SVS Model 20-39CS Subwoofers

SVS Model 20-39CS Subwoofers 

DESCRIPTION

Passive Subwoofer o Power handling, 300 watts RMS. 4 Ohm load. o 20 Hz tuning point o +/- 3 dB 20 Hz-80 Hz o 39" tall Optional Subwoofer Amp Price includes shipping.

USER REVIEWS

Showing 11-20 of 49  
[Jan 30, 2001]
George M
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Good Value,Lots of kick for HT.

Weakness:

Not as musical as most owners would leave you to bellive. Very tall and obvious when located in a living room enviroment.

First off let me start by saying that this sub is most likely the best bargain dollar for dollar than any other HT sub I have heard to date. It rumbles with great authority without strain. These facts have already been said many times by thier owners. The only weakness I would attach to this sub is how musical its claimed to be by others in many fourms and posts. I was not impressed with its music abilities at all. Bottom line,,Want an HT sub,, this sub is for you. Want a musical sub,,, Look elswhere.

Similar Products Used:

Mirage BPS150i, REl Strata III,

OVERALL
RATING
4
VALUE
RATING
5
[Sep 22, 2001]
Nick
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Incredibly strong, low bass. The best customer service I've ever found.

Weakness:

none really, maybe size if that is an issue for you

My price was 1289.00, including shipping, because I bought the twin 20-39CS/700 watt combo. I don't have anything new to say that hasn't already been stated below. All the hype is true. These subs are incredible for the price. They outgun subs costing more than twice as much. They stomped all over the twin Def Techs I was using. If you have any questions or concerns email them without hesitation. You will receive a reply from Tom Vodhanel probably in less than 24 hours. These are the best bargin around.

Similar Products Used:

Velodyne f-1200 Definitive Technology PF15+

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jul 26, 2000]
Robert Saylor
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Incredible, deep, powerful bass.

Weakness:

Noisy fan in Fidek amp

I was reasonably happy with my setup. B&W 602 speakers on the four corners, a CC6 center and a Velodyne 1215XII sub. I recently got a Sony 777ES receiver and I figured I was set. Not! My son, an admitted basshead, kept telling me things sounded OK but I was missing a lot on the bottom end. Well, I knew the Velodyne was no bottom dweller but, so what, I didn't listen to all that "car stuff" anyway. About that time I SV subwoofers started up. I'd read Tom V's post on a lot of the forums. He seemed very knowledgable and honest in his answers. In spite of having his own company, he never downgraded any of the other subs. Most often, he would suggest other subs that may work out for the person he was addressing. Eventually, I got hold of a Avia setup disk. During the sub calibration I was amazed at how much my sub started to drop off at under 30hz. At 75db calibration there was little or nothing left at 24hz. After visiting the SV homepage several time I contacted Tom and after a few e-mails I was convinced I wanted a SV sub. Everything about them seemed right...size, power,price and perhaps most of all, performance. I decided to order two 20-39 towers with the 300 watt Fidek amp. They arrived on the 25th of July. Boy, it took quite awhile just to get these bad boys unpacked. Double boxed, heavily padded and peanuts everywhere. Setup went quite well. I ran a cable from each of the two sub outs on the Sony to an input on the amp. Then a set of wires to each sub. I calibrated everything to 75db. (I set the subs to about 82-83 because I like to hear the bass.) My son wasn't home yet so I decided to try some movies. I popped in the Blade DVD. The chapter I went to is right near the start of the movie where the vampires are dancing. (Lots of pounding bass here) Woah!! I'm hearing a very loud rattle from the subs. Holy cow! I checked the spl meter. Were these things bottoming out at only 93-95dbs? I e-mailed SVS in a bit of a panic...maybe I hooked something up wrong. After e-mailing I went back and started checking again. I had installed the spikes on the subs. My stereo is in the basement and the floor is carpeted concrete. I have spikes on my speaker stands but they are only about 9/16" long. The stand still rests on the surface of the carpet. However the spikes with the SV subs could only be adjusted down to about 1 13/16 long. The subs were dancing around on the spikes. I figured this out because as soon as I put pressure on ths sub cabinet the rattle would be stopped or greatly reduced. I quickly removed the spikes.....PRESTO!, no more rattle. What a relief! I want back to the movies. I couldn't believe the waves crashing into the submarine in "Das Boot". And the depth charges..... Incredible! Movie after movie, scene after scene I was more and more impressed. And oh, the tank battle at the end of Saving Private Ryan...Good Lord!!!! It was at that time my wife shouted down " I think the whole neighborhood is under attack"......That's just what I wanted to hear. I'd arrived. I was very, very pleased. But what about my son? He would have as tough a workout as he could possiby dream up. When he arrived, he was as prepared as I thought he would be. He had all the disks that SVS had said to try and a lot of others. I'm not familiar with a lot of the disks he had but one in particular that he wanted to try was "Candyman" by LL cool J. He said it took a hell of a sub to handle that song. I can tell you he had a smile on his face and nodded approval all the way through the song. Now, I'm not going to B.S. anyone about these subs. You have to be smart enough to know that as you start to reach insane volume levels, you should turn the sub volume done accordingly. Low volume takes more bass to "fill" than higher volume does. What I'm trying to say is, use your head here. It is possible to bottom these things out if you don't know what you're doing. That being said...it wasn't easy to bottom them out and believe me it was LOUD. My sons final comment? Man! These are AWESOME! Now you've got something! Hey! He was trying to reach car levels in a 30'x 11'6"x7' high room with doors leading to other rooms. Actually he really needed another set of SV subs to do this and stay within the 75db calibration level. BTW, it was odd but he was running higher dbs on his music than I could on movies. Maybe the movie had deeper stuff, hitting with more impact or something (explosions?)...I don't know. I suppose that would be a good question for Tom Vodhanel. One thing I do know, though, is that these subs are the audio steal of the year. They are really outstanding. Tom said they would put a grin on my face and boy was he right. One possible slight drawback. The fan noise from the Fidek is a bit loud. I can live with it but I can see where it could be bothersome for some. Even with the 3 hour torture test we gave it the Fidek was only warm to the touch so the fan does it's job. BTW, while the 602s sounded much better at 60hz with the Velodyne but 80hz worked better with the SVS setup. I don't know how you could expect more from a product. The performance is on a level with subs costing much, much more. And they are better than most. Very well made. It's probably better than 5 stars but that's as high as I can go.



