My sub sounds good...well, maybe just OK

[droht]

I've had an SVS PB10-NSD for a month or so now. The low end of "real sub" category I suppose. Still not calibrated, but I finally spent some time today just listening and adjusting to get it right to my years. That alone makes a big difference. Watched U571 and cranked up some bass-heavy electronica. :applause:

Then I went to an African Festival at my daughter's school. Pretty tame stuff, but the evening ended with African music and dancing. 4 or 5 big conga drums were in use, some being played by hand some with fat-ish drum sticks. They don't go as low as my sub can, but from 30 - 40 (I'm guessing) they had some serious and visceral slam. This was in a room the size of 4 basketball courts. My sub cannot do that. Not even close. :hissyfit:

I don't get out for too much live music, so it was good to hear what it's supposed to sound like once in a while, even though it clearly showed me that more sub is really needed. Now where can I hear some real depth charges???

[myaudiocd]

uhhmm, there's this guy named craig....he knows a little about subs....he's around here occasionally.

[Mike_TX]

Svs pb10-nsd

I've had an SVS PB10-NSD for a month or so now. The low end of "real sub" category I suppose. Still not calibrated, but I finally spent some time today just listening and adjusting to get it right to my years. That alone makes a big difference. Watched U571 and cranked up some bass-heavy electronica. :applause:

Then I went to an African Festival at my daughter's school. Pretty tame stuff, but the evening ended with African music and dancing. 4 or 5 big conga drums were in use, some being played by hand some with fat-ish drum sticks. They don't go as low as my sub can, but from 30 - 40 (I'm guessing) they had some serious and visceral slam. This was in a room the size of 4 basketball courts. My sub cannot do that. Not even close. :hissyfit:

I don't get out for too much live music, so it was good to hear what it's supposed to sound like once in a while, even though it clearly showed me that more sub is really needed. Now where can I hear some real depth charges???

Did you talk to SVS before you purchased to see if this was the right sub for you?

What are your room dimensions?
What are the openings in your room?*
What other gear to you have?
What are your pre or receiver settings for sub and other speakers?
etc
etc.

* - I was surprised at the the "good only" nature of my SVS PB12-Ultra/2 in a large room that opened to 2 other floors (basically trying to pressurize the whole house -- wasn't going to happen)


All that said, a 10" sub may not provide the very low impact and pressurization that you may want in a larger room.

Mike

[Eric D]

:whs:

Here's another way to "visualize" it. Headphones usually go down to 20 Hz - put them on your ears, and you hear it purty darn well. That space it can pressurize. But you don't expect headphones to pressurize a house. Similarly, that little SVS does do 20 Hz, but it's not going to do it "really loud." It can pressurize a small space, but not a large one.

In subwoofage, there is no substitute for cubic inches.

[the7comeback7kid]

Get an 18 inch and stop screwing around. On a seriou note post your room specs and I'm sure we could conjure up some recomendations

[droht]

Thanks guys. I know the 10 incher is not going to be enough in my room, but it is the compromise I have chosen based on a variety of sad factors ;). Someday when the HT is in a dedicated space it will be a different story.

I just really thought it was interesting to hear such bass-heavy music live and compare it to how my sub performs.

[Mike_TX]

Thanks guys. I know the 10 incher is not going to be enough in my room, but it is the compromise I have chosen based on a variety of sad factors ;). Someday when the HT is in a dedicated space it will be a different story.

I just really thought it was interesting to hear such bass-heavy music live and compare it to how my sub performs.

droht -

We all either now or at some time in the past had "sad factors" of various sorts that limited our audio experiences.

It is great to "reset" your appreciation for live music at times.

So, what have you done for optimizing your 10 inch sub.
Maybe that would be a good way to help you out currently!:idea:

Later you can get a Seaton Submersive or other sub!:rock:

Cheers,

Mike

[craigsub]

Dean - If I were to offer any advice, it would be to keep the PB10 for a year, and work on getting the max performance from it that you can. The learning experience will place you in a very good position when "upgrade" time comes ... :huge:

[mlbrand]

Good advice from all above. FWIW, I only felt like my subs sounded "great" when I went to dual subs in my 18'x19' room. First I went to a pair of SVS 20-39 cylinders, and now I have a pair of MFW-15's. The MFW's have more slam in the 30-80 hz area, and are my current favorite "bang for the buck" subs out there. (Craigsub's subwoofer reviews were right on the mark for the MFW's.) If you have the room for two subs you can place them to get a much more even frequency response than you will ever get with one sub. So.... you might also consider adding another PB-10 to your setup, or for more bucks there is always the PB-13 Ultra, Submersive, if you want just one sub to sound "great".

Also, Craig's advice is very good, as tweaking is usually pretty cheap. You at least need a Radio Shack SPL meter, and a test tone CD and must do some measurement to really know what is happening in your room. If you have a laptop, there is free frequency response software out there like REQ (which is MUCH easier to do than using test tones and an SPL meter), and cheap ways to equalize a sub, like with a Behringer Feedback Destroyer. If you are into that kind of tweaking, it's a lot of fun and you do learn a LOT.

[droht]

Dean - If I were to offer any advice, it would be to keep the PB10 for a year, and work on getting the max performance from it that you can. The learning experience will place you in a very good position when "upgrade" time comes ... :huge:

No doubt I will be attempting to follow this advice. Dedicated HT will definitely not happen in that time frame, and that really is main issue. As it stands, I'm limited to about 16" on sub height. The PB10 is on it's side. I did just see that Epik relaunched their product lines though. The Vanquish looks interesting. 12" sealed design and not too tall. $699. Maybe someone who likes to test subs will try one of these out...

[alphaiii]

No doubt I will be attempting to follow this advice. Dedicated HT will definitely not happen in that time frame, and that really is main issue. As it stands, I'm limited to about 16" on sub height. The PB10 is on it's side. I did just see that Epik relaunched their product lines though. The Vanquish looks interesting. 12" sealed design and not too tall. $699. Maybe someone who likes to test subs will try one of these out...

Nice to see that Epik released a compact sealed sub...but it's unfortunate that is costs even more than the 15" sealed Valor.

I was really hoping for something more compact to come in a little under the Valor in price...oh well....