New Sub-woofer (1 Viewer)

[JohnEF]

I have been in the market for a new sub-woofer for some months and have beein zeroing in on the SVS PC 39 plus. My listening room is approximately 15 by 22 (8 foot ceilings) that is completely enclosed. I listen to about 10% music and 90% movies.

I curently have an all gold reference Pinnacle speaker system (2 towers, center and 4 surrounds-mini-monitors) plus a 250 watt Pinnacle sub-woofer (12 inch driver).

I had tried a Sunfire sub-woofer (10" driver and 2,700 watts) which was an improvement over my current Pinnacle SW but certainly not a great improvement where I would want to spend $1,000.

Size is not a particular problem but is it a good idea to match my other speakers (Pinnacles) to ensure the same brand all around for tonal match? I am willing to spend up to a $1,000 (my dealer did mention James EMB and Axiom and he is willing to let me borrow them for a few weeks).

Any ideas/suggestions?

John

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Because the sub is not going to be reproducing the same frequencies as the other five speakers (generally speaking), there is not need to timbre match the sub.

My personal opinion is to go with the SVS. No brick and mortar brand is going to compete with the sound from an SVS. Not on a bang for the buck analysis, anyway.

 

[SethH]

It is not necessary to match the sub to the rest of your speakers. At those frequencies the timbre matching won't be noticed. (Looks like Jeff beat me to it)

I would suggest ordering an SVS with a plus driver or the dual ISD drivers. Then ask you dealer to let you borrow the Axiom and test them against one another to see which is best for you. You might email SVS to see which of their

 

[JohnEF]

I did e-mail SVS with the dimensions of the room and they recommended the PC39 plus (I hope I got the model right-cylindrical sub with 525 watt built in amp). On another site the editors recommended the ultra for my size room.

John

 

[Jeff Gatie]

If that does not show the top-notch customer support and up front honesty of the SVS gang, nothing will. Have you ever heard of a company rep/owner trying to sell a less expensive model than was recommended elsewhere?

 

[JohnEF]

As I posted elsewhere-my search for a new sub-woofer has a happy ending. My wife pushed me off the fence and surprised my with an SVS 20-39 PC plus for Christmas (12/25/2006).

It's already set up, balanced with my radio shack sound meter and sounds great.

John

 

[Philip A]

Hey John,
I have an SVS pb12 plus 2 on the way and wondering about set without eq.
How did you do yours?
I do have a meter and Avia--but wondering about fixing room boosts/dips...
Thanks,
Phil

 

[Arthur S]

Hi Phil

There is something called a Behringer FeedBack Destroyer. Please do a search. Unless you are willing to part with about $600 for a Velodyne SMS-1. The SMS-1 is great but for $125 you can get about the same results with the Destroyer.

Happy New Year

 

[Philip A]

Arthur--I've heard of the BFD and $125 sounds a lot better than $600!

I'm a newbie, so this may sound stupid, but where does the BFD fit in the signal to speaker chain?

Thanks for the help!

Phil

 

[Robert_J]

Betweent the receiver's LFE output and the sub's amp. Home Theater Shack has a section dedicated to the BFD.

-Robert

 

[JohnEF]

I've never heard of the BFD and so I'm going to do some research on it. What I did (and as recommended in the SVS manual) using test tones and the Radio Shack sound meter I first balanced out my 7 speakers (7.1 system) at about 76 db and then the SVS SW at about 78. I then ran through a number of DVD's and then raised the sub-woofer to 81 db's and I am very satisfied with the results.

I did put the SW in a corner (front right).

What I like about the SVS is that despite a high volume of bass sound it remains clear and tight. My old sub-woofer at high levels would get "boomy" and rough.

John

 

[SethH]

While you're reading up on the BFD, also look into Room EQ Wizard -- this is software that helps you to analyze your sub's performance and dial in an equalizer. Best part about it is that it's free.

It will make using the BFD easier and reading up on it will help you understand what the BFD is meant to do.