Conquest vs A7-450 vs PB13 Ultra

[larry7995]

Been looking at these models, the Conquest and A7-450 look very similar. Was thinking about getting duals of one of the three for both music and movies.

 

[mike c]

i highly DON'T recommend the A7-450's (and eD for that matter)

the Ultra measures really well in 3rd party tests

the Conquest doesn't even post frequency response specs.

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44397

 

[croseiv]

Been looking at these models, the Conquest and A7-450 look very similar. Was thinking about getting duals of one of the three for both music and movies.

Still trying to decide eh? Weren't you also looking at the Seaton Submersive?

 

[larry7995]

Yes also the submersive, I had the money then a uninsured motorist caused an accident I had to fork over $500 deductible and and my other car getting repaired so I could drive it while the truck was in the body shop, vet bills... anyway the money got used and I am starting to save it up again.

 

[Matt34]

Here is a review of the Conquest. Honestly I don't think you could go wrong with the Ultra or the Conquest...if you have the room.

http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/subwoofer-reviews/subwoofers/epik-conquest-subwoofer_3.html

Tom Nousaine's measurements of the Conquest.
http://www.epiksubwoofers.com/blog/?p=17

 

[Warpdrv]

i highly DON'T recommend the A7-450's (and eD for that matter)

the Ultra measures really well in 3rd party tests

the Conquest doesn't even post frequency response specs.

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44397

Could you expand a bit more mike...

I was curious about what you found in the differences between A7-450 and the Ultra.

 

[larry7995]

I read that Mike had a driver go out on his brand new A7-450 then he was a little leery of turning the replacement up too much in case it did the same thing after he heard a mechanical clank once with the new one. I read a long way through that epik thread at avs and there are quite a few happy with the sub. There is also a sealed model A7s-450 that some are happy with and some think it doesn't give them what they expect to get for output quantity, it's a bit less expensive than the ported variety.
I was just figuring if I wanted good musical characters and less quantity for movies that I might have to pick the Ultra or sacrifice some musical quality and pick either the A7-450 or Conquest for the most movie effect, but then again never having heard any of them, maybe they all would make me happy with both music and movies.

 

[mike c]

Could you expand a bit more mike...

I was curious about what you found in the differences between A7-450 and the Ultra.

i have half the story in this link actually

http://forums.audioholics.com/forums/showthread.php?t=44397

i decided not to finish it because i didn't want to waste anymore time on eD.

but basically, i "purchased" new drivers for the A7-450. it still can't handle the same low frequency or high SPL stuff the Ultra can. anything that takes up excursion, it starts to complain. i never tried to push them again.

also, i'm now doubting eD actually tuned my sub to 17.8hz like we agreed (before me, there was no A7-450) - a tuning of 17.8hz should get me at least 18hz f3 in room - im not getting that as per the sms-1 reading - even when the mic is directly in front of the ports.

i can't recommend eD because the guy i was originally talking to suddenly became really busy (he was already busy when i was ordering, but had the time to talk since i was still ordering the 13av.2 driver then) when it looked like a replacement / repair was imminent. second guy i talked to said it was either shipping damage (and i should charge my shipper - i told him i had 4 subs in that shipment, 2 eD's and 2 ultras and that it was highly unlikely that the two eD's would get damaged and the two ultras would not).

they passed me off to the owner who was the only one who handled situations like mine. the owner facilitated the repair of my drivers and said he would catch half of the cost (yes, i feel so much gratitude ) to replace the drivers.

and then i got them back after many weeks (skipping the many emails i wrote begging to be talked to and given the replacement drivers)

so there. everything i read about eD was actually true - but i was too stupid to realize it. "it's either shipping damage or user damage."

so now my wife can hang "i told you so" over my head for the rest of my life. she said i should wait for the ultras, i said the eD's would trample the ultras because: 1) bigger amp 2) bigger driver 3) bigger enclosure 4) bigger ports

and that's why i don't trust subs that don't have 3rd party measurements anymore.

 

[croseiv]

Not having any of the other subs, I can say that I'm quite happy with my Ultra. Quality throughout. Very powerful! Great with HT and music.

