Help deciding on subwoofer for home theatre room

D

dpriest

Audioholic Intern
Hello all,
I am moving into my new house in a few weeks and am going to be setting up a home theater room which I have included pictures of. None of the things will be in the room as these pictures reflect when the previous owner is occupying the house. I do plan on placing a couch in a similar position as the blue one in the picture. Just for some background I am planning on mounting the Sony 85" 950H TV on the wall where the current TV is. I plan on powering my audio with the Yamaha Aventage RX-A2A receiver. The room is 20'x24'. I am looking for a lot of bass depth that I can feel in my bones similar to a movie theater. From the reviews I have read here SVS seems the way to go.

I was speaking to someone at B&H Photo and his thought was to either get two of the PB-1000 or one of the PB-3000 but his thought was two of the PB-1000 even though the PB-3000 has a lot more power and also mentioned the possibility of the PB-2000 Pro. I have never heard these subs so have no idea the power or frequency. I'm looking for recommendations here on the aforementioned options as well as recommended placement of the sub(s).

Thank you in advance.

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mazersteven

mazersteven

Audioholic Warlord
The room is 20'x24'.
I am looking for a lot of bass depth that I can feel in my bones similar to a movie theater.

I was speaking to someone at B&H Photo and his thought was to either get two of the PB-1000 or one of the PB-3000 but his thought was two of the PB-1000 even though the PB-3000 has a lot more power and also mentioned the possibility of the PB-2000 Pro. I have never heard these subs so have no idea the power or frequency. I'm looking for recommendations here
You never stated a budget and I hope it's a good one.
Based on those pictures looks like a lot more space than just a 20 x 24. Subwoofers work on total volume.

The guy at B&H was right about the SVS recommendation. But his thoughts of PB-1000's is far off. Dual PB-3000 would be a better recommendation if not Dual PB-4000's.

SVS was a small company in Ohio making subs for home theater for years operating as a Internet Direct company. The company was sold and as expanded outside Internet Direct, but still produce outstanding subwoofers. Their build quality, their quality of components drivers and tweeters. Their fit and finish, and their customer service is second to no one.


 
D

dpriest

Audioholic Intern
You never stated a budget and I hope it's a good one.
Based on those pictures looks like a lot more space than just a 20 x 24. Subwoofers work on total volume.

The guy at B&H was right about the SVS recommendation. But his thoughts of PB-1000's is far off. Dual PB-3000 would be a better recommendation if not Dual PB-4000's.

SVS was a small company in Ohio making subs for home theater for years operating as a Internet Direct company. The company was sold and as expanded outside Internet Direct, but still produce outstanding subwoofers. Their build quality, their quality of components drivers and tweeters. Their fit and finish, and their customer service is second to no one.


I'm afraid if I overdue it with the sub power I'll be living alone. Not looking for an overkill but I hear what your saying. You didn't mention the PB-2000 Pro. Think dual 2000's wouldn't do it? I can't go out of control budget wise but I'll splurge a little in this case. I didn't mention the speakers I have if that makes any difference. I have 3 NHT SuperOne speakers for the front L,R & Center and 2 Polk fxi3 speakers for the rear L&R.
 
mazersteven

mazersteven

Audioholic Warlord

 
fast fred

fast fred

Full Audioholic
I love my SVS ultra 16 SB

Also considering a SVS PB-4000 for another room
 
mazersteven

mazersteven

Audioholic Warlord
I didn't mention the speakers I have if that makes any difference. I have 3 NHT SuperOne speakers for the front L,R & Center and 2 Polk fxi3 speakers for the rear L&R.
Subwoofers work independent of whatever speakers you have. Subwoofers take the low frequencies. That being said that's going to be again a large space to fill for those NHT's.
 
D

dpriest

Audioholic Intern

I will look at the articles you included. Thank you. I will need the guidance. I want to start with the new subs. Hopefully the PB-3000s will do it. After that see how the speakers do it and go from there. BTW, Giants in first place:)
 
mazersteven

mazersteven

Audioholic Warlord
After that see how the speakers do it and go from there.

On Sale now

 
Last edited:
vader540is

vader540is

Full Audioholic
I'm afraid if I overdue it with the sub power I'll be living alone. Not looking for an overkill but I hear what your saying. You didn't mention the PB-2000 Pro. Think dual 2000's wouldn't do it? I can't go out of control budget wise but I'll splurge a little in this case.
Svs is overrated IMO. I've owned a PB4000 and it always sounded muddy to me, never gave me mid-bass chest slam. I demoed a PB16 ultra and I was extremely underwhelmed. I now own a PSA TV1812 and I get amazing ULF ( 9.5hz in-room extension) and awesome mid-bass.

Buy once, cry once.

You can always turn down a big sub. You can't turn up a small one.

Power Sound Audio TV1812

Rythmik FV18PC

JTR Cap2400

Take your pick, all three subs are a great value.
 
