Dual subs

[William Lemmerhirt]

What kind of difference in importance are we looking at between a PB3000 and the Monolith? I've been lazy and haven't looked... lol.

Ima go check.

Good question. I can’t say without looking either. So I’ll wait for the report!
Lol

 

[Pogre]

Good question. I can’t say without looking either. So I’ll wait for the report!
Lol

PB 3000 is listed at 800 watts RMS and the Monolith at 500 (pretty sure that's RMS). Looks like you get 300 watts more, amounts to less than 3 dB gain for the money. One Monolith is rated for up to 3,000'^3. 2 of them should be plenty. For the difference in cost I'd go with a pair of ported Monolith 12s. OP has Monoprice THX certified speakers already too so having everything match, while not necessary, is still nice. The damned 3000 is almost twice as much! Sheesh.

 

[lovinthehd]

PB 3000 is listed at 800 watts RMS and the Monolith at 500 (pretty sure that's RMS). Looks like you get 300 watts more, amounts to less than 3 dB gain for the money. One Monolith is rated for up to 3,000'^3. 2 of them should be plenty. For the difference in cost I'd go with a pair of ported Monolith 12s. OP has Monoprice THX certified speakers already too so having everything match, while not necessary, is still nice. The damned 3000 is almost twice as much! Sheesh.

Without knowing sensitivity of the different subs hard to know there's any actual difference with the different wattage ratings....

@JRED 1219 why aren't you considering the sealed Monoliths since you're considering the sealed SVS? Or compare ported to ported?

 

[Pogre]

Without knowing sensitivity of the different subs hard to know there's any actual difference with the different wattage ratings....

@JRED 1219 why aren't you considering the sealed Monoliths since you're considering the sealed SVS? Or compare ported to ported?

Agreed. I've been looking for some measurements of the PB3000. Shady did a review with measurements here for the Monolith tho. It looks awesome.

*Edit: And dinged it for size! Harsh, lol. Still 5* for value tho.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

Without knowing sensitivity of the different subs hard to know there's any actual difference with the different wattage ratings....

@JRED 1219 why aren't you considering the sealed Monoliths since you're considering the sealed SVS? Or compare ported to ported?

This too.

 

[Pogre]

I gotta say I think I prefer the look of the Monolith. SVS usually takes it in that category for me but there's something about the shape of the Monolith that pleases me. It looks like a monolith. Which is also why I can see some folks not warming up to it, s'pecially if WAF is in play. I like it. They look solid. All business. Like they're carved out of one solid tree stump.

 

[JRED 1219]

Without knowing sensitivity of the different subs hard to know there's any actual difference with the different wattage ratings....

@JRED 1219 why aren't you considering the sealed Monoliths since you're considering the sealed SVS? Or compare ported to ported?

Not comparing ported because if price. Extra $500 ($CDN) EACH for the ported SVS 3000. Reason? I live in Canada?

 

[JRED 1219]

End of the day, it is your rig and your ducats. I'm not trying to preach ported over sealed, or anything like that. However it seems reasonable to expect that in a room larger than 3000'3, you begin to lose the benefits of cabin gain with sealed subs. At that point the lower frequency output suffers and cannot compete with the performance of a ported sub in any way.
It is known that in order to experience lower frequencies, we actually need higher SPL, and the SPL requirement rises as the frequency drops.
At a certain point, that does become moot. In all likelihood, you probably stop really being sensitive to pitch somewhere in the low 20s; for me it is about 23Hz where I stop hearing a distinct tone at reasonable SPL. But considering that LFE tracks in multi-channel recordings can contain information down to 3Hz, IIRC, it is advantageous to have Subs that can perform reasonably low. If you happen to love Pipe Organ, you may find yourself wanting clean reproduction as low as 16Hz which is the low C from the 32' stop on the grande organs.
Hmmm... rabbit hole indeed.
So again, this is just something you have to weigh for yourself and goals.

That was very helpful insight. Thanks a lot!

 

[JRED 1219]

I gotta say I think I prefer the look of the Monolith. SVS usually takes it in that category for me but there's something about the shape of the Monolith that pleases me. It looks like a monolith. Which is also why I can see some folks not warming up to it, s'pecially if WAF is in play. I like it. They look solid. All business. Like they're carved out of one solid tree stump.

Yes, and I think it is my preference to get the monoliths. Just want to make sure (because in Canada the prices are different) that I am maximizing my dollar here. SVS 2000 is by far the cheapest option. I am getting that I may be sacrificing with these If my room size is large. Honestly, I think it's very likely my room will be less than 3,000 cubic feet, so I am loosely aiming for something that can perform in 3,500 cubic feet to be safe. The SVS 3000 generally has good opinions online. One YouTuber mentioned the 3000 was comparable to the 4000 and couldn't decide which he liked better, contacted SVS about it and they apperently have the same internal debate about it, so it could be a very good value. However, the ported version of the 3000 is out of my budget because for some me reason it will cost me another $1,000 for dual ported.

My thoughts are I could probably be happy with dual 2000s ported or 3000s sealed. The monoliths will likely handle any reasonable room size I am looking at and they just seem awesome - it is just the most expensive option. And, if the ported SVS 2000s are just fine, I could allocate the savings to other components in my system, like my AVR.

 

[Pogre]

I wouldn't even be considering sealed.

 

[William Lemmerhirt]

I wouldn't even be considering sealed.

This

 

[JRED 1219]

This

I get it.

 

[JRED 1219]

I get it.

So the p

I get it.

Ok. Sealed 3000 appears to be off the table. I was thinking the larger woofer and bigger amp might make it a contender. My sense is that I will be losing headroom for the planned volume of the room and miss some lower extension. This makes sense to me if the 3000s lack in these areas comparatively.

So down to dual monolith 12s vs SVS 2000. Thanks for all the advice.

My heart wants the monoliths but my bank account tells me to get the SVS....