Two SVS related questions: 1) How do I know that an SVS sub has the ISD driver? Is there a date after which SVS subs were made using the ISD driver? Distinguising features that are visible so I can tell it's the ISD versus the old one? 2) Would I lose out on much if I paired a CS sub with a monoblock amp, am I going to lose out much by not having a phase control, etc like a plate amp would? Will I lose anything in sound quality by using a PartsExpress plate amp (or something similar) versus a high quality monoblock?
I believe the ISD starting shipping sometime around December of 2001. You can email SVS with the serial number if you want to know for sure. There are pics of the ISD on the SVS website.. The BASH plate amp has a phase control, an infrasonic filter to protect the woofer from overexcursion below the tune point, and also has some mild custom EQ to optimize the FR for each cylinder size. I think it offers a lot of advantages over an external amp with no controls and you'll ultimately get more performance from the sub with the integral on-board amp. With that said, you can always buy the SVS01 Marchand Bass box and get most of those features, and mate it with the external amp.
