HSU ULS-15 vs SVS PB13 Ultra vs SVS PB12 Plus

[damnngina15]

Hello Everyone.

I am still relatively new to this forum and I posted an thread earlier to get some info on getting a separate amplifier for my setup and I have received great information. Thanks to all of those that have posted. I am now maybe looking at the possibility of also getting a separate sub in my setup (I currently have deftech bp7004's with built in subs) I have been looking at the HSU ULS-15, SVS PB13 Ultra and the SVS PB12 Plus. I am mainly looking at how they will perform with music as I am very happy with my deftechs for movie watching. So far from just looking at them online I have decided that I really like the wireless feature of the HSU and have read good things about it, but I like the look of the SVS's. I am wondering if anyone has compared these and can give me some feedback. Thanks.

Denon AVR-2807
PS3
APC H15 Power Conditioner
Deftech BP7004
Deftech BP1.2x
Deftech CLR2300
Emotiva XPA-5 (When I get back from Iraq in a few months!!!)

 

[djreef]

I'm a total SVS fanboy, so you know where my recommendation is going to go. Customer service is top notch, and the product is first rate.

DJ

 

[adwilk]

What kind of music are you listening to?

Just curious, my thinking would be that the DT's would be fine for music but perhaps lacking in the HT department... anyway... Adding a capable sub would be a very worthwhile upgrade in both respects..

whats the budget? I think I like the SVS better as well. After having heard the Ultra, I was sold... Big time. Could you do stereo pb12's. Dual subs make me happy.

 

[damnngina15]

What kind of music are you listening to?

Just curious, my thinking would be that the DT's would be fine for music but perhaps lacking in the HT department... anyway... Adding a capable sub would be a very worthwhile upgrade in both respects..

whats the budget? I think I like the SVS better as well. After having heard the Ultra, I was sold... Big time. Could you do stereo pb12's. Dual subs make me happy.

We listen to everything from Classic Rock and Roll to Meringue to R&B. We are just fans of music in general just as long as it sounds good. I have thought about the dual route and will probably go that way sometime down the road. Right now I just have to worry about finding some real estate for the first one. I have always been a fan of sealed boxes as I think they are more accurate and sound cleaner but then again this is my first time looking into a high end sub and am not sure if that is an issue at all with the ones mentioned above. I really like the look of the SVS subs ecspecially since the Piano Black finish matches my DTs but I would think that a sealed box would provide a cleaner, lower, and more accurate sound but like I said earlier I could be wrong. Please let me know your two cents. Thanks.

Andrew

 

[adwilk]

Read the sticky about subwoofer myths in the subwoofer forum...

Some really good info there about sealed vs vented if I remember correctly...

 

[damnngina15]

Read the sticky about subwoofer myths in the subwoofer forum...

Some really good info there about sealed vs vented if I remember correctly...

Thanks for the info. It was a very good article and cleared up alot of my misconceptions. Thanks!!!

 

[RayoVac]

I add another vote for SVS. Subs are like any other speaker... everyone will have a preference. And in my humble opinion the Sealed vs. Ported argument is almost on par with Ford vs. Chevy.

My reason for SVS is the following:

I had a hard time talking my wife into letting me put a box bigger then an end table in our living room. For some reason she did not mind the cylinder models of SVS. It hides away very nicely in the corner and produces gobs of sofa shaking bass. I have never felt it to be muddy or sloppy at higher SPL levels. It has always been tight and quick. We primarily use it for HT, but once it a while I will listen to music... letting it fill in the low end. I am never left wanting.

I have a SVS PC+ 20-39 with the 550 watt Bash amp. I upgraded to the later 12.3 driver, they have a 12.4 out now. I am not sure I notice a huge difference between the old driver and new... but it was a cheap upgrade so I did it.

If I was to do it all over again... I think I would choose a cylinder again, just because of the way it fits in my room so well. If I had to choose I would do the Ultra 13 cylinder in a heartbeat. Actually because of the size of my room I would love to have TWO!!!!!

And yes... SVS has awesome service, as does many of the other manufactures. I was a little hesitant back when I bought it. It was the first Internet Direct audio equipment I purchased. These days, that is about all I am interested in, the Internet Direct Dealers.

Rayo

 

[damnngina15]

I had a hard time talking my wife into letting me put a box bigger then an end table in our living room. For some reason she did not mind the cylinder models of SVS. It hides away very nicely in the corner and produces gobs of sofa shaking bass. I have never felt it to be muddy or sloppy at higher SPL levels. It has always been tight and quick. We primarily use it for HT, but once it a while I will listen to music... letting it fill in the low end. I am never left wanting.

I have a SVS PC+ 20-39 with the 550 watt Bash amp. I upgraded to the later 12.3 driver, they have a 12.4 out now. I am not sure I notice a huge difference between the old driver and new... but it was a cheap upgrade so I did it.

If I was to do it all over again... I think I would choose a cylinder again, just because of the way it fits in my room so well. If I had to choose I would do the Ultra 13 cylinder in a heartbeat. Actually because of the size of my room I would love to have TWO!!!!!


Rayo

Has anyone compared the SVS cylinders to thier traditional box subs. If so is there a difference between the two and did one perform better over the other musically. Thanks for your input.

 

[RayoVac]

Has anyone compared the SVS cylinders to thier traditional box subs. If so is there a difference between the two and did one perform better over the other musically. Thanks for your input.

That is a great question... I am interested in hearing as well if anyone has had the opportunity to make that comparison.

Maybe my next SVS subs will be the coffee table variety!

 

[Adam]

If I had to choose I would do the Ultra 13 cylinder in a heartbeat. Actually because of the size of my room I would love to have TWO!!!!!