 

[mike c]

I read that Mike had a driver go out on his brand new A7-450 then he was a little leery of turning the replacement up too much in case it did the same thing after he heard a mechanical clank once with the new one. I read a long way through that epik thread at avs and there are quite a few happy with the sub. There is also a sealed model A7s-450 that some are happy with and some think it doesn't give them what they expect to get for output quantity, it's a bit less expensive than the ported variety.
I was just figuring if I wanted good musical characters and less quantity for movies that I might have to pick the Ultra or sacrifice some musical quality and pick either the A7-450 or Conquest for the most movie effect, but then again never having heard any of them, maybe they all would make me happy with both music and movies.

the A7S-450 has no low end EQ boost. i wonder how low it "really" goes. it's not that i would recommend a low end EQ anyway, because that will make you reach xmax earlier. somebody should verify their xmax specs on the site. an 18"er with that much xmax shouldn't reach its limits without turning you deaf.

well the main reason i don't recommend eD is because of my post above, but over at AVS somebody tested their drivers with a WT3 woofer tester ... umm, let's just say the TS parameters on their drivers are "inaccurate"
no wonder i couldn't get winISD to work.

 

[avaserfi]

Mike, it is fairly easy to test tuning frequency of a subwoofer, you might have the ability to do it with the SMS-1 depending how low its on screen readout goes.

Place the microphone about 1" from the driver center like shown below. This close placement will help remove room effects as well as port effect on overall response.

Then run a full sweep. The output graph you will get will have a dip at tuning like this graph does around 20Hz:

As far as a choice between those three subs the SVS unit has been verified through credible 3rd party measurements to be a superb unit for both home theater and music applications. The eD and Conquest have not. While there are some measurements on the Conquest they are not sufficient to draw any actual conclusion. As far as eD goes, I have been to the factory and know a handful of people who bought their merchandise only to have issues with electronics, drivers and build quality. I would not trust my own money with them.

 

[Warpdrv]

I have been extremely reluctant to recommend eD to anyone with the length of time I have been reading on these forums and all the bad cases/issues that have been brought up...

 

[Patriot]

I would also not recommend ED. I bought one of their subs and after waiting over 3 months to finnally get it the amp died in 3 weeks. Then about 3 months later the driver went. They did fix the problems but that again was a good wait each time. I recently had the amp burn up and after they repaired it I sold the sub. Good ridens is all I can say. Do yourself a favor and stay away from them.

 

[Chris Schempp]

also, i'm now doubting eD actually tuned my sub to 17.8hz like we agreed (before me, there was no A7-450) - a tuning of 17.8hz should get me at least 18hz f3 in room - im not getting that as per the sms-1 reading - even when the mic is directly in front of the ports.

i can't recommend eD because the guy i was originally talking to suddenly became really busy (he was already busy when i was ordering, but had the time to talk since i was still ordering the 13av.2 driver then) when it looked like a replacement / repair was imminent. second guy i talked to said it was either shipping damage (and i should charge my shipper - i told him i had 4 subs in that shipment, 2 eD's and 2 ultras and that it was highly unlikely that the two eD's would get damaged and the two ultras would not).

they passed me off to the owner who was the only one who handled situations like mine. the owner facilitated the repair of my drivers and said he would catch half of the cost (yes, i feel so much gratitude ) to replace the drivers.

Mike,

They are definitely tuned where we agreed. Here is the rendering I made of the A7-450 that was first sent to you:

http://www.icixsound.com/vb/icixnation/images/83_1035.jpg

As you can see from the dimensions, the port is 28.8" long. The enclosure is built with 1" MDF and so it has internal dimensions of 23x23x35 or 10.71 ft³. Account for the displacement of the bracing and the driver/amplifier and we're left with a 10.2 cubic foot enclosure. Given that Precision Sound Products states that you must remove 1" from the overall length to get the effective length of their ports and we'd be left at three 27.8" long vents. This would yield a tuning frequency of 17.9Hz, so the initial # I provided was off, but by only 1/10Hz.

