SV Sound PB12-Plus/2 Subwoofer Review

[freeflap]

great review.
if this were reviewed last year, would your pick for subwoofer 2005 POY have changed or stayed with the EP500?
thx

 

[Buckeyefan 1]

Dropbear,

That pic of the SVS next to your wife is insane! I'm assuming you have the Plus/2, right?

What do your other components/speakers consist of? It appears you are quite he connoisseur of audio (at least I bet your wife thinks so).

pic of Stephen, engineer/designer at SVS, and MacManNM, forum member from our trip last summer to SVS headquarters in Girard, Ohio

 

[dropbear]

Dropbear,

That pic of the SVS next to your wife is insane! I'm assuming you have the Plus/2, right?

What do your other components/speakers consist of? It appears you are quite he connoisseur of audio (at least I bet your wife thinks so).

pic of Stephen, engineer/designer at SVS, and MacManNM, forum member from our trip last summer to SVS headquarters in Girard, Ohio

Buckeyefan,

Yes you are correct, it is the plus2 in the very resilient black wrap..so resilient my cats have clawed it (trying to get away from the dog no less)... hearing their claws drag across its fine grain freaked me out but NO damage, very cool!

No, my system is kinda modest, or so I think anyway?

Components:
Denon AVR3805
Denon DVD2900
DGTek HDTV tuner
High End Media Centre PC with 24" Dell W/S monitor
Panasonic SVHS VCR
Pioneer LD player (yes, I still watch them from time to time)
Sony VPLVW11HT LCD Projector
Screen Technics fixed frame 80" W/S screen
XBox with advanced AV/component connectors (soon to be replaced by the Xbox360....woo hoo)

Speakers:
Richter Excaliburs (mains)
Richter Unicorn II (Centre)
Richter Hydras x2 pair (side and rear surrounds)
and of course the SVS sub.

In the past I have had EAD processors Bag End subs, flagship amps/processors from Onkyo, Yamaha and Denon, a whole multitude of differing components but these days I look for more bang for buck and so far its all good.

Cheers
Dropbear

 

[adamd123]

Man I am trying to figure out if I want this sub or the Axiom EP500 as they are both pretty much the same price. I have a feeling my wife is not going to like the size of this thing that much, but if its size warrents the sound I can accept that.

Does anyone have any pictures of this sub in their living rooms/HT setup? Is the major benifit to buying this sub, that it will go lower than the EP500, while the EP500 is louder? As I mostly watch movies, I would assume lower would be better in my case?

Awesome review btw! Thanks!

Thoughts, suggestions?
Adam
(The rest of my speakers will be Axiom (60ti's) if that makes any difference)

 

[mike c]

I would presume that the SVS would go lower and go louder. but people say the EP500 sounds better? (all hearsay)

 

[Tee-HTF]

Man I am trying to figure out if I want this sub or the Axiom EP500 as they are both pretty much the same price. I have a feeling my wife is not going to like the size of this thing that much, but if its size warrents the sound I can accept that.

Does anyone have any pictures of this sub in their living rooms/HT setup? Is

Make no mistake about it, the PB12-Plus/2 is BIG but i think you probaly get use to it over some time, after the wifes shock wares off. Here are some pics of different set-ups ihave run across on the net below.

Here is a PB12-ISD next to and on top of a PB12-Plus/2 for scale purporses.

 

[mike c]

the second pic had a downfiring sub facing sideways and without its plate.

what would the effects be to the sound?

 

[Tee-HTF]

the second pic had a downfiring sub facing sideways and without its plate.

what would the effects be to the sound?

From what the owner posted he could not hear any sonic differences, and it sounded just as good.

 

[Sheep]

Make no mistake about it, the PB12-Plus/2 is BIG but i think you probaly get use to it over some time, after the wifes shock wares off. Here are some pics of different set-ups ihave run across on the net below.

Clearly, you have to many SVS subwoofers. I will take one of your hands. The big one, give you some extra room

SheepStar

 

[Tee-HTF]

Clearly, you have to many SVS subwoofers. I will take one of your hands. The big one, give you some extra room

SheepStar

I do not own any of the subs in the pics i posted. Although i do own two subs they are cylinders not boxes.

 

[freeflap]

Man I am trying to figure out if I want this sub or the Axiom EP500 as they are both pretty much the same price. I have a feeling my wife is not going to like the size of this thing that much, but if its size warrents the sound I can accept that.

Does anyone have any pictures of this sub in their living rooms/HT setup? Is the major benifit to buying this sub, that it will go lower than the EP500, while the EP500 is louder? As I mostly watch movies, I would assume lower would be better in my case?

Awesome review btw! Thanks!

Thoughts, suggestions?
Adam
(The rest of my speakers will be Axiom (60ti's) if that makes any difference)

not sure that's a fair comparison. the svs has two 12" drivers, the EP500 has one. rather, it would make more sense to compare the single svs PB12-plus against the EP500.

 

[Sheep]

Man I am trying to figure out if I want this sub or the Axiom EP500 as they are both pretty much the same price. I have a feeling my wife is not going to like the size of this thing that much, but if its size warrents the sound I can accept that.

Does anyone have any pictures of this sub in their living rooms/HT setup? Is the major benifit to buying this sub, that it will go lower than the EP500, while the EP500 is louder? As I mostly watch movies, I would assume lower would be better in my case?

Awesome review btw! Thanks!

Thoughts, suggestions?
Adam
(The rest of my speakers will be Axiom (60ti's) if that makes any difference)

Your speakes don't have to match the subwoofer.

I think the SVS will leave the Axiom in the dust. I agree with the above poster though, its not a fair comparison. If you want to keep it small, get the PB-12Ultra. Same price as the EP500, and when in 16Hz tune, it has been said to be a fairly close comparison.

SheepStar

 

[adamd123]

Wow thanks for all the pictures Tee-HTF!
So you guys think the E500 does not stand up to this guy at all huh? I guess the only reason I was comparing them is because they are so close in price. But as far as I can tell it seems like the SQ and Volume of this sub are all above the E500.

Thanks again!
Adam

 

[freeflap]

Wow thanks for all the pictures Tee-HTF!
So you guys think the E500 does not stand up to this guy at all huh? I guess the only reason I was comparing them is because they are so close in price. But as far as I can tell it seems like the SQ and Volume of this sub are all above the E500.

Thanks again!
Adam

I'm not sure that's true. I was leaning toward the SVS also, but after reading Craigsub GTG in November, it seemed the EP500 won. They tested 4 unknown subs, ABCD, and wrote there impressions. afterwards, the code was revealed, and the weakest performer was the svs Ultra at 20hz tune. the EP 500 was the favorite followed closely by the svs ultra at 16 hz (correct me if i'm wrong)

i'd like to hear Craig's impression as to which he'd recommend for 90% movies. I was leaning to the SVS since my main speakers are Onix ref rosewoods, and the SVS uses the same rosewood factory, so the finish would be the same. However, the match isn't that critical and I could do the Axiom black if needed.