Some years ago, when I came back with this 'hot water tank' style sub, I was not sure what to do with it. I first put it right beside my seatback, put the film Brotherhood of the wolf, and waited… Boy, was I rocked! I had previously owned some decent subs (Paradigm, Kef), and I since heard a Velodyne DD12. I now understand why a specialist compared the Velodyne and the SVS: power. sheer power. Depth, precision and musicality also. The guy who sold the SVS told me my neighbours would become my enemies. I laughed but understand now what he meant. But hey, what the heck: one you heard the beast, you become addicted to it. Many say the SVS 16-46 still represents to this day the most value for the buck. I confirm and add: whatever the price, it is worth it. The SVS truly adds a new dimension to your home cinema and music experience.

I use the SVS in a 9.2 system: Onkyo TX-NR808 to preamp and Rotel RB-1090 to amp the two Magnepan 2.7QR main speakers; the Onkyo amps five Kef and another Kef sub, right beside my chair, and finally two Bose mini for the ambiance. A Cambridge Azur 650BD for the Blu-rays and SACDs. SVS interconnects and cables.

Fantastic All Around. Clean, Powerful and Beautiful.

A little on the large side :)

This subwoofer is absolutely amazing. If your budget is in the $600-$700 range, I really don't believe you can do better than this sub. Everything about the SVS subwoofers screams quality and attention to detail. The guys who design and build these explosive tubes truly love what they do, and you can hear it.

Has an incredible effect on the sound of my system. It plays deep and tight, not boomy and muddy.

May not be loud enough in a large room for those who like to boost their subs by several dbs over the rest of the system

I have owned this sub for well over a year now. Recently I purchased new Axiom M80 speakers, the VP150 center and the QS-8 surrounds. After setup and calibration I was immediately thrilled by the huge upgrade in sound over my old speakers. After a few weeks of break in...this setup is SWEET! As unbelievably good as these new speakers sound, my SVS still stands out. The bass floor is undeniably better than the bass on any other systems I have heard. When I reviewed this sub over a year ago (see first review), I had only calibrated it with my other speakers. The impact, musicality, and depth was amazing. Shortly after writing the review, I added a Behringer Feedback Destroyer 2 channel 12 band fully parametric EQ to smooth out the room response of the sub. While the sub is very musical, an instrument like the BFD really helps to tame room induced frequency peaks, further improving the tightness and response of the sub. Visitors to our home looked at the big black tube and either laughed or rolled their eyes. Then they heard my system and they began to understand! My wife is very happy we have it, even though she hated the looks when we got it. Since getting the Axioms, which are a much higher quality speaker than my old setup (and play deeper, allowing a better blending of the SVS), I am even more impressed with the 16-46PCi. Even after spending almost $2000 on a fantastic speaker upgrade, the SVS still is the anchor of the system. I could get subjective, but I decided it would be better if I just reiterated the idea that the SVS is easily the piece of my equipment that I could not do without. It is THE most important part of my system. It is THAT good! There are newer versions with begger amps and beefier drivers, but this sub plays plenty loud in my 17' X 24' room. It plays tight and deep. If you like to play your bass 4 or 5db hot (I do not), maybe the plus or ultra series are for you. If you want a great sub at a rock bottom price, buy the 16-46 PCi or one of the other PCi series. You will not regret it!

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None that compare, although I have heard many more expensive subs that I thought were not as good as the SVS. Hsu comes close in my opinion, but at generally higher prices for similar performance. I also must say that I have never heard any of the DIY subs that many on the internet are now building.

More value for the dollar than virtually any other sub. You don't know what you are missing until you hear this thing woof!

It made my wife laugh at its size until I explained the physics of it. It is very well built and finished.

How do you add to all that has been said about SVS subs? I have owned several subs including: Paradigm Servo-15 (A great sub!), Paradigm PDR-12, Mirage 8",Audio Pro Evidence with Ace Bass, Sylvania SL-1200 (only bettered by the SVS and Servo-15),Sony 12", homemade 12" in a 4 cu ft box, etc. The 16-46PCi is the clear winner! The Servo-15 is a fantastic sub and I had a couple of years to enjoy it, but, the SVS is tighter, can play louder, and is more controlled both musically and for HT. I wouldn't have known that if I hadn't heard the SVS for myself. Now I know what "tight" bass means. My HT room is about 1750 cu ft. I can easily over power the room with the SVS set to less than half volume! It is a great way to find out how solid your house is! I haven't even equalized it yet. I waited for over 8 months before buying the 16-46PCi and I am totally satisfied with it! Last night, I measured the sock explosion in Monsters, Inc at 110 db with the spl meter about 8 feet away from the sub (receiver set to Dolby reference of 75 db)! Please, do yourself a favor and get one.

