excellent LFE

none

this sub can create earthquake effects right in your own home. but the great thing is that it's undistorted and they don't bottom out on me (you know the clapping effect) this sub can go low and loud depending on where you set your controls. for H/T I could not ask for anything better this sub is SECOND TO NONE! but what really get's me is how musical they are to. very flat blends well with my fronts. the sound of bass is so realistic it reproduces bass notes with a solid punch if you prefer or you can go mild. whatever you choose you won't be disapointed I highly recomend this excellent sub to your H/T set up. ROCK ON SVS. and good luck with yours

Similar Products Used:

yamaha

Outstanding low bass performance and phenomenal extension. I'm hearing things that I never heard before out of a DVD. SVS Customer service is excellent and the sub offers the best bang for the buck by far.

None, unless you count knocking pictures off the walls.

I placed my order for one of these while they were still in the pre-ordering stages and had to wait three months for it. It was worth it. The SVS customer service was second to none. I've never had a company go so far to satisfy one single customer as SVS did for me. They went so far as to ship out the sub early without a grille on it so I could have it before a big movie party I was throwing. Then they shipped out the grille at no extra charge when they finally came back in stock. Truly phenomenal service and support. Listening to some of the more "famous" DVD low bass scenes is truly a moving experience now. The Haunting, The Matrix, Toy Story 2 and others are really different movies now with the SVS. This is by far the best upgrade I've ever made to my home theater system. The value for your money is without equal. It would cost at least twice this much to get similar performance from any of my local equipment stores. I can't stress enough how good this thing sounds and how well put together it is. In this price range there is no equal in terms of bass performance.

Looks nice, sound good, easy to hook in

can be hard to tweak out (but all subs would be, right?), tall, only online purchasing

When I first received the sub, i hooked it in and pushed it, and it really did not sound all that great. I guess I was eager to get it up and running, and should have spent more time twaeking. I guess there is no accounting for user abuse...

Anyway, after I calmed down, and really worked it into the system properly, it really does seem pretty nice. It does get down lower nd with more authority than my old sub. It does sem pretty natural, like part of my existing system. It seems to handle the music and H/T equally well, though I do have to constatly re-adjust levels between the two.

I am not really a bass person... I want bass, but that THUMP-THUMP is way too much. This seem to add to the bass nicely without the THUMP-THUMP. Having the amp integrated is a big plus!

Similar Products Used:

Klipsch Sub (Long ago forgot the model number)

Price, quality, features, and output!

May bottom out on extreme scenes at high volumes

Well my SVS arrived this morning, only a week after the order. It was on my doorstep when I awoke this morning at 9AM. I ordered the SVS 20-39PC. Now, here's the kicker...I already own a sunfire signature. After reading all of the reviews on SVS, I decided to order one and compare it to my Sunfire Sig. If the SVS was better I would sell my sig for $1100 or so, and buy a 2nd SVS. Heres the results...

I hooked up the SVS and started with Saving Private Ryan. I was VERY impressed. The boominess of my siggie was gone and it was deep impact, crystal clear bass. Very heavy and very deep. I then hooked up my siggie again and the boominess and distortion was back, BUT the sig seemed like it had more output. I put the volume on the SVS to about half and tried "The Haunting" - During the "coming mother" scene, the SVS bottomed out for a brief moment, while the siggie did not bottom out. BUT the siggie sounded more bloaty and boomy, less detailed. Then I went to Jurrasic Park with the T-rex scene. The SVS blew my siggie away in ths one. The sound was so much more detailed and clear. SO here we have a $750 sub up against a $2000 sub and which one is winning so far? The SVS by a small margin. I did not like that it bottomed out so easily, since my siggie never bottomed out once. Also, this was all taking place in a bedroom, so its not a huge room. I just built a dedicated HT room and it is my 3rd car garage converted. It will be finished Friday and the sub will be in the new room.

