Tight, deep, accurate, Truly a gem.

If I don't control myself, I'LL BUY THE COMPANY!

I'll bet SVS are a bunch of geeky guys ( like Bill Gates ) who had a great idea and put every effort into making one of the best subs on the planet! I bought this work of art this past summer, and I'm in constant awe! This finely engineered piece of machinery, always surprises me. Every time a new movie is played, The sub electrifies me! I still can't get used to this thing! The bass is tight as a drum! And talk about quick! Now. I'm talking about ONE SVS! Can you imagine more? That is me evil plan! HAHAHAHAHA!

Similar Products Used:

JBL 1000 sub PARADIGM CC-350 PIONEER VSX47TX WARFEDALE TRUE BLUE SP-89 TOWERS FLUANCE AV-BP2 SURROUNDS

Overwhelming amount of clean and pure power. Excellent customer service. Tom makes you feel like family.

None encountered.

This sub plays phenomenally. I get goosebumps everytime I play Das Boot. Clean, Clean , heart-thumping bass. This is a no brainer guys, get this sub. Denon avr-1804 Denon dvd-1600 Carver m-1.0t AR s-50 AR ar4c AR surrounds SVS 20-39cs

Similar Products Used:

Klipsch KSW-15 Polk Audio PSW-650 Velodyne CHT-12

Accurate, Heart-throbbing, tight, pleasing, makes you wanna dance bass! Comes packaged well with a great manual to boot. The customer service was so great when I contacted them about when the sub was going to arrive ( I was too excited )

Might make your mommy say "Turn down the music"

I can only say the best things about this subwoofer. It is simply amazing and what I expect from an American built piece of machinery. The tight accurate bass makes me wanna dance to every song. This rhythm is really going to move ya. This subwoofer is definately the star of my home theatre system. The size impresses my friends too :) - If you want some good tight heart thumping bass, you know where it's at!

Similar Products Used:

Polk Audio PSW650 (Although this is a great sub, it doesn't go quite as low and hit as hard as the SVS) The SVS was also cheaper. :)

Everything, these subs are a big tube of steriods. all muscle. I pushed these subs to the limit and they were asking for more.

Only bad thing is your wife might get pissed at you for playing it all the time so loud. Warning if you watch Godzilla the new one, with these subs, turn it down you will blow the rafters rite out off your roof. and deafness is also a future concern, for me that is.

Flat out the hardest hitting cleanest subs on the market for the price. I compared my subs with every major brand of the same price and it rained. I ever put it up against some high dollar subs and it dominated. Watching Days OF Thunder with these subs makes it seem like the your at the track. I had pictures falling off the walls, my wife hates them but thats life. Sounded really clean and accu. with all types of music.

Similar Products Used:

velodyne, klypsh, jbl, hsu, to many

Build quality, Performance, Value

None

I just thought I would post to balance out Jason's review below a little. I've owned a pair of SVS Ultras for a year now and comments are as follows: Nothing to criticize as far as build quality. The sub is very solid and appearance of mine are very professional. Personally I prefer the cylinder design as opposed to the box design of my 18" Velodyne. My Velodyne weighs 100+ pounds so initially I was skeptical that the SVS at 35 pounds could do much? Well all I can say is that in many head to head comparisons (twin SVS vs. 18" Velodyne) the SVS come out on top no question. The SVS are much easier to move when experimenting with sub placement (just tilt and roll). Im my opinion they are easier to place in rooms and occupy less space. I also feel there is an advantage to having two medium output subs as opposed to one big sub. I place one SVS in each front corner and get more uniform bass throughout the room as opposed to the 18" Velodyne in one corner by itself. It hard to go wrong with SVS!

Similar Products Used:

18" Velodyne

Cheap and sounds good.

The UGLIEST subwoofer on the market. Cheap build quality and parts. Looks very out of place in your nice theater room.

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! Talk about a great sub. It's a box, it sits low and out-of-site, it matches my other B&Ws, it looks really classy and is forward firing. Not to mention, the B&W weighs about 60 lbs whereas the SVS weighs a mere 30 lbs. The SVS is cheaply built and the looks and feel of it really show. They sound good but I guarantee my B&W sounds better. Of course it costs more and has more expensive parts but it looks great and fits well with the decor. Basically it's like comparing an Infiniti to a Mercedes. They both do the trick, but the fit and finish (build quality) of the B&W (Mercedes) is a more attractive buy than the SVS (Infiniti).

Similar Products Used:

B&W ASW 650, Paradigm, Definitive Technologies, Klipsch, Carver Knight Shadow.

Price, Clean, Loud and Low. Big and beautiful

Big

Outstanding. The best subwoofer imaginable for $500. LOUD, LOW AND CLEAN. A 5 for H/T, 4 for Music. Amazing care taken to ship product and A1 online support. Highly recommended.