To quote Ferris Bueller, "It is so choice. If you have the means, I highly recommend picking one up."

Has anyone compared the SVS cylinders to thier traditional box subs. If so is there a difference between the two and did one perform better over the other musically. Thanks for your input.

I don't know if you've seen this on SVS's site already, but here is SVS's own take on the two designs.

 

[bandphan]

Has anyone compared the SVS cylinders to thier traditional box subs. If so is there a difference between the two and did one perform better over the other musically. Thanks for your input.

http://www.avtalk.co.uk//forumdisplay.php?f=54

http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/subwoofer-tests-archived/6015-index-subwoofer-tests-manufacturer-model.html

 

[GlocksRock]

Box vs cylinder, they sound the same, but if there were an advantage it would likely go to the cylinder as it's less prone to flexing due to it's shape, although the box subs are properly braced so it's pretty much a moot point. But as with all gear, always go with the best you can afford, so if you can afford the ultra then by all means get that, you won't be dissapointed.

 

[bandphan]

Box vs cylinder, they sound the same, but if there were an advantage it would likely go to the cylinder as it's less prone to flexing due to it's shape, although the box subs are properly braced so it's pretty much a moot point. But as with all gear, always go with the best you can afford, so if you can afford the ultra then by all means get that, you won't be disappointed.

While more than likely inaudible there are measured differences. The boxed subs seem to play a little flater across the board and louder above 80hz. The cylinders also seem to roll off a tad sooner at higher spls.

 

[GlocksRock]

But they still both sound fantastic, and I can attest to this as I have both.

 

[cmchen0]

Go with SVS, good subwoofer plus good customer service.

I heard Axiom subwoofer is not too bad too.

 

[Gior]

Hello Everyone.

I am still relatively new to this forum and I posted an thread earlier to get some info on getting a separate amplifier for my setup and I have received great information. Thanks to all of those that have posted. I am now maybe looking at the possibility of also getting a separate sub in my setup (I currently have deftech bp7004's with built in subs) I have been looking at the HSU ULS-15, SVS PB13 Ultra and the SVS PB12 Plus. I am mainly looking at how they will perform with music as I am very happy with my deftechs for movie watching. So far from just looking at them online I have decided that I really like the wireless feature of the HSU and have read good things about it, but I like the look of the SVS's. I am wondering if anyone has compared these and can give me some feedback. Thanks.

Denon AVR-2807
PS3
APC H15 Power Conditioner
Deftech BP7004
Deftech BP1.2x
Deftech CLR2300
Emotiva XPA-5 (When I get back from Iraq in a few months!!!)

There were some great tests done a few years back by a fellow named Ilkka who is now working for Genelec on the PB13-Ultra. All the test results indicated it is an excellent all round sub that should perform well with anything. As you probably are aware, it has the added advantage of being able to be 'tweaked' into various tunes via plugging its ports. Depending on your room, you may like this option.

Ilkka's rankings can be found here
http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/subwoofer-tests-archived/5748-cea-2010-standard-compilation.html

and links to the various tunes as well as a worthy sub 'competitor' the JL Audio F113 can be found here

http://www.hometheatershack.com/forums/subwoofer-tests-archived/8144-subwoofer-tests-round-5-6th-october-2007-test-summary-read-me.html

Craigsub has also rated the PB13-Ultra extremely highly ranking it as the top 'commercial' type sub.

http://www.tweakcityaudio.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11

I was seriously looking at getting dual PB13-Ultra's myself but in the end, decided to stick with a sealed sub design and ended up speaking to Mark Seaton about his SubMersives. If you can stretch your budget a little bit more, they might fit your bill too for music as well as making a significant contribution to home theatre.

 

[damnngina15]

Thank you for everyones input, it has been very helpful. I called my wife this morning and had her measure out the dimensions in the corner and it looks like the SVS PC13 Ultra will fit the bill perfectly! Now I just can't wait to get home from sunny Iraq so I can set everything up and listen to it. I am sure I will not be dissappointed! Thanks again.

 

[GlocksRock]

You won't be dissapointed, Def Tech speakers and SVS subs make a great team, it's what I have in both of my setups and they both sound great!

 

[Gior]

Thank you for everyones input, it has been very helpful. I called my wife this morning and had her measure out the dimensions in the corner and it looks like the SVS PC13 Ultra will fit the bill perfectly! Now I just can't wait to get home from sunny Iraq so I can set everything up and listen to it. I am sure I will not be dissappointed! Thanks again.

The PC13-Ultra? I thought you were looking at the PB13-Ultra? The response is typically a bit flatter with the PB13-Ultra and they are quite stackable in case you need another 6db headroom. Don't get me wrong, if you are space confined and can only fit the PC13-Ultra then by all means do so as that should be a great sub too, but from I have seen on the testing that has been done, the PB13-Ultra (the big 155lb box one) is probably the better bet if you don't have space restrictions.

 

[damnngina15]

The PC13-Ultra? I thought you were looking at the PB13-Ultra? The response is typically a bit flatter with the PB13-Ultra and they are quite stackable in case you need another 6db headroom. Don't get me wrong, if you are space confined and can only fit the PC13-Ultra then by all means do so as that should be a great sub too, but from I have seen on the testing that has been done, the PB13-Ultra (the big 155lb box one) is probably the better bet if you don't have space restrictions.

Gior, thanks for the advice but after measuring everything out the PB would fit but everything would get REALLY crowded. The PC should work for what we need and will fit just fine with out getting overly crowded. Plus from looking at the graphs posted earlier it doesn't look like there will be too much of a differance. Thanks.

Andrew