So with the SVS ahead by a margin, I plopped in ANTS with the sneaker stomp scene. Well, for some reason it did not sound as good on the SVS. The siggie won this one. Then one last test for movies was with toy story 2 - The opening scene with the SVS brought on a huge rattling noise and it was VERY noticeable! I said, GREAT...looks like i'll be packing it up and shipping it back. I went to investigate and it turns out it was my double doors rattling like they were trying to be forced open from the power of the bass! I held the doors and it was clean room filling bass. The SVS trounced the siggie. So after all tests for HT, I tried some music. Plopped in Madonnas "Music" (Bass heavy) and the SVS won hands down here. The siggie sucked at music in my opinion and always did. So, guess what? I have my Sunfire signature for sale for $1100 and will be ordering a 2nd SVS! Hopefully having two will eliminate any bottoming out problems.

Thanks SVS for a great sub at a GREAT price. I only have spent a few hours with it but its deinately the best buy in subwoofers. When you guys release your new SS and ultra line, you will blow away any competition. You guys are destined for greatness!

Steve

Similar Products Used:

Sunfire Signature Tru Sub

Incredibly deep and accurate bass, never boomy. Though large, the subwoofer itself is remarkably attractive in the corner of my room.

It is quite large, but as I mentioned it still looks good in my room.

I am a music enthusiast much more than I appreciate home theater, so most of my review is focused on that. My upgrade plan was to go from Paradigm Titans and a PDR-12 sub to Studio 40s and a SVS 20-39PC. I ordered and received the sub first, and so had a good chance to see the improvements of the sub itself.

I didn't expect it to be so, but getting the sub made me listen to all of my favorite CDs all over again with new respect, especially the bass-heavy ones of course. I listen to a lot of Progressive Rock and Metal, and most of it just never sounded right to me with the PDR-12. The bass just came across as overpowering, but I never realized that this was because my sub was a bit boomy. I figured the CDs that brought this out were mixed poorly... and boy was I ever wrong.

With the SVS, bass is perfectly tight and accurate, and CONTROLLED. Whereas before I had reverberating bass dominating my soundstage with Dream Theater's "Scenes from a Memory", I now consider it to be one of my best sounding CDs. The subwoofer's deep bass just sounds like a cohesive part of the music now. I could go on and on with more precise examples, but I think I've made my point.

As for movies, I'm sure you can't even come close at this price point, and many have said that this extends to subs up to $2000. This thing goes down so low it's absolutely scary.

Similar Products Used:

Paradigm PDR-12, Kenwood Subwoofer

Clean, flat bass, build quality, outstanding customer support

None

Dollar for dollar, this sub is the best investment I've made in my home theater. It blends smoothly with my existing speakers and when called for, hits me in the chest with unbelievable, deep, clean bass. I've watched numerous movies and listened to several CD's and I still get a stupid grin on my face. To top it all off, the folks at SVS provide an unmatched level of customer service.

The cleanest, firmest, non-boomy/musy, best sounding sub you can get for the money!!

Only available on line. tall

I'm not one to jump into anything. I HAVE to know what I'm getting into. Thus, I'm the shopper from H^!!. I have invested countless hours to the search for the best sub for the buck and was nearly happy with the VLF 1012 (I auditioned it against every other sub I could find and it won) Until I noticed a transformer hum that I, the dealer and Vel could not find.

So I started shopping again and had to move up in price (so I thought) to get simaler performace...

After reading review after review I decided to give it a try and ordered a 20-39pc (With the satifiaction policy all I could lose was shipping costs and I would still be way under the price of all the other units I was considering)

WAY GOOD CHOICE!!!! I'v had it now about 3 weeks and am still SHOCKED at the performance. Beleave what you read these are by far the best subwoofer for the buck ( and really hang or blow the doors off far more expensive options).

IF YOU WANT WORLD CLASS BASS, without a second mortage, fear not these guys are for real and you will be very happy, I AM and I am very hard to please and/or impress.

