Thinking of adding an SVS SB16 Ultra to my setup

[beanz690]

Hello all,

I have an opportunity to buy a like new SB16 Ultra at a great price and am wondering if/how this sub can integrate with my current setup.

My system is a 5.2.4 system that is used for 60% 2 ch music and 40% movies. I am running two B&W PV1Ds on the outside of each tower speaker (KEF R11s).
For 2 ch listening I have them running on the high level inputs and run the towers full range and LOVE the sound and amount of bass I get with this setup. For movies I run the subs using line level LFE inputs but the PV1Ds just can't play the lower LFE bass and leaves a lot to be desired. This is why I am thinking of adding the SB16 ultra.

I am wondering if it would be possible to integrate the three subs or if I should just run the pv1ds for music and the sb16 ultra strictly for movies. I can do all of this with the presets of my Yamaha Processor and the use of additional 12v triggers. Or would it make sense to run all three simultaneously to get a better bass response?

 

[ben_]

If you "LOVE" the bass on the current setup, what are you looking to improve here? Just because you can get a good price doesn't mean this is something worth buying and the associated integration headaches.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

If you "LOVE" the bass on the current setup, what are you looking to improve here? Just because you can get a good price doesn't mean this is something worth buying and the associated integration headaches.

He’s looking to add lower frequencies. He said he loves the bass for music, but movies are lacking.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Hello all,

I have an opportunity to buy a like new SB16 Ultra at a great price and am wondering if/how this sub can integrate with my current setup.

My system is a 5.2.4 system that is used for 60% 2 ch music and 40% movies. I am running two B&W PV1Ds on the outside of each tower speaker (KEF R11s).
For 2 ch listening I have them running on the high level inputs and run the towers full range and LOVE the sound and amount of bass I get with this setup. For movies I run the subs using line level LFE inputs but the PV1Ds just can't play the lower LFE bass and leaves a lot to be desired. This is why I am thinking of adding the SB16 ultra.

I am wondering if it would be possible to integrate the three subs or if I should just run the pv1ds for music and the sb16 ultra strictly for movies. I can do all of this with the presets of my Yamaha Processor and the use of additional 12v triggers. Or would it make sense to run all three simultaneously to get a better bass response?

If it were me, I’d get rid of the b&w subs, and buy a nice pair of something else altogether. Integrating the sb16 will not be impossible, but will be a PITA, and you’ll need to get REW/umik to really know what your system is doing. Then a minidsp will allow you to really dial it in. Ideally you’d run them altogether, but without measurements you’re flying blind. Imo/Ime ypao isn’t great for dialing subwoofers, so I wouldn’t rely on it to do a great job. Especially with mismatched subs. Another reason not to mix these together is you’ll have phase response nightmares, and definitely dynamic range discrepancies. The sb16 will have far more output capacity. Might be worth selling the pv1’s and buy two sb16’s, but there are better value subs out there so I’d look elsewhere, and the pv1’s are not it either. In fact I can’t believe they think a dual sealed 8” subwoofer is worth two thousand dollars. It hardly qualifies as a subwoofer.
How big is the room? That will be a good starting point in deciding the end game of subwoofers for that particular space. Or just run the SB by itself for movies as you suggested. The rabbit hole is deep!

 

[beanz690]

Hi @William Lemmerhirt ,

Believe it or not, my wife really likes the look of the PV1Ds. It was a challenge getting my her to approve a 5.2.4 system in our open area living room and below is what I was able to get "approved" lol.

I am hoping to hide the sb16 under the coffee table or where the plant near the window is.
Im not sure the actual area of the room but it is a large open concept (kitchen/dining and living all together). Maybe like 5-6,000 cu ft?

Edit: Also, I'm not opposed to investing in REW/umik and minidsp if it would work.
.

 

[j_garcia]

Nice room. I would say 1 SB16 will be more than enough to replace about 8-10 of your current subs I would just start there and once you fire up the Ultra you will quickly find you don't need those little puppies. Use them elsewhere. We are literally talking paradigm shift and the Ultra will still be solid with music.

