SVS vs Velodyne vs ??? subs

[Unregistered]

I have a budget of $600 and I am looking for the best quality sub for 50% music and 50% movies.

From what ive been reading it sounds like SVS is a popular choice...how does it compare to say a velodyne sub. Or is there something else that will be beter than both of these for my price range?

P.S. I cant find anyone with an SVS sub that i can audition!
Does anyone know of a store in Raleigh, NC that has some better brands for me to look at?

 

[Karp]

SVS sells only directly from the manufacturer over the internet. I was a little hesitant myself, since I was not able to audition one before I bought mine. They do have a 45 day money back guarantee, so if you don't like it (which I highly doubt), you are only out the cost of shipping.

I don't think you can go wrong with SVS. They are rock-solid, have a super flat frequency response, and go lower and have higher SPL than most subs at twice the price.

 

[kode3]

SVS no doubt. They rock.

 

[Redbone]

Having owned a Paradigm PDR-10 and recently being in the same boat as you (looking for the best sub $600 under) I can say that Hsu is supreme. I cannot believe how much tighter and dynamic it is than my old Paradigm. I even think it sounds better than my buddies CSW P1000. The tightness of the bass, especially with LFE is awesome and powerful.

I purchased the STF2 which I love but if I had the money I would have gotten the STF3 or Outlaw sub as Dr. Hsu suggested.

The Hsu STF2 is unbeatable for the price of $400- Maybe even $600 to $800.

My main thoughts are refinement, refinement, refinement. Only thing about SVS is that I did not want to put a small beer refrigerator in my living room.

 

[psyclobe]

I never liked any of the velodynes that I heard, kinda flabby, non-tight.

 

[WorkerBee]

We will be recieving our first subwoofer in a couple days. It is going to be an svs #2039-pc+ and I am hoping for the best! Looking forward to seeing how it integrates with a couple different brands of speakers.

 

[mitch57]

Kode3,

How do you like your Rotel RMB-1075 paired up with your Denon 3805? I also have the Denon 3805 and just ordered the Rotel RMB-1095 amp. I should have it this week? Did you notice a big performance boost? Did your system improve dramatically with the addition of the Rotel power amp? Inquiry minds want to know.

Heres my current system:

Denon 3805
Rotel RMB-1095 (this week)
Def Techs BP 7002s
Def Techs CLR 2500
Def Techs BP 2Xs
Integra DPC 8.5 DVD Changer
Sony KV-36FS17 CRT TV
Dish 510 DVR
Richard Gray RGPC 400 MK II (2 each).
Impact Acoustics interconnects
MX-500 remote control

 

[cbraver]

Velodynes, especially the higher end of the line, are fantastic subwoofers. I have an HGS-18" that has provided me with hears of awesome musical and theater low end. I have heard a great deal of the Velodyne line and highly recommend the brand. This forum is very pro-SVS for some reason. While the SVS sub I have heard (16-45PCi or whatever it was) was fine, I didn't find it to be all that fantastic and I certainly don't believe they are a bargain. Factory direct doesn't mean "better price" by any means. In the business world, it means "more profit."

You should also look at M&K for subwoofer options.

As far as the comment on the looks of the SVS subwoofers (with exception to the standard boxy ones they sell now), I agree. If they painted it silver it would look like a keg. (The should make the keg series. Make it the same size as a keg and have a tap on the top of it. Then for "smaller" applications you could have the "baby keg" edition.) But, most of us are past the whole "looks" thing unless the wifey is going nuts about it.

I never liked any of the velodynes that I heard, kinda flabby, non-tight.

I'd like you to show me a subwoofer that is "tight." Play any high end subwoofer alone (whatever the price) and see how "tight" it is. Punch comes from the midrange, not your subwoofer.

-Chad

 

[annunaki]

Tight is also dependent upon placement for integration with the mains as well. Tight punchy sounds come from midbass/midrange drivers. I would say a subwoofer can be accurate, to be... well... more accurate.

Many customers that I have had come into the store want tight subs. When I play an accurate music oriented sub vs. say a boomier theater subwoofer, most pick the boomier one. My theory is that the correlate the 50hz ish bump in frequency response with tightness. Granted, not all customers come to this conclusion, but few do. With a little education on where the tight sound the are after comes from (and a demo), I sell a few sets of speakers as well. And I have happy customers to boot.

