SVS 20-39CS vs Adire Dharman - non technical comparison. (1 Viewer)

[Wookie Groomer]

I had an opportunity this evening to unbox my dual SVS 20's and Samson amp. Very nice stuff. You can see white squares on the tube underneath the black sock but that doesn't matter considering where I placed the subs. Out of site.
I had been complaining that I wasn't satisfied with my Dharman after shifting its location all over my movie room and never getting anything substantial out of it. I figured it was the sub. This evening I moved the sub to an area of the room I had preferred to not put it and found that to be the best spot. It's behind a wet bar in the back of the room and it's sort of musty back there. The back wall was leaking but I think I fixed it this summer when I dug up the outside and filled it in. We'll see...
The Dharman seemed to come to life finally and it appeared that I may have made a mistake by ordering dual SVS's. The Dharman delivered -my couch shook a little and I felt a ever so slight tickle in my hair.
The Dharman is easy to bottom out. It doesn't take much so after several sub killer scenes I reduced the overall gain on the sub till it stopped popping. The bass output at that point seemed pretty good and I thought I was happy. It was certainly better than what I have previously gotten from it anywhere else in the room.
I unplugged it and plugged in the SVS. After a few minutes of screwing around with the wiring and so forth I powered it and the Samson up.
The single SVS made me queasy. I felt my clothes move and my hair was making me itch. I pushed it to the limits of where I wouldn't normally listen to it and it didn't bottom out. One scene in The Phantom Menace during the Pod Race the bass was so intense I felt as if I was dunked under water. The SVS pressurized the room! I did NOT expect that. So scene after scene including the ever so popular ones from The Haunting and U-571 I got intense bass with no bottoming. All the same scenes I tested the Dharman with and got mucho el bottom. I hooked up the second SVS and it was ridiculous. But I will get use to it! 2 SVS's can make your eyes rattle and your ass itch.
I enjoyed the Dharman when I finally found a home for it but when I hooked up the SVS it pumped more. I apologize to Adire for the hassles. The return slip I got from them has an RA number of "The only jackass to return a Dharman". Not really... But if it did I would completely agree.
I consider myself correct in my initial statements regarding the Dharman only because the SVS held out and held more powerfully in comparison. If we are talking about the performance of a 12" driver then the SVS driver is clearly better. If it's the design, box vs. cylinder then what?
In any case, I'm glad I chose to get SVS because that was what I had planned to do last year when I was choosing and planning my new system.
Both SVS and Adire are outstanding companies and deserve any and all business from whomever is willing to support them. With today's economy these guys deserve our business because they care and want to make us happy. Customer service is top notch by both guys, as we all know. We can't say that about the bigger commercial companies.
Well, I'm off to go scratch my ass now.

 

[Wookie Groomer]

I'd like to add that no one has officialy stated that the Dharman and the 20-39 were like models. I'm not sure if the Dharman was ever intended to go against the SVS line or not so it isn't fair to downgrade any Adire product when comparing it to something it wasn't designed to compete with. The Dharman is still a killer sub for its class.

 

[rodneyH]

SVS rocks. I was playing around with my sub, and my dad was in the room (an audiophile, who use to own his own car stereo business in the 80s and knows what BASS is all about). After a few minutes of playing, he says "is this supposed to make you feel sick??" funny thing is, I was feeling the exact same thing. I cant handle 20-30 Hz very long, it is a very weird weird feeling.

 

[Mike Voigt]

Adire builds some great subs. When at a local meet a few months back, we listened to a Rava and an experimental sub that Dan brought with him. Both sounded good, that is, until the experimental blew... but until that happened, it kicked serious butt.
OTOH, I doubt anyone will convince me to let loose of the 16-46CS I have now... except of course if SVS decided to send out free samples of the Ultras

But, Shawn, I have one question - how many hours did it take you to handle all the tangles in your wookie friend's hair after that experiment? I mean, if your hair itched, I really feel sorry for him!

