I tried to post a review the other day and lost it. I think that one was better...sorry if it's too long or boring.
After listening to JG’s PB10, I knew I couldn’t hold off upgrading much longer. I considered buying his for my smallish family room, but we decided to move the HT into our larger living room next year, Toyed with moving up to the +, considered the PB12+, but decided placement and/or hiding the sub would be easier with the cylinder.
Tried to get my order placed for a pre-Xmas delivery. Almost made it. The PC20-39+ arrived on the 27th.
Shipping was painless. Packaging is outstanding. Someone would have to deliberately try to damage this unit, IMO. The box is 21x21x43 weighing in ~ 80lbs. The internal bracing protects the sub from getting crushed and poked. Very well done. It says “This side up”, in large print, but that won’t happen in transit, SVS knows it, and designed accordingly. Even though I was prepared for the size of the sub, seeing it in my setting, still amazes me. I have it in my left front corner, behind my EC, nearly invisible. 2 Cadence XSubs stacked displaced nearly as much space, but there’s something about a mini-water heater putting out that much sound that speaks volumes about the owner. You’re either a function over form guy or a subscriber to Architectural Digest. Not sure which I am, I thought the former, but the beast’s growing on me.
There’s not much I can say that hasn’t been said about SVS products and their company. I agree with all the positives, except they didn’t send my shirt. I’ll try to focus on the subjective differences I remember about the subs I had or tried. They were all great products.
Setup was a breeze, plug in, calibrate to 78, cut @ 80. I had to cut my Xsubs @ 40/60/80 F/C/S to achieve the transparency and definition for music I like, as well as, the slam for HT. The 20-39+ sounded great out of the box with a global 80hz cut, sub gain set at ¼, Phase 0, rec trim –7db, sub xover bypassed, stock 20hz. Initially, I thought there was some localization, but over the last couple of days I haven’t noticed it. I’ll keep tweaking. I’ve watched a couple of movies (Robots, Polar Express), several demo clips(M&C, KillBill2, LOTR-Minas Morgul, Day After Tomorrow, etc) and a decent music sampling ranging from progressive rock (Yes, Peter Gabriel), eclectic (Meat Beat Manifesto, Blue Man Group, Crystal Method) and jazz/pop/rock (Sting, Diana Krall, Dave Matthews, Nora Jones). I’m waiting for my wife to pop out of the house to try WOTW again. I’m not really a measurements guy, I just want it to sound good. I’ve walked around the room with the SPL meter and do have a some peaks of 3-4db over the LP, which is acceptable for me until I get a BFD or SMS. The only sub comparable that I’ve heard is a JG’s new DIY 15” Tempest sonotube with a 350RMS PE plate amp. Extention and pressurization are as much as I was looking for. Articulation/definition is as much as I’d hoped for.
I’d heard the PB10 in a much larger room, great definition and extention, but with 3700^3 opening into another 1300^3 it lacked the slam that I hear with the 20-39+, as well as, room compression. Articulation of bass notes was excellent and the two subs are very close. I think the challenges of the large room and it’s limiter were the only thing holding the PB10 back. It’s an over-achiever that I would have been jazzed about owning.
It’s been a few months since I had the Velodyne DPS10. I really liked this sub, but thought I could do better with the Cadence Xsub. I did and I didn’t. However, what I do remember was the output and articulation for music. There are a several songs on Yes “Symphonic Live” that utilize bass pedal notes that curl your short ones <30hz, the PB10 didn’t do them justice either because of the room or tuning, the Xsub(s) got there but were too muddy, but the Velo slammed them. I was very impressed with how hard and accurate this sub was above 28hz. The 20-39+ delivers these and other deep bass power notes with the same growly touch and adds a bunch more. It’s all grins. I mention this because I think the Velo hangs very well for definition and output.
Comparing the Cadence XSub isn’t really fair. I just think they are great products. They have enough tweakability to give more articulation than I first thought, deep extention and SPL for HT and great build quality for a quarter of the price of the 20-39+ and half of the other two. Cadence treated me wonderfully. Two of them stacked were nearly the equal of the PB10 for output and not that far off for definition, once calibrated and cut correctly for my system. They are designed to go no lower than 25hz. I was probably doing a bit better with 2 for awhile. My sons love them.
I’ll be tweaking the new sub and adding EQ. It’s as much as I wanted. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that it’s enough. 2 systems and 6 subs in one year, budget or otherwise, has my wife ready to rubberize a room with outside locks…