 

[BMXTRIX]

I have a def tech 15 inch sub that I find very boomy and my personal experience is that that Velodyne stuff blows it away. But, I look at Velodyne HGS stuff which is not in the right budget.

I think it is a fair question to ask at $600.00 what really is the best sounding sub that can put out solid bass to not only enhance music but make Armageddon sound (and feel) like it should?

 

[johnu]

Velodynes, especially the higher end of the line, are fantastic subwoofers. I have an HGS-18" that has provided me with hears of awesome musical and theater low end. I have heard a great deal of the Velodyne line and highly recommend the brand. This forum is very pro-SVS for some reason. While the SVS sub I have heard (16-45PCi or whatever it was) was fine, I didn't find it to be all that fantastic and I certainly don't believe they are a bargain. -Chad

I'm not familiar with the HGS-18 but it looks like the retail price is around $3K. At that price, I would be pretty upset if it wasn't awesome. The 16-46 is one of the lowest priced powered SVS's at $649. I'm not surprised it doesn't match up to your $3K subwoofer in your opinion. There are other models that match up better but they cost more money. You really need to compare models with comparable prices.

Factory direct doesn't mean "better price" by any means. In the business world, it means "more profit."

Factory direct almost always means better prices compared to a retail store. After the 20 or 30% (or whatever) markup for distributors, and the 40 or 50% (or whatever) markup for the retailer, the factory direct store can offer substantially better prices than a retail outlet for comparable products. If they didn't, very few people would buy from them if there were good alternatives because of the convenience of a brick and mortar store.

 

[cbraver]

Granted it's a totally different price range, but I was just stating that I have personal experiance with the company (trying to make myself credibilty past auditions).

However, Velodyne sells a number of lower priced models (like I said), that are WELL worth an audition and I think would be a better purchase than a SVS.

-Chad

 

[kode3]

Kode3,

How do you like your Rotel RMB-1075 paired up with your Denon 3805? I also have the Denon 3805 and just ordered the Rotel RMB-1095 amp. I should have it this week? Did you notice a big performance boost? Did your system improve dramatically with the addition of the Rotel power amp? Inquiry minds want to know.

Heres my current system:

Denon 3805
Rotel RMB-1095 (this week)
Def Techs BP 7002s
Def Techs CLR 2500
Def Techs BP 2Xs
Integra DPC 8.5 DVD Changer
Sony KV-36FS17 CRT TV
Dish 510 DVR
Richard Gray RGPC 400 MK II (2 each).
Impact Acoustics interconnects
MX-500 remote control

It was a big improvment. I did it and will never look back. In a few years when the 3805 gets old, I will upgrade to a real preamp. pre/amp configs are the best... hope you enjoy it! (sorry the reply took so long)

 

[toquemon]

I have a budget of $600 and I am looking for the best quality sub for 50% music and 50% movies.

From what ive been reading it sounds like SVS is a popular choice...how does it compare to say a velodyne sub. Or is there something else that will be beter than both of these for my price range?

P.S. I cant find anyone with an SVS sub that i can audition!
Does anyone know of a store in Raleigh, NC that has some better brands for me to look at?

I've heard one of the lower end Velodyne subs, it was kind of boomy to me for music but excellent for HT. The best sub i've ever heard is the Yamaha YST-SW1500 for like a $1,000 bucks. It's very musical and is awsome for HT.

I'm still looking for a sub, so i've been hearing a lot of them from Cerwin Vega to Velodyne, passing trough Paradigm, M&K, Athena (very good for the price), Infinity, Energy (also very good), Polk Audio, Yamaha (the most musical ones).

I haven't heard SVS, so i can't tell.

 

[Zarg]

SVS Rocks

I recently purchased a SV Sub for about $900 after researching Hsu, Outlaw and the DefTech rework of their old sub. (The research involved reading reviews and user comments, since I didn't audition anything. So take this post with a large grain of salt.)

For me, it came down to the Outlaw and the SV. Based on a buddy's comments regard the SV cylinder that he had heard, I went with SV.

No regets. At all. Sucker is huge, all right. But it rocks my world and would rock my neighbors' worlds if I wasn't such a nice guy. Bass is nice and flat, not thumpy or boomy as I feared. It goes as low as I would ever need but doesn't overpower the other freqs.

