What sub did you own before you bought SVS/Hsu? (1 Viewer)

[Brae]

What am I speaking, english? Ok, ok, I was wondering what curren SVS/Hsu subwoofer owners had before they bought their first/current SVS subwoofer.
I am looking for subwoofers you SVS/Hsu owners had IN your homes and tested, used, and decided to get rid of that was 'suppose' to be comparable to your first and or current SVS/Hsu subwoofer.
No, I am not looking for folks that went from a make-believe subwoofer (like my Yamaha 55W 6" subwoofer) to a real subwoofer, but something you replace with a SVS/Hsu in the same size/power class.
I guess I am trying to separate those that honest did some owning and or comparisons and not just the hyped first-time owners that happen to g0 from an 8" HTIB subwoofer to a 15" SVS or Hsu subwoofer and potentially make claims that its the best out there.
Ok girls, let's here.

 

[Brae]

Do I need to call all you SVS & Hsu people Chicken to get you to reply?

 

[Jeremy Anderson]

Initially, I had two homemade wood cabinet 12" woofs being used as subs. They were older speakers, but handled 400 watts well and sounded pretty decent for a sealed design.

After a freak amp accident fried both woofers, I replaced those with a Polk PSW-350 with a 10" woof. It sounded great in the room, but tonality of bass notes was all blurred together. On many of my CD's, the bass lines just sounded muddy and one-note. Running frequency sweeps revealed that the Polk dropped off sharply around 35Hz and had almost no output below 25Hz. Due to its small ported design with no corrective internal EQ'ing, the Polk created a widely varied curve across the frequency range, with many peaks and nulls.

The SVS 20-39CS+ with Samson 1000 and ART-351 arrived, and after a day of serious listening, I sold the Polk to a sub-less friend. Before EQ'ing, the SVS had far flatter response, only one major peak caused by my room, and sounded amazingly detailed with bass lines. After I tweaked the ART-351 to get frequency response flat +/-3dB, the SVS was the most detailed sounding sub I have ever heard. No store-brand sub could hope to match up to the tonality and accuracy I heard. And there's nothing like flat response down below 20Hz. NOTHING! On frequency sweeps, I could feel the room pulse with bass energy. During viewing of many demo scenes on DVD, the SVS was like nothing I'd heard before. It transitions from detailed and clear to deep and menacing when called on by the sound mix. In short, it sounds richer and fuller than the setup in my local theater.

 

[EarleD]

Had a Klipsch KSW 15. I now have 2 20-39's and a 25-31PCi.

 

[Tim Hoover]

My situation is similar to Earle's. I had a Klipsch KSW-200 and now have an SVS 20-39PCi and a big, stupid grin...

 

[Mark KU]

AudioSource SW-15. Moved up to dual 18-39s. (yes, 18. custom tuned)

 

[Edward J M]

Brae:

No serious enthusiast has ever said unequivocably that SVS or HSU is the "BEST" out there.

I think there is a very strong argument that SVS is the best product in its respective price classes, and HSU runs a strong second.

Of course there are commercial subs out there that can outperform SVS and HSU - do you have several thousand dollars burning a hole in your wallet?

Or you can get into DIY and do it that way also - exchange some sweat equity for dollars.

There isn't an SVS or HSU owner out there that has to justify their purchase solely on the merits of how badly it stomps whatever they previously owned. Why? Because there is a TON of OBJECTIVE data by the likes of Nousaine, Weatherhead, Johnson, and Ferstler that PROVES SVS and HSU products pretty much crush their like-priced competition in terms of deep extension, low THD, flat FR, transient response, sheer SPL, and any other number of measureable parameters. They use better drivers, better amps, and properly designed and tuned enclosures - WAF not withstanding.

I'll take three pages of charts and graphs any day over a high brow reviewer who waxes on with subjective terms like lack of smear, nutty, wooly, etc., and then offers little to no objective data to back up his claims. If you can hear it, it can be measured, and it can be compared to the competition.

And with giant killers like SVS and HSU in the fight, the competition is often found to be sorely lacking under the harsh light of objectivity.

Regards,

Ed

 

[Jason Pancake]

I have yet to own a sub! My first one will be an SVS 16-46pc+ that I hope to order in a couple of weeks as soon as this darn contract comes through!

Should fit in well I hope:
Outlaw 950
Parasound HCA-1205a
Paradigm Monitor 11
Paradigm CC-350
Paradigm Mini-Monitors

Anyone know how long it takes to ship SVS to Atlanta?

 

[Brian Kleinke]

No, I am not looking for folks that went from a make-believe subwoofer (like my Yamaha 55W 6" subwoofer) to a real subwoofer, but something you replace with a SVS/Hsu in the same size/power class.

Well I went from a make-believe sub ;-) I had a Yamaha simmilar to the 6" one above before I recieved my PC20-39 You're right... they are "make-believe" subs...

