SVS B2 or B4 (1 Viewer)

[Jay Foster]

I am slowly replacing my gear and while I want the SVS for the performance factor, I wanted to know if anyone who owns it thinks it is feasible to cut a hole in my wall and put a grill over it to kind of hide it. I am adding on a garage to the room that I am using as a home theater and the back side of sub would stick out into the new garage.

Oh, and do they make the b4 anymore or just the b2 ultra?

 

[SethH]

The B4 is out of production right now due to the closing of a supplier. However, word has it that they're planning a replacement.

I don't think your plan will work though. Doing so would have the ports pointing out of the room which would hurt performance. Based on what you're looking for, I think you should consider an infinite baffle setup.

 

[Dustin B]

If you got an adjacent garage you want to build out into anyways forget about a commercial sub. Infinite baffle.

http://home.comcast.net/~klone-audio...-12Shiva1.html

There was a great forum dedicated to these, but it seems to be down right now. The above link will get the idea across though. For the cost of a B4 you could buy a ridiculous amount of these (and therefore even more output capability):

http://www.partsexpress.com/pe/showd...number=295-455

and a good quality pro amp. Do some searching in the DIY area for infinite baffle or IB subs. You'll get lots off good info on this and discover that no one who has built one regrets it and almost no one has willingly gone back to a regular sub after having one.

Also as the poster above noted, the design of any of the SVS box subs pretty much makes in wall placement impossible. I also wouldn't recommend it.

 

[Parker Clack]

Jay:

I am with Dustin on this one. If I had you situation I would build an IB.

Here is a link to the IB fact page that Dustin was referring to.

Faq Page

 

[Jack Gilvey]

Yeah. If you're willing to cut a hole in the wall anyway (that's usually what stops people), might as well IB. At least four good 15's if you want try for B4 output/headroom.

 

[Robert_J]

It's alive and well but at a different home. Infinitely Baffled

-Robert

 

[Arthur S]

"At least four good 15's if you want to try for B4 output/headroom."

And why not 4 good 12's with an IB instead of the 4 12's in the comparatively small box of the B4?

 

[Jack Gilvey]

Because the SVS is bass reflex and can rely on the vents/resonators for output in the deep bass, while IB relies completely on the displacement of the drivers...like any sealed sub. In reflex, excursion actually decreases as you approach tuning...with sealed it just keeps increasing with decreasing frequency. So, as you see, there's lots more displacement required in sealed/IB to reach a given SPL. My estimate might even be conservative knowing the B4.

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/volum...ayporting.html

 

[Jay Foster]

I appreciate all of your responses. I am looking into trying this idea of building a sub as suggested.

 

[Arthur S]

Thanks Jack

I would have thought that an IB would behave just the opposite of a sealed enclosure given the infinite space behind the drivers.

The reinforcement of a ported design I can appreciate, however, the sealed box idea seems counterintuitive.

 

[Jack Gilvey]

Not sure what you mean. An IB is a sealed box acoustically the volume of which affords effectively no back pressure on the woofers, allowing them to operate at their maximum deep bass efficiency and minimal rolloff. Unlike a ported design, sealed relies completely on the excursion of the woofers for output, and so needd more displaced volume for a given SPL/frequency.

 

[Tom Vodhanel]

Hi Jay,

The B4 isn't currently available but it will be introduced as the PB12-plus/4 a little later in 2006(along with our new powered-SS). But as others have mentioned...if you are planning on "cutting holes" you should definitely consider an IB. Just don't skimp on the overall displacement capabilities. Or, design it so that you can easily add more drivers (if needed) down the road..

Tom V.
SVS

 

[Jay Foster]

Tom,

I'm curious. If I bought the "cylinder" type subs instead of the b2, would there be a problem in cutting a hole in my wall and putting the cylinder in that? I would then put a cloth grill or something over it.

 

[Dustin B]

Roughly the same issue as the box subs. The port would be sticking out into your garage and you'd find the low bass performance to be very lack luster as a result. The only sub you could build into the wall like that is a front firing sealed sub. Something like a Paradigm Servo-15. But if you're going to do that, the IB will be a much much better option.

 

[Parker Clack]

Jay:

SV puts some killer subs from TC Sound into their B4 and Ultra line that you ought to look into buying by themselves if you go the IB route.

 

[Robb Roy]

Jay,

Actually, there is a ported SVS sub you could use, and that's the PB10-ISD (the driver and port are both on the front). If you're going to cut a hole, though, I have to parrot the others in this thread: go IB.

-Robb

 

[Dustin B]

That would be a not too bad idea, but there are two issues with it. The first is as far as I know SVS will not sell their drivers for this purpose. The second is the prices for those replacement woofers are pretty high for the displacement they provide in comparison to a number of other drivers available to the DIYer. When you have enough displacement that decent drivers get to stay well within there limits, the result will be excellent bass. Here's a list of various drivers broken down in a cost/liter displacement manner. It's slightly out of date though right now as I think that top choice, the Lambda IB15 isn't available right now.

http://www3.sympatico.ca/bonaz/IB-Sub/IBdrv-01.htm