Sluggo's SVS PB-1000 Subwoofer Review (Challenge)

S

sluggo819

Audiophyte
WARNING!!!!The following review may possibly be entertaining, enlightening, boring, silly, innocuous, or even none of the above, but surely not hazardous to your health. With that said, be careful what you wish for, because you just may get it. This Christmas I wished for an SVS PB-1000 subwoofer and Santa brought me one (albeit a little late). He told me it is my Christmas present either way, but if I'm willing to write an review that a few audiophiles and home theater junkies find worthy enough, then I get my present for free. Otherwise if you fail, then your Christmas gift will cost you 500 Samolians payable to Santa VS. In other words, I am one of the 10 chosen to for the SVS Subwoofer Review Challenge.

Within this review, there may be subliminal messages, see if you can spot them. BUY THIS SUBWOOFER

So, as I begin writing this review, I sit here listening to "Alterbridge Live from Amsterdam" DVD cranked up to about 120 decibels for wisdom and inspiration. The wife and children have been removed from the premises for safety purposes. In addition, no animals were harmed during this review (well,2 cats were scared a shitless)

FYI, I have been an Audiophile and home theater enhtusiast since the mid 80's, and have owned numerous pieces of equipment over the years.

Let's start off with my system. It is configured for 7.1 My TV is a Samsung UN60ES8000. I am using an Onkyo TX-NR-818 receiver, and my Blu-Ray source is an Oppo BDP 93. The main speakers are Gershman Acoustics Avant Garde RX-20's (amazing speakers if you've never heard them). The center channel is an Aperion Intimus 5C. The surround speakers are Aperion Zona wireless speakers (because Lord knows the wife's first commandment is "there shall be no exposed speaker wires in the family room"). And I also have a pair of B&W speakers (I don't know the model) in the ceiling that I use for surround back channel. And oh yeah, how could I forget, I'm using an SVS PB-1000 subwoofer. BUY THIS SUBWOOFER

My room is 18 x 25 with 10 ft ceilings. It's a decent size space. My system set up was a bit of a challenge because everything is brand new (except for the Gershmans and the Oppo), and I put the entire system together at the same time. I had two weeks to listen, but calibrating the system took about half the time.

First off, I must give a tip of the hat and tremendous thanks to Ed Mullen from SVS. Ed spent almost an hour with me on the phone going over every system detail to make sure the PB-1000 was integrated perfectly and doing what SVS knows it can do, and boy can it do it! ED, you are a scholar and a gentleman.

Since this is a review of the subwoofer, let's try to focus solely on that. BUY THIS SUBWOOFER

The packaging of this subwoofer is outstanding and what we would all hope for from a high end speaker company. It is professionally double boxed with heavy cardboard. SVS wants to make sure it arrives at it's destination safely.
The PB-1000 is very solidly built, and the black ash finish is sure to please even the most discerning wife. And since we're on the topic of wives, I'm sure some of you can relate to a home theater enthusiast's frustration of trying to properly review a subwoofer when the wife and kids are present. How many have heard "turn it down, it's too loud!", or even the impromptu vacuuming while your favorite reference disc is playing. And of course once the kids go to sleep all bets are off.

But thankfully I did get the opportunity to push this subwoofer to it's limits (at least my interpretation of limits) to see what it can do. I'm not the guy whose going to talk about technical details, measurements, roll off's, +3db hz or whatever,etc,etc. I'm sure there will be 9 other reviews for that. You'll get the picture I'm sure. I'm going to give you the layman's interpretation. THIS SUB ROCKS! Literally, it will rock your house. It never sounded bloated, boomy, or distorted in any way. I know a lot of you talk about subs that can do more, but I almost don't know why many folks would even want more. My house is not small. It's 4,ooo sq.ft and the room the subwoofer is in is bigger than average. The sound is tight, controlled, and plays louder than my ears or neighbors can tolerate.

My choice of material for test purposes came about in different ways. A lot of it not even planned out. The one planned Blu-Ray was Men in Black III (ya know,family approved). I came upon a good test movie on cable by accident- Jurassic Park III. And I also watched a whole lot of episodes of Gator Boys on Animal Planet. Don't laugh, the PB-1000 made the gators sound like dinosaurs in your living room. It was pretty awesome. If you're fortunate enough to own an SVS subwoofer, watch Gator Boys and see what I'm talking about. BUY THIS SUBWOOFER

My music material was "Avenged Sevenfold Live in the LBC" DVD, and as I mentioned before "Alterbridge LIVE from Amsterdam". Both DVD's were listened to as I wrote this review, and both were played at beyond reference level. The PB-1000 was a beast. My whole house rocked! My ears are still ringing

The Gershman Avant Garde's are no slouch's and can handle deep bass on their own (at least musically), the PB-1000 took over those duties flawlessly. I've had subwoofers before and I never liked how they sounded with really good full range speakers. But the PB-1000 is so smooth, deep, and controlled and it really get's the job done. BUY THIS SUBWOOFER

In conclusion, I'm sure you have guessed that I not only like this subwoofer, I love this subwoofer. I give it my highest recommendation. I even think it just may be the best piece of equipment in my system. The PB-1000 has found a new home in the corner of my family room. It will be there for many years to come. I can proudly say when people hear my system and I know they will ask "what kind of subwoofer is that?", I will say "that's an SVS, isn't it amazing?" :D

I want to thank Ed Mullen and everybody at SVS for giving me the opportunity to participate in this challenge. You guys are THE BEST!

btw, if you haven't yet figured out the subliminal message's in this review, then I'll tell you. It was BUY THIS SUBWOOFER!
 
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