 

[Brae]

Edward J M, thanks for pointing that out. Actually, some of those that like to make blanket/absolute statements have done so in the past, and when I caught wind of it I've completely discredited them in my eyes. Why? I don't believe in blanket/absolute statements, unless its about me and my untimely death.
BTW, like-price comparison is not very effective in that a lot of people can usually get retail-outleted products below the manufacturer's list price. Thus, comparing a $1,000 SVS or Hsu product to a list price of a retail product is not very compelling when some are claiming their negotiating abilities on retail product being discounted 30% or more.
I suppose it comes down to what one can, or is willing, to afford, and then looking at the options available for that condition. Of course, I suppose one could compare a discounted ...
makes little difference. I'm just trying to figure out what other's copared their SVS/Hsu product they bought to. I'm not knocking any inherent quality, value, etc. of the SVS/Hsu line, but just trying to see if people didn't simply compare to in-store setups and haven never bought a retail product and then upgraded to what they considered a better product (a la SVS/Hsu).

 

[Brae]

Edward, Jason Pancake is the perfect example of what I was talking about. Not knocking his choice and I would offer Kudos for his bravery (hope he auditioned it at someone's home).

I suppose I am just trying to eliminate the individuals that would compare their SVS/Hsu products to something they've never had in their home, and the preach to the choir.

 

[Edward J M]

Well Brae, with a 45 day (SVS) or a 30 day (HSU) return policy, all you really risk is shipping fees.

You should be able to figure out after that length of time whether you like it or not. Also, many local hi-fi / HT dealers also offer a return policy. Why not buy the SVS / HSU and also some comparably priced (yes, after the typical 30-40% discount - nobody pays MSRP) competition and have your own private face-off?

Here's what I think pretty much happens with the typical SVS / HSU sub upgrader. They own a pretty decent sub that they paid around $300-$400 for at Circuit City or Best Buy - like a mid-grade Polk, Klipsch, Velo, Infinity, or JBL. Before everyone stomps me, I'm not talking about the upscale Klipsch RSW series, or the Velo HGS series, etc. This mid grade sub is fairly small and light, is probably flat to around 35 Hz with no usable output below 30 Hz, lacks some definition and detail with moderate THD, packs a 100-150W amp and a pretty cheap 10" or 12" driver, and can probably hit (on a good day) around 102 dB at 40 Hz at the key listening positions which are typically 10-12 feet from the sub.

Then they buy an SVS / HSU for the big stretch of maybe $600-$1200 (depending on model and maybe a dual set-up), and discover that 1) it so completely destroys the mainstream mid grade sub they used to own it isn't even funny; and 2) also discover (via independent reviews and comparos) that these subs really DO run with the big dogs out there, and compete favorably with competition that costs 2-3 as much.

Giddy with this knowledge, they can't help but develop diarrhea of the mouth and spread the word to the effect of: "Hey guys, my new $1,200 SVS Ultra with the S1000 amp totally crushes my old $400 sub, AND guess what, Brian Weatherhead says it compares very favorably with the $2,500 Velo HGS 18! Whaddya think of them apples?"

This, I think, is the typical dynamic you are dealing with here.

Regards,

Ed

 

[Brae]

they can't help but develop diarrhea of the mouth

Now that's funny! And accurate!

Ok, so lemme resolve one other problem I am dealing with at the moment (not sub-related) and then I'll breakdown and maybe find sufficient information to order wither the VTF-3 or the comparable SVS. Then, I suppose I might be able to convince someone at one the the local elitists-only HT shops to lend me something comparable to my budget.

 

[Duvall]

I've owned a 12" and an 18" Velodyne's. Prefer the SVS 20-39PCplus for both music and movies.

See ya. Dave

 

[Robb Roy]

I've been through a number of "real" subs, and the last one I owned before going with SVS was the Boston Acoustics PV1000.

 

[Frank Carter]

In chronological order, also happens to be worst sounding to best sounding:
1.) Eosone RSP-910
2.) Klipsch KSW-12
3.) Infinity IL100s
4.) (2) Infinity IL100s'
5.) Infinity IL120s
6.) (2) Infinity IL120s'
7.) (2) Klipsch LF-10's
8.) Infinity HPS-1000
9.) SVS 20-39CS Plus/Samson S1000
10.) SVS CS Ultra(w/TV-12)-The only thing that might change with my sub now is I could get another.

 

[Brae]

Duvall, which 12" and 18" Velodynes?
Robb, what came before the Boston Acoustics sub?
Frank, did you have a love for Klipsch & Infinity?

 

[Robb Roy]

Prior to the PV1000 was the Infinity BU2, before that another Infinity (don't recall the exact model), before that I can't recall exact models -- the BU2 and PV1000 account for several years.