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Similar Products Used:

Velodyne 1215xII, Boston acoustic VR500

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jan 23, 2001]
Mike S.
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

You name it.....if it's a plus for a sub, it's got it.
Clean, low extention. Some of the deepest bass I've ever heard.
Price is excellent. Can't get better for the $$.
Looks great. It's tall, but it's impressive and looks great with your HT.

Weakness:

There is none to be found.

If you need a sub, go to www.svsubwoofers.com and buy an SVS! These are absolutely the BEST subs you can get for the money (or twice the money IMO).

I first started hearing about these subs at www.hometheaterforum.com so if you're thinking about one, you can get many more opinions there than there are here.

I was kind of leary at first of buying from an internet only company. Especially since it was a several hundred dollar purchase from folks I'd never heard of before, but after reading and researching and contacting the guys at SVS numerous times, I decided that it was the way to go for me.

Let me tell you that I'm normally one that HAS to see and demo a piece of HT gear before I'll ever consider buying it, and since there are no SVS showrooms and they aren't sold anywhere but on the SVS site, it took alot of confidence in what I'd heard and read to convince me to take the plunge. Even with the 45 day satisfaction guarantee, I didn't want to wind up having to pay to ship the thing back if I was not satisfied.

I ordered my sub right after Christmas and figured I'd be well into February before I got mine after hearing stories of the waits for these things....FYI not that the wait isn't worth it...I'd have waited 6 months to get this sub, but it was still a point of consideration for me.....I wound up getting my sub 3 weeks to the day that I ordered it, so that part was pleasing right from the start.

I got the sub home and went through the unpacking process, which is really a test of your patience! These things are packed to withstand abuse in shipping.
I finally got everything unpacked and in the floor, and was amazed by how big the sub seemed! I'd seen pictures, but nothing put it in perspecitve....it's a big sub, but fits VERY nicely in a corner.

I also ordered the Fidek 600 watt amp from SVS as well. I was in a quandry about how to amplify the sub since I'd heard that the Fidek's cooling fan was annoyingly loud, but I went that route anyway since I'd also heard that it was a very solid performer.
My fears about the fan noise were unneeded....it can't be heard if there's any signal passing through the system. Even music at low levels covers the noise up (in my HT anyway....results may vary)

Another thing I was concerned about was whether 1 sub would be enough for my room.
I'm using one part of a 15' x 40' room, and most people that I'd heard of with a room half that size were running 2 SVS's in their system.
I couldn't fathom spending the extra $$ for two although it would've been well worth it, so I went with a single sub.