Even though I have a large open room, a single SB4000 is able to easily fill it and sound great with music. My plan was to add a second one, but one is doing very well already.

 

[beanz690]

I got worried the deal wouldn't last and decided to buy now and think later. For now, I kept the PV1Ds running at the speaker input level and the SB16 connected to the sub line level.

I have the L/R set to small with the crossover at 40hz (this way the PV1Ds get almost all the lower frequency range that they can actually reproduce). I did about 1 hour of listening yesterday and so far it sounded really good for music - the SVS barely plays anything until I reach a bass heavy track. But for movies it was a revelation! I finished re-watching 13 hours and all the battle scenes were freaking awesome!

I know the way I have the subs setup now is kinda of weird but it actually sounds really good and without doing any calibration yet so we'll see if I even need to get the minidsp.

I told my wife it doesn't look that bad. what do y'all think??

 

[lovinthehd]

I got worried the deal wouldn't last and decided to buy now and think later. For now, I kept the PV1Ds running at the speaker input level and the SB16 connected to the sub line level.

I have the L/R set to small with the crossover at 40hz (this way the PV1Ds get almost all the lower frequency range that they can actually reproduce). I did about 1 hour of listening yesterday and so far it sounded really good for music - the SVS barely plays anything until I reach a bass heavy track. But for movies it was a revelation! I finished re-watching 13 hours and all the battle scenes were freaking awesome!

I know the way I have the subs setup now is kinda of weird but it actually sounds really good and without doing any calibration yet so we'll see if I even need to get the minidsp.
View attachment 62643
I told my wife it doesn't look that bad. what do y'all think??

I'm a bit confused. You say you're running the high/speaker level inputs for the PV1Ds, yet you indicate you're running them as "small" and with a xover of 40hz. Generally you run speakers set to large if running high level inputs and just use the low pass filter on the sub for limiting the sub. Can you clarify? Running small and with a crossover using the low level inputs on the SVS makes sense, tho.

Looks fine except for the white speakers/subs/floor (Not a fan of that cold kind of look).

 

[beanz690]

I'm a bit confused. You say you're running the high/speaker level inputs for the PV1Ds, yet you indicate you're running them as "small" and with a xover of 40hz. Generally you run speakers set to large if running high level inputs and just use the low pass filter on the sub for limiting the sub. Can you clarify? Running small and with a crossover using the low level inputs on the SVS makes sense, tho.

Looks fine except for the white speakers/subs/floor (Not a fan of that cold kind of look).

The B&Ws subs are connected to high/speaker level and the low pass ion the subs are set to 60hz internally.
I may be doing it all wrong but my thought process for setting the L/R channels to small/40hz is so that the SVS can pick up any lower frequencies directed to those channels during movies or even when listening to music that has really deep bass.

 

[j_garcia]

If you set the L&R to large, then the SVS will receive LFE only (for those channels). This effectively treats the mains and PV1Ds as a single speaker. Then the PV1Ds can handle whatever you are feeding them and the SVS will handle the lowest stuff, but it seems like a waste of the Ultra.

The SVS will get LFE from whatever the track is and any bass from speakers set to small based on those x-over levels. In stereo, you would not need to use the SVS then, which I think was your goal?

 

[beanz690]

If you set the L&R to large, then the SVS will receive LFE only (for those channels). This effectively treats the mains and PV1Ds as a single speaker. Then the PV1Ds can handle whatever you are feeding them and the SVS will handle the lowest stuff, but it seems like a waste of the Ultra.

The SVS will get LFE from whatever the track is and any bass from speakers set to small based on those x-over levels. In stereo, you would not need to use the SVS then, which I think was your goal?

Hey

Yes you're right, my main goal was to improve the bass impact for movies. However, I thought to myself, now that I have an ultra why not use it for the 2ch listening too? So I was thinking of how to incorporate it somehow into the mix. But I think you might be right, its a waste to have it run at a 40hz crossover which few songs will even take advantage of.

I still need to play around with the whole setup and see what works best. But so far I am really happy with the SVS.