Well done SVS. Keep up the amazing work!

Similar Products Used:

Velodyne VLF 1012 (most recent) many many other auditions.

Outstanding low-bass performance, very musical, surpringly unobtrusive given its size

Might not fit into your room or decorating scheme

The SVS sub is the single most expensive speakers in my 5.1 home theater system (see below for the rest of the gear) -- but even so, the sub is a price/performance leader.

The bass goes very, very low without distorting. The performance is very musical. I often set my main speakers, PSB Stratus Silver(i)s, to "Small" even though they are rated to 40 Hz. This setting really lets the SVS do its thing, which is clean, musical, powerful bass.

I listen to a wide mix of music from Yo-Yo Ma to Sting to Diana Krall to college acapella groups. The SVS keeps up with even very demanding music, such as the mad cello bowing of Yo-Yo Ma or the double bass plucking on Diana Krall recordings. The SVS just adds an authority and depth to all bass recordings.

Want a bass workout? Listen to the massive drums on a Telarc recording called "Aaron Copland: The Music of America" (CD-80339). The first track is "Fanfare for the Common Man" (you'll recognize the tune even if you don't recognize the title) and the SVS really puts guts behind the orchestra's massive drums.

It's really unfair comparing the SVS 20-39PC to the Cambridge BassCube 12, which is less than half the price, but it's the only other sub I've used: the BassCube is not bad at its price point, but the SVS blows the BassCube away.

One of my favorite home theater demos with the sub is the Monster, Inc. trailer on the Toy Story 2 DVD. When the monsters knock on the door right before they break in, it feels like someone's going to break down the wall. The deep bass absolutely makes that piece of movie-making work.

I felt comfortable buying the SVS without auditioning it based on the strong reviews here and at Home Theater Forum. I also find it reassuring that the owners of the company are so active on both Home Theater Forum and the AV Science forum. Tom and Ron and the whole crew at SVS obviously love what they do and make customer service an absolute priority.

The sub gets my unqualified recommendation. The only reason I can think of for not getting this is that it doesn't fit into your room either because of its size or looks. Tucked into a corner of my room, I actually find it surprisingly unobtrusive given its rather big dimensions. See if you agree:
http://community.webshots.com/album/11950751ppaBfQuqsb

If you can fit a SVS (or 2 or more!) in your room, the only decision you'll have to make is on the model number. I decided on the 20-39PC because it seemed like the right balance between very low bass and power SPL. Also, I wanted the convenience of the integrated power amp, which is more than adequate to drive the sub.

Ordering was a breeze, and they didn't charge my credit card until it shipped. Total time elapsed from hitting the "Order" button to the FedEx truck showing up at my door: 8 days, which was very speedy.

My gear:
PSB Stratus Silver(i) front and left speakers
Paradigm CC-100 center (soon to be replaced by the PSB Stratus C6i)
Energy e:XL-15 surround speakers
-----------
Marantz SR-8000 receiver
Sony KP-53V85 rear projection TV
Panasonic DVD-CV50 DVD player
Sony SLV-920HF VCR
Philips CDC 935 CD changer

Similar Products Used:

Cambridge Soundworks BassCube 12 ($350)

build quality, customer service, quality and extention of bass, price / performance ratio

none

ASSOCIATED EQUIPMENT:
Toshiba 50X81 Hi-def ready 4:3 RPTV
Toshiba 5109 progressive scan DVD
Kenwood VR-307 (DD only)
PSB Image 5Ts main
PSB Image 9C center
Acoustic Research AR15 rears
SVS 20-39pc (replaces NHT SWP2 with MA-1 outboard amp, and a Definitive Technology PFTL15+)
Cables and interconnects: BetterCables component video cables, Audioquest indigo speaker wire, Monster sub cable, Monster coax.