Mike

 

[Stacy Huff]

Well, I guess Ron and Tom (they sound like a morning radio team) have a new slogan. A few months somebody reported that a friend threw up during an SVS testing session, so they had "SVS -- so good you'll puke!"
Now I guess they can add "SVS -- we'll make your ass itch!"
HA!
Stacy
P.S.--I've had an SVS for a few months now, and I just thought I was in need of some Prep H!

 

[SVS-Ron]

Hmmm,
"Bass so good it'll make your ass itch"??
You don't mind if we just clean that up for the ad agency a bit do you? Maybe just "Kick ass bass"?? ;^)
Thanks for the thumbs up. Suffice it to say you CAN bottom a 20-39CS if you pay no attention to calibration. But as you all indicated Shawn, with twins especially, you have to be a pretty sick puppy to do it (subhuman even ;^). Even relative yawners (cinematically speaking) like "Spy Kids" (which I caught with MY kids last night), can be a thrill when the 20Hz action lights up. TPM will leave you postively giddy, I promise.
RE this "comparison"; the CS subs you got are not meant to compete with the powered Dahrman per se, even a single 20-39CS with the 700 watt Samson amp is $799 after all. Nonetheless, we'd put the $1199 dual sub/amp package against any sub in the world. Hell, any sub at TWICE that price. One caveat on price: If you already a suitable old amp you CAN get what you experienced with the single CS for a mere $449 though. That's the entire reason Tom designed them as they are. 100 watt receiver collecting dust? That's a shame we say. No need to get one of the Samsons we offer really. They are there for folks that DON'T have an amp handy is all.
If your budget tops off at what the Adire costs (not sure what they are though), I hardly think you'd be sorry. They seem to be all the rage at HTT, and probably for good reason. If you can step up to one, or two SVS CS subs though (certainly out of consideration for some budgets), I think the extra bread is well spent. This is better than dual (if not triple) Velo HGS 15 territory, for what? 20% the cost?
While it might have been premature to write off the Dharman, I trust you'll be glad the SVS's stayed anyway.
Ron

 

[Steve Satch]

How much time did you spend with the Dharman trying to get the correct balance between sub out on your receiver/amp and gain on the sub? The only complaint I've heard is that its a bit sensitive to really having perfect calibration. I've only had mine a couple days but I haven't had it bottom out on U-571, Toy Story II, Private Ryan DTS, or Jurasic Park DTS. The thing shakes my sofa over 20 feet away in a large room. No offense meant. Sounds like you got a great set of subs. I know I did too though for $550.
[Edited last by Steve Satch on October 27, 2001 at 04:29 PM]

 

[Jeff Aguilar]

Shawn,
Good review.
It was good to hear that you were finally able to dial in the Dharman sub. To bad that it did not work out for you. I know that you wanted it too.
I guess you have now 'officially' bought into the SVS hype! Welcome to the OTHER side! They truely are great subs. I have had my dual 16/46pc's for almost a year now and I have really enjoyed them. It does seem that I have grown used to them. Now I am wanting more! Not really in the volume department, but in the feeling department. I want to experience that queasing feeling! Sure, it shakes my house, my entire house including the siding but I want to feel my clothes and couch shake. I wonder if my wife would notice a couple more in our room?
Jeff

 

[Ronald Aguilar]

Jeff-
When you get the Ultra's, I will take your other ones...
Ron Aguilar

 

[Martice]

Jeff, you are realy asking for it. If two 1646's can't make you queezy than I don't know what will.
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What if it gets no better than this!?!

 

[Jack Gilvey]

Thanks for taking the time to do this thorough comparison, it's a shame you had such a tough time with the Dharman. Since your experience is very different from, almost at-odds with, the other Dharman subjective reviews/comparisons I've read, and since it seems obvious you did all you could to calibrate/position it correctly,I wonder if something was not quite right with the Adire.
In any event, you've now got a sub system that can only be "upgraded" by adding more of the same .
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