[TotalDistinction]

After reading everyone's impressions of subwoofers, I decided to buy the SVS PB12-NSD sub. I'd like to thank everyone in this forum for their feedback (especially eljay).

My original intent was to purchase the PB10-NSD but my basement is currently unfinished leaving it wide open and for $200 more, I thought it was a worthy investment for, hopefully, my last purchase of a sub.

Anyway, I hooked it up to my receiver and was underwhelmed at first. I guess I had expected to be blown off my seat. After calling my ISF certified brother over, he called me an "idiot" for not setting everything up right and calibrated my environment. After that, I thought I had brought in the "big bad wolf" because I felt like my house was going to get blown down!!!!!

I am thrilled with this sub and may rarely get to play it at reference levels but I'm happy to not have to second guess myself of the 10 over the 12.

I was fortunate to be able to go to sonicboomaudio.com's store and pick up the sub. I dealt with "Mason" and my experience was great. He offered for me to try the PB10-NSD first and if I wasn't happy with it, I could exchange it for the PB12-NSD. In my initial challenges (remember, my brother called me an idiot), I was able to speak with Mason and he helped me as best as he could. I highly recommend sonicboomaudio.com (this is the only Cdn distributor anyway).

I even went through email support with SVS directly and was immediately given a well detailed response with the offer to return it directly to them if it's defective. My overall experience with SVS and their product was nothing short of fantastic.

Anyway, sorry for the long post but just wanted to give my impression of this great sub and my experience with the Canadian distributor and SVS themselves.

P.S. After calibration at 75db, my gain on the sub is at noon exactly (go figure).

 

[mfabien]

...P.S. After calibration at 75db, my gain on the sub is at noon exactly (go figure).

So is mine (at noon) and my room is 35' long x 15' wide with an opening of 20' on the left (the bar section) for the first 11' in length.

 

[eljay]

Congratulations on the purchase, TotalDistinction! I'm glad to hear that you're enjoying the PB12-NSD. The guys at both SVS and SonicBoomAudio have good reputations for helpful advice and customer service.

After calibration at 75db, my gain on the sub is at noon exactly.

Ditto. But I also have my receiver's LFE level down to -5dB (on a scale of -20 to 0dB).

I'm looking forward to hearing my PB10 in my finished basement HT room. Given how well it performs (which is very well!) in the open-concept main floor of our 1,900 sq.ft. house, I'm thinking it should perform even better once it's housed in a fully-enclosed, 14'x30' room.

 

[TotalDistinction]

...But I also have my receiver's LFE level down to -5dB (on a scale of -20 to 0dB).

What does that metric mean from your post above?

 

[eljay]

What does that metric mean from your post above?

SVS suggests - and I'm just paraphrasing here - that a user lower the output of his receiver's LFE channel to ensure that the signal being sent to the sub is in no way distorted. The compensation for this during calibration is to increase the subwoofer's gain/volume. So, I lowered my receiver's LFE channel output from 0dB (the maximum output) to -5dB and bumped the subwoofer's gain to "noon".

 

[TotalDistinction]

SVS suggests - and I'm just paraphrasing here - that a user lower the output of his receiver's LFE channel to ensure that the signal being sent to the sub is in no way distorted. The compensation for this during calibration is to increase the subwoofer's gain/volume. So, I lowered my receiver's LFE channel output from 0dB (the maximum output) to -5dB and bumped the subwoofer's gain to "noon".

That's really good information to know. A cleaner signal from the receiver is definitely better but that's also suggesting that the signal being sent to the sub at 0db is possibly distorted.

But I understand the premise behind doing this. Thanks for the explanation.

 

[wantmorehd]

I'd like to echo TotalDistinction's comments on this sub also.

I picked up with help my PB12-NSD in Markham also (glad we own a wagon) and my first thoughts were, WOW, this thing is huge and heavy. Once home, I placed it where my old sub was but just didn't like the sound I was (or should I say, wasn't) hearing so I found a better location. Having to move some furniture around, recalibrating the sub I sat down and realized my spouse is not going to like where I put things. When she got home, things did not go over so well and I was left with finding a new location for it. Now in location number 3, the sound was still pretty good (not as great as the previous location) and I re-calibrated it again.

Playing through some DVD/BDs I was starting to like what I was hearing. Deeper, tighter, more natural sounding bass. I have only sat through two full movies so far and I'm noticing more (and better) low end to the sound. Even though we can't play our movies/music at reference levels, I'm still very happy with the results. Is the PB12 a little too big for our small place, probably but with only a small increase in size and cost over the NSD10, why not.

Its my first time buying from an 'internet store' and the savings on this are amazing. I feel like I bought a $1500-2000 sub at a huge discount. Also the product is great in quality and everything I have read says that SVS is tops for customer service.

Maybe I should get an Emotiva XPA-3 next because I'd be saving more money, right?

 

[eljay]

Maybe I should get an Emotiva XPA-3 next because I'd be saving more money, right?

The XPA-3 and XPA-5 sound like they're awesome amps.

My buddy swears by his Emotiva LPA-1, and he'll most likely buy the UMC-1 processor when it comes out. I'm toying with the idea of the UPA-7 and UMC-1 at some point.

 

[marsilians]

I know this is off topic but I have an XPA-5 and it opened up my sound details so much that I am going through my entire CD and DVD collection for the 2nd time.

 

[wantmorehd]

marsilians...you have been sent a PM.

