My new SB12+

[damo_in_sale]

Hi chaps,

Bought the above second hand from Chris Geary, arrived yesterday really well packaged and in apparrent mint condition. It was delivered to the gf's mothers house, which well pleased her Good job I decided I couldn't house a Monolith or she would have killed me Cheers Chris, hope you enjoy your new cylinder

First impression- beautiful finish. Looks stunning and makes my old Gale look very cheap. Also, it looks quite small compared with my Gale, even though the Gale only has a 10 inch driver- this surprised me. I think the gf would be impressed if it weren't for the fact that I now have two subs in the lounge and a large box in the second bedroom due to lack of space

Noise when operating the Gain knob initially, but I had a lamp on top with the power cable trailing close to the rear sockets- perhaps the inputs were inducting a small current? Same story with my harmony docking station so moved that too. Altered gain knob today very slightly and no noise, but haven't had chance to investigate further (I've only been around in the evening).

Xover is bypassed, 5.0 speakers set to small. Amp Xover = 80Hz. All sub eq and room comp is off. I set the gain knob to ~25% and chose 'THX speakers yes' on the amp and then ran the amps auto calibration thingy (if I don't have THX speakers 'yes' the amp sets my front L+R to Large).

Strangely, when I got my spl meter out and used the amps internal test tones at reference, all the speakers appeared to output 70dB from the listening position. I expected this to be 75dB. Anyway, the amp appeared to have the levels at least balanced well. However, the sub sounded 'quiet'. Checking further with the spl meter confirmed that it was outputing 70dB however.

First thing I did was fire up Lord of the Rings, Fellowship. The first scene with the historic battle with Sauron is awesome. There are three moments with really good bass for me, when the King dude hits the ground after Sauron smacks him one, when Saurons severed finger hits the ground and when Sauron explodes.
Now, for me, initially, all of these moments seemed 'weak' in some way. I can't quite put my finger on it really. I looked at the SVS manual and it states that at moderate volume you should add 1-3dB to the sub. I added 2dB. The first two moments were much better; a proper 'thud' when the finger hits the floor. The Sauron deep bass explosion though still seemed to have little to it and seemed 