plus cylinders or the PB2+.

The TV-12 driver in the PC-Ultra is very expensive and has a unique and amazing sound, but strictly from a sound pressure capability standpoint, it only has about a 1.5 dB headroom advantage over dB-12 Plus driver.

So the PB2+ definitely has more "bang for the buck" than the similarly priced PC-Ultra. In the 20 Hz tune, the PB2+ will probably have a very slight edge in the 17-23 Hz region. Above 23 Hz, the advantage will grow to about 3-4 dB.

Dual 25-31PC+ offer greater placement flexibility if you want to split them up. If you split them up, you'll lose about 3 dB of sheer output capability vs. co-located. If they are co-located, they will probably offer a tad more outright performance than a PB2+ in the same spot. Of course the duals command about a $300 premium (including shipping) over the PB2+.

Regards,

Ed

Ed Mullen
SVS Customer Service
sales@svsound.com
techsupport@svsound.com

"What we do in life, echoes in eternity."

Shane Martin

So Edward,
The other options I posted about shouldn't be a consideration correct?

SO to you I should either go with dual 25-31's colocated or a PB2+ and decide whether or not the $300 is worth it.

Does that sound right?

Edward J M

Your budget and your statement about playing at Reference Level in a 4300 ft3 room to me are the two controlling factors in the decision making process.

The PB2+ or dual 25-31PC+ (especially since they both have a native 25 Hz tune) will simply play louder than a single CS-Ultra or PC-Ultra (which both have a native 20 Hz tune). True Reference Level (120+ dB bass peaks at the listening position) in that size room really can't be done with a single 12" driver; even the vaunted TV-12.

Personally, if I was considering the Ultra cylinder, it would definitely be the PC-Ultra over the CS-Ultra. The PC-Ultra has the tailor made on-board amp with infrasonic filters, custom EQ curves, CV 0-180 phase control, and PEQ. This feature set cannot even be duplicated with the SVS-01 Marchand Bass Box SVS offers for the passive cylinders, much less by the S1000 alone.

If you want to build for the future, you could buy a single PC-Ultra now (which will easily handle the -20RL to -15RL you mentioned the wife prefers), and then buy a second PC-Ultra down the road so you can really let it rip when the wife is out shopping.

Ed Mullen
SVS Customer Service
sales@svsound.com
techsupport@svsound.com

"What we do in life, echoes in eternity."

Shane Martin

She is already pretty irritated that I'm "upgrading". I got the "You don't need another subwoofer" speech already.

So If I want long term happiness I guess I'm better of sticking to my single Pb2+ approach.