other subs (1 Viewer)

[John Nunet]

Craig,
I don't have them hooked up right now ,saving up for a QSC plx or dca amp. I'm getting back into the home theater hobby upgrading a little at a time. ( marantz sr5400,Parasound hca 1500a driving paradigm studio 40(v2) ,stylus 150s in the rear , an old psb center and a crappy yamaha s5650 dvd player.) I did try one sub with my parasound 1500 bridged and it rocked!

I bought one in 86(?) and another around 90. I would like to upgrade them (megawoofer and new passive rediator) down the road . I bought my father a paradigm 2200 and played around with it with my studio 40 (v2) and was surprised that the old VMPS sub sounded a lot better.

 

[Craig Chase]

The "old" VMPS (by the way... Veritone Minimum Phase Speakers) original sub had those wonderful Poly drivers... do NOT "upgrade" to the megawoofers... that old driver is magic...

It just occured to me... I have like this hobby TOO long...

 

[Al H.]

TO CHRIS QUINN: Sorry for the delay. I personally have not had the experience to preview nor test the speakers you have. Im fairly new when it comes to, in general, HOME AUDIO. I myself, Have spent mucho time in the professional audio and live sound field, that I have not really put the time into what my home audio system sounds like. Believe me I have an advantage when it comes to sound quality because of my experiences with freelance studio engineering and also running an indie production co.
I just want the system I have to be complete. If you can suggest the concluding components to my A/V system that would be awesome. Denon AVR1804 reciever, Paradigm Legend V.3 fronts, Paradigm Focus rears and/or surrounds. Thank you for your your reply Chris.

 

[Chris Quinn]

Most of it comes down to personal preference in sound.

I'm just another audio nerd with a modem and by no means any great deposit of audio truth.

Best advice is try to buy equipment from places that allow in home auditions so your can listen to it in your room with your equipment.

If you post what componets you are interested in. The participents on this and other boards can help you weed out the junk so you can focus on the best componet options in your specified price range.

Keep on reading here and other boards it is a great way to learn.

 

[Mitch_J]

www.aperionaudio.com

They allow you to try their speakers free for 30 days. with free shipping(both ways) their S-12 subwoofer ships at 80+lbs. You can imagine the cost on something like that.
I got that one and I have No plan to ever return it.

 

[JimNug]

It really depends on what you are looking for. It is hard to beat SVS for subs that are relatively easy to integrate, reasonably priced, that fit into most people's perception of what they are willing to tolerate for a subwoofer from the perspective of cost, space and effort for a cetain level of performance.

If you are truly interested in monster sub performance and are not in a position to go the DIY route (by the way, I for one don't think there are many people that can pull off DIY) then I would recommend that you check out Servodrive and Acoustic Visions.

The "problem" with these subs (I have a Servodrive and problem may not be the correct characterization) is that you are really tallking about monster subs here. These are subs that unless properely integrated can easily overwelm the rest of your system even if you have potent mains. That said, to me, they in fact represent the best bang for the sub buck because they can easily keep up with if not outperform subs in the $10,000-$20,000 price range. They are relatively huge, unweildy beasts that are more costly than SVS and subs that most would consider competitive with SVS for the most part but they will absolutely knock your socks off and just about anything else that is not nailed down for that matter.

 

[Craig Chase]

Jim - As a guy who admires Mark Seaton's work with the Contrabass, in today's market a new one will be at least $5000 plus amp... possibly more when Mark does his newer, more wife friendly design. That is about what a pair of B4+ from SVS will run. Both will run 115 db at 16 Hz all day...

Both setups will run around $7000 with amp and eq...SVS plays both markets...

Just did not want a bunch of guys thinking they could get a Contrabass new for the price of a pb2 + ...

 

[Kevin_R_H]

Craig,

I'm sorry I didn't get back to this thread earlier to read your question.

The "shootouts" I was referring to were on Harmonic Discord, which is unfortunately pretty much abandoned now. If I remember correctly, three different SVS owners sold their subs in favor of VMPS Larger after hearing both (in the same home; in the same system). If you are interested, I'm sure you could do a search there to find these threads.