After using it for several movies, I couldn't even imagine the response I'd get from two of these things! I don't think I could handle it.

I wound up having to play with the placement of the sub and had to completely readjust all my speaker settings to allow the adjustment room I needed for my LFE, so that took the first couple of nights just to get it sounding right.
But once all that was taken care of, all I could do was smile and watch a movie I'd seen a dozen times before for the fist time (or so it seemed)
There was so much sound I'd been missing without this sub! It was amazing! I've only heard sound like this in store demo rooms before, but now I've got it in my own basement.

I could have easily spend 2 or 3 times the $$ and not gotten a better peforming sub.
It's never broken a sweat at regular and 75db listening levels.

From the little bit of measuring I've done, it's hit about 110db and not a bit of distortion.
The only time I overdid it was in the depth charge scene in U-571, and I still didn't have the calibration just right at the time.

So really, if you're in the market for a new sub, do NOT hesitate to give the guys over at SVS a shout and they'll work with you to find the best model for your setup.
You may have to wait a bit, but you'll be happy you made the SVS decision.

Similar Products Used:

Klipsch KSW-15
Velodyne CT-150
various no name subs (KLH, Optimus)

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Feb 28, 2001]
Bryan
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Bass. Not boomy bass but that clear, in your face, knock you down, and let's see what else you have bass.

Weakness:

Vertical size (for some people this may be an issue), hard to use banana plugs with this

What more can I add to what has already been said? As I listen to this sub it gets better and better. I had to do the standard tests with the sub. The lobby scene in Matrix. WOW! Ever feel like the actors missed and hit you instead? Depth charge scene in U-571. MMMMMMM! The submarine just got another crew person on board though I don't remember enlisting for submarine service. Opening war scene of Gladiator. Am I in the movie or watching it?

But is the sub musical? Yes, though I do not have many bassy cds. I ran it through the Cool Runnings sound track and it hit everything. You can hear the distinction between a bass player and bass drum on this with ease.

This is a simply fantistic sub for the money. I doubt there is a better deal out there. That is why I ordered a brother for it. :^). BTW, I was previously powering this sub with a HK AVR-40 receiver. That unit did a fantastic job of powering the sub. Now I have the Samson amp. It is extremely quite and very authoritive. Perhaps I got suckered in by the rave reviews of the sub from the people at HTF. Perhaps I want to feel like I didn't get suckered in. Perhaps it was my seeing Tom and Ron, the founders of SVS, recommending other subs to people that influenced my decision to buy this sub. I know that is what was the deciding factor for the purchase. But when I may experience doubts, which rarely happens, the 20-39 looks at me and laughs, asking me "Is that all you got?"

I can and do highly recommend SVS subs. They are truly worth 2 - 3 times more than what they cost. They will not disappoint you.

Similar Products Used:

AudioSource SW-10

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Apr 06, 2001]
John Holmes
Audio Enthusiast

Weakness:

Too addicting :)

Once you hear one, you will know why people are at a lost for words when trying to describe this sub. We have learned through living that "you get what you pay for". I have always known that there are exceptions to every rule. Thus is the case, with the SVS sub.

"And you will know, that I am the Lord!" comes to mind when hearing this sub. It just flat out performs...period. I won't waste the time in comparing the D110 to it.

While the JBL was a decent performer in it's league, there is a new sheriff in town and he don't need no stink'in badge!

To say that I am satisfied is an understatemant. This is a quality unit from top to bottom. It is hard to except that I have been enjoying movies and not hearing the movie the way it was intended. Thanks SVS for making it possible to enter bass heaven at down to earth prices.

Similar Products Used:

JBL PSW-D110 sub

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[May 30, 2001]
David
Casual Listener

Strength:

Flat bass down to 20 Hz. Excellect for both music and movie.

Weakness:

None

I'll put this sub in the same league as Velodyne HGS-15, Paradigm servo 15 and supper than the subs above.

Similar Products Used:

Velodyne CT-150, M&K Mx-200, Citation

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jun 05, 2001]
Matthew Stryker
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Bang for the buck is phenomenal. This sub easily outpaces most subs at 3x the price (Velodyne, Servo, etc). Nothing else I have heard comes anywhere near.

Weakness:

A little tall, but very elegant, so no big deal. I have yet to find any sonic weaknesses

After receiving my SVS from FedEx, I placed it in the corner and set everything up. Calibration with an SPL meter helps out a lot, so if you've gotten an SVS and are wondering what the problem is, a cheap SPL meter and a calibration will make you a believer.

