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Under $1000 Subwoofer Review Thread (1 Viewer)

Craig Chase

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As stated in the thread title, this is dedicated to testing and living with subwoofers which one can purchase for under $1000 USD, delivered to one's home.


The $1000 threshold has to be available at any time (sales don't count), and the pricing has to include shipping.


In each test, the subwoofer in question will be placed in the corner of our 4500 cubic foot theater room. The room is 25x24 with 8.5 foot high ceilings. It's a pretty difficult room to drive, and an excellent place to test out subwoofers in this price range.


Here is a picture of the room during a previous test of some speakers. The screen (since replaced with a 104 inch, 16:9 ratio screen) is a 120 inch diagonal screen. It's a big room.


waf-31.jpg



We often see threads with massive, expensive commercial subs, or with DIY projects that, while more affordable, are not what the average theater buyer wants to do.


In this thread, we will explore how much fun one can expect to get for his $1000. Does it shake the room on difficult movie scenes? If it's ported, will I hear audible chuffing on difficult scenes? Does it sound good on music?


With each test, the subwoofer will be place in the back corner of the room, with Audyssey XT-32 run from a Marantz 7008 receiver. For mains, we have a variety of speakers from which to choose: Klipsch LaScalas / RC 64II and Axiom M50/VP180 are in the room now, and easily swapped out.


An in room response curve will be posted for each sub, as tested, after Audyssey is applied, along with extensive listening tests with a variety of material.
 

Craig Chase

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SVS PC-2000: $800 delivered.


The first subwoofer up for testing is the SVS PC-2000 cylinder sub. It is a large subwoofer for this price category, measuring 34 inches tall and 16.6 inches in diameter.


The PC-2000 is equipped with a 12 inch driver that is exclusive to SVS, and a 500 watt "Sledge" amplifier. It is a ported subwoofer, with a large, 4 inch port located below the amp on the "back" of the enclosure.


Unpacking the PC-2000 was a simple task, and the packing materials are first rate. The test unit has a black oak "cap" and the well known SVS cylinder look. The oak cap gives it a better than expected real life look, especially in its price range.


Because of the cylinder's ability to be inert without a lot of internal bracing, the PC-2000 is remarkably easy to carry. After wrestling with our Chase Home Theater SS-18.2's and the Axiom EP800's, it was fun to carry a subwoofer under one arm.


The first job was to set the sub into the back corner, run Audyssey, and take the "listening position" graph with the Omni Mic 2 from Dayton Audio. Here is the graph:


SVS%20PC2000%20in%20room_zpssgmrtnms.jpg
 

Craig Chase

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Use and listening tests:


As can be seen, the SVS matches up well with the 16 Hz "floor" promised on their website. The PC-2000 will definitely deliver bass down into infrasonic frequencies. Now it's time to fire up some movies with difficult bass:


Tron: Legacy


Tron_zpsmmed18iq.jpg



The Tron sequel is a staple disc for testing a subwoofer's abilities. Bass is extended well into the teens - and even lower. It's a tough balancing act for a modest price/size subwoofer to deliver this bass in a manner which sounds good, and powerful, without ever sounding as if it's being over driven. We are looking for audible bottoming and chuffing from the port in the case of the PC-2000.


The Transport scenes in Tron are some of the longest, deepest, most difficult test for a subwoofer, and one which I go to every time I audition a new sub. How did the PC-2000 fare with these scenes?


The good news is the PC-2000 will get to room shaking levels, even in our large room, without bottoming/chuffing. The bass is "slightly bloated" compared to larger, more expensive sealed subs, and one will experience bottoming and chuffing when attempting to hit reference levels, but for $800, the PC-2000 gives a LOT of deep, powerful bass for the money spent. If you are currently using a small subwoofer from a Home Theater in a Box, or even the typical 10/12 inch subwoofer that sells for $300 or less on Parts Express or Accessories 4 Less, the PC-2000 would be a major improvement in both power and extension.


The above mentioned "chuffing/bottoming" does not occure until one gets to levels that would have the typical $300 subwoofer crying for mercy. Add into this the ability to add a second PC-2000 within a year at a discount, or to get full value within a year if one wants to trade for a large and more powerful SVS system, it's clear this PC-2000 is a great place to start moving up in bass.


