SVS 20-39Pci is bad to the bone

snookking

I have received my SVS 20-39pci sub woofer and this thing rocks. I put in Jurassic Park DVD and had the walls shaking like the dinosaurs were coming home. Man oh man this is the best thing since slice bread!
There is nothing close that I have heard that can reach this low and sound so darn good. If your thinking of buying one, you won't be disappointed. Very musical too, I can't wait to go through all my cd's again to hear what I have been missing.

Dr. Spec

Cool!!!!! Congrats - another satisfied SVS customer. That company owners bend over backwards to satisfy customers, reply to emails, post on HT chatrooms, help wth room set up and sub selection, etc. I've never seen anything quite like it in the HT world. Their CS is incredible - just like Polk's.

Now if they would just ship my 20-39PC+...................

Doc

tpeter

What is the best Sub this SVS company makes and how much?
I keep hearing all you guys rave over them, its making me want to buy one for my little 11foot wide and 20 feet deep apartment.
Thanks

tpeter

What is the best Sub this SVS company makes and how much?
I keep hearing all you guys rave over them, its making me want to buy one for my little 11foot wide and 20 feet deep apartment.
Thanks

Dr. Spec

Check out www.svsubwoofers.com.

The SS pair is the top of the line - a 16-46 wood finished enclosure with Ultra drivers. The Ultra is a 20-39 sized enclosure with their best (TV-12) driver and can be purchased individually or in pairs.

For your apartment, a PCi or a PC+ (if you have understanding neighbors) would be best.

Doc

tpeter

I have been reading some reviews on this sub from people that own it and for this model here 20-39CS they say bad things. I think this is a cheaper model but was wondering if the Subs that you guys have seem cheap built?

"Wow, good sounding sub but it is cheap looking and cheaply built. I have to admit SVS has a good scam going when you could build this type of subwoofer on your own. For example, lift up the velvety subwoofer curtain/fabric and you will see a cheap looking cylinder underneath. I was very disappointed with this when I received it. Everything about it is cheap and it is quite an eyesore to look at. Once I got a girlfriend, the subwoofer had to go. It looks tacky and out-of-place. I had to lose about $200 on it when I sold it but I purchased an amazing B&W ASW650 subwoofer! "


This was among many reviews at audioreview.com

Ron-P

I built one for just under $400 bones using a 15" Tempest driver and a 250watt plate amp. Much, much less than what SVS charges and they are nearly identical. There isn't much to them. Concrete tube, MDF end caps, a port, some poly-fill batting and a driver.

Peace Out~:D

Dr. Spec

I have first hand experience with the 25-31 PCi and the 20-39 PC+. Both of them are well built and well finished. As far as being eyesores - beauty is in the eye of the beholder. My PC+ is about as unobtrusive as a 40" tall, 18" diameter black cylinder can be! I display it proudly right in the front of my HT system and I don't try to hide that fact that form follows function.

While cylinder subs are all built about the same, that's kinda like saying cars are all built about the same because they all have four wheels, a chassis, and an engine.

For example, the PC+ line of SVS subs utilizes a proprietary TC Sounds dB-12 ultra long throw, super high output 12" woofer with an aluminum/kevlar cone. Thousands of hours were poured into the design of this driver, including computer-aided finite analysis (similar to what Polk uses) for exceptionally low distortion and excellent flux symmetry. This amazing driver is capable of CLEAN SPL peaks of over 120 dB at 1 meter from the sub.

SVS uses THREE 3" flared (for less turbulence) top firing ports for a total port area of 21 square inches. The sub comes with two foam port blockers designed to allow the user the option of altering the state of tune of the sub from 20, to 16, or even 12 Hz.

They use BIRCH end caps that are 1.5” thick AND CNC’d for close tolerances.

The enclosure is an exceptionally dense fiber/polymer laminate tubing made specially just for SVS. This material is blade cut to very tight tolerances and is much stronger and more rigid than MDF or a concrete tube former.

