Now that the SVS SB13-Ultra is out.....

[Junior19]

I have been waiting a few months for this thing to come out, and see what price it comes out with. My question is, do I go with dual SVS SB-12's or a single SB13-Ultra?

I included a pic below of my listening room. My sub placement is very very limited, they will be placed inside the felt door cabinets, which I have two, one on each bottom corner of the cabinet. (one is hidden behind the countertop in the pic) The cabinet will accomodate both sub sizes of subs
(21"Hx18.5"Wx22"D).

My room is very large 24' Wide 23' Deep w 9' Tall flat cieling, also have an 8' wide opening to a large hallway. Speakercraft AIM7-Three in cieling speakers in 7.1 with Onkyo TXNR809

Is the SB13-Ultra worth the extra couple hundred bucks over dual SB12's? Going dual SB13-Ultra's I wont do, atleast not in the near future.

Thanks for any help you guys can offer.

 

[j_garcia]

I honestly would not place them in those cabinets if at all possible. Just because it was the "right" location for the built in, does not mean they will be the best spot for sound. Even with screened doors, you will likely still suffer loss of sound due to placing them essentially inside another box. Based on that, if that is the only option, I'd probably lean toward dual 12s. I'd guess the SB13 should be sufficient to fill the room as well though, but for the size of room, I'd ask SVS directly which they'd recommend. A buddy of mine recently got the dual SB12s and I still haven't had a chance to go listen to them.

Great bass will be somewhat difficult in a nearly square room of that size as well, so placement could be quite critical in there and proper calibration will definitely be necessary.

 

[Adam]

Hi, Junior. Do you have any subs now? If so, how do they sound in those cabinets?

My brother has a sub placed inside of a built-in very similar to yours, and he seems happy with it. I agree with John that it's not optimal - but it might still be enjoyable.

I wish that I knew how to answer your question, but it's a tough call. If it were me, I'd probably go with the dual SB12s because it gives you a better chance to smooth out the response over the room, and room gain should help you get more output in the lower frequency range. I agree, though - ask SVS what they think. They were always good about helping me out when I was shopping, and never tried to talk me into anything more expensive.

 

[djreef]

I guess there's no point in asking me.

DJ

 

[Adam]

I guess there's no point in asking me.

DJ

I take it that you're happy with your duals?

 

[djreef]

I take it that you're happy with your duals?

O ya, and considering the deal I got on them - less than a grand for both. I'm good with the flexibilty.

But I did just read your review of the 13. A pair of them would rawk! I'm feeling severe upgraditis. I need to win the Powerball.

DJ

 

[Junior19]

Thanks for your responses, unfortunately since this is my great room/living room/kitchen lol, I have to put them in the cabinet, its also the reason for my in-cieling speakers making everything integrate for spouse approval but I am very happy with them. Speakercraft makes a great product.

Adam, the sub I have now is a canton AS100C, its awful to begin with so cant really infer anything from its performance in the cabinet, I know the cabinets are not ideal but this is about making the best with what I have to work with.

I was concerned the 2- SB12's would not provide enough headroom in a room my size, but I will contact SVS to get their opinion on what would work best.

 

[Adam]

I forgot to mention - that is one excellent looking room! Really nicely done. The pooch seems to like it, too.

 

[mike c]

i'm thinking, the SB13 will still have more extension, and cleaner sound.

but $ per headroom, you could ask SVS if they have a triple SB12NSD deal.

then again, since you are not colocating the two sb12's ... the sb13 will have the greater headroom.

 

[pbc]

i'm thinking, the SB13 will still have more extension, and cleaner sound.

but $ per headroom, you could ask SVS if they have a triple SB12NSD deal.

then again, since you are not colocating the two sb12's ... the sb13 will have the greater headroom.

Agreed. Plus the SB12NSD rolls off MUCH faster than the SB13-Ultra below around 22hz or so. So even if you added multiples, you'd be losing quite a bit below 20hz regardless of what the CEA-2010 data shows....

I don't think duals are going to do much "Smoothing" in the OP's room if the plan is to keep them very close in the cabinets. I'd go with the single SB13, and possibly add one down the line (maybe on the used market?).

 

[Adam]

I don't think duals are going to do much "Smoothing" in the OP's room if the plan is to keep them very close in the cabinets.

I was thinking that systems like XT32 might fair better with multiple subs. I know that SVS sold their multi-sub equalizer for a while which did a really nice job.

Do you think something like that would help, or is a single sub still better?

 

[Junior19]

Spoke to Doug at SVS who suggested I would still get more output and extension with a single SB13-Ultra versus dual SB12-NSD's. In a room my size he said room gain would be minimal (5000cu ft). So that introductory price looks enticing, he also noted they always give 5% off dual subwoofer purchases of all models.

 

[Adam]

I don't know if they still do, but they at least used to give that 5% discount to returning customers - meaning, you wouldn't need to buy both at the same time. You could ask them if they still do that (I know that I'll be asking if I decide to buy another one ).

You sure won't see me trying to talk you out of the SB13-Ultra. It is a spectacular sub, IMO.

 

[djreef]

So that introductory price looks enticing, he also noted they always give 5% off dual subwoofer purchases of all models.

Man, I'd forgotten about that. O crap, my honey would kill me.

DJ

 

[Adam]

O crap, my honey would kill me.

You just need to use "shopping logic" on her. You wouldn't be spending $2850, you'd be SAVING $350 (preorder discount plus 5% off). I mean, come on, you'd have to be stupid not to SAVE that much money!

 

[Irvrobinson]

Man, I'd forgotten about that. O crap, my honey would kill me.

DJ

If she let you buy an Audioquest power cord, SVS subs should be no problem. They actually do something...

 

[djreef]

Don't kid yourself, they were very deeply discounted clearance items and worth every penny. They just coincidently, happened to be the lengths I needed for my actives.

DJ