Similar Products Used:

Velodyne 10", Paradigm PS1200

Great lows, very musical, extremely low and accurate even with the most modest amplifier. Very unique design that will have your friends talking!

None

This subwoofer is amazing. Great lows even with the most modest amplifier. Exceeded my every expectation; it''s very musical as well! Go out and buy this, you won''t be disappointed! Definitely the most "bang" for your buck. I consider to be one of the best buys in the market competing sonically with those costing $1000 more! Sure, I could''ve gone with a big name like B&W but I can''t justify spending the money when something for half the price is just as good if not better. Thanks to the guys at SVS for their excellent service and prompt responses to my inquiries!

Similar Products Used:

Velodyne, B&K, MK, JBL, Klipsch, B&W

Strong, tight lows. Excellent value (there may be betters subs, but at MUCH higher prices).

Sheer size (it''s BIG) making it tough to hide should you need to.

For the price, I do not think there is much better out there. VERY low, very tight bass. Seems to integrate very nicely with my Klipsch Reference series speakers. Keep in mind this is a 4-ohm speaker, so you''ll need an appropriate amp to drive the load properly. Very good customer service (seems to be a common review/response). With this much bass, it''s a good idea to get a 31-band eq (SVS sells one) and a test tone source to tone down problem frequencies and room rattles/buzzes. This made a HUGE difference in percieved quality and reduction in distracting noises (note this is a function/issue of the room, not the subwoofer).

Similar Products Used:

Klipsch Reference RP-5 (front), RP-3 (rear) and RC-3 speakers. Marantz SR-18 receiver.

Excellent pre-sales and post-sales support from SVS.
Ability to deliver accurate deep bass at high SPLs.
Cost effective.

None

After hearing about SV Subwoofers several months ago, I visited the usual sites and checked out the reviews. Whilst the reviews of SVS subs were extremely good, I was a little concerned about shipping one of these subs to Australia. Firstly, the cost: $US360 to freight a 20-39CS. I thought I would be able to achieve the same result at a lower price by purchasing a sub here in Australia from another manufacturer. Secondly, the possibility of damage to the sub on its journey half way around the world. So I set off to Len Wallis Audio in Sydney to check out the offerings.

I listened to a Velodyne and a Richter (an Australian company). Both were in the price range of the SV20-39CS including freight charges. I was a little disappointed with the performance of both the Richter and the Velodyne units, particularly on music. They didn't go very low, nor were they tight or fast. After some deliberation I placed an order for an SV20-39CS. For any aussies out there who are interested, the total time from order placement to delivery was 7 weeks. I needn't have been concerned about the unit being damaged: It was extremely well packed.

My room is approximatey 6 metres (20 feet) by 7 metres (23 feet), with a ceiling height ranging from 2.4 metres (8 feet) to 3.6 metres (12 feet). As recommended by SVS, I have set up the sub in a corner. Calibration using the test tones generated by my Sony pre-pro indicate a required
level of -16dB for the sub (C-weighted). I generally run the sub a lot higher than this level. This calibration result appears to be due in part to the low efficiency of my front speakers and the exceptionally high efficiency of the sub. For movies and bass-intensive music, I set front
speakers to 'Small' with the cross over point set to about 100Hz on the pre-pro. For all other music I usually set front speakers to 'Large'.

My equipment consists of:
- Toshiba SD2109 DVD player
- Sony TA-E9000ES pre-pro
- Rotel RB985 5-channel THX Ultra power amplifier
- Rogers Studio 1a speakers (front)
- SV20-39CS subwoofer
- Sony 84cm flatscreen Wega TV
- No rear or centre spreakers as yet

The sub is driven by a channel of the Rotel. I didn't know whether this amp would have sufficient power to deliver deep bass at high SPLs. Whilst rated (conservatively) at 110 W/ch RMS into 8 Ohms, I suspect the amp is delivering at least 170 W RMS into the 4 Ohm sub. When playing the 'trans-euro bass Vol 1' CD by The Bass Project, my SPL meter shows many peaks of 116 dB (C-weighted) at 1 metre (ground level). This makes everything in the room vibrate. After a while the pulsation of my internal organs makes me feel sick (but groovy). The SVS is extremely
musical and contributes accurate and well-balanced bass on all types of program material.

On DD and DTS material like The Matrix ('Rooftop Rescue'), Saving Private Ryan ('Omaha Beach') and Aliens ('Final Confrontation'), it goes without saying that deep bass at high SPLs is readily accessible.

On a final note, TV and Ron have been extremely helpful and proactive at all times.

Similar Products Used:

Velodyne, Richter