Thinking of picking up an svs pb12 on black Friday sale.

M

Merkules2001

Audioholic
Living room 25×15. Is this the best I could do for 500? Any other sub that can reach better at this price, tomorrow?
 
Hamid Khan

Hamid Khan

Junior Audioholic
SVS makes very good subwoofers, but if you are looking for other options, the Monolith by Monoprice 10" THX or Monolith by Monoprice M10-S 10" THX, both are similarly priced. The differences are one is a ported designed and the other is sealed. Other option is Rythmik L12 sealed subwoofer, price 549. However, due to the size of your room, I would recommend dual subwoofers. Investing in two less expensive suboofers, or you can always add another subwoofer later for better coverage. Hope this helps!
 
S

snakeeyes

Audioholic Ninja
HSU Research VTF2 mk5 but it’s about $600 with shipping.
 
SwedishChef

SwedishChef

Junior Audioholic
While I don't think anyone is likely to speak badly of the sub, especially at the sale price, I think some would say they need more information in order to advise you. Your room is about 3,000 cubic feet with typical 8' ceilings, which is on the small end of the large room category. Whether any 12" sub can provide "enough" bass for home theater depends in part on your listening levels, preferences, etc. but some here, with the "bassaholic" theme, would suggest you might want more.

Most people advise two subwoofers, rather than one, in order to help deal with unavoidable room modes that lead to areas with low bass in any room. Opinions vary about whether it makes sense to get two cheaper subs or start with one good sub and add a second (matching) in the future when funds allow.

But you do have options. The PSW10 is $129 (was just on sale for $100, and may be again, soon) - you could get 4. The BIC F12 is $209 (and sometimes drops to $180) - you could get two. The Klipsch R-120SW is on sale for $250 (not clear if that's a previous year's model or not).

I don't think many (any?) would suggest that any of those subs are the same league of the PB12. But some might suggest that two Klipsch R-120SW might be better than one PB12-NSD, depending on your situation and interests. (It might also be tricky to add a second PB12-NSD later, since SVS has stated this will be their last run.)

The only thing that might fall into the category of "better" that I can think of is the Hsu VTF2-MK5 which is only $40 more (plus shipping, I think). I want no piece of that "is it better?" fight. :) You can compare specs, decide whether specs are accurate or relevant, decide whether the ported/sealed option is useful or not, etc. on your own - or if others post later this morning, they may add viewpoints.

But they more you can say about your situation and interests, the better advice you will probably get.
 
SwedishChef

SwedishChef

Junior Audioholic
See, I took so long to write my reply, two others beat me to the punch. :)
 
M

Merkules2001

Audioholic
While I don't think anyone is likely to speak badly of the sub, especially at the sale price, I think some would say they need more information in order to advise you. Your room is about 3,000 cubic feet with typical 8' ceilings, which is on the small end of the large room category. Whether any 12" sub can provide "enough" bass for home theater depends in part on your listening levels, preferences, etc. but some here, with the "bassaholic" theme, would suggest you might want more.
Most people advise two subwoofers, rather than one, in order to help deal with unavoidable room modes that lead to areas with low bass in any room. Opinions vary about whether it makes sense to get two cheaper subs or start with one good sub and add a second (matching) in the future when funds allow.
But you do have options. The PSW10 is $129 (was just on sale for $100, and may be again, soon) - you could get 4. The BIC F12 is $209 (and sometimes drops to $180) - you could get two. The Klipsch R-120SW is on sale for $250 (not clear if that's a previous year's model or not).
I don't think many (any?) would suggest that any of those subs are the same league of the PB12. But some might suggest that two Klipsch R-120SW might be better than one PB12-NSD, depending on your situation and interests. (It might also be tricky to add a second PB12-NSD later, since SVS has stated this will be their last run.)
The only thing that might fall into the category of "better" that I can think of is the Hsu VTF2-MK5 which is only $40 more (plus shipping, I think). I want no piece of that "is it better?" fight. :) You can compare specs, decide whether specs are accurate or relevant, decide whether the ported/sealed option is useful or not, etc. on your own - or if others post later this morning, they may add viewpoints.
But they more you can say about your situation and interests, the better advice you will probably get.
Thank you I saw the Bic F12 and Klipsch. They were my other 2 thoughts, I also already own 2 Klipsch r112sw and a Acoustech 100. One is in the same room in question, others are in bedrooms. I was just very curious about that brand, also the Bic 200 II lists some solid specs for 300$. I would rather go down in price than up. I also have a polk psw10 and and advent sw1200 in that same room. Would remove those keep klipsch add svs or bic.
 