The Indigo BASH 525 watt (RMS 4 ohm nominal) onboard amp has an infinitely variable phase knob and a 4 position SS filter (25, 20, 16, 12), with low level, high level, and speaker level inputs. There is no plate amp on the market with these features and technology.

Is this an obtuse knock at Ron's sub? Not at all - many people build DIY "sono-subs" and like them very much. From all appearances, Ron did a quality job and he is very happy with the performance of his sub, and they are a VERY good value. Value is usually the cornerstone of any DIY project - you exchange sweat equity for $$. In fact, one of the co-founders of SVS is (not surprisingly) a sono-sub DIY legend.

There is certainly no shortage of good sono-sub DIY guidance materials on the internet, I am handy with tools, I have a decently equipped basement shop, and (working at a brewery) I have easy access to all DIY sono-sub materials of construction.

I could have easily built a DIY sono-sub but I simply chose not to because in my opinion I can't do it as well as SVS can. There are significant and meaningful differences between the typical DIY sono-sub and an SVS sub.

Do these differences result in measureable performance gains over a DIY sono-sub in terms of FR, THD, and overall SPL? More than likely - yes. SVS subs have been stomping their like-priced competition in all measureable performance parameters.

Can I prove my 20-39 PC+ can outperform (FR, THD, and SPL) a $400 DIY sono-sub? No - I have never seen instrumented testing on the 15" Tempest driver, nor do I have the sophisticated testing equipment needed to conduct FR and THD tests.

Many subs can play very loud, but few can play very loud AND very clean AND very deep all at the same time. THAT is the true measure of a great sub.

Just doing a SPL to SPL comparison is not valid - FR and THD needs to be done right along with it. How loud can the sub play at any given frequency (15, 20, 25, 30, etc.) before THD reaches say 10%? That sort of thing.

Do I feel my SVS sub is worth the $350 premium over what Ron has into his sub? Yes - every penny. Will everyone feel that way - no - we each have to make our own decisions when it comes to perceived value and performance.

Doc

Ron-P

Well said Doc. I have no doubt that an SVS sub can out preform my sonosub. Those guys have built a lot more, researched a lot more and have many more years of experience than I. Given that, they can build a better sub.

I played it safe for my first time around. I did not spend bookoo bucks just incase I screwed something up. My total cost was $396. For that, I hit 20Hz at 105db +/- 3dB, 1' from the cone. Not bad at all. Now that I've done one, the next one will be better. Better driver, tuned to 15Hz and a stronger amp.

I for one love D.I.Y. projects and that was half the reason for building it. Secondly, saving that $350.00+. I just cannot justify 800+ (at the low end) on a sub.


Peace Out~:D

Dr. Spec

Ron:

You are very cool. I thought you were going to throw down the gauntlet, and that wasn't my intention at all.

I did some research at

http://www.acoustic-visions.com/index.htm

and your 15" Tempest is one beasty of a driver! With 750 watts of power handling, you could probably eek out several more dB just by going to a 550 watt Indigo BASH amp available on that sight. It is essentially the same amp that SVS uses, sans the SS filter and infinitely variable phase control.

Some of the subs and drivers on this website are simply amazing, and everything is there for the DIY'er. The sky is the limit!

Doc

goingganzo

he would even get more if he went ported all a sub is a box with a driver in it you can clone the svs and just buy a driver that is the same qualty or go bigger and put a bigger driver in it and get more output i bet if ron ported his sub and gave it more power it could out peform 2 svs pc+ one of these days i will finish my sub i am bulding i had to take a brake from it had to do other things around the house i think i will order my tempest soon then there might be a velo on the market there is no replacement for displacement also size dues matter and the bigger the encloser the better a sub will performe and the less power it needs

Ron-P

The whole port thing I did not want to bother with this time around. Now that I have a solid working sub, I may just look into porting it. The whole port length, width and type, along with how it relates to tuning, is quite confusing to me, so I avoided it. Once the new theater is done, I will put more research into porting.


Peace Out~:D

goingganzo

ron it seemed prety easy to me all you need is the box size the port size and how many that will determan lenth if you have win isd that will do it all for you all you need is to pick a tuneing fr