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See text above

-very cheap for its level of performance -flat to 16Hz -small footprint (16inch circle) -great svs customer service

-very big

My first subwoofer was a sony sa-wm40. I upgraded to the svs because the sony didn't go low or powerful enough for my movie tastes. the svs has been tremendous. my only problem is that my home theater is in a basement with a concrete floor so i miss out on a lot of the room shaking effect. if i walk upstairs above the subwoofer the floor vibrates madly under my feet :) i have the subwoofer calibrated flat with the other channels and it can reach reference level bass, even with star wars episdode 2, in my pretty large room. i dont listen that loud because my bookshelf speakers (or maybe my receiver) start to strain at those volumes. plus its just too loud to be comfortable. the svs basically has more headroom than i can use :). just keep in mind that i have it calibrated flat, most people will put a subwoofer at +8-10 dB (twice as loud as the other speakers) without realizing it. you should definately get an spl meter and test disc ($60 for both) if you spend this much on your subwoofer. the accuracy of the svs deserves nothing less than to have it level matched with your system.

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sony sa-wm40

Absolutely wonderful in the "lows output" Amazing amp!!!!!! I can't imagine what their new amp on their new products

Well, if you could call it a weakness, it's the size, but I think it looks pleasing, much better than a box (in which I hate). Hey, how do you think they get this awesome sound, by using a small crackerjack box???

Absolutely amazing. I went to the Home Theater Store and listened to some of their Makintosh sub at 1k range and it doesn't even compare. I mostly use it for Theater sound and didn't compare with audio music. I have a vaulted ceiling room, 24x17 and only need to turn up the amp about 30%, any higher than that I need a bigger room or a sturdier room so the room/floor doesn't rattle!!!!!!!!! I got this at a summer special when their new models came out, now it's priced $50 more. This is perfect for my movie projector. If you're looking for a sub for your theater system, SVS is the way to go, hands down!!!!!!!!!!

Awe inspiring low bass output SVS customer service and support(Tom & Ron are a class act) For $600 you get a $1,000+ sub

It looks like a narrow black hot water heater, it does not pretend to be furniture(personally, I think it is well finished and looks great).

I have a dedicated home theater and only use this to watch DVD movies. The 16-46 is perfect for this environment because of it's low end capabilities. It really lets you feel the bass, not just hear it. The combination of this with my 120" screen, provides a better movie experience than if I had gone to a commercial theater. This is one of the best bang for your buck investments you can make when building a home theater and SVS makes some of the best subs out there. There is a reason that their sales numbers have gone through the roof.

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Sonnance DL1500 12" Velodyne (can't remember model #)

- 340 Watt amplifier. - Robust built, handsome finish - Crossover freq control from 40 to 120 Hz, to match your front speakers whether they´re full range or bookshelves. - Speaker level and line level stereo inputs. However you can hook it up with a single mono cable through L or R line in jack. - Auto on function: you can leave it stand-by to ¨wake-up¨ when lo-freq signal is present. - Last but not least, SV chopped down prices recently, since they released the new 2002 line of subs. This immediately gives a full 5 stars in value rating.

- No variable phase control. only 0 or 180 deg. - Size gives you not too many choices to place it. I definitely CAN´T replace a small side-table besides your sofa.

After reading and researching on subwoofer technology and performance, I finally decided to get this model. I did know it was a ¨bigger box¨ than many of the black-boxes out there in the market. But the performance charts, along with several reviews I´ve read convinced me that I can easily forget aesthetics in favour of real bass performance. I wasn´t wrong at all. First this is the biggest sub you can find. Picture this: one of my floorstanding JMLab Cobalt 820 would fit perfectly inside it (if empty, of course). Second: bass is real, deep, powerful, and fills your entire house (not only your living room). For moments, sound reaches such inaudible lo-freqs you only listen window glasses and other things trembling around. Luckily until the moment I had no neighbours knocking my door (I live in an apartment), but I´m getting prepared to ask for pardon...

effortless, natural, can be delicate yet thunderous, very musical, outstanding for home theater

none in my listening room

This is my first deep sub. I own an Advent 12 inch powered sub from 10 yrs ago. I wanted something that played deeper than 40hz and the SVS reviews were all very positive. With a 45 day money back guarantee I had to try the SVS 16-46PCi. When I unpacked it, my wife almost fell over. It is HUGE! I removed the Advent, installed the SVS and in 10 minutes I was calibrated all around and listening to music. WOW! My wife and I both were very surprised at the newfound deep base floor to our music. This is not just deep, musical bass. This bass has feeling. We popped in a movie and everything sounded the same as the old sub until...boom! An on screen explosion awakened this beast and the entire house shook, the shockwave giving us the feeling of thunder from an extremely close lightning strike! I said FEELING! The bass is clean, not muddy or boomy. This is the best $600 I have spent on home audio!

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Advent sub, Klipsch sub, full range tower speakers...nothing was even close to the depth of this!