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Dual sub observations (SVS PB-2000) (1 Viewer)

Colin Dunn

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For years, I have dreamed of going to dual subs. Yesterday, I finally got to try dual subs for myself, and the experience was a little different than I expected. No regrets, but a few observations.

First of all, when I re-ran Audyssey on my pre-pro (Marantz AV7703), it had me set the volume level of each sub independently. But then during calibration, it did not send test tones to each sub individually. It sent the test tone to both simultaneously. Correct me if I'm wrong, but … that seems to imply that even with two subs, I am getting mono bass. One of the reasons I wanted two subs was to get true stereo bass.

Also, I was leery of going to a ported sub, but am happy to report that the SVS PB-2000 really deserves its rave reviews. I listened to both music and movies, and did not detect any sloppiness or overhang in the bass. If anything, bass seemed a little bit leaner than in my previous setup (single Velodyne FSR-15). Perhaps it was that phenomenon where better bass sounds like a little less bass.

Now with plenty of bass on tap, it became obvious that recording and mixing of bass has improved dramatically in the last 20-30 years. Newer recordings and movies had bass in abundance compared to recordings from the '80s and '90s.
 

John Dirk

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Correct me if I'm wrong, but … that seems to imply that even with two subs, I am getting mono bass. One of the reasons I wanted two subs was to get true stereo bass.

I don't think there's any such thing as actual "stereo bass" there's just the LFE channel. Depending on your settings you may be able to get lower frequencies sent independently to each sub as long as they are above the crossover for the LFE channel and that may be why your 7703 calibrates them that way. As a fellow Marantz owner I can tell you that the setting would be LFE + MAIN under the BASS menu.
 

JohnRice

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I tend to suspect that about 98% of the reasons people want dual subwoofers are not based in reality. In most cases, it seems that money would be better invested in a single, higher performance subwoofer than two lesser ones. Virtually everyone seems to argue me on that, however.
 

JohnRice

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BTW, I recently added the SB-2000 to my living room system, and it's a good performer. However, it most definitely can not plumb the depths that my much older, but clearly superior SVS PB12 Plus/2 can. When it comes to subs, the only better... is better.
 

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