Good luck.

 

[annunaki]

Factory direct almost always means better prices compared to a retail store. After the 20 or 30% (or whatever) markup for distributors, and the 40 or 50% (or whatever) markup for the retailer, the factory direct store can offer substantially better prices than a retail outlet for comparable products. If they didn't, very few people would buy from them if there were good alternatives because of the convenience of a brick and mortar store.

Be careful not to buy into the "hype" of "factory direct" marketing. Many times companies claim so much in savings. However, by cutting out the "middle man" they can just charge the customer the same price as the retailer would or knock it down 10% and soak up the profits.

Many internet only companies use this scheme. "If such and such product were for sale at a retail establishment it would cost $699 but since we are cutting out the middle man we will sell it for $349." When in reality, actual cost on the product, if they were to actually sell to dealers, would be $175. So the company pockets the $175 that the dealer would normally make yet they have no real customer service issues to deal with like the retailer would.

Edit:This is not always the case, but is much of the time.

 

[johnu]

Be careful not to buy into the "hype" of "factory direct" marketing. Many times companies claim so much in savings. However, by cutting out the "middle man" they can just charge the customer the same price as the retailer would or knock it down 10% and soak up the profits.

Many internet only companies use this scheme. "If such and such product were for sale at a retail establishment it would cost $699 but since we are cutting out the middle man we will sell it for $349." When in reality, actual cost on the product, if they were to actually sell to dealers, would be $175. So the company pockets the $175 that the dealer would normally make yet they have no real customer service issues to deal with like the retailer would.

Edit:This is not always the case, but is much of the time.

You would have to be very naive to think that a $349 internet deal is worth $699 retail without a little price and quality checking. But if it was equivalent to a $699 street price item, then your $349 is a great deal, whether or not it only costs the internet company $175. Of course, if the street price of the retail item was alway discounted to $349, then your internet deal doesn't look very good.

 

[Bobster]

SVS Subs

I currently own an SVS 20-39 PC+. I've had it for a approximately 8 months. It replaced a Velodyne HGS-10 that I paid about $400 ($1,200) dollars more for. I have the SVS tuned to 16hz, which also isn't an option with the HGS I owned.

In the same room, with the same components, there was absolutely no comparison on any source I listened to. Much more extension, much more clean output, and MUCH better support.

At the time of purchase, Tom V. of SVS made the following statement:

"The HGS10 was a good performer for its size, but you are about to experience a whole new level of bass..even our $599 20-39PCi would give you the clean output it would take 3-4 of the HGS10s to match."

He wasn't kidding.

Bottom line, if you have questions about SVS product selection and placement, drop them a line at:

techsupport@svsubwoofers.com

I've also heard good things about HSU subs but haven't had the opportunity to audition one.

 

[annunaki]

Being the current owner of an HGS-10, I will take a look into the SVS. What type of size difference is there between the two. i love the size of the HGS-10. How is the ultra low end output as compared to the Velodyne i.e. below 25hz. There are few woofers I have heard that play as cleanly below 25hz.

Johnu,

I was simply using those figures as an example. I have seen some that say retail is $549 and the "factory direct" price is say $349. I know there are SOME companies that actually have decent deals factory direct, but they are a select few.

 

[Bobster]

Hi Annunaki,

There are several sizes and types of SVS subs. First, all SVS subs are ported. The PCi, PC+ and PC Ultra as well as the CS (no built in amp) are all tube towers. The others are box subs.

Let me decode some sizing as well. With the tower subs, the first number is the stock low-end tuning. The second number is the height. They also make box subs ranging from 1, 10" to 4, 12" drivers.

Port blockers are also included to drop the low end. For example, with one port blocker in place, a PCi or PC+ 20-39 tunes to 16hz and with two, 12hz. There is a price to be paid in output vs. extension though. They have graphs on the website explaining this.

The 20-39 PCi mentioned in the email is 39" tall and 16" in diameter.

The best way to determine what you will need, is to contact the company with the dimensions of your room, and some info about your normal listening habits. They will not oversell you.

In fact, in my first email to the company, I suggested I was interested in one model and they assured me a model costing approximately 1/2 as much was plenty. It was.

Here's the URL: www.svsubwoofers.com
Here's the email: techsupport@svsubwoofers.com

If you email them tonight, you may have a response by the morning.