The size may be a problem for some, but remeber it is vertical size; the footprint of this monster is smaller than all but the tiniest subs. The performance simply must be heard to be believed; if you are skeptical, look for an SVS owner in your area and ask for a demo (I'm sure they'd be happy to give you one) and realize the bass you've been missing. Many of the DVDs with bass in the sub-30Hz region are like viewing a new movie, with the correct sound.

Excellent product, excellent service, and an eye for combining the best performance with value is what SVS is all about.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[May 11, 2001]
Elliott Peeler
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Loud, Powerful, Clean Bass.

Weakness:

Magnet for Cat hair

As just about everyone who visits the Home Theatre forum knows, SVS has been receiving a great deal of attention over the last few months. One glowing review after another has hit the boards with amazing regularity, making it nearly impossible for a prospective subwoofer owner to leave SVS off of their short list of gear to consider. Needless to say, the buzz has been extremely positive, not just in reference to the performance of the hardware but also regarding the service both before and after the sale. With this in mind I placed an order for a 20-39cs model with the Samson s700 amplifier.

Prior to ordering, I contacted SV technical support with a few questions I had concerning the flexibility of setting up the powered vs. the non-powered models. Specifically, I was curious how, when using the externally powered CS line, one would make adjustments to crossover frequency and phase of the subwoofer. Since the Samson external amp does not have these adjustments but the internal amp on the PC models does, my concern was that there would less flexibility in the setup of the externally powered unit.

Sending an email off to tech support at 9:00pm on a Saturday night, I went to bed expecting to get a response sometime the following week. Imagine my surprise when I woke up Sunday morning with a message from Tom Vodhanel of SV waiting in my inbox. Tom explained that, in the absence of an outboard crossover/bass management system, my receiver’s bass management features would be used to handle the frequencies being sent to the sub. While, perhaps, not as flexible as an external crossover, Tom explained that most receivers can do the job appropriately for the configuration of most rooms. With that in mind, I mulled it over for a couple of days and then placed an order for the single 20-39cs/Samson combo.

The order was placed on a Wednesday and was received on Tuesday of the following week. Fantastic turnaround considering the wait that many people had been experiencing a few weeks prior. The packaging of the unit requires special mention, here. The subwoofer was encased in a veritable cocoon of cardboard and bubble wrap. Judging from the way the unit was packed, I think it could have survived a trip on the space shuttle. Actually, a trip on Endeavor is probably considerably less harrowing than a journey though the FedEx universe. In any case, both the amplifier and the subwoofer arrived intact, so if you're concerned about ordering something like this through the mail, don't be. The SV folks obviously take great pains to ensure that their products arrive safely and in good working order.

Physically, the unit is impressive both in its size and its construction. I was a bit surprised by the sizable presence of the thing. I thought I was adequately prepared for this after reading so many reviews on HTF but I wasn't. I can only imagine the stunned looks on the faces of first time 16-46 owners when that monster arrives. Of course, all of the real estate taken up by the SV subs is in the vertical plane, making placement much easier than with the majority of the box type subwoofers on the market. This was a major consideration for me since floor space is at a premium in my HT room. As for the actual build of the unit, very well done in my opinion. Obviously this is not a Velodyne with piano finish lacquer but the enclosure is put together well, with a very high level of fit and finish. The tube is covered with very tasteful, velour like, black carpeting and is capped with a matte black, metal grill and trim ring. This grill is particularly functional in that it keeps foreign objects from finding their way into the top-mounted port. Those with small children in the house have no question about the need for this little feature. The black wooden (I think) base lifts the tube several inches off of the floor giving the down firing 12" woofer the needed space to do its' magic. SV even includes spikes for placing the sub on heavy carpeting. The connections are your standard, high quality affairs that accept spades, bare wire, or 90-degree banana plugs. It's obvious that a great deal of care and thought has gone into making these subwoofers look tasteful Nothing about them says "homemade" or "DIY". If I had to classify the outward appearance of my 20-39cs, I would say "Pro-grade". It looks like something you might see in a recording studio. Finely built, but not fancy.

Let me take a moment to describe the environment of my Home Theater room and the equipment that lives there. The heart of the system is a Denon 2801 Dolby Digital receiver. This unit sends 90 watts into each of five speakers, which consist of Klipsch Heresy II mains, a Klipsch RC-3 center channel and a pair old Radio Shack Minimus 11’s at the rear. As you read this, a pair of RS-3’s is on the way so that the Radio Shack speakers can go into retirement. The room itself is 11’ wide by 17’ long with an 8’ ceiling. It’s a converted garage so the floor is carpeted concrete. Everything is located on the short wall with the listening position at 8 feet from each main speaker. At Toms’ recommendation, I located the 20-39cs in the front corner of the room behind the left main. This puts the sub approximately 10 feet from the primary listening area.

