[hossacd]

Has any one compared these subs as I am curious if the PB13 is worth 1k more than a Monolith I could even have two Monoliths and some spare change.

It is basically impossible to demo these subs together I have heard a PB13 in my room and it was superb however I have read plenty of good reviews on the Monoliths.

What ever sub is purchased it will have room EQ used with it so I am tring to find out how much better the PB13 is over the Monolith or even two Monoliths.

[Moonfly]

The general consensus is the extra 1k isnt 1k worth of extra performance. That said, that is the cost of that extra performance and it's upto you if it is worth it, but that is the cost for that level of performance and its more almost everywhere else. Musically the Monolith is said to be as good as the Ultra, possible even a touch better. Power/depth/performance wise the Ultra is a step ahead.

2 Monoliths will give you more volume than a single (how close to an Ultra's ability I dont know), but no extra depth, so again its up to you to gauge the worth value for yourself. 2 subs can be equalized to give a better in room response than a single, if your happy to invest the time required to learn how to do it properly.

[paulst10]

One sub or two?

Worth a read for someone in your position, as Russell was comparing 2 Monoliths to the old PB12Ultra

(If it gets a bit much reading it all, just skip to the conclusions)

[Ian J]

Originally Posted by Moonfly

The general consensus is the extra 1k isnt 1k worth of extra performance.

Your comment is a little misleading as "worth" is intangible and means something different to different people. I assume that everyone who has bought an Ultra thinks that it's worth the extra over the Monolith otherwise they wouldn't have bought it.

If you mean that the performance is not two and one half times better than the cheaper sub you would be correct.

[indus]

I went from a Monolith to the PCU 13. As others have said it depends what you mean by 'worth the extra £1k'

Increases in performance of many things in life (inc av) are not a linear relationship to cost, twice the cost is often not twice as good, maybe only 20% better, depends how much you want that 20%

The PC13U is defo better than the Monolith, its biggest advantage being pure room pressurisation, ie the bass you feel in your chest. I feel my pc does this in a way the Monolith couldn't.

However, to this day I have nothing but respect for the Monolith. Given its 'small size' and low cost it gives stupendous performance, more than enough for 99% of people.
If space or money were ever an issue in the future, I would not hesitate to buy one again

[Moonfly]

Originally Posted by Ian J

Your comment is a little misleading as "worth" is intangible and means something different to different people. I assume that everyone who has bought an Ultra thinks that it's worth the extra over the Monolith otherwise they wouldn't have bought it.

If you mean that the performance is not two and one half times better than the cheaper sub you would be correct.

I offer the following in my defence:

Originally Posted by Moonfly

The general consensus is the extra 1k isnt 1k worth of extra performance. That said, that is the cost of that extra performance and it's upto you if it is worth it

As I said, that is the cost of said extra performance, and its the cheapest it comes at

[IronGiant]

So the consensus is that it is probably the most worthwhile way of spending £1K to get that much extra performance in a retail sub, but that the question is rather more as to whether you think it's worth spending that much for the increase you will get.

Dave

[Moonfly]

Pretty much, I would put it like this:

The PB13U doesnt give you 3 times the performance of the Monolith. However, the level of performance it does give cant be had any cheaper. So, how valuable that performance jump is, is entirely up to you.

For me (not having actually heard the Monolith), it was worth it, after a demo of an SVS sub courtesy of Badger 0-0. For Namuk, having owned a Monolith, and having demo'd my PB13U, it wasnt worth it. For the OP, I'll leave that for him to decide.

[Pollywoggle]

If I had enough money to buy the Ultra or 2 Monoliths then I would buy the Ultra but then I haven't heard the Monolith so my opinion probably doesn't count for very much

[IronGiant]

A long awaited new smiley

Dave

[Ian J]

Originally Posted by Moonfly

The PB13U doesnt give you 3 times the performance of the Monolith. However, the level of performance it does give cant be had any cheaper. So, how valuable that performance jump is, is entirely up to you.

A car parable might be appropriate and I suppose that one could compare a Porsche Boxster to a Porsche 911. The 911 costs twice that of a Boxster but is it "worth" twice as much.

This question will continue to crop up for years to come

[IronGiant]

It's the law of diminishing returns and applies equally to hifi, cars, houses, diamonds. It's generally an exponential curve that gets flatter the further up the money axis you go. There is the occasional notch where you get an unexpected bang for your buck and that is where a forum like this can advise.

Dave

[hossacd]

Looks like it is a PB13 I will be going for then !

[Moonfly]

OOOOOOoooooo . . . . . . . . . . . . Good choice

[iamimpossible]

I live in leeds can i demo anyones SVS ultra?
and is anyone up for selling theirs?

the best sub i have demoed is the BeoLab 5 from bang & olufsen would the ultra compair to this in base?

[Buckster]

I went from a Monolith to a PC13-U and it was a big upgrade - more controlled, and really pressurises the room - that said the Monolith is a bargain at hte price

[roaduck]

I have a "breathed on" 500 watt Monolith and it can open doors by itself with the vibration and make waves in the bathroom twenty five feet away so mine has the power in a medium 16 x 9 foot room but the quality of the bass is probably 7/10 on a good day and it's competing with genuine class "A" British NPN/PNP transistor cascaded integrated with four components in the output path and it's better than average.

Some people think the first watt is the most important and spending £100 per watt is excessive but I've heard the best so personally I think it's worth it.Class A/B's sound forward, peaky and hard to me with average low level resolution.

To compare it with I've had isobaric P/P Volt 18" radials with a fundamental resonance in the twenties in a 6 square foot birch ply cab with a 19" Yamaha studio 2 kw studio power amp and it was like ATC bass - cat quick, deep and could vibrate the pavement outside two floors below.

That was nothing to my Moss Side reggae carnival 8 x 15" stack for power but it beat in depth and lack of distortion.Now I'd have quality over quantity any day.

[aandpwoodley]

If anyone wants a demo on a PBUltra 13 I'm in Oxford and more than happy to offer my services, however the neighbours may disagree.

[nnish78]

Originally Posted by hossacd

Looks like it is a PB13 I will be going for then !

Have you every considered the Velodynes??? I tried the SPL 1200 with music, and they sounded pretty awesome to my taste... No idea how it compares with the PB13, or how is the Velodyne on movies...

[tin69]

Originally Posted by hossacd

Looks like it is a PB13 I will be going for then !

The PB13 is definitely better than the Monolith. You can always add a second PB13