Let me start by saying that this is my first review of a product and that most of it was done subjectively. I used Stereophile’s test disk 2 to evaluate the extension of the SVS and other subs I’ve had in my system. I know, I know, I need to get a rat shack meter and Avia, and I will do that soon. But I thought it might be interesting to hear what a regular shmoe thinks with only his ears.

Right out of the box I was impressed with the smoothness of the sub. The boominess that I thought was associated with my room, was completely gone. For the first time I DIDN’T notice the fact that a sub was in my system -- that is until it kicked in. I was pretty impressed with this because my cheapy Kenwood has a 100hz crossover (kind of high). Performing the frequency sweep with the Stereophile test track, I was again pleasantly surprised with the overall smoothness and evenness. Both my NHT and DefTech displayed a HUGE increased in sound from 60hz to around 45hz. With the SVS it was very even and controlled. I liked that. I always thought my room was the culprit, but now I’m convinced it was my equipment. I’m guessing that a lot of this smoothness is a result of the low distortion claims.

Another big difference is the extension. With my DefTech I heard a HUGE rolloff below 40hz. At 20hz the cone would move a little but there was hardly any sound and you couldn’t feel a darn thing (DefTech specs indicate a frequency response down to 14hz, ha ha). With the SVS, everything is audible and felt.

The smoothness I referred to earlier is something I’m not used to (I say smoothness a lot don't I?)-- it still has a lot of punch, but the source of the sound is far less localized than with my other subs. Not only that, but the SVS seems much less placement sensitive. With the NHT and DefTech, I was constantly fussing with positioning -- not so with the SVS -- I just plunked it in the corner and fired it up. I’m sure it’ll just get better once I mess with it some more.

I’ve only auditioned a couple of movies -- the usual suspects like Toy Story II, the shootout scene in Heat, the Haunting, Armagedon, SPR, and The Fifth Element. I had a nice surprise with Almost Famous. When the band kicks in during their live set, the drums had volume, punch and extension that made you feel like you were actually at a concert. Anyone else feel this scene was an impressive one?

To be fair, my NHT only had a 10” woofer, but it was very fast on music. HT tore it too shreds though. I always felt that it was about to self-destruct. Maybe that fragile aspect is what made it good for music. The DefTech was actually pretty good on a lot of material, but it had the huge hump which made things boomy. The sharp rolloff also made me feel that I was missing a lot of information down low (which I was).

By the way, my wife HATES the SVS. When I brought it through the door she freaked, thought it was monsterous, and hated the way it looked. She thinks I went over the deep end with excessiveness and wishes I could be like our neighbor who has a Bose system -- “It sounds so good, and it’s sooo tiny you can’t even see it!” In reality, the SVS sits right behind the right front speaker and completely blends in. I really like the way it looks. Oh well, it’s my hobby not hers! Another plus for those who have concerns (I did) -- the cats don’t even come close to it. No interest in using it as a scratching post (whew!).

All in all, I think this is a great product and I can’t see myself wanting something different for a LONG time. I love that feeling of having one of the best products out there. I sleep better now that I can eliminate a subwoofer from my “I wish I had ...” dreams (you know you all have them!)

Thanks again to Tom and Ron at SVS for answering all my stupid, obvious, and repetitive questions. Not one of them went unanswered and this played a large roll in my decision to buy a product without auditioning it first.

Good job guys!

Similar Products Used:

Def Tech PFTL15+, NHT SWP2

Perfomance, looks, price

None

I'll make this short and sweet. The only way to improve on this unit's performance would be to buy it a twin sister/brother! This is the smoothest, tightest, lowest playing sub that I have heard for less than $3K! This is also the best upgrade I have performed since I got into this
addictive hobby over 20 years ago. My hat's off to the people at SVS! They are also the best when it come to Customer Service; I wish more companies would follow their lead.

Similar Products Used:

PSB Stratus Subsonic 3i, JBL PSW-D115, Mirage BPS-100i