SVS Sub for Small Room (1 Viewer)

[David Proud]

Hi! I currently have a tiny theater room. Its about 11X12 in size and it has 8 foot ceilings. My current setup includes definitive technology pro tower 400s with built in powered subs. I think they are good down to about 30 -35hz. although I have no idea how to tell this. The sub woofer drivers in the power towers use are listed below.

"Driver Complement: Two 6.5" cast- basket subwoofer drivers, one 6.5" cast-basket upper bass/midrange driver, 1" pure aluminum dome tweeter. Built-in Amplifier: 125 watts RMS with auto on/off. Finish: Black or White

"

In my small room the bass seems good. I am considering adding an SVS to cover lower than 30hz. Would this be overkill for such a small room or would it give me a much needed boost?

Thanks,

David

 

[Bob_A]

I think it will give you a considerable boost...go for it. Good luck!

 

[Chip E]

David,

No way is it overkill. You need a dedicated sub for home theater in my opinion. My room is 11'2" x 11'6". I'm like a freak'n veal in a box, lol... I run a SVS 20-39PC and it's great! Go for it.

 

[Jim Carr]

I also just bought an SVS for my small (11x15) room and it's incredible! You wouldn't belive the nice rumble below 30 you get. You can never have too much bass.

Also.. it's not just obnoxious bass.. it's tight, clean bass. Go for it man.. you will NOT regret it!

Jim

 

[Jeffrey Forner]

I have my SVS 16-46PC in a room not much bigger than yours: 12'x13'x7'. Do I think that it's "overkill"? Absolutely not! In fact, the smaller room will probably help matters, since you don't have to move as much air. If you had a really big room with high vaulted ceilings, you'd probably need more than one sub to get the same level of rumbling you experience in my home theater.

If you're interested in an SVS, I say go for it. You won't be disappointed.

 

[David Proud]

so how would I hook this up. should I continue to use my 2 powered subs. Like I said in the 400s they are good, not as good as the SVS but they are good to 30HZ.

 

[Shawn Shultzaberger]

I have two of the small SVS's (25-31CS w/22Hz tune) and continue to be surprised by these things. I have a very large room roughly 4500cu.ft. and they can shake my couch if I want and the output will still remain clean and tight. Price was an issue so this is why I chose them. I can't imagine how deep and powerful the 20-39 or 16-46 could go.

Best money spent so far on my HT bar none.

 

[Bob_A]

David, I think you will probably want to experiment and cross the ProTowers over at anywhere between 40-80Hz. For music you may prefer one setting, and for movies you may prefer another setting...who knows?

 

[David Proud]

there is no crossover setting on my speakers.

so I set the LFE+MAIN option. This sends information below 80hz to my mains. Since the built in sub woofers in my mains are good to about 35hz I would like to use them down to 40hz and have the svs kick in at 40hz. Is there a way to do this?

 

[Steve Zimmerman]

If you want to send information to your main speakers down to 40 Hz, you should set them to small so that the crossover is 80 Hz. I know, I know, you're gonna feel like you're leaving bass on the table because of your mains, but an 80 Hz crossover means some bass (albeit limited) down to 40 Hz makes it to your mains.

Also, regardless of crossover, it is *very* important--if accurate response (meaning in this case that all frequencies are played back at the same relative volumes as they were originally intended by the author) is of any interest to you--to use an SPL meter and a test tone CD or DVD to make sure that your subwoofer and powered towers are properly calibrated.

I'll admit that personal preference (not to be confused with accuracy as defined above) factors in here, but the reason many people recommend setting your mains to small is that if your towers *and* the external sub are both handling the 40 Hz to 80 Hz frequencies, you'll need to account for that in your calibration or you'll end up with doubled-up bass at those frequencies (or even worse, you'll have cancellation). For music, that might not be a big deal since there's not a whole lot of stuff down that low, but for watching movies where the LFE track is already 10 dB louder than the other channels, doubling up from 40-80Hz is not generally preferable.

--Steve

 

[David Proud]

ok that makes good sense to me. My poor little powered sub woofers in my mains though will get no use anymore :frowning:.
what about the setting in my receiver that tells it to route all LFE info to the sub. I believe its the THX LFE setting. That way when listening to music my mains can use low freqs and then my SVS sub kicks in for the LFE when watching movies, is that correct? Is there deep bass outside of the LFE channel for movies that would get inaccuratly routed to my mains?

 

[Jack Gilvey]

Here's a good article on the subject of 5-channel bass as opposed to LFE:
Link Removed

 

[Steve Zimmerman]

My poor little powered sub woofers in my mains though will get no use anymore.

Are you sure? What's the internal crossover frequency for the powered subs? I would have thought it was higher than 80 Hz.

--Steve

 

[Frank Zimmerman]

I'AM LOOKING TO BUY A SVS 20-39 PC SUB OFF MY BUDDY FULL FILTH, MY ROOM IS 500 SQ. FT WITH VALTED CEILINGS, 16 FT HIGH....MY NEW ONKYO 595 PLUS ME BOOK SHELF SPEAKERS, IT SOUND GREAT IN THAT GIANT ROOM...:b

 

[Raine Linton]

David, here's what you do, go ahead and get an SVS 20-39pc cause your not gonna believe the butt bouncin bottom it can kick out. THEN!! sell your rear speakers and put the money towards two non subpowered front speakers, THEN!! use your powered speakers full range for rear speakers!!. That's my plan since I"m in the same boat. All I have to do is replace my fronts now. Ain't this a great hobby!

 

[Andrew Chandler]

My opinion seems different than what most people think. The SVS sub could be overkill depending on if your in a house or apartment. I have a 20x14 room in an apartment with a HSU VTF-2 sub. This sub is smaller than any SVS, and I have the volume set at a 3 on a 10 scale. Any louder and the base overtakes my other speakers (Norhs). Also, I have gotten 6 noise complaints with the volume set at this level.

My suggestion: Find some speakers that make good quality base. BUT, with that small of a room, you will never use the full power of a large SVS. A large subwoofer will simply be a waste, and it would be better if you spent your money elsewere

 

[Thomas_Berg]

i'm selling my SVS 25-31PC to upgrade to a CS+. just listed it on the local FS forums here. take a look if you're interested:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htfo...812#post363114

 

[David Proud]

Is there any fedelity advantage of the 400s over the SVS for music? I may be dreaming but I think I read somewhere that the smaller a driver is the better it is for music. Like the 400s are really clean and fast for music and I think its b/c they use 2 6 1/2 inch drivers for the internal powered sub woofers.

Wouldn't I ideally just want the SVS for movies and not music?

Like I said, I am extremely happy with my 400's they sound great for music. I just would like to get BASS down to 20HZ with no DB loss in movies.

 

[Bob_A]

David, you could be right...who knows? Also...having bass information output from both main channels (as opposed to just a corner-loaded external sub) may lead to a more coherent and desireable soundstage, and it may lead to a smoother response. I recommend that you experiment with the crossover settings...anywhere between 40-80Hz should be fine. Good luck!

 

[David Proud]

See the graph, these babies are good to go to 30HZ.
Bob I would like to cross these over at 40hz how would I do that? There is no adjustable crossover setting on the Pro 400's that I am aware of. Can I just tell the SVS sub to not output anything above 40HZ?
After looking at the chart anyone have any suggestions on where to set the crossover point for an added SVS? Or do I even need to add one, my room is only 1048 cubic feet.