What is SVS's new sub? (1 Viewer)

[steve nn]

That's my big question to. I need new mains and a new center big time.

 

[SVS-Ron]

All,

OK, put the "Magic 8 Balls" away. Here's a bit of more or less hard info for you.

I'm not sure if this has been leaked yet but we're not talking about one new (box) sub, we're actually looking at a full line. Probably to debut in "onezies and twozies" as shipping/boxing and cost issues are worked out as we approach the new year. Yes, these are way beyond "vaporware". We're listening to several pre-production prototypes now actually.

While we are behind original plans in terms of schedule (there's a new concept, not), the new subs will be meant for those who just can't get used to the idea of a cylinder sub. While they're unlikely to exceed the price/performance ratio of our legendary PC and CS type subs, you can rest assured they'll be more than competitive with any brand of more common box designs. So if you want the most sub for the money from SVS, you can still visit our site and know nothing there will be beaten in terms of "getting what you pay for".

It's been clear for months though that while we can hardly build our high-performance cylinder subs fast enough, there ARE those who just flat prefer a box form factor. You thought maybe we weren't listening?? Shame on you ;^)!

The fact they'll be backed by SVS's full force of sales and technical support goes without saying I suppose? Once again too, we've avoided going to Chinese or other low-cost suppliers in favor of those in the USA we can reach out and touch, so to speak. We're all for a global economy mind you, but at the same time we're very proud of the fact over 95% of the content of all our products is produced in North America. Anyone with a job on the line these days (in North-America anyway) might appreciate that. We know this is irrelevant for many others, and that's OK too. These subs will actually have over 95% US/Canada content should that matter to you.

As for cost, we'll cover the full spectrum running from mid-priced subs (think prices in the PCi to PC-Plus range here) up to to "if you have to ask ... it's probably too expensive" when we have all near-term models out. The latter being marketed to folks that don't flinch at the SS type package prices. With luck, one or two may be in pre-order status before Christmas. Potentially one each of the most... and the least expensive. No promises though. They'll be ready when they are ready. Anyone with a current SVS knows it'll be worth the wait.

Hope this hasn't come off as some sort of marketing come-on. We just know how SVS fans relish the idea of emerging info coming right from the company founders. We'll be hard at it for the remaining 37 work days this year (sorry, we take Christmas day off) to make sure we don't disappoint.

Ron

 

[Chas_T]

Ron,

Thank you for the update. I am happy you are listening to your customer base and targeting a product to the box form crowd.

I might be first in line when these appear. I am very happy with my Earthquake, but it never hurts to compare does it?

 

[Haris Ellahi]

Ron,

Thanks for the update! When can we expect info to be posted on the SVS website?

 

[SVS-Ron]

Haris,

Probably when they are ready to ship. We just can't say when that will be. There are always 50 things in the way of a new launch and this time we're going to keep that date close to our chest until you can actually order one of these new subs.

Chas,

The Earthquakes are said to be very good subs. But you know we're never shy about being in the room with other very good subs (even if they cost much more). We're cocky like that ;^)

Ron

 

[Seth_L]

Ron,

You haven't actually given us any info.

This thread started in the DIY forum (where it belongs). We were speculating what design SVS was using to achieve such lofty goals. I think we've ruled out Ports and PRs and that leaves us with a sealed cube with 4 15" drivers an adjustable LT circuit and a crapload of amp power. Lets take a little look at a hypothetical design shall we.

Say for example we take a sealed 8 cu-ft box with 4 Styke AV15 woofers. We can apply 5kW safely (per John). It will give us a sensativity of 94.3dB at 1W/1M. With some room gain it will be near the 130's at across most of it's frequency range. Now an adjustable LT would make it tunable. You could dial the LT's effect down and get 130dB's easy, but lose some of the low end extension capability. You could dial the LT's effect up and get near 120dB (after room gain) around 10Hz. (Does this sound familiar yet?)

You could build this yourself for about $1k for the box with cones. You would then need a monster amp and an adjustable LT.

Is this exactly what the new SVS is? Not sure. Do I think it's close? Probably.

Seth

 

[Michael R Price]

I don't know Seth, I was envisioning something more interesting than a plain old LT box. And I don't think 4 AV12's would get to 130db anechoic at 1m, which is what Tom stated about the new sub. We'll just have to wait and see.

 

[Seth_L]

I don't know Seth, I was envisioning something more interesting than a plain old LT box. And I don't think 4 AV12's would get to 130db anechoic at 1m, which is what Tom stated about the new sub. We'll just have to wait and see.

Well Michael I'm not sure that Tom ever said it would do 130dB anechoic. But 4 AV15 can do 130dB anechoic just not at 20Hz.

Seth

 

[BrianKR]

Maybe he is coming up with a design never before tried?
One thing is for sure, Tom does his homework and doesn't release nothing he isn't impressed/confident with.
Like someone mentioned earlier, Tom isn't into passive rads so wouldn't ports sound more logical?

BTW, I thought he got 130dB's @1M & 25hz?

I cant wait to buy one!

 

[steve nn]

Thanks for the info Ron. It will be very interesting seeing what you come up with. Sounds like it will not be to far out either. Looking forward

 

[Michael R Price]

Brian, that's what's intriguing. To get 130db at 25Hz, it's probably a vented system of some sort. But Tom has said he didn't like PRs. To get that kind of output you'd normally need an absolutely gigantic port, but he said it was only a little more than 2 foot cube. Maybe he has some sort of new design here, and that would be really interesting.

 

[Seth_L]

Getting 130dB at 25Hz with 5kW with the previously mentioned design isn't that hard. You'd only need 8dB of gain from the room or corner loading.

Brian, the reason you can't use ports is the ports would have to be very large in diameter to get slow enough airspeeds. This in turn makes the ports very long. There's no way to put a port of the magnitude needed in a 2ft cube. Even if the ports were possible you can't get a 25Hz hump from the port and still have usable output below 10Hz. That isn't going to happen.

We can rule out PRs because Tom doesn't like them and there aren't any beefy enough to stand up to the beating in question.

We can rule out a horn because the enclosure is too small and the sub extends to low.

That pretty much exhausts all other possibilities other than a sealed box with a lot displacement and a LT. Unless Tom has come up with some new way of reproducing low frequencies I don't see how it could be anything but a sealed box with 4 15's and an adjustable LT.

Seth

 

[Mike Sloan]

Maybe the 130db figure was using dual box type subs..in a corner.

 

[BrianKR]

Mike, Tom got the 130dB output from "one" sub.

 

[Doug BW]

Fascinating thread!

For the sake of argument, let's say that when Tom said the new sub would be "a bit larger than the ASW4000", he was implying it would be 2.5 feet on a side (15.6 cu ft) rather than 2 feet on a side (8 cu ft).

Would doubling the estimated volume make a significant difference in any of your predictions?

 

[Seth_L]

For the sake of argument, let's say that when Tom said the new sub would be "a bit larger than the ASW4000", he was implying it would be 2.5 feet on a side (15.6 cu ft) rather than 2 feet on a side (8 cu ft).

Would doubling the estimated volume make a significant difference in any of your predictions?

Depends on the driver of course. It could buy a few more dB at low frequencies. This of course will come at the cost of the Q of the box if we use the same AV15 drivers as before. However it's possible to make a sub so that 4 of them have a .707Q in a 16.5 cu-ft box.

Seth