How much home damage can I expect from a SVS type sub?

No need to warry..just tie everything down and you'll be fine j/k I did have a clock fall off the wall, and our pictures rattle...and my dvd player screws unscrewed, but other than that, its all good Grab one, you won't regret it! any questions, email tom or Ron at SVS

tomv@svsubwoofers.com tell him tom L from MN sent ya

The sub can really test the durability of your home. I discovered that my theater needs to be reconstructed. Everything in the room rattles now. And during some scenes I hear my door knob rattling sounds like it's about to pop out of the door.

No physical damage Joe but it will go low and do it with authority. That's what imo is what we are looking for along with great sound and customer service.

My SVS sustained slight damaged because of its deep rumbles.

A heavy wall plaque hung just a feet above the SVS came crashing down recently. It must be rattled loose from the nail it hung from. Made a dent on the metal grill top........

Arghhhh

Off kilter picture frames, small items rattled off shelves, screws backing out of things, small cracks in plaster and drywall joints, and buzzing/rattling of anything and everything not somehow acoustically damped.

I've found the foam tape used for mounting truck caps works well behind loose items to keep them from buzzing. Even though I've tried to thoroughly "buzz proof" my house, the SVS always finds a way to excite the resonance frequency of "something" somewhere in the house. Especially on FR sweeps, it is really noticeable - something will just light off and start buzzing at 23 Hz or whatever.

As sub problems go, too much power is one I'd always like to have. :b

Ed

A long time ago, a man who looked a lot like me (he had a little more hair and said hair wasn't quite as gray) had a stepdaughter. This sweet girl (no sarcasm, she really is sweet) was very, well, active. She was a bit of a tomboy, a fact that her step-dad (one heck of a nice guy) was very proud of. She enjoyed wrestling boys, and usually won.

During a particularly good wrestling session in my, I mean his, living room (which is now my HT/listening room), she threw a boy into the back wall. She threw him hard enough to leave a shallow (.25" at the deepest) impression. Her wonderful step-dad never fixed it as her evil mother took her away from him soon after. That impression in the wall is one of this guys fond memories, if you know what I mean. He really loved that girl.

Flash to Feb. 28, 2003. I rec'd a 16-46PC+ that day. It replaced a Sunfire True Subwoofer MkII that I bought during a painful divorce. After calibration, I ran some sweep type sounds through my new SVS. I noticed a weird buzzing coming from the back of my HT/listening room, where there were no objects of any kind that could be vibrating. It was my beloved impression!

As I'm a techie kind of guy, not a home improvement kind of guy, I did nothing about it. After a few days of running break-in noise through my new 16-46PC+, my impression quit buzzing. I don't have a clue why it stopped buzzing. I now have twin 16-46PC+s, and still no buzzing.

As far as I can tell, the sheetrock must have settled or something. My 16-46PC+ both pointed out and kind of "fixed" a structural problem. Weird. I still miss that girl...

The Avia sweep is great for finding those little rattles.
During my sweep with my 20-39pc+

29 Hz the electrical closet door rattles
25 Hz fireplace starts to resonate and humm
22 Loud clanking form drywall on outside wall of bathroom

Pictures are always crooked on the walls after a movie showing. I have a couple of small dry cracks but can not say for sure if these are do to the sub. Additionally it seems like I go through a lot of light bulbs now

Jeff

I must say I'm glad someone actually brought this topic up for discussion. First, let me say that I would love to have a sub that produced this type of bass. I'm very concerned about the potential for damage to our house and this has caused me not to upgrade thus far. For one, our house is old; built in 1951 with plaster walls and ceilings everywhere. The house is very well constructed with full-scale lumber everywhere. If there is a 2x6 for a floor joist, the board measures 2x6, not 1.75x5.75 or whatever. Currently, I have a Boston Acoustics PV400 that I've had for a while. The theater is in a full basement. The Boston is a small sub but I'm honestly concerned about potential damage to my house if I were to use a sub as massive as some of you folks do. Any comments or can anyone relate with a house similar in age/construction to mine?

Thanks,
Kip

Well Kip your house is going to fall apart anyway so what the hay. We built ours around five years ago and it is a constant chore to keep it up and it is built quit well in most regards. I think once you get a good taste of great bass you will decide that it is worth it even if you have to work a little harder on keeping your walls vertical and the plaster on them. Seriously I don't think it would ad any more of a work load to your day though..

Honestly, Kip - it is highly unlikely that any sub will cause actual structural damage to a house. About the worst you can expect is fine cracks in plaster or drywall joints where excessive vibration transmission occurs. Don't let it stop you from upgrading to a more powerful sub.

