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SVS--Not that impressed yet (1 Viewer)

Mike__D

Supporting Actor
Joined
Dec 27, 2000
Messages
617
I'm gonna side with Dave... Does one really have to "calibrate" their ears? I would think for spending hundreds on a sub, you should notice something right away, especially with all the praise these subs get.

I'd love to upgrade my sub to an SVS, but I'm happy with mine, although I don't think I'm using it to it's full potential... gonna create a post on that later for some help.
 

Jeffrey Forner

Screenwriter
Joined
Jun 19, 1999
Messages
1,117
Kenny;

But please don't tell me that you had to calibrate your ears or wait 4 months to get use to it.
Well, it shouldn't take you 4 months to grow to like your sub, but I will comment on the "calibrate your ears" part of your quote.

It has been my experience that sometimes you can't really tell how a new component in your home theater improves the system until you've used it for a while. I'll even go so far as to say that you sometimes can't tell until you've used the new component for a while and then switched it back with gear it replaced.

For instance, I received my 16-46PC almost a year ago. Up until that point, I was using a Rava from Adire Audio. The Rava is a good sub, but I was looking for something more capable for home theater use. It simply couldn't reach the depths that even the smallest SVS could hit. When the SVS arrived, I decided that I would use it exclussively for one week so that I could learn its sound and be better able to compare it with the Rava.

During that week, I listened to almost all the "stupid bass movies" availble on DVD at the time like Fight Club, The Haunting, U-571, and Titan A.E., I could most certainly hear an improvment in overall bass extension. In other words, my ass be a-rattlin'!

However, at first I didn't consider the SVS to be a better music sub than the Rava. That's not to say that the SVS wasn't any good in this department. I just didn't hear any improvements over the Rava. Until my week was up and a re-connected the Rava to compare, I didn't realize that the SVS actually sounded better in this regard as well. While the Rava offered some good, tight, and clean bass in the 30 Hz and up range, it simply did not fill out the lower ocates like the SVS did. Whenever I listened to any music without the SVS, everything sounded meek in comparison. Again, this is something I would have never discovered had I not listened to the Rava again.

You have 45 days to play with your new toy before you have to keep it. I suggest you give it some time, mess around with the settings some more and experiment with sub placement if you can. Also, if you really want to help us out, you could tell us which SVS you own and the size of the room it's sitting in. Those factors can play a big role in how your sub sounds.

Also, the list of demo material you listed isn't what I would classify as big bass movies. Try listening to some of the movies I mentioned as well as The Phantom Menace and then we'll see if the SVS doesn't improve upon your old JBL sub at all.
 

SteveBjr

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Aug 7, 2001
Messages
196
If you're like 10-20db under reference then no, you won't here a big difference.
I was going to ask the same thing...if you're running under reference maybe you should run your sub a little hot. Best thing to do is talk to Ron or Tom and they can help you max it out like you said.
 

Kenny Booth

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Feb 19, 2002
Messages
65
Ned, the most volumn I've tried is -7db--then the other speakers are so loud I can't take it too long. I think I need some better materal that has enough bass.

David, you're saying the same thing "it took time for his ears to acclimate to the cleaner sound" and "my ears may take some time to get use to a different sound"

That sounds like something a Bose salesman would say.
 

Sean D

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Sep 3, 2001
Messages
181
Kenny,

What model are you using? Something must be wrong because you should notice a huge improvement.
 

David Giles

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Mar 6, 2001
Messages
138
Don't jump on a guy for being offended when a few people basically told him he was an idiot because he wasn't impressed.
Huh???

He appeared to be "offended" (your word) after only two members offered THEIR experiences with THEIR new SVS's. How could anybody in their right mind read Colin's or Tom's original posts and say that they "basically told him he was an idiot because he wasn't impressed"??

Man, it's unbelievable how quickly any SVS related thread seems to turn ugly recently.

David

P.S. I agree also that the 'low volume' explanation might be the culprit. It'll be interesting to see what turns up though.
 

tom j r

Agent
Joined
Feb 26, 2002
Messages
38
Don't jump on a guy for being offended when a few people basically told him he was an idiot because he wasn't impressed.
Pardon me, but where did I say he was an idiot? I first state that I am not familiar with his old sub and then relate my experience going from a poor performing sub to SVS, which was a huge difference and took me awhile to adjust to. As David G said above, I could have been more long-winded rather than say "calibrate" my ears. I'm sorry that couldn't be accepted. FWIW, the SVS is the only thing in my system that wouldn't be considered low-fi or marginally mid-fi. I'll leave this to those audiophiles out there.
Enough said. Kenny, I hope someone can help you out. If not, SVS has a generous return policy.
Tom
 

ColinM

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Dec 9, 2001
Messages
2,050
Nobody's an idiot. The last thing we need is for someone to drop >$400 and not feel good about it.

Let's talk it over, and keep the facts straight. We want Kenny to be happy, SVS or not.

Dave - Bose is in a different league, and not in a good way. You were the only one in this thread to say IDIOT. STFU if you have nothing constructive to add, OK?
 

SVS-Ron

Screenwriter
Joined
Jun 2, 2001
Messages
1,074
Well never let it be said that SVS owners aren't passionate.

