I have been doing a lot of thinking about what SV subwoofer to get. MY situation is one where I can't play movies or music very loud. I was basicly wondering if I would still get deep satisfying bass from an SVS 1646 CS sub at low volume levels. My other concern is that unless I can grab a b-stock or used 1646 CS I will have to run the sub with a really old pioneer stereo amp that is only 30 watts a channel at 8 ohms. I know the amp is bridgable, but that would still wouldn't be very many watts and I worried that it wouldn't be enough power. I do plan on upgrading to a quality amp sometime during the summer so the amp situation would only be temporary. I know that I want a 1646 model as I really treasure the lowest notes. The sub I have now is an old dbx sub. It can get to reference levels (thanks to my apartments acoustical qualities), but it won't go lower then 27 hz without a large drop off in volume. I would appreciate any feedback from 1646(cs or pci) owners about how the sub sounds at lower volume levels.
Martin, regarding the amp questions, I don't know because I have the PCi. You can pick up a good quality plate amp fairly cheaply though from a million sources. You might also look at the PCi+, which I probably would have opted for if I were more patient. Not like you need the 600 + amps driving it, but hey, you can never have too much headroom. Regardless of the volume levels, my 16-46 fills out the bottom end very nicely. We have our son's bedroom (he's 9 months old) right next to our HT room, so needless to say, it's rare that I can crank my system up and get the fans humming. At lower levels, I run my sub a little hotter (-4 dbs iso -5) just to keep things hopping. The best thing in our house, with our set-up that the SVS does is blend. The way I have things calibrated, my SVS blends in seemlessly with the JBL's I have, so that nothing stands out. And for me, that was the point, so it's a great sub for us. Regarding the musical / non-musical issues, take it with a grain of salt. Any time you go deep, super deep, the bass is going to be there, and is going to be accurate. It handles Coltrane as well as Big Daddy Kane (must be showing my age here, but the Wrath of Kane ROCKS) so it can handle most anything you can throw at it. One thing to note, the 16-46 does not put out quite as many SPL's as the other tubes, so it might be a good match for your situation to. Well, that plus it can make rings in your glass of water if you crank it up enough but don't ask me how I know that.
Thanks for the info. Its good to know that I could still get deep bass at a reasonable level. Anyone else have an opinion?
A 30 watt amp would probably disappoint. And I doubt it's rated to run a 4 ohm load bridged either. A stock 16-46CS would probably be perfect for your needs in terms of depth and SPL however. Having ultra low bass in some ways can satisfy in ways ultra loud bass can't. In other words you don't need to rattle the rafters to enjoy it (not that there's anything wrong with THAT). You really don't need much power, but I'd not skimp much beyond the $99 amp Parts Express sells. This amp isn't half bad at all (most of us have experimented with them in SVS). Put a small wood enclosure around it (and make sure the bass boost is defeated) and you have a very nice sub system for tick over $600 (or $469 if you go to the "small" 25-31CS). You could try the receiver, but while we know of some folks using some real fly-weight power with CS subs, I'd have the money ready for the PE amp. Even figuring on a probable 50-60 watts from one channel into a 4 Ohm sub, that's marginal at best. Given a PCi would "only" be another $130 or so, I'd be hard pressed to tell you to spring for any of this now, maybe save up a bit? As more and more PCi's and soon the PC-Plus subs hit the market I suspect PC's will start to pop up here and there on the used market more. And you never know what sort of pre-order sales event we might pull when the PC-Plus gives us an excuse to loosen up the purse strings a bit. As Tom's said elsewhere the Plus line is very much happening and we typically like to do all we can to add incentives to allow the terminal upgraders to check out new lines of products. Can't say what that'll be, but if every $ counts you can bet we're looking for ways to serve that need. Ron
Hi Martin, Do you still have a *spec sheet* on the amp? I'm wondering if it is stable into 4ohms? 30w into a 16-46cs would surprise you with the output I bet....but with 250-275w for $99 now(partsexpress)...it is hard for me not to steer you in that direction. How large is the room and approx. how far from the subwoofer would the key listening position be? TV
The room is 11' wide, 20'8" long, and 7'10" tall with an opening into the kitchen on one side (about 12 feet down the length of the room). The subwoofer will be about 11 feet away from the prime listening position. I have long since lost the spec sheet (I got this amp when I was 14), but it does say on the back that I can use 4 to 16 ohm speakers.
Ok, let's figure about 1900 cu-ft, with one good size opening. With the 16-46 at a 3-4m distance to the key seating positions.Even with just 30w, I think you'll enjoy easy 92-95dB capability across the board. This might be all you really need given the situation. Unless you are a big pipe organ fan...you could also consider one of the smaller SVs. The 20-39 would extend to about 16-18hz in your room and the 25-31 would extend to about 21-23hz in your room. The only thing you will have to be careful of is using the old 30w/channel amp...and then getting a little *enthusiastic* with the volume knob. If the amp clips, you could damage the subwoofer. TV
Thanks for all the helpful info. I have one other question though. The bass player in one of the bands I am in told me that he has an old bass amp that I could borrow or get from him really cheap. It's a 30 watt Kustom bass guitar tube amp. It's rated at 30 watts RMS @ 4 Ohms with .5% harmonic distortion. Would this amp work on the subwoofer without damaging it?
As long as you don't *clip* the amp...it should work fine for low to moderate output levels. 0.5% thd isn't something we should strive for in an amp...but that is what is going to lend a *warmer/fatter* sound to the 4-5 string bass(the extra harmonics) I don't think it would work any better than the old Pioneer you have, but if you can...try comparing both and see if you prefer one over the other. TV
Just one of many super happy 1646PC owners. We normally listen to movies at -10db from reference in a 17X23 open ended room, & I never cease to be amazed at how low, loud, AND smooth it is!! Even when listening at lower overall volume levels, it maintains the smoothness. Best regards for a job well done to Tom & Ron!!
I typically listen to "regular" TV at -30 to -40 (because of the audio compression), and movies at -20. There's plenty of bass from my 16-46PCi at -20. Well, the sub is actually at -15, since it's 5db high in the receiver setup.
