Ron Eastman
Second Unit
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2000
- Messages
- 415
First, a huge thank you to RyanL for hosting Kevin_Kr and myself for a home theater meet at his home. My girlfriend and I had a wonderful time, thanks to Ryan and his wife Chrissy's gracious hospitality. The evening was filled with demo scenes, great conversation and Ryan's fantastic burgers.
I brought along my SVS 20-39PC from Omaha and Kevin brought his Sony SAWM40 to demo as well. After some difficulty getting sound from the SVS, possibly due to a bad cable, we decided to do a blind comparison between the SVS and Sony subs as well as compare the SVS to Ryan's powered Paradigm Monitor 90P's.
For reference material we settled on the very demanding scene near the end of Saving Private Ryan where the tank is advancing onto the bridge and Cpt. John Miller (Tom Hanks) is fending it off with his pistol. I would estimate that the overall volume was set somewhere between 5 and 10dB below reference level. For the record, our comparison was not scientific and did not involve any measurements but it was conducted as a blind test. After explaining to my girlfriend how to switch between the different subs we unhooked the sub lines from the 90P's and left it to her to choose which sub (SVS or Sony) to hook up first while we covered our eyes and waited for her okay.
As it turned out, sub #1 was the Sony. The reputation for this sub sounding incredible for it's price is an understatement. It played everything except the lowest of the lows and sounded very clean throughout the scene. It was not boomy at all and the bass was very tight. Compared to other budget subwoofers that I've heard, even up to the $600 range, the Sony could easily hold it's own. I must confess, not knowing which sub I was hearing I was getting a little worried that if this was the Sony I may not be able to tell the difference from my SVS.
Next we listened to the same scene with sub #2, which turned out to be the SVS. As you might expect, it also played very clean and accurately while extending noticeably lower than the Sony, giving a fullness and richness to the soundtrack that provided additional realism. After the scene was finished I was relieved (pheww!) that we were able to tell the difference. Was the SVS 4 times better (as the price is 4 times higher)? I would say not, but noticeably better, more of an incremental change. A good comparison would be the difference between anamorphic material on a 16:9 television compared to it being downconverted on an similarly sized 4:3 monitor.
Next we compared the SVS to Ryan's 90P's in the same manner. The results were surprisingly similar. The 90P's also produced some great bass, extending about as deep as the Sony sub and very cleanly to boot. While we were again able to tell the difference between them and the SVS, the only place where the 90P's lacked was in the extremely low bass where most commercial subs under $1000 can't go. One bonus I observed of having mains with powered subs is that the higher bass frequencies are completely non-directional. The 90P's sounded spectacular.
For those on a budget who are considering the Sony SAWM40 I cannot recommend it more heartily. At normal listening levels this sub is certainly capable of handling 95% of soundtracks without missing a beat.
Again, many thanks to Ryan for hosting the meet and to Kevin as well for bringing his Sony for our non-scientific comparison. It was great to meet you guys!
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"The last thing I want to remembered as is an annoying blabbermouth." - Del Griffith
Link Removed - updated 6/16/01 with SVSubwoofer pics
my DVD collection
I brought along my SVS 20-39PC from Omaha and Kevin brought his Sony SAWM40 to demo as well. After some difficulty getting sound from the SVS, possibly due to a bad cable, we decided to do a blind comparison between the SVS and Sony subs as well as compare the SVS to Ryan's powered Paradigm Monitor 90P's.
For reference material we settled on the very demanding scene near the end of Saving Private Ryan where the tank is advancing onto the bridge and Cpt. John Miller (Tom Hanks) is fending it off with his pistol. I would estimate that the overall volume was set somewhere between 5 and 10dB below reference level. For the record, our comparison was not scientific and did not involve any measurements but it was conducted as a blind test. After explaining to my girlfriend how to switch between the different subs we unhooked the sub lines from the 90P's and left it to her to choose which sub (SVS or Sony) to hook up first while we covered our eyes and waited for her okay.
As it turned out, sub #1 was the Sony. The reputation for this sub sounding incredible for it's price is an understatement. It played everything except the lowest of the lows and sounded very clean throughout the scene. It was not boomy at all and the bass was very tight. Compared to other budget subwoofers that I've heard, even up to the $600 range, the Sony could easily hold it's own. I must confess, not knowing which sub I was hearing I was getting a little worried that if this was the Sony I may not be able to tell the difference from my SVS.
Next we listened to the same scene with sub #2, which turned out to be the SVS. As you might expect, it also played very clean and accurately while extending noticeably lower than the Sony, giving a fullness and richness to the soundtrack that provided additional realism. After the scene was finished I was relieved (pheww!) that we were able to tell the difference. Was the SVS 4 times better (as the price is 4 times higher)? I would say not, but noticeably better, more of an incremental change. A good comparison would be the difference between anamorphic material on a 16:9 television compared to it being downconverted on an similarly sized 4:3 monitor.
Next we compared the SVS to Ryan's 90P's in the same manner. The results were surprisingly similar. The 90P's also produced some great bass, extending about as deep as the Sony sub and very cleanly to boot. While we were again able to tell the difference between them and the SVS, the only place where the 90P's lacked was in the extremely low bass where most commercial subs under $1000 can't go. One bonus I observed of having mains with powered subs is that the higher bass frequencies are completely non-directional. The 90P's sounded spectacular.
For those on a budget who are considering the Sony SAWM40 I cannot recommend it more heartily. At normal listening levels this sub is certainly capable of handling 95% of soundtracks without missing a beat.
Again, many thanks to Ryan for hosting the meet and to Kevin as well for bringing his Sony for our non-scientific comparison. It was great to meet you guys!
------------------
"The last thing I want to remembered as is an annoying blabbermouth." - Del Griffith
Link Removed - updated 6/16/01 with SVSubwoofer pics
my DVD collection
