Svs Pb10-isd

Nelson57

I just updated my system replacing a Velodyne CHT-10 with a SVS PB10-ISD, paired with an HSU STF-2. After reading so much about SVS I just had to see for myself if it was as good as most owners claim.

I must say, I was not disappointed. I had to play with location and calibrations, but once it found the right spot it really started kicking. I now understand what deep bass "feels" like. The combination I had before was pretty good, but now I can feel the entire floor shaking, and hear a much deeper base than before.

There are other solid performing subwoofers out there for sure, but when it comes to best bang for the buck, add me to the list of SVS converts. Boy this hobby is fun!:)

Mjr7531

Congrats on your upgrade!
I wish I could upgrade to SVS, or a DIY, funds are short, and my Rti12s come first, so...
Anyways, how big is the room you're pressurizing? How close are you sitting to it? Etc...

Nelson57

Thanks Mjr,

Actually my theater room is pretty small by most standards. It measures approx 7 feet 6 inches wide, by approx 18.5 to 19 feet long, with and 8ft from floor to ceiling. The SVS is the rear, and the HSU sits about 2.5 to 3 feet ahead of the front stage.

Just bought a digital camera today, now I have to learn how to use it, and learn how to post pictures on the showcase. Hope to have some up by the weekend. RTi8s are as large as I can in this room. but they sound great. 12's are real monsters. I really love the RTi line.

Early B.

Play around with placement. For starters, try putting a sub on each side of the seating position, if possible. Man, two killer subs firing right beside you -- you'll need a new set of clean underwear.

Nelson57

Hey Early B.

Right now I have one in the front, and one in the rear. This is working pretty well. It felt like the walls in my house were going to crumble watching Master and Commander.

I noticed the word modified next to your SVS. What modifications did you make, and why? If you don't mind my asking.

Willow

Nelson, congrats on the new sub, I too have just purchased a new sub, mine however is by Energy the s10.2. I feel the same way you did. I was only running a psw202 and like you now I know what bass is. How did you hook up your rear sub. I was thinking of doing this with my 202. I was/am going to hook them up speaker cable line in with the rears. Anyone else doing/done this and what are/were the results ?

Nelson57

Hey Willow,

Congrats to you too! Like I noted earlier there are lots of great subs out there to choose from. I'm glad you like your Energy. They are a good company and they put out some great products.

I have a Y connecter running from my subwoofer connection in the back of my reciever, allowing me to connect two subwoofer cables. One to HSU and a 25ft cable to the SVS. They make for a great tandem.

Willow

I see WAF won't let me run a coax from the front to the back. Thus the reason for speaker cable line in for the rears,or stacking them in the front, though it is not very nice to the eye (even for me let alone the WAF) All my rear cables are hidden along the wall and under the carpet (one good thing that came from the water damage , well 2 new carpet and hidding 14awg under the carpet)

Early B.

I noticed the word modified next to your SVS. What modifications did you make, and why? If you don't mind my asking.

I replaced the driver with an Atlas 12. While I was doing the surgery, I removed the insulation and added acoustic foam. Why? Well, to make it even better. Mission accomplished. Bass is tighter and more refined.

cnjvh

Yeah, I just picked up a pair of PB10's with the tax refund - after tweaking phase, placement, etc "pants ruffling" bass is not a exaggeration in any way...I was at about -10 and played the THX intro on The Incredibles - it felt like something had driven into the side of our house ;-)

And this is the SMALLEST one they make :eek:

Nelson57

Early B, I think its really cool to have knowledge enough to do that kind of thing. I hope to get there some day.

Nelson57

Congrats to you too cnjvh. Having two of these bad boys must be a real joy. I am 99% into movies, and find myself watching movies over again, and experiencing them in an entirely new way with just the addition of one, so I can only imagine 2 of them. The HSU, holds it own though, and the two work well together.

And I totally agree, watching The Incredibles with a really good sub(s) is an awesome experience.

Early B.

Early B, I think its really cool to have knowledge enough to do that kind of thing. I hope to get there some day.

Are you kidding? I don't know what the hell I'm doin'. I was just experimenting. Changing out a driver only requires knowledge in the use of a screwdriver. The drivers have binding posts on them and you simply attach cables from the amp to the binding posts. That's it. Got the driver from www.ascendantaudio.com.

billbillw

Originally posted by Early B.
Are you kidding? I don't know what the hell I'm doin'. I was just experimenting. Changing out a driver only requires knowledge in the use of a screwdriver. The drivers have binding posts on them and you simply attach cables from the amp to the binding posts. That's it. Got the driver from www.ascendantaudio.com.

You are lucky that you didn't totally mess up the sound of your sub. The enclosure size, port diameter/length, and crossover are all carefully tuned to the Thiele Small parameters of the original SVS woofer. What prompted you to change woofers? Was your SVS ISD woofer damaged? By dropping in another woofer, you played a russian roulette of sound.

Early B.

You are lucky that you didn't totally mess up the sound of your sub. The enclosure size, port diameter/length, and crossover are all carefully tuned to the Thiele Small parameters of the original SVS woofer. What prompted you to change woofers? Was your SVS ISD woofer damaged? By dropping in another woofer, you played a russian roulette of sound.

Not at all. Go to the website I mentioned and read about the ability to drop the Atlas 12 into virtually any enclosure that accepts a 12" driver. I had my doubts, too, but it was well worth it. After selling my SVS driver, it cost me about $30 for the upgrade.

Nelson57

I am curious about something. Does a new sub out of the box have a break-in period like most other speakers, even after finding the best sounding location and setting up calibration, or is it pretty much once you tweak the sound to your liking thats it?

cnjvh

You will get many different opinions on this - my personal view is that while the mechanics of the woofer may loosen up a bit, its not going to be anything you notice w/o some good measuring equipment. Moving your sub an inch to the left could affect your sound alot more than 6 months of "break-in".

Again, my opinion only...

Early B.

Play a movie or two and your sub is broken in.

Nelson57

Thanks guys. Its just as I thought.

Toxis

It took about 5-6 bass heavy movies for my Sunfire to break in but dear god, it sure does move now!

VR3

SVS subs take a long time to break in. They use incredibly thick surrounds, and it takes a long time for these surrounds to loosen up, particular the Ultra driver, I noticed after about a month is opened up considerably... the PCi driver seems to get looser around the end of the 1st week...

But all of the SVS surrounds are thick and take a while to loosen up...

My 2 cents full

PhillyDan1969

I recently purchased the SVS PB10-ISD and I am completely amazed at what I was missing. I set up my home theatre in a guest house, approximately 20' feet adjacent to the main house and when I first set up the SVS and threw in U-571, everyone came running over the main house to see what the heck was shaking the walls. It was exactly the kind of experience I was hoping for and it put a huge smile upon my face. I love it!!!

If it gets better with some break-in further down the road then I'll be happier than a pig in slop.