How To Train Your Dragon:


How%20To%20Train%20Your%20Dragon_zpsriypbmul.jpg



As with Tron: Legacy, the animated HTTYD has for several years been a "go to" test disc for a subwoofer. It is amazing the amount of effort that is put into what we used to call "cartoons", in terms of the audio content these animated features have.


As with Tron, the PC-2000 was capable of shaking the room while sounding pretty darn good doing it. The grand finale scene, fighting the Seadragonus Giaganticus Maximus (the REALLY big dragon all the "little dragons" are feeding) is another of those tests that will eventually make one's subwoofer give up the chase.


By the time we got to the point of Chuffing, the room was shaking, and the overall effect was of more bass than $800 should deliver. SVS has done a good job balancing output with extension.


There will be more to come over the next couple of weeks - and any movie suggestions are greatly appreciated.
 

spshultz

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Sub'd! I've been entertaining the thought of upgrading my original, dual SVS 25-31's for something just as nice but a bit more aesthetically pleasing and will be looking forward to your reviews.
 

Craig Chase

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Some more follow up. Let's start with some pictures of the PC-2000:


This is the basic look from the "front":


SVS%20-%20PC2000%20-%20ISO%20-%20Piano%20Gloss%20web_zpsthhwmca9.jpg



Here is the "back", showing the amp and the port:


SVS%20-%20PC2000%20-%20Back%20-%20Piano%20Gloss-low_zps1w5vuzhh.jpg



And here is a VERY useful feature built into the PC-2000 - the feet. These feet are simple, and elegant. What they do is not only elevate the subwoofer, but the material is soft, yet strong. Think of the PC-2000 as having a built in isolation platform. Many subwoofers in this price category have plastic "feet", and will rattle on hardwood/tile floors. The PC-2000 is sitting on a hardwood floor, and no issues at all with unwanted vibrations.


SVS%20-%20PC2000%20-%20Feet%20low_zpsog0ultcn.jpg



Last night, the movie choice was "Big Game". Samuel L. Jackson played the president. The basic plot - he gets put into the "escape pod" of Airforce 1 and jettisoned just before the jet is destroyed. On the ground, he is found by a young man who is in the middle of a "right of passage" hunt in which he is supposed to bring in a kill on his own over a 24 hour period.


The young man rescues Jackson, and helps him escape from some assasins. It's actually a pretty good flick and it had LOAD of bass scenes. The PC-2000 continues to impress - in normal listening, we had no issues with unwanted noises, but PLENTY of clean, deep bass.
 

Mike Frezon

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Hey Craig! Well done.


I'm a proud owner of an SVS PB-1000 and will be reading your thread with great interest. That day is gonna come when I'm going to want to upgrade. Just don't tell my wife! :biggrin:


gallery_286742_34_90610.jpg
 

Craig Chase

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Spschultz and Mike - Welcome to the thread! Just a quick note that the following subwoofers are on order for testing in November/December: The Axiom EP-350 V.4 and the Klipsch R155-SW. Both meet the pricing requirements, and as with SVS, both were happy to have a subwoofer tested.
 

Craig Chase

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Star Trek (2009) Vs. a PC-2000:



Star-Trek-2009_zpsj4w0cd6u.jpg




Star Trek with Chris Pine as Kirk and Zachary Quinto as Spock not only gave us an entirely new time line for the series, it also finally gave us a Star Trek movie with reference quality bass.


We will start with the bar scene, in which Kirk attempts to take on 4 Naval Officers. This scene is a great test for mid bass slam, as it goes quickly from Uhura walking quietly until she enters the bar, then the "disco" effect hits right in the face. The PC-2000 does well in this scene, with bass that is rich and undistorted. It's not as palpable as is, for example, an Axiom EP-800, but it's also an $800 subwoofer, not a $2480 subwoofer.


Next, we get to the good stuff ... the first scenes where ships enter warp. Each warp drive start was presented with a PUNCH from the PC-2000. No bottoming nor chuffing until the Enterprise (after disengaging the external dampeners) went into warp, where there was a hint of the driver hitting bottom.


The next scene that challenges a subwoofer even more is the collapse of Vulcan - and again, at about 5 dB below reference, we were getting a slight bit of bottoming from the PC-2000.


