Matt DeVillier
Supporting Actor
- Joined
- Sep 3, 1999
- Messages
- 773
I was lucky enough to win a 20-39PCi in the SVS giveaway contest. One of the stipulations was I had to post a review. Given the generousity of the SVS folks, I think it's the least I can do 
my previous sub was a modified sony SA-WM40. It was stuffed with about 1lb of polyfill, and the stock driver was replaced with an original SVS driver. So that's my basis of comparison. My room size is about 20' x 15' with 8' ceilings.
Being a HT geek, I'd been following the SVS hoopla here on HTF and was very excited to be getting my own. When it finally arrived, I was initially a little surprised how small it was. It wasn't even as tall as my floorstanding mains. I went through all the necessary calibrations (using AVIA) and set it about 4dB above the other speakers. I then set the overall volume to the normal listening level and fired up the pod racing scene from TPM (on DVD). I was impressed, but my socks were still on. There was more bass, sure, but nothing hanging from the walls was rattling. So I turned up the overall volume a little bit and that made it a bit better. Apparently my normal listening volume wasn't loud enough. I tested out a few more choice scenes (including the Matrix lobby scene and the Jurassic Park DTS T-rex scenes) and ended up boosting the sub level another dB or two (more than that and it started to overpower the other channels). I also played a bit of music (CD Audio and DVD Audio) but the perceived increase in bass was no where near as much as with the movie scenes I tested.
I haven't done any measurements or EQ'ing yet, but as things are the SVS provides a good deal more bass (in quantity and extension) than my previous SA-WM40. The big question for me (if I had purchased the SVS) would be is it $500 better? I would say yes it is, but only if you are able to turn up the volume enough to appreciate it, and only with content that has a significant amount of sonic info
my previous sub was a modified sony SA-WM40. It was stuffed with about 1lb of polyfill, and the stock driver was replaced with an original SVS driver. So that's my basis of comparison. My room size is about 20' x 15' with 8' ceilings.
Being a HT geek, I'd been following the SVS hoopla here on HTF and was very excited to be getting my own. When it finally arrived, I was initially a little surprised how small it was. It wasn't even as tall as my floorstanding mains. I went through all the necessary calibrations (using AVIA) and set it about 4dB above the other speakers. I then set the overall volume to the normal listening level and fired up the pod racing scene from TPM (on DVD). I was impressed, but my socks were still on. There was more bass, sure, but nothing hanging from the walls was rattling. So I turned up the overall volume a little bit and that made it a bit better. Apparently my normal listening volume wasn't loud enough. I tested out a few more choice scenes (including the Matrix lobby scene and the Jurassic Park DTS T-rex scenes) and ended up boosting the sub level another dB or two (more than that and it started to overpower the other channels). I also played a bit of music (CD Audio and DVD Audio) but the perceived increase in bass was no where near as much as with the movie scenes I tested.
I haven't done any measurements or EQ'ing yet, but as things are the SVS provides a good deal more bass (in quantity and extension) than my previous SA-WM40. The big question for me (if I had purchased the SVS) would be is it $500 better? I would say yes it is, but only if you are able to turn up the volume enough to appreciate it, and only with content that has a significant amount of sonic info