Rest assured most if not all of the ideas expressed here are some of the same we have ourselves. I don't think anyone intended this to be a "eat your young" thread, and we're sure not going to rest till Kenny IS doing backflips or he's counting the money we sent him back.

We're e-mailing this with him now and I would imagine that if we are successful in finding what's keeping this from being a day/night comparison for him he might relate what it is. The eagerness to make the SVS OBE (out of box experience) TOTALLY fulfilling (as 99 of 100 customers have) is the reason anyone posted here in the first place. And that's a good thing. Everyone has experienced times where a comment was taken the wrong way, or at least partially. I think this is one of them.

SVS has the best customer base in world, you guys are proof, if any foul was caused it sure wasn't intentional as far as I can tell.

Ron
 

Matt Meyer

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Mar 29, 2002
Messages
117
A quick question to the samson owners, what is the average gain knob setting that everyone uses? I to haven't noticed a huge difference. But I'm not done experimenting yet either. I'm going to try moving it a little now. With my cs+20-39 in it's present location(rear corner) I have my receiver set at 0db(-15dbto+10db) and the gain on the samson 1000 is at -10db or 3o'clock. With those settings it is at an even spl with the rest of the speakers.

Thanks for any help,

Matt
 

Kenny Booth

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Feb 19, 2002
Messages
65
I'm sorry guys I was just expecting it to be like my first blow job. Fell a little short I'm afraid.
 

Steve_Ma

Second Unit
Joined
May 7, 2001
Messages
420
That's a pretty high bar. With that as your frame of reference (bad pun intended), you're bound to be dissapointed here and there.
:D
 

SVS-Ron

Screenwriter
Joined
Jun 2, 2001
Messages
1,074
Matt,

It's nearly always best to run the Samson full gain, and reduce the receiver's subwoofer level control accordingly to get the calibration level you are looking for.

Personally I don't think I ever run less than 5dB over the mains as measured with Video Essentials and a sound meter FWIW. Try it my way and see if that doesn't get it for you.

Kenny, we don't... ummm... rise to that level of performance I'll personally insist you send that sub back to us. After a thorough check out of your setup at your leisure (I think we have about 43 days left right?) I believe we'll get it right for you. I'd rather not delve into the specific emotions we're looking to replicate here though ;^)

Ron
 

BryanZ

Screenwriter
Joined
Dec 18, 2000
Messages
1,214
Kenny,

What you may want to do is run it a couple dbs hot. If you've got the sub calibrated to 85db (Avia) on your receiver and that setting is -10 then you may want to up it to -8. Perhaps even changing the position of the sub may help some.

Matt,

I run the S700 full throttle and then adjust the receiver.
 

David Giles

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Mar 6, 2001
Messages
138
That sounds like something a Bose salesman would say.
No need for mud slinging. You're not talking to a Bose salesman here. You're talking to fellow HT enthusiasts who also happen to be satisfied SVS owners, who also happen to have taken their time to try and help you out.
Which side of the bed did you get up on this morning?
David
 

Barry Barnes

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Mar 31, 2002
Messages
85
I'm sorry guys I was just expecting it to be like my first blow job. Fell a little short I'm afraid.
If your "first" was anything like mine it was practically over before it started... :D
Seriously though. Try getting Titan AE. That is really the type of thing that shows their superiority over other Subs. Either that or some Music that goes down deep such as the "Blue Man Group" CD or something with some deep organ notes (this is NOT a pun).
I really wasn't overly impressed either until I really put them through their paces with some serious low frequency material. I have found even at moderate levels they produce prodigeous amounts of Bass energy with this type of material. The Eagles, while being a good CD, simply isn't going to let them do what they do best... While I'm not as thrilled with the SVS musically as some are I do think bang for the buck they are one of the best values you can get.
 

John Kotches

Senior HTF Member
Joined
Mar 14, 2000
Messages
2,635
Kenny,

There is a certain amount of truth to the statement.

We are creatures of habit, and when something is different we don't always catch onto it. Then when we switch back to what we're familiar with the differences get magnified.

A "night and day" difference wasn't the case when I initially hooked up the review SVS' -- and I had the Von Schweiker Tower of Power for a sub.

Then I picked up a wind orchestra disc with pipe organ and it was only then that I realized a few things. First, the Von Schweikert was missing almost an octave of response, which was only evident when I used this particular disc. Second, that all of my materials where the subwoofer was required was blending very well.

In my experience (and this isn't a new thing I'm saying), a subwoofer shouldn't be noticed most of the time. It's only when you have a passage with demanding low frequency info that the realization comes to you that hey, the subwoofer is kicking butt!

Regards,
 

David Giles

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Mar 6, 2001
Messages
138
OOHH! I just now saw the blow-job comment. Well, I guess that all depends on how good your first one was. :D
But one thing you can be sure of, when you get this situation worked out, the ecstacy you experience with your SVS will certainly last a lot longer than your first blow-job! :D
David
 

Steve WC

Stunt Coordinator
Joined
Dec 15, 2001
Messages
180
You guys are cracking me up:D :b :) :D
This is almost as good as the "SVS Wall Hanging Review"!!
We should constantly try to maintain our sense of humor, and try not to take things personally.
 

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