Servo-15 Ain't All That

Dr. Spec

I hosted a HT get together this weekend and a buddy of mine lugged his Servo-15 over for a comparo.

In short, my PB2+ slaughtered it. The SVS hit louder, lower, cleaner, and with FAR more authority than the Servo-15.

The Paradigm might be a good deal in Canada, but in the USA where they know how to make subs, it is a poor value.

Doc

redhouse

What is this, the weekend for this stuff? Can you tell me more about what you did and how you did it to come to that conclusion.

VR3

However they did it, I can garuntee they did it right. Doc is Dr. Spec for a reason ya know

redhouse

What's up Doc? Boy you sound different now then just a month ago when you had nice things to say about the Servo. Have you seen or checked out the new Servo that is coming out? They showed it off at the Cedia Show, from what I heard, it will kill anything out now.

VR3

Doing an A-B test will change someones feelings fast man. I plan to do a BOTL SVS VS. Mid/top of the line M&K, expecting the SVS to slaughter....

SVS is hard to beat, like they say, compares to things 3x the price.

faster100

Originally posted by Dr. Spec
I hosted a HT get together this weekend and a buddy of mine lugged his Servo-15 over for a comparo.

In short, my PB2+ slaughtered it. The SVS hit louder, lower, cleaner, and with FAR more authority than the Servo-15.

The Paradigm might be a good deal in Canada, but in the USA where they know how to make subs, it is a poor value.

Doc

ya better let your friend get that luggin on the sub, before you throw your back out again,

that's as bad as redhouse's friends lugging a pb2 + and a cs +.. man you guys are cruising for a bad back

RuSsMaN

Look at all the sub guys puffin their chests out!!!

What a HOOT!

Who cares about HT and LFE anyway... All you ****'s bring your lowly RTi's over, lets compare to the SRS 2's.

Cheers,
Rooster

VR3

Hmm, I think I'll back down from that challenge Russ. Sadly, I'd lose! lol! Although, would be interesting to hear it A-B.

TroyD

Originally posted by RuSsMaN
Look at all the sub guys puffin their chests out!!!

What a HOOT!

Who cares about HT and LFE anyway... All you ****'s bring your lowly RTi's over, lets compare to the SRS 2's.

Cheers,
Rooster

And after that, if you STILL haven't had enough, bring on over to my casa.

Doc,

Were you using LFE or the outboard crossover?

I really got to check out these SVS subs as I'm pretty damn impressed with the Servo 15

BDT

RuSsMaN

Aww, cmon Sid, we both paid about $400, right? Is that not fair?

Surely you sought out the best your $ could buy, no?

Troy, why your house? Just to make him feel a little better about his gear after he visited here?

Cheers,
Rooster

TroyD

With tax, I'll bet Sid's got almost what I got in the CA's. Hell for what I paid for the DQ-10's I'd still have enough left over for an amp.

Well, you know I do have those .5lb R10's


BDT

mantis

Doc,
funny I just Installed a Servo 15 last week along with a servo 12 in the back.This was a full Paradigm system all reference series 7.2.A B&K ref50 running 3 Adcom amps.This system kicked ****.The Bass was powerful and smooth.The Servo sub's hit pretty good working together.I don't care for front and back placement but in this room it worked out.The Pressure was about 118db.Clean and clear.

If the SVS is that good,I'll be damned if I'm not going to find a way to at least demo.

Doc......as picky as I am with sub's,With the DD12 by Velodyne and the REL Storm III in the wings........what would be the correct SVS sub to Demo?Money isn't a problem but I want to stay under 2500.00 for a sub.It has to be musical first.I mean the ability to blend in with rest of the system without calling attention to itself.I have heard many good sub's just call out and say "HI I'M OVER HEAR.....".I'm not cool with sub's that thumb,bump,or any other kind of servo noises that can generate from Servo based sub's.One thing I noticed about the Velodyne when running it alittle to hard.

Talk to me Doc......
Dan

gatemplin

Mantis,
I have never heard of the servo 12, do you mean pw2200? I am also impressed with Paradigm and believe them to be a good value, but I do live in Canada. .

Dr. Spec

I guess you guys can't see sarcasm unless I whomp you all over the head with it. Geez.........:rolleyes:

I went to a pig roast this weekend, drank a bunch of beers, and played hide the Irish sausage. That's about it.