Other than the mid bass limits and the occasional bottoming, the PC-2000 was a lot of fun for the whole movie. When Scotty is trapped in the warp cooling pipes, his "thuds" on the wall were distinct, and easily felt.


One thing that I will probably keep reminding is this: Each of these subwoofers is going to be tested to its limits. One aspect of owning a home theater is the "WOW FACTOR", and we love the wow factor, especially when showing off to friends. A properly designed subwoofer is going to be a series of trade offs. We have SPL, Extension, Size, Price ... and all are factored in.


For example, a $20,000 subwoofer system has a pretty large trade off, it's called PRICE.


The PC-2000 is showing itself to be a well balanced subwoofer. It trades some mid bass slam for extension. Other subs will likely trade extension for mid bass slam. These will all be discussed.


A PC-2000 will deliver a lot of "WOW FACTOR" for $800. Even when overloading, it's relatively minor, and at some pretty powerful levels. Based on testing so far, in the simplest of terms, a PC-2000 will let you "open er up" without ever making a truly "bad" sound.


The PC-2000 exceeded my expectations for an $800 delivered subwoofer on Star Trek, and the biggest "what if" that crossed my mind was "what if I had a pair of PC-13 Ultras in here". For the vast majority of the time, it just made me smile at the performance. It also is proving why SVS was so willing to have a subwoofer tested in this manner. Reviews here will not be advertisements for the manufacturer. They (hopefully) will be real life experiences from someone who is buying the product and using it as you would.


Tonight's movie will be "Pixels". My 24 year old son is coming over to watch it. Yes, we expect it to be stupid, and yes, I hope it has some great bass.
 

Craig Chase

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Pixels was a fun movie in an "Independence Day meets Ghostbusters" kind of way. It was not a great bass fest, but it did show off that the PC-2000 is a step up from the entry level subwoofers SVS had in the mid 2000's.


It's a good sounding subwoofer on music - which Pixels has in great quantity. The Combo of the Axiom M50's (one of the best speakers no one has ever heard), the Axiom VP180 center channel ( a BEAST center channel) and the SVS make for a seamless soundstage.


There is this nagging question ... we also have an Axiom VP150 center here. The trio of the M50's and the VP150 is $1468 vs $1350 for the SVS Prime Towers and the matching center.


With an EP350 on the way, it could make for another interesting comparison.


With a subwoofer, both systems are in the $2200-$2300 range for LCR. Both companies have bookshelf speakers for the rear that, respectively, make a 5.1 channel system about equal at $2700 delivered for a true "high end system".


Any interest in this?
 

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To make sure I understand, are you saying that you might be able to do a comparison of a full 5.1 Axiom speaker system vs. an SVS 5.1 speaker system? If so I would be very interested. I was actually perusing a full 5 speaker Prime system yesterday, both the Tower System and the Bookshelf system. And I'll admit I didn't even know Axiom existed until you made this post.


Back in '96 I purchased a Klipsch speaker system: 2 x KM-4, 1 x KM-C, 2 x KM-2 from Kadena Air Base. These speakers have performed well all throughout their life. And still today I think they sound great for their age. However, I can't help but wonder if maybe I'm missing out on something due to all of the advances in driver, crossover and speaker technology that would have occurred between 1996 and 2015. My wife is not pleased with the basic black ash look of the Klipsch's and this might be my way in to buy some new speakers that "look" nicer as well as perform better. :dance:
 

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Cool idea Craig, I've been to a few AVS Sub tests and while those were neat none of them really tested out how they sounded in a real home's theater with movies.

I definitely recommend you try to get a Hsu VTF-15 in for testing, love mine and it works well with my big space.
 

Craig Chase

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The test would likely be the LCR plus subwoofer, and using the currently mounted ACI Emerald On Walls as surrounds, although it could be a full 5.1. I already have Axiom's M3 monitors, so adding a pair of SVS Prime Bookshelf would be easy enough.


One piece of test equipement we have here is a preamp level switcher and a 4 channel power amp which allows for instant A/B switching between two pairs of loudspeakers, and we can do this level matched. Add blind testing to the equation, and possibly a small get together with a group of listeners, and it can become quite the fun test.


