My first impressions of the SVS PB-Ultra 13

[Bloodstriker]

So I finally got my PB-Ultra 13 in textured black. I'm not going to post pics because... it looks exactly like the others, and my room doesn't look very nice yet.

Just like the rest of you, the first thing I noticed was the behemoth size of the box. I was thinking... naw, it can't be that big. Must be lots of packaging material. Then I lugged that thing into my minivan and back to the house, around to the back yard, and into the TV room and proceeded to merrily unpack my new toy.

Lo and behold... the sub itself was a monster. No, really. This thing is HUGE. Bordering on ridiculousness. It's about one and a half times the size of my nightstand next to my best. I would even venture to say two times. I was thinking - oh man, that won't look good in my setup.

So, I got this thing hooked up. Calibrated it to run 5 dB hot. Popped in a Diana Krall CD. Hmmm.......It sounds..... good! It blended so well with the music that I had to actually put my ear to the sub to hear what it was doing. I was immediately taken back by the fact that it actually sounded like a bass guitar was inside that box. (We all now it's big enough to hide one inside!). I didn't know that subwoofers could actually sound like an instrument. I always thought that they simply provided more "oomph." However, I do have to say that as nice as it is, it didn't make a world of difference to what I was listening to. Better, but not $1500 CAD better.

The next CD was something with a bit more bass. SASH - made a big difference, as the bass notes were not ending with a twangy sound. The bass sounded right.

Popped in Mariah Carey next. I can't say that this was better or worse. Just different.

So I was thinking - this isn't all that different from my old 65W subwoofer....

So I popped in War of the Worlds.....

OMG. I could not believe what this massive box was doing. I skipped right to the lightning scene. I felt air hitting my leg from about 10 feet away. I put my hand on the ground to see if the sub was shaking the concrete foundation.. Yup.... I hope it didn't crack my ground. It felt like my whole house was shaking, so I was forced to turn it down, and not risk demolition.

To describe the bass here...hmm..how could I put it. It didn't sound all to different from my old PSB sub, but... it FELT different. I was being assaulted by this thing. My heart was pounding. When the ground opened up in the movie, I had did a double take to make sure that my ceiling was still intact. This thing scares me. No joke. I was afraid.

I tried a few other movies, and noticed a that the sub really added texture to impact sounds. In LoTR, when an arrow is shot, the reverberation from the bow is felt. It's these tiny things that aren't noticable, but really add up to the experience.

One major issue I have though, is that I have an opening on one side of the room. That make a huge difference. I could feel that the sound waves were all hitting me from the left side, and nothing from the right. I'm going to have to build a wall one day.

Now, I not able to judge how this sub is compared to other subs. I've only had experience with a small handful of them. I'm not able to say if this sub is worth the money or not, since I don't have any first hand experience with anything in this price/performance range.

The only observations I have so far can be summed up in a few short points:

- Damn, this thing is ridiculously big.
- Damn, this thing can really shake my house.
- Damn, it blends well with my speakers.
- Damn, this thing scares heck out of me.

 

[wicked]

that is awsome! a bit much for my price range, but i bet its every bit as good as you say. what kind of floor standing or bookshelf speakers do you have, and is the sound well balanced with the mids and highs. im so jelouse

my home theater room. http://www.flickr.com/photos/wicked_photos/

 

[mazersteven]

- Damn, this thing scares heck out of me.

That's all you needed to say.

 

[Bloodstriker]

Hehehe yeah. But I still have to say.. that sub is huge. It looks so out of place! Good thing I watch movies with the lights off.

 

[rnatalli]

So when we all coming over and who's bringing the popcorn

 

[j_garcia]

You are running this thing HOT?

 

[Bloodstriker]

You are running this thing HOT?

Hmm. maybe I have the terminology wrong. Doesn't "hot" mean I've increased the level a bit? If so, yes, I'm running it about 4-5 dB higher than all the other channels. I didn't really get a chance to mess around with the settings last night, so I'm going to see if running it a normal levels might be better.

Sounds good so far though.

 

[j_garcia]

Hot meaning higher than reference calibrated, and +5dB over calibrated would seem pretty intense unless you have a really big room. That thing is a beast; my friend had to turn it down in his system because of the tremendous output. I know what you mean too, it definitley just seems to disappear into the sound and blends so easily in - right up until it kicks you in the gut when a big hit comes. I have a 15" sub with a ton of output and the Ultra still gave me a silly grin

 

[Ron Temple]

It might be the AVR that I'm using for a pre/pro has wonky bass management or the sub test tone is not the same as the LFE output (didn't have a problem with my previous AVR), but I calibrate the U13 @ 69dbs vs 75dbs for the rest of my speakers. I still get 115dbs at reference level on the Haunting. It punishes the room at these levels. Even at 69dbs, I'm tempted to turn the sub down on some content.

Experiment to the level that sounds right to you...I doubt the sub will give out before you do.

 

[j_garcia]

That would be my Ultra toting friend Thanks Ron for letting me hear and feel that thing!