Before I comment at all on redhouse's thread, I'd like to see all involved parties and the two SVS owners publicly discuss this over at HTF. I know most PB2+ owners by name and/or by screen name.

Doc

Dr. Spec

Originally posted by mantis
Talk to me Doc......
Dan

Dan - hop in your car and cruise up to Rochester. I'll host you for a get together and you can stay overnight so the drive won't be murder. You are welcome anytime and bring whatever music and movies you want. My room acoustics are just about perfect, I have a concrete floor, and my sub is about as dialed in as it gets. You probably won't find a better SVS demo than right here.

Doc

redhouse

Before I get into all that Doc, what do you really think? Some of these guys don't even own a SVS, like Sid, but wow... they sure can preach the SVS gospel LOL

VR3

Yes, when you hear that the SVS PB2 ISD can match 8 of my Subwoofers.....then you kinda just preach it for the sake of preaching...lol

Dr. Spec

Originally posted by redhouse
Before I get into all that Doc, what do you really think? Some of these guys don't even own a SVS, like Sid, but wow... they sure can preach the SVS gospel LOL

About as well as you preach the Servo-15 gospel. Again, I reserve comment on your other thread until I see it publicly discussed on HTF with all involved parties providing full disclosure.

This thread was PURELY tongue-in-cheek; didn't anyone think the timing of my post was incredibly suspect?

Doc

faster100

I thought so is 2why i posted the back breaking statments... kinda hard to lug all those subs across town just for the fun of it,, dont ya think.. ??? I know my little Pb1 is heavy as hell. for my bad back...

RuSsMaN

T&C my ****.

I say you had a fresh toddy, and confused the 'new thread' and 'post reply' buttons...

Cheers
Rooster

redhouse

Come on Doc, I don't want to join another forum just to get your opinion on this. It took me alot to setup my first Home Theater meet with more then 20 people showing up. My room has gone under some big changes like having Kinetics Noise control come out and treat my room from top to bottom, with new speaker placement going with there measurements. I don't want to go jump through hops just to get your opion. So speak up do you really think a $1000 SVS can kick a Servo 15's ****? I see your a SVS owner so your most likely bias. Has anyone ever done any testing on this to see which one is better I think SVS makes some good subs but there claims are a little blown up.

gatemplin

Doc is usually pretty honest. He fooled me this time, but I know that the Servo 15 is on his recommended list along with the 2200.

TroyD

I thought it was a little over the top for Doc, but I figured, hell, maybe he's been in to the sauce. Not like I have ever posted a little wheels off under the influence.

Seriously, I'd love to hear thoughts of SVS vs the Servo15 as the Servo15 seems to be, generally, a pretty good reference sub. The best that I've heard as well.

BDT

kberg

Originally posted by redhouse
So speak up do you really think a $1000 SVS can kick a Servo 15's ****? I see your a SVS owner so your most likely bias.

Not speaking for Doc here, but I think that if the Servo-15 really outperformed the PB2+ (all things being equal, of course), he (and perhaps other forum members that owned SVS subs) would say so. I don't know subs as much as Doc and a lot of other forum members, but it seems to me that when placed "side by side", post calibration measurements don't lie, whether those measurements are in favor of SVS or any other competing sub.

goingganzo

i think that it would be hard to beat the svs in bang for the buck. now these arnt entrylevel subs but they are in mid to high. i think olny thing that can beat svs in bang for buck is diy.

let me put it thisway when i demoed the rotel 1066 the bass was lacking. their subs they had was a sub for about 1500 that the sales person stated. then i told him what i hit on lotr ring drop and he shut up.

dorokusai

AMEN is all I have to say.

Dr. Spec

No hot toddy's or button confusion involved.

Some of you may recall one "Eric Strickl" over at HTF - reputed Revel B15 owner and sudden SVS flamer.

He went to extreme lengths to discuss the merits and advantages of the B15 over any other subwoofer, particularly SVS. He waxed on about the huge R&D budget and phD eggheads Revel has at its disposal. He assured us that the $3,000 asking price of the Revel was justified in every conceivable way.