M

Merkules2001

Audioholic
Think I need to play with position and add a 12 from the other room with some punch, just to see if I'm pissing into the wind.
 
ryanosaur

ryanosaur

Audioholic Overlord
Move away from the Klipsch, Polk, BIC, or Dayton Sub-xxxx. Not that they are bad perse, but their performance can be easily beaten by a smarter investment. The Hsus would be a significant upgrade over those, imo. worth going all in on the dual drive. Make those the foundation of your system. If you want to experiment mixing subs, you can... but its a rabbit hole that requires REW , measurements, and a MiniDSP unit tp control the subs... for best results. Otherwise your least-quality Sub will set the limiting factor for your whole system.
 
William Lemmerhirt

William Lemmerhirt

Audioholic Overlord
Move away from the Klipsch, Polk, BIC, or Dayton Sub-xxxx. Not that they are bad perse, but their performance can be easily beaten by a smarter investment. The Hsus would be a significant upgrade over those, imo. worth going all in on the dual drive. Make those the foundation of your system. If you want to experiment mixing subs, you can... but its a rabbit hole that requires REW , measurements, and a MiniDSP unit tp control the subs... for best results. Otherwise your least-quality Sub will set the limiting factor for your whole system.
Agree !!!
Also, I would avoid sealed in that size room. You’d need 4 very good ones to be useful for HT.
 
M

Merkules2001

Audioholic
It’s the $499 barrier. I feel the same way about $1999. :)
Here is another huge factor. I have 2 b&w dm 604s2 that sound great during movie time. But music? Eh. Would it be a better idea to get a couple of kilpsch 820 speakers on sale and remove the b&w?
 
S

snakeeyes

Audioholic Ninja
Well there’s trade offs to hit those price points. Go listen and see if it’s better or a sideways move. Also Klipsch has a horn tweeter that some love and some aren’t fans of. The newest Reference line perhaps is a different animal though.

Generally in the price range a lot of cabinets are going to resonate rather than being inert. You can knock on them and tell if they sound hollow or if they are built solid. The tweeters won’t be as accurate as the high end gear. The truth is you are ok until you know there’s better. :) Then it’s hard to go back and listen to the cheap stuff.

How big is the room?
 
M

Merkules2001

Audioholic
Btw where do you guys find the money to chunk down 2000 on a sub? No kids? Private Business owner? No golf or boat? You invented technology that every cell phone uses?
 
everettT

everettT

Audioholic Spartan
Btw where do you guys find the money to chunk down 2000 on a sub? No kids? Private Business owner? No golf or boat? You invented technology that every cell phone uses?
Hobbies gonna hobby ..
No golf anymore, boat yes. We spend time watching tv and listening to music so we put money into it, same with kitchen.
 
S

snakeeyes

Audioholic Ninja
Btw where do you guys find the money to chunk down 2000 on a sub? No kids? Private Business owner? No golf or boat? You invented technology that every cell phone uses?
Oh I was just looking at TVs and thinking I won’t spend over $2k. :)

I have dual VTF2 in one room. The size of room matters for selecting subs.
 
Pogre

Pogre

Audioholic Slumlord
Btw where do you guys find the money to chunk down 2000 on a sub? No kids? Private Business owner? No golf or boat? You invented technology that every cell phone uses?
Tho I wish I did, I don't have $2000 sub money. You can do pretty good for half that in a subwoofer.
 
M

Merkules2001

Audioholic
Well there’s trade offs to hit those price points. Go listen and see if it’s better or a sideways move. Also Klipsch has a horn tweeter that some love and some aren’t fans of. The newest Reference line perhaps is a different animal though.

Generally in the price range a lot of cabinets are going to resonate rather than being inert. You can knock on them and tell if they sound hollow or if they are built solid. The tweeters won’t be as accurate as the high end gear. The truth is you are ok until you know there’s better. :) Then it’s hard to go back and listen to the cheap stuff.

How big is the room?
26×15 I just measured it. It's a unique configuration too. Imagine on left side of rectangle length viewing system, right middle is couch. So gear is 12 ft away. I have one sub on left of viewing area. Facing my left cheek. The other is in upper right corner. So 9 and 2 o'clock.
 
M

Merkules2001

Audioholic
So here is another idea. In my quiver I do possess 2 rp160m and 2 r112sw. For testing purposes I could put 1 112sw on each side of tv then place the rp160m on top of each. Only issue is one is black. The rest are cherry. If I like. Buy another cherry 112? Btw I have a mid century modern theme
 
S

snakeeyes

Audioholic Ninja
So here is another idea. In my quiver I do possess 2 rp160m and 2 r112sw. For testing purposes I could put 1 112sw on each side of tv then place the rp160m on top of each. Only issue is one is black. The rest are cherry. If I like. Buy another cherry 112? Btw I have a mid century modern theme
How tall is ceiling?

Is the room closed or open to other rooms? If open to other rooms/hallways you need to add that in also.

Basically you calculate cubic feet of volume the sub must pressurize.
 
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