Hookup was easy, just like anything else, run some wires and connect them to the appropriate points. After all the connections were done, I had to tell the receiver that it now had a subwoofer to play with. Very satisfying! All speakers were set to small and the LFE trim was verified at 0. Using the Denons internal test tones, I calibrated everything to 75db using the Radio Shack analog SPL meter. Initially, I was using the meters A-weighted scale to do the calibration but later read that I should have been using the C-weighted setting. I’m a bit unclear as to what the difference is, exactly, but with the A-weighting, the subwoofer level was entirely too high and, while percussively impressive, was simply too much. I, in fact, became frightened for the integrity of my room just before the excursion limits of the subs’ driver were reached during one passage. Once things were re-calibrated, I began going through my library of favorite DVD’s and CD’s to see if I could find what all the fuss was about.

Right off the bat, it sounds spectacular. Having said that, let me take a moment to tell you things that did not happen when I finally managed to calibrate, locate, and run some things through it. My life was not changed forever, my world was not unsettled, angels did not sing and sparks did not fly out of my butt. Frankly, from reading some of the reviews here on the HTF I was expecting the Virgin Mary to appear and begin weeping on my carpet. No product could live up to the kind of hype that SV stuff has been getting. Since that’s out of the way, I can tell you that nothing I auditioned comes close to this for the money. I listened to Klipsch, Velodyne and a couple of lower end subs that were within financial reason and, while my impression of them was good during the audition, once the SV was in my home, it was clear that this was something altogether different. Absolutely no sloppiness or resonance is present whatsoever. The bass hits you and then it’s gone. It’s very dramatic, the difference, between the SV and say, the Klispch KSW-15. With the Klipsch, strong bass notes would linger for a few milliseconds after you knew they should have been gone. This was particularly noticeable when listening to music. My favorite audition CD is Toy Matinee’s, Toy Matinee. While consisting mainly of pop type music, the production value of this CD is just fantastic and will really show the weaknesses in a system. With the Klispsch, the resonant bass just muddied everything, masking most of the tight, clean bass guitar riffs in track 2’s “Turn it on Salvador”. With the 20-39, you can discern every pluck of the string just like you were sitting in front of the performers. The bass notes attack and then immediately decay into silence. For anyone concerned about the musicality of the SV subs, don’t be. As mentioned above, I use Heresy II’s for mains and while they certainly are not strong performers in the low Hz ranges, what they do have is very clean and accurate. This is what I love about them and was a bit worried that the addition of a subwoofer for music would cover this up. This is not the case. The 20-39 blends seamlessly with the mains and really draws no attention to itself. If I couldn’t see it, I would swear that my Heresy’s are the only things in the room and had suddenly gained and extra 30Hz of bass extension. Again, I think the 20-39 is truly unrivaled for music, in this price range.

What about movies, you ask. Since my habits fall in range of roughly 75% movies and 25% music, LFE performance is what I was really looking for when I was shopping for a subwoofer. Again, the Klipsch and the Velodyne did a good job with the scenes I auditioned at the dealer but, once more, when the 20-39 was finally in place and fully calibrated, I was all alone in a special place. Going back for a moment to my earlier description of my calibration on the “A” scale of the SPL meter. The first thing I put in after setting up was the Titan A.E. DVD. Everyone who has this disk knows how impressive the first 10 minutes of this film are from an LFE standpoint. It was during the Earth explosion scene with my 20-39 turned up way too high that this sub showed just what kind of raw, stump-pulling torque (insert blown rat reference here) it has. My room seems to have literally begun to resonate, like the walls had taken on their own life under the urging of the 20-39. Obviously, it didn’t sound “good”, but what an impressive display, before the driver hit its limits and that awful, unmistakable clanking filled the house. Now, with a more reasonable calibration level, the same scene is simply a treat to watch. I get a little giddy every time, knowing that “My” gear is putting on such an impressive show. It’s bass that you can feel in your stomach and against your chest. My nephew ran from the room waving his arms over his head. My mother jumped a full 6 inches off the couch when Buzz lit off the rockets on his backpack during the opening to Toy Story 2. People turn to me and say, “Now I understand why you never want to go to the movies”. It truly does bring the theater experience home. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever been to a theater where the sound was as good as my modest little Home Theater. Other movies I’ve tried include The Matrix, in which I was surprised to hear things I didn’t know were there. For example, during the dojo fight scene, I have never been able to hear the sound of Neos' footsteps as he runs up the post, to do his high-flying back flip. Now I can literally feel them. Prior to the 20-39, I never knew that sonic information was even there.