Below is a picture from the listening tests that we have been doing here since last April. The room is what I refer to as our "high end" listening room. It's a finished basement, very quiet, and an excellent place to audition speaker.


The speakers as shown, from the "inside" pair to the "outside" pair are the $7000 Legacy Signature SE's, The $2500 Martin Logan ESL Hybrids, The Axiom M50's and the Axiom M100's. We also have Klipsch LaScala II's, PSB Imagine B, Axiom LFR-1100's in addition to the speakers already mentioned.


We have the ability, for example, to let 6 guys listen in a high end, two channel system, to a pair of the Axiom M50's and a pair of SVS Prime Towers. The listening would be level matched, and done in an AB ... AB .. then BA ... BA ... position, so each pair was auditioned in the same position as the other pair. All listening would be done blind, with results posted before the speakers were revealed.


These types of tests are quite informative. Here is the room in which this type of test would be conducted.


dad1_zpsofm3sgw9.jpg



OR ... it could be a simpler, sighted test with the front stage being SVS Prime Towers and Center matched with the PC-2000 and the Axiom M50/VP150 and the EP350.
 

Craig Chase

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Sam - I had sent Hsu a couple of emails, and did not get a response. I called them at 1 eastern today, and at 3:15, Kevin from Hsu returned my call. He is going to run this past Dr. Hsu and get back to me, but he is thinking a VTF-3 Mark V to keep under the $1000 delivered price point.
 

Craig Chase

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The Klipsch R115-SW arrived last night. It will get dialed in over the weekend, and testing will start. I did do some checking on its "street price" versus the MSRP. It's pretty much available any time for $720 delivered to one's door, so that's the price we will be using.
 

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Craig, very interesting thread so far. I'll be keeping up with this one as it progresses.

Looking forward to each and every sub your review you throw at it.

I particularly like the PC-2000 thoughts you've wrote up for this one. I have a very small room I will , at some point, make into my HT room. It measures 13'x14'x9', double french doors, 1 small window and carpet. Do you think a room my size would more than benefit

from a sub like this ?
 

Craig Chase

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Troy - Your room is about 35% the cubic volume that the PC-2000 is taking on in our theater room. Yes, a PC-2000 will deliver very powerful, deep bass in a room like yours. What will you be using for main speakers and a receiver?
 
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I'm interested in your reviews. I was looking at the GoldenEar SuperCinema 50 series, which uses the ForceField4 subwoofer. I was wondering how that subwoofer compares to the PC-2000.
 

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I'll be piece mealing a system together at some time, but will most likely go with the likes of Denon or Yamaha on the receiver side. I've been looking at the SVS Prime series for my first 7 channels then go with another brand for my ceiling speakers to handle Atmos duties.
 

Craig Chase

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It's pretty likely that a GoldenEar subwoofer will be purchased and run through the paces in the not too distant future.


Troy - You are heading down a good path, in terms of putting together a very nice home theater system, and a PC-2000 will definitely be a real plus.
 

Craig Chase

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Jurassic World and the SVS PC-2000


Jurassic%20world_zpsv2xfcpoe.png



Before dialing in the Klipsch R-115 SW, it was time for one more movie with the PC-2000. We will be able to switch back and forth between the subs, by the way, so it isn't a "retirement party" for the PC-2000.


Is there a home theater enthusiast who hasn't used the "T-Rex is coming scene" from the original Jurassic Park as a test for one's subwoofer? The 22 year later Jurassic World introduced us to a new, bigger, Hybrid dinosaur called Indominus Rex. Her foot stomps are even deeper and more powerful than T-Rex.


And the PC-2000 did a fine job of bringing her into the room. Each stomp resulted in the floor shaking, and the room rumbling. The sense of this "bitch" is BIG was pretty potent.


The helicopter scenes were a nice touch, in terms of bass, and is a pretty good test of a subwoofers agility. The "thwump-thwump-thwump" of the blades was taut and tuneful.


It was another night of a subwoofer doing its job - and rest assured there will be some direct comparisons between the PC-2000 and the Klipsch R-115 SW in the near future.


When this is done, look for more information about the performance of both subwoofers.


Will there be a Hsu VTF-3 Mark V?


I had not heard back from Kevin at Hsu this week, so I called Friday. He promised they were interested, but had not settled on a sub yet, and that he would call back.
 

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