As for the ignoring, as has been mentioned before, you started dealing with Ben on questions only Ben could answer for you and everyone else here could do what amounted to nothing. Repeatedly e-mailing us questions that need to be directed to only one person only served to have us tell Ben you'd e-mailed.

Andrew, what exactly problems are you referring to with drivers and build quality? I know Jim had an amplifier go out in his A5-350 and it was promptly replaced, much as anyone that has had a problem with the first generation of amplifiers. The whole issue stemmed from the modifications made to the amplifier by Keiga. We had never replicated the issue customers were having with the amplifiers, but Keiga was able to offer a fix with a modified board in the amplifier. We swapped boards on many of the amplifiers which came back or just straight replaced the amplifier with a brand new one from inventory. No customer has paid a dime for it.

And Mike, I realized I haven't signed in here in a very long time. Cute pictures of Magnus

 

[sapphire9800]

Chris i was about to buy your flagship subwoofer then im reading all this complaining about your company to stay away, any reason why i should still buy it considering the above

 

[croseiv]

I have been extremely reluctant to recommend eD to anyone with the length of time I have been reading on these forums and all the bad cases/issues that have been brought up...

I have also read about issues as well. I's be a little reluctant myself. These problems have persisted for some time.

 

[Sheep]

Chris i was about to buy your flagship subwoofer then im reading all this complaining about your company to stay away, any reason why i should still buy it considering the above

I hope you're not expecting an Objective answer...

SheepStar

 

[alexlindeman]

Please, if you have any questions, feel free to give us a call. We would be more than happy to answer anything for you.

With any company, you have small issues, and is key to get them handled as fast as possible. As seen with the Keiga amplifiers, we have taken care of all customers in a very timely fashion. Please feel free to read our thread on avs. You can see all of our happy customers.

avaserfi:
As Chris mentioned, we knew of Jim's amplifier problem, and took care of the situation as soon as we had parts. I was not aware of any speaker or build quality issues. Please have him contact us so we can take care of him.

Without a customer contacting us, we are oblivious to the issue, and cannot come up with a solution.

As for reviews and product measurements. In the next couple months you will see a few from some credible sources. We have reduced our order lead times considerably. At one point we had a 4-5 month order lead time. We told people that no reviewer would receive product over a customer who ordered, paid, and has been waiting for months. Since this lead time is now down to 3-4 weeks, we have decided to get products into review sites.

Please, once again, if you have any questions or concerns. Being about a product or support, give us a call. There are a lot of great products available these days. We wont lie to you, just for the sake of a sale. If we do not offer what you are looking for, we can make something custom to your requirements. Worse case scenario we can point you in the right direction with another company.

I can assure you that what people have perceived as problems for a long time, are just the same situations being discussed multiple times.

Im sorry for the long post, and good luck in your journey for sub frequency nirvana.

Alex Lindeman
Elemental Designs.

 

[mike c]

i consider "credible" to be 3rd party ground plane testing ... at this point, it'd be AVTALK/HTS or avaserfi himself if he's ready

avaserfi is in IA ... shipping isn't going to be much

 

[Gimpy Ric]

The Conquest is a monster I've only read about. But I do own a SVS PB13-Ultra, and its a hellava sub. Build quality is second to none, and has enormous output. It's has great sound quality, and has tuning options, although being disabled I haven't played with the ports or eq. Gotta get an audiophile friend over to help tune her up, although I'm very happy with "out of the box" performance.

When a bass heavy song comes on, I'll crank her up and this sub scares me! Its output just seems to go on and on, with the Aperion 633's screaming, this sub just keeps on pounding along.

The OP asked about the PB13-Ultra, so there is my short take. I've read the Epik Conquest "can do no wrong" by Craigsub. And it looks like it takes few prisoners. Its in the same price range as the Ultra, so I guess its a toss up.

SVS customer support is top shelf stuff! I emailed about port plugs, and in a few days three port plugs showed up at my house, all along with nice emails during shipping.

Many forum members own SVS subs and the all seem pleased with performance and build quality. Mine is Piano Black like my mains, surrounds and center. Its just the icing on the cake