Regards,

Ed

Ed,

I wouldn't be so sure about that... 4 of those B4 Plus's in
a medium room might do some damage

Thanks for the responses. The concern lies in simple economics: the house is the biggest investment most of us will make. A sub is truly inconsequential when compared to the long term (hopefully) appreciation a house affords. Perhaps I'll upgrade to somewhere between what I have now to the portable earthquakes some of you have:>)

Nope! You cant do that Kip. We all have decided for you so which is it then? The PB2+ ? 25-31+ ? Your house will still go up in value but your neighbors might value ( YOU ) less if you were to go with a good performing sub.

None - owned my SVS 25-31PCi since APR '02 (S/N: 00034). My target Fast LFE SPL Peak during the once or twice a month Friday NITE DVD presentation is approx. 106 dB Fast LFE SPL Peaks (RS Meter Dial = 110 / Weight = C / Speed = FAST / approx. -10 dB below REF LEVEL) - ... just loud enough to move the air, floor, walls, couch, pant legs @ all my seating areas throughout my 20' x 30' HT/family and still maintain an easily audible dialog**, during the whispering dialog moments in the quieter scenes of the DVD movie!! (**using timbre-matched w/identical Fronts & Surrounds - and now Rear Center Speakers really helps)

Lately, I've observed and monitored 108-110 dB+ Fast LFE SPL Peaks from my SVS 25-31PCi while I'm playing with my new Yamaha RX-V1300 (6.1 power output is dynamically more linear vs. my ole' RX-V995 - hence a higher overall SPL ability) and trying out my different DD/DTS-5.1 DVD's in the forced Matrix 6.1 mode!!!

I've used a passive to powered subs (8" to 15") in my HT/family room since 1988 and started REF Calibrating when I got my 1st DVD player around 1998. So, since 1998 which was also the start of my Friday NTIE DVD's presentations w/family & friends, my HT/family room experienced the 106 dB AVG Fast LFE SPL with no damage.

To put into perspective my experience since I'm not really a bass-head (I just want superior Theater Sound vs. my Local DD/DTS-5.1/6.1 Cinema Theater ), Tom Nousaine wrote in the SEPT 1997 "Stereo Review" Magazine (pg. 72 - copied w/o modification) ...


Hope this helps,
Phil

Thanks for the informative reads but I'm still not sold. Perhaps I'll find a solution that is more middle of the road between the two extremes. If a vibration is close to knocking the garage door off track, there is absolutely no way it cannot be causing some other unseen issues such as gradually loosening nails, drywall studs, tile grout, and morter joints. Just my opinion but I would almost bet this type of vibration results in considerably more house maintenance in the long run. I really prefer to keep my house in tip-top shape. It's in a historic district and I'm almost sure my neighbors would have me deported with a sub that hits 20Hz as strong as some. Wish it would work but I'll find a more viable solution in time....

Kip - You can still idle an SVS and it'll purr like a kitten. They don't jump out of their shipping boxes and start ripping the wallpaper down on their own. It's like a bass guitar - a smooth jazz type player will bump along nice and smooth, but Entwhistle (RIP) would take the same thing and crank it to 11. You get out what you put in. I've had an SVS based sub for almost 2 years and I have had no problems. I CAN knock a mirror off the wall if I want to (have before), but it's intentional - 31hz sine wave @ 96db or better - never with movie material.

Do you listen loud?

I find recent movies go deeper than 20hz. AOTC, LOTRs and even panic room has got bass than go lower than 20hz.

Eitherway, its hard to go wrong with any of the SVS, be it 25s or 16s. I got a 16 coz I love to feel the deep bass.

I run as a option the 25-31 CS+ and you will not miss much at all with any SVS sub. What you have to remember is although it is tuned to 25 Hz it will play much lower material than the 25 Hz F3> +- 3db ratting. The SVS has so much authority down lower I would not worry. You can also change the tuning if desired by plugging one of the ports with a SVS provided port plug. IMO a PCI 25-31 would serve you very well.

I hope to have an SVS problem (not) in the future....

Kip and Joe:

Just get the subwoofer that you like. Think of it as you would a 200 watt per channel amp. Just because you have one doesn't mean that you want to use all 200 watts everytime you use the amp.

The same goes with the subwoofer. Get an SVS that will do what you want it to do at the extreme ends but also do really well at low volumes. I don't run mine very loud because it scares my daughter when Toy Story II starts up and Buzz comes blasting on to the scene. Now when the women are away then I can knock some of the rolling bassheads off the road and make cracks in the walls with the best of them.

Just get a great SV sub with a lot of range so that the majority of the time you will be quite happy with the bass response that it has even at low volumes and when you do want to impress your friends with its paster damaging abilities you can.

Parker

This is a very informative thread. I certainly empathize with Joe and am glad he posed the original question. I'm going to get the roof fixed, have the exterior trim painted, have some paving done to extend the driveway, put up a basketball goal, and then look at the PB1. What the hell. I watched Toy Story 2 last night for the first time and am definitely missing something in comparison to what Packer mentioned regarding Buzz Lightyear taking off.