SVS Model 20-39CS Subwoofers
SVS Model 20-39CS Subwoofers
[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, |
[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+ |
[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. Similar Products Used: Velodyne 1215xII, Boston acoustic VR500 |
[Jan 23, 2001]
Mike S.
Audio Enthusiast
Strength:
You name it.....if it's a plus for a sub, it's got it.
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). Similar Products Used: Klipsch KSW-15 |
[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? Similar Products Used: AudioSource SW-10 |
[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. Similar Products Used: JBL PSW-D110 sub |
[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 |
[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. |
[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. Similar Products Used: None owned but auditioned Klipsch, Velodyne and Cerwin Vega. |
[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. Similar Products Used: None, but have auditioned REL, Sunfire |