Pair of SS18.1's vs 1 SB13Ultra

[bonebad1]

Wondering what everyone thinks of this. A pair of SS18.1's with MQ600 vs SB13 Ultra.

I would guess the pair of ss18.1's would have a whole lot more output but I have never heard either one and was wondering what to expect.

The room will be 15x17x8 and open to the rest of the house.

Either one will be about the same cost including shipping. The reviews for the Ultra have been very good.

[craigsub]

Wondering what everyone thinks of this. A pair of SS18.1's with MQ600 vs SB13 Ultra.

I would guess the pair of ss18.1's would have a whole lot more output but I have never heard either one and was wondering what to expect.

The room will be 15x17x8 and open to the rest of the house.

Either one will be about the same cost including shipping. The reviews for the Ultra have been very good.

I think you will find that the SB-13 Ultra is more elegant looking, while the SS-18.1 pair will have more output than would dual SB-13 Ultras.

[diamonddelts]

Wondering what everyone thinks of this. A pair of SS18.1's with MQ600 vs SB13 Ultra.

I would guess the pair of ss18.1's would have a whole lot more output but I have never heard either one and was wondering what to expect.

The room will be 15x17x8 and open to the rest of the house.

Either one will be about the same cost including shipping. The reviews for the Ultra have been very good.

As Craig stated the SB 13 ultra will win the aesthetics contest. But that's it. I consider a 18.1 to be a much better peformer for both music and HT over the SB 13 ultra. Not even close in my opinion.

[myc52002]

As a previous owner of a pair of SVS PB12/2 Ultra units I can say the above comments are accurate. Some think the 13 Ultra is considered better in some ways than the previous TOTL Ultra's that I had that they replaced, I do know they were far more similar than not so I think I can make a fair comparison for you.

The SVS were no doubt very good but IMO had limited useable defineable ability and if they did have a strength it was with movies and not music. They were powerful and would play quite loudly but there was a compromise in musicality and accuracy. I owned them for about 4-5 years and always found myself tweaking and I finally figured out they did no one thing great so depending on source quality they may or may not perform as I expected so I would tweak. That got old. They could pound out some pretty good theater bass in the 20-30Hz range, little below that (tuning mostly) but really fell apart above 40Hz which really diminishes their musicality for most music. They were not very articulate in the mid bass and simply sounded poor if you even tried to do anything above 80hz. No amount of tweaking or eq'ing could make it right for me.

In comes the 18.2 (same as a pair of 18.1). Long story short these demolished the SVS. And let's keep in mind I had a pair of 2 driver Ultra units (4 total and you are looking at 1 13" driver). I started with (2) 18.2. My comparison is there. The SVS had a slight edge around 20-25Hz in my room but only by 1-2db. Otherwise there was no match. They will perform at 20Hz as well as they will at 80-100Hz. Very clean in the whole range and mind boggling power in the mid bass range the SVS couldn't come close to competing with. This occurred with the Dayton amps. I now have the MQ600 and if I had it then I am sure that the edge the SVS had at 20Hz would be gone because now I can EQ as needed without the amp getting in the way.

Oh - my SVS cost damn near twice what the Chase cost. My conclusion. Buy the Chase and don't look back. Just be sure to set them up correctly and hopefully have some EQ capability to make them shine like they can.

[sbdman]

My guess would be the PB-13 Ultra would be much more powerful than the SB-13. Looks visually like they use the same driver, and same wattage amp, so I may be overstating.

What I recall a couple years ago, was that one of Craig's design goals was to have the CHT-18.1 have more output than the PB ultra - there may be arguments as to if a room with poor room gain may loose out around 20Hz to the SVS or not, but overall I think he clearly hit the mark.

Now if you consider getting two 18.1 with the MQ-600, you will clearly be ahead for the full spectrum. SVS is the clear winner with a fine furniture finish, but the purpose of a sub is to move air, and two 18" drivers will have that in spades over the 13.5"!

[bonebad1]

thanks alot for the comments. I feel my fears have been squashed. I shall be ordering soon. Thanks guys for your help. I will post thoughts when I get them

[Cujobob]

I will post thoughts when I get them

Yes, this :)