D

dpriest

Audioholic Intern
Svs is overrated IMO. I've owned a PB4000 and it always sounded muddy to me, never gave me mid-bass chest slam. I demoed a PB16 ultra and I was extremely underwhelmed. I now own a PSA TV1812 and I get amazing ULF ( 9.5hz in-room extension) and awesome mid-bass.

Buy once, cry once.

You can always turn down a big sub. You can't turn up a small one.

Power Sound Audio TV1812

Rythmik FV18PC

JTR Cap2400

Take your pick, all three subs are a great value.
Are you suggesting just one of these subs that you listed? Think that will suffice in the space for my home theater?
 
S

shadyJ

Speaker of the House
Staff member
I would get dual subs rather than 1 sub. You may be able to get more output from a single large sub rather than two smaller subs, but you will have a worse frequency response due to the way low frequencies behave with normal room acoustics. I would aim for two subs with low-frequency extension down to 20 Hz if possible. Look for ported subs rather than sealed subwoofers. Some good subs would be dual Outlaw Audio Ultra-X12s, Hsu Research VTF-2 mk5s, SVS PB or PC-2000s, or dual Monoprice Monolith THX 12" Ultras. If you can afford to stretch the budget a bit, look at dual Hsu Research VTF-3 mk5s.
 
D

dpriest

Audioholic Intern
I would get dual subs rather than 1 sub. You may be able to get more output from a single large sub rather than two smaller subs, but you will have a worse frequency response due to the way low frequencies behave with normal room acoustics. I would aim for two subs with low-frequency extension down to 20 Hz if possible. Look for ported subs rather than sealed subwoofers. Some good subs would be dual Outlaw Audio Ultra-X12s, Hsu Research VTF-2 mk5s, SVS PB or PC-2000s, or dual Monoprice Monolith THX 12" Ultras. If you can afford to stretch the budget a bit, look at dual Hsu Research VTF-3 mk5s.
Great suggestions from everybody! The subs you are recommending are smaller/lower outputs than the PB-3000 that mazersteven recommended for the space for my home theater room. I don't mean to be like a kid who pits one parent against the other however I'm torn because of the differences in recommendations. That said, I realize everybody has their own opinions. As somebody that is relatively new to this I'm looking to fill this space indicated from the pictures I posted above and dimensions I listed with a clean but three dimensional potent bass that will not cause the wife to jump up and run out of the room because it is too loud in the ears.:)
 
mazersteven

mazersteven

Audioholic Warlord
Call SVS. Or email
Ed Mullen, PE
Director - Technology and Customer Service
SVS | Specialty Technologies
877.626.5623
custservice@svsound.com

Ask his recommendation
 
vader540is

vader540is

Full Audioholic
Are you suggesting just one of these subs that you listed? Think that will suffice in the space for my home theater?
Yes buy one, add a 2nd one later when your budget permits ( if need be)

I also highly suggest you invest in a Umik-1 and REW. That will give you the tools for sub placement & blending with your Speakers, it will also work with a Mini-DSP-HD, which would be great to add on later to help eq & you can start using bass EQ filters, alot of movies nowadays have the ULF neutered.
 
D

dpriest

Audioholic Intern
I called SVS and spoke to somebody in the tech dept. He saw the pictures of the space and gave him the square footage. He is recommending dual PB-3000 based on the space. Not saying I am not going with PB-3000 but would like similar power recommendations.
 
mazersteven

mazersteven

Audioholic Warlord
 
D

dpriest

Audioholic Intern
Yes buy one, add a 2nd one later when your budget permits ( if need be)

I also highly suggest you invest in a Umik-1 and REW. That will give you the tools for sub placement & blending with your Speakers, it will also work with a Mini-DSP-HD, which would be great to add on later to help eq & you can start using bass EQ filters, alot of movies nowadays have the ULF neutered.
Thanks for the advice. I know I am going to want to calibrate the subs individually. The SVS tech guy mentioned MiniDSP but all of this stuff is new to me on how to do it. Apparently I need a laptop also to calibrate the subs and speakers adjusting for distances. I thought the AVR does that. Going to get the Yamaha Aventage RX-A2A. Apparently the Yamaha receiver does not see the two subs as separate and cannot calibrate them individually. Any place on Audioholics site to see how to do this with the MiniDSP equipment?
 
vader540is

vader540is

Full Audioholic
Thanks for the advice. I know I am going to want to calibrate the subs individually. The SVS tech guy mentioned MiniDSP but all of this stuff is new to me on how to do it. Apparently I need a laptop also to calibrate the subs and speakers adjusting for distances. I thought the AVR does that. Going to get the Yamaha Aventage RX-A2A. Apparently the Yamaha receiver does not see the two subs as separate and cannot calibrate them individually. Any place on Audioholics site to see how to do this with the MiniDSP equipment?


 
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