 

[Sheep]

Hey Ron, can I review you Ultra? I'll pay shipping one way. I'll send back some nice Canadian Beer too.

SheepStar

 

[Ron Temple]

Hey Ron, can I review you Ultra? I'll pay shipping one way. I'll send back some nice Canadian Beer too.

SheepStar

I know a fella in Seattle that's got a couple...if you've got the scratch he might sell you one

 

[GlocksRock]

sounds like it's doing exaclty what it's suppossed to be doing. Congrats on your new beast.

 

[Bloodstriker]

sounds like it's doing exaclty what it's suppossed to be doing. Congrats on your new beast.

I never realized that when you guys call this thing a "beast," that you guys are describing both the performance and the size.

Dayumn, this thing is huge.

 

[Soundman]

I know a fella in Seattle that's got a couple...if you've got the scratch he might sell you one

Ron, can I hear yours. All this talk about the Ultra really makes me want one bad!!!

 

[Ron Temple]

Sure...come on by if you're ever in the neighborhood

 

[agarwalro]

sounds like it's doing exaclty what it's suppossed to be doing. Congrats on your new beast.

I second that. Thx for the "layman" reveiw.

 

[fmw]

Sounds like a winner.

 

[Bloodstriker]

So now I've had the sub for a week and here's a new update:

I had some more time to try out other CDs and DVDs to see what this "beast" can do. Here are my findings:

1. Bone Thug N' Harmony - 1999 Eternal. I wanted to test this out because it's somewhat of a reference CD for bassheads in the car audio scene back in the 90s. The SVS handled the music very differently than what I was used to in cars. I remember this CD to have overwhelming bass - now I know that it was that the cars had crossovers set a lot higher than 80Hz. The bass was still tight, but not as audible. One thing for sure, is that it's defninitely not boomy at all. I think for rap music, boomy bass is what's "in" regardless of what's actually accurate.

2. Various Artists - Televisions Greatest Hits of the 80s. We'll, subwoofer really didn't help at all here.. especially with the theme song of Three's Company. Sigh.

4. The House of Flying Daggers - Beans and Drum Scene. This is pretty much my favourite scene for testing a home theatre. It's good bass with the drums, great surround effects when the beans hit the drums, and lots of detail when all the beans hit the ground. I have to say that this scene wasn't very different when compared to my old PSB sub. The sound was about the same. Not really any tighter, maybe slightly louder. The only real difference was that when the drums were hit, I could feel a bit more of the impact. Not a very large difference.

3. Titanic - When the ship breaks into two. This scene was decent. A bit of low rumbling, but I was too distracted watching the people fall 40 stories and catching the edges of tables.

4. War of the Worlds - Emerging Pods. Okay, I've wrote about this before. I must have watched this scene ten more times in the past week. Nothing new here... except.... I was able to shake the friggin' crown moldings off the walls. No joke. They came loose and just barely missed my Totems!

What are some good scenes that you guys recommend? I've checked some of the scenes from the master list of bass DVDs and some of the scenes aren't that great. So far, WotW has the best one by far.

 

[ParadigmDawg]

These are great entire sub movies:
U-571
War of the Worlds
Master And Comander
All LOTR
The Incredibles
Also try the "tapping on the fish tank scene" in Finding Nemo

So now I've had the sub for a week and here's a new update:

I had some more time to try out other CDs and DVDs to see what this "beast" can do. Here are my findings:

1. Bone Thug N' Harmony - 1999 Eternal. I wanted to test this out because it's somewhat of a reference CD for bassheads in the car audio scene back in the 90s. The SVS handled the music very differently than what I was used to in cars. I remember this CD to have overwhelming bass - now I know that it was that the cars had crossovers set a lot higher than 80Hz. The bass was still tight, but not as audible. One thing for sure, is that it's defninitely not boomy at all. I think for rap music, boomy bass is what's "in" regardless of what's actually accurate.

2. Various Artists - Televisions Greatest Hits of the 80s. We'll, subwoofer really didn't help at all here.. especially with the theme song of Three's Company. Sigh.

4. The House of Flying Daggers - Beans and Drum Scene. This is pretty much my favourite scene for testing a home theatre. It's good bass with the drums, great surround effects when the beans hit the drums, and lots of detail when all the beans hit the ground. I have to say that this scene wasn't very different when compared to my old PSB sub. The sound was about the same. Not really any tighter, maybe slightly louder. The only real difference was that when the drums were hit, I could feel a bit more of the impact. Not a very large difference.

3. Titanic - When the ship breaks into two. This scene was decent. A bit of low rumbling, but I was too distracted watching the people fall 40 stories and catching the edges of tables.

4. War of the Worlds - Emerging Pods. Okay, I've wrote about this before. I must have watched this scene ten more times in the past week. Nothing new here... except.... I was able to shake the friggin' crown moldings off the walls. No joke. They came loose and just barely missed my Totems!

What are some good scenes that you guys recommend? I've checked some of the scenes from the master list of bass DVDs and some of the scenes aren't that great. So far, WotW has the best one by far.