As I stated before, I have never heard subwoofers from either company. And I have no doubt that SVS (as well as Hsu, Adire Audio, et al) makes excellent subs, and are backed by wonderful Customer Service.

But, not for a moment would I expect the $2,000+ SVS subwoofer (PB+ ???) to outperform a pair of VMPS Largers. And it would be easy enough to find quality amps to drive the 2 Largers that would ensure the prices were equal. When it comes to "value", now that's a shootout I would like to read about.

Kevin

 

[Craig Chase]

Kevin - The pb2+ costs $1298 delivered, not $2000.

A single VMPS larger sub costs $814 with the sound coat and mega woofers (needed to get the max performance), add $400 for a QSC 900 watt (mono) amp... and you are at $1214, plus some shipping... (the shipping is free on the subwoofer).

And yes, it would be a good competition, In a quasi-anechoic room, we measured 114 DB at 20 Hz at one meter from a single PB2+ ... Unlike some people, if I tested a VMPS Larger, I would report what it did, and may the best sub win. If Brian Cheyney wants to submit a sub for blind listening and measurements, I would be happy to oblige...

As an owner of VMPS products, there are several items to consider...

1. You need good speaker wire plus the interconnects.
2. You have to deal with fan noise or buy a more expensive amp than something like the QSC.
3. To get the best from the VMPS, you will have to adjust (and this takes hours) the mass loaded PR.
4. You need a crossover.... for high end two channel, this does make a difference.

I remember the Harmonic Discord threads... and there was more flaming between the two companies... in fact, the first review I did (comparing my then VMPS Subwoofers, and my Velodyne FSR-18's against this upstart SVS and their plus 25-31 pc plus) mentioned this. There were people on both sides claiming they dumped either SVS or VMPS in favor of the other... and it was all pretty inane.

 

[Kevin_R_H]

Craig,

I'm sorry, I thought one of SVS's new offerings cost $2,000. But I fully admit I don't keep up with this stuff (relative to subwoofers). I'm just not real interested, as my main system doesn't have one, and will likely never have one.

Again, I'm sorry for my mis-informed postings here.

Kevin

 

[Craig Chase]

Kevin - No apologies needed... You were likely thinking of the Ultra line with all the extras...

By the way, I have been following VMPS since the late 70's... Always wanted a Supertower II a/r .... 7 feet tall... really LOW waf rating...

OH... and you should get a good subwoofer...

 

[Edward J M]

Regarding the Acoustic Visions Pinnacle subwoofers: Craig measured the 5% THD-limited output of a PB2+ and a Denali and they ran a virtual dead heat (at some ungodly SPL levels) from 16 Hz-62 Hz.

The SVS was run with one port plugged for the 16 Hz and 20 Hz tests and with all ports open for 25 Hz on up. Since the user has to pick one tune or the other, the test (if you can do this Craig) should be re-run (under identical conditions for both) with the PB2+ in the 20 Hz tune. There will be a slight loss of output in the 25 Hz region with a port plugged, but above 30 Hz, plugging a port might not have too much of an impact because a vented sub doesn't rely on the ports for much output as you move progressively further away from the selected tune point.

Anyway, even if the numbers change a bit, they will still be very close and it should silence critics or doubters on both sides (even Kyle was surprised/amazed at how close they stacked up). In these particular alignments (which are presumably optimized for the drivers), dual dB-12 drivers definitely run with a single Tumult driver. These are world class subwoofers that turned in a simply amazing performance.

And by extrapolation, the 4-driver B4-Plus in the 20 Hz tune, and with its unique push-pull vented alignment (that boosts output by canceling reactive forces and minimizing even order harmonic distortion), should run very close against the Everest, which is essentially two stacked Denali's. That is still a Battle Of The Titans we all secretly still want to see.

You'd better have a strong back (400 pounds for the Everest; 200 for the B4-Plus) and up-to-date home owner's insurance though.

Ed