I've been watching a few more movies and I'm loving this sub more and more everyday. I haven't gotten into the good quality stuff (ie: Blu-ray) for movies yet as I'm catching up on my TMN_HD recordings.

The good news is I have the following BD shipping now...Transformers, Kill Bill (1 and 2), Shoot 'Em Up and Batman Begins. I know I can't wait but I'm sure my neighbors can.

Another thing I did was buy the RS_Meter and calibrated my speakers. I thought I did a good job by ear but was way off. This has also improved my listening environment a lot its almost like a new system.

The only bad thing now (if you can call it bad) is I just want to sit around watching movies or listening to music all the time.

 

[marsilians]

marsilians...you have been sent a PM.

I have replied to it.

The only bad thing now (if you can call it bad) is I just want to sit around watching movies or listening to music all the time.

Thats what we all want to achieve at the end of the day. The journey is as much thrilling as to reach the end point which we may never be able to find. Enjoy it for many, mnay hours

 

[frontside720]

I'm very close to buying this sub but I'm concerned with how loud it might be.

I'm in a 3 story 3000+ square foot home and I plan on putting this sub in my basement (1000 Square Feet). I have two little children and they are on they sleep in the top level of the home. Will this "rattle" the house or the upper floors?

I like loud movies but I don't want to wake the kids.

Thanks

 

[TotalDistinction]

I'm very close to buying this sub but I'm concerned with how loud it might be.

I'm in a 3 story 3000+ square foot home and I plan on putting this sub in my basement (1000 Square Feet). I have two little children and they are on they sleep in the top level of the home. Will this "rattle" the house or the upper floors?

I like loud movies but I don't want to wake the kids.

Thanks

This sub WILL rattle the house and will be "felt" on the upper floors. I can't reasonably play my content once the kids go to bed unless it's on "night mode" or something similar.

Not scientific evidence. Just my experience with this sub to date.

 

[eljay]

I'm very close to buying this sub but I'm concerned with how loud it might be.
...
I like loud movies but I don't want to wake the kids.

It makes no sense to buy a less-capable subwoofer simply to avoid disturbing the kids' sleep. If the PB12-NSD is too loud at night, turn it down. And when the opportunity to let loose with LFE thunder presents itself, turn it right back up again!

 

[TotalDistinction]

It makes no sense to buy a less-capable subwoofer simply to avoid disturbing the kids' sleep. If the PB12-NSD is too loud at night, turn it down. And when the opportunity to let loose with LFE thunder presents itself, turn it right back up again!

Excellent point. Sometimes the easiest thought escapes us (i.e. turn down the sub).

 

[Toolatecrew]

This sub WILL rattle the house and will be "felt" on the upper floors. I can't reasonably play my content once the kids go to bed unless it's on "night mode" or something similar.

Not scientific evidence. Just my experience with this sub to date.

All due respect (as I'm sure your intentions are good). If the poster is corrct and he's putting this in a 1000 SQUARE Foot basment 1000 X 8 foot ceiling is 8000 cubic feet. That is HUGE That's more than 4 times the volume of my room .

The SVS is a nice sub but I seriously doubt it will rattle an 8000 cubic foot basement let alone an entire 3 story house to the top floor.

The SVS is a great sub for the price and will do as good or better job in that big basement as anything at the price but I would suggest the sub be placed near to the listening position lest it get swallowed by the room. In a basment that size you need 2 subs. As far as waking the kids if your sub is properly calibrated it won't wake them anymore than playing a movie without the sub as the output should be ralativley matched.

 

[eljay]

It may not shake the house - although some bass will make its way upstairs - but it should do a fine job of shaking the basement. (My PB10-NSD does a surprisingly good job of shaking my 1,900 sq. ft. open concept house...and I can't wait to see what it'll do in my soon-to-be-built, 450 sq. ft. HT room! )

 

[frontside720]

Yeah I agree

I really don't think one sub will rattle the upstairs it's a long way to travel to shake the house.

After talking to Mason at Sonic Boom I may end up getting the 2039PC cylinder sub.

Thanks for the replies sorry for hyjacking your thread!

 

[eljay]

I really don't think one sub will rattle the upstairs it's a long way to travel to shake the house.

Which takes care of your concern about waking the kids...

After talking to Mason at Sonic Boom I may end up getting the 2039PC cylinder sub.

If you don't mind my asking, are you getting the 20-39 PCi or the 20-39 PC-Plus? The former is only $20 less than the PB12-NSD and, based on the specs., likely won't outperform it. The latter will...but for an extra $280.

 

[Toolatecrew]

Yeah I agree

I really don't think one sub will rattle the upstairs it's a long way to travel to shake the house.

After talking to Mason at Sonic Boom I may end up getting the 2039PC cylinder sub.

Thanks for the replies sorry for hyjacking your thread!

Do you have space concerns? As mentioned below this would be about the only reason to get the PC vs the NSD.

The PC takes up a smaller footprint since its a tube. The driver and the amp are indentical but the PC is tuned higher so the NSD will give good output down to 18hz or so. The PC rolls off big after 20. The NSD has very flat response above 18 hz. The PC has a TINY bit more output between 20 and 30.

I would also look at the AV123 MFW 15 its $699 US but you might find B stiock for less. But you'll have to deal with duty and maybe more shipping depensing where you are. I think it will outperform any of the 12 inch subs.

Any of those choices should be very nice but between the PC and the NSD I'd go NSD