I could go on about the fantastic performance of the sub in every movie I’ve watched but other folks have already done that. I echo their sentiments. I realize this is not so much a review as it is a description of my experience with purchasing and owning an SV subwoofer. I am certainly no audiophile and probably wouldn’t be considered by many of you as even a serious hobbyist. If my thoughts seem a little unprofessional or uninformed, forgive me. I’m just a guy who bought a sub and thought enough of the experience to post in this forum. I continue to be very impressed with the 20-39cs and the service and support of Tom and Ron over at SVSubwoofers. Tom has always been “right there” to answer my questions and has never made me feel as though I was asking a dumb question or was wasting his time. I think SV is destined for greatness and I hope they can somehow keep the personal touch that is so much a part of owning one of their products. I can’t tell you what a reassuring feeling it is to be able to shoot off an email to the guy who designed your subwoofer, to get a question answered. I don’t think I could get that level of involvement in too many other places. I feel like I’m part of some small club, in on a secret that the rest of the world has yet to discover.

I have a feeling our secret is about to get out.

Similar Products Used:

None owned but auditioned Klipsch, Velodyne and Cerwin Vega.

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
[Jul 10, 2001]
Kurt
Audio Enthusiast

Strength:

Great, powerful bass even at less than "reference" level. Very tight and clean.

Weakness:

...

I got my sub in a little less than a week from the time that I ordered it from the SVS website. Setup was fairly easy, though I would recommend a SPL meter from Radio Shack and a test disc like Video Essentials to help out.

SVS customer support is great. I had a minor problem once everything was hooked up: as soon as I plugged in the amp, a hum came out of my main speakers. I e-mailed them, expecting an answer by that evening at best. Wrong! No more than an hour or so later, both Tom and Ron from SVS had responded with a fix for the problem. They even took the time to patiently explain it to me through subsequent e-mails when I didn't get understand the first time through. Needless to say, I was very impressed that two guys who do this stuff for a living were willing to sit down and go over the fix with a relative newbie. They take care of their customers.

Their fix worked right off the bat, and in no time I was calibrating everything with my brand new SPL meter from The Shack. After getting it all set up, I threw in Das Boot, The Matrix, Unbreakable and Saving Private Ryan. OH, YEAH. I now know that depth-charges suck, I could feel Neo blasting away with the machine gun on the helicopter, my gut knew something was wrong with the train and I was ducking under my coffee table as the beach around me was shot to hell.

Next, in went my Telarc digital recordings of Carmina Burana by Carl Orff and the 1812 Overture by Tchaikovsky (with real cannons, of course). The bass drums in Carmina Burana became a part of me while the cannons in 1812 had me wondering if Saving Private Ryan was still playing.

This is my first subwoofer purchase. I had auditioned REL and Sunfire while I was auditioning my mains, though, and am confident that I have made an exceedingly wise choice in purchasing the SVS. The bass is wonderful, not just in quantity but in quality, and I would have paid much more had I gone with something else. The only caveat here: if you are looking for a subwoofer that can be stealthy as well, then SVS may not be your cup of tea. At 39" tall and 16 1/2" in diameter, it's not hard to miss. So far, people have looked impressed more than anything else, so I'm not worried about size.

I would also like to note that this is my first internet purchase for an audio component. Up to this point I whole-heartedly subscribed to the "listen before you buy" philosophy of audio purchasing. While I still believe that auditioning is the best way to know if a piece of equipment is right for you, I now also think that a lot of research can prove invaluable as well. After reading the reviews both here and at other internet audio sites, chatting via the forums with others who own SVS subs, checking out the SVS website, and e-mailing SVS with questions before I bought, I felt confident that I was getting a quality product. To any who may read this review that are hesitant because they cannot actually see or hear this subwoofer live, let me assure you that this is a good product from a good company that puts customer service first. I recommend doing business with this company.

Five of five stars in both categories with no reservations.

P.S. - The $850.00 price tag includes the purchase of the Samson 700 amp as a package deal with the subwoofer.

Similar Products Used:

None, but have auditioned REL, Sunfire

OVERALL
RATING
5
VALUE
RATING
5
Showing 11-20 of 49  

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