Then.....when we thought we had gotten rid of him for good, he shows up a few weeks later and claims a "buddy" of his had bought an SVS PB2+ a month prior and brought it to his house for a demo/shootout and wonder of wonders, his beloved B15 destroyed the SVS in all aspects.

When pressed for any factoids whatsoever (names, dates, locations) to authenticate his "story", he started to backpeddle. When pressed repeatedly for the SVS owner's name by Tom Vodhanel (SVS co-owner and chief designer), Eric crawled back under the rock from whence he came, never to be heard from again.

So - yes - you can color me biased. But not about SV subwoofers.

You can color me biased about having a preconceived notion regarding people who develop a sudden case of "subwoofer envy" and "buyer's remorse". To bolster their flagging spirits and justify their purchase, they suddenly develop an uncontrollable urge to post a story out of the blue about a "shoot-out/face-off/HT get-together" at their place in which their subwoofer crushed an SVS.

It's easy to claim something - anything - in an internet forum. It's much harder to substantiate it when called on the carpet. I don't think there is an SVS owner, much less a PB2+ owner, who isn't a member of HTF. There should be no problem with all involved parties contributing to a thread on your 20 person HT gathering, discussing the specifics of the set-up and shoot-out, and posting impressions of both SVS owners about your Servo-15 and their own SVS'.

My PB2+ weighs 115 pounds and it was shipped on a pallet. It takes two people to move it, it won't comfortably or easily fit into the back seat of most vehicles, and it costs $1,300. Any PB2+ owner would have to be incredibly motivated to disconnect it and lug it over to someone else's house at the risk of personal injury and damage to the sub - just to pit it against a Servo-15. I know I wouldn't do it.

Is the Servo-15 an incredible sub? Yes - without question. Is it a great value? Again - yes. Can it outclass an SVS PB2+? I wouldn't know unless I had them side-by-side and ran a litany of tests (ground plane FR sweeps, and distortion-based SPL limits) on both - and generated repeatable evidence of the same - with witnesses. Only then can you say which sub is objectively superior.

Subjective impressions will vary, and the sound of an SVS (or any other sub for that matter) may not initially appeal to a person, particularly if he has grown accustomed to the sound of his own sub in his own HT room. But hard data doesn't have an opinion - the sub which can play flatter, lower, and louder with less distortion - wins.

Doc

wallstreet

**** Doc, it took you a whole day to finally say that. Sid did you learn something today?

Pauly

Bottom line.

KLH!

LOL:D

redhouse

Thanks Doc, you da man!

Dr. Spec

Originally Posted By "Redhouse" in the "SVS Keep Dreaming" thread:

You guys really crack me up! I said in this post can't you see when someone is just **** with you? I didn't test any SVS out. I live in the country-- how many friggin' SVS owners do you think are out here? I had fun watching the SVS owners puff out their chest and preach it like a true evangelist.There's Sid who don't even own one, he should be the SVS poster boy. Then there's Polk, letting you guys basically say there subs suck and you should go buy SVS-- can you say bad for business? You guys jump all over any post that challenges a product you own or wish you own like fly's on ****. I should have said I had a free house for sale and Sid would have been the first to sign up. Well, all in good fun. I really would like to see some real testing on the SVS-versus the Servo 15 or the new Servo that's coming out. Just so you SVS owners don't get all bent out of shape, I think they make good subs from what I have heard and read. I can't wait until they get thier stuff together so we can demo them in audio stores side by side with some thing else. Doc-- a smart man, I think he could tell I was **** with you guys and asking for the chat at HTF was a good idea.

I started this thread to make a point and prove you can say anything you want on-line, but that doesn't make it true.

I've seen this MO before and I called it. Case closed.

FWIW, we go on the honor system around here, redhouse. We earn our reputations the hard way. When somebody like Russ Gates, BDT, Tour2 , etc. says something - you can take it to the bank. I'd like to think others feel the same way about me.

It's a free country and you can post whatever you want, but you upset a lot of people (people seriously considering an expensive SVS) with your "SVS Keep Dreaming" thread.

To them it wasn't a joke. And if I hadn't called you on it, my gut tells me you would have never posted a retraction either.

That's all I'm going to say about it, but I suspect you've got a rough ride ahead of you from some less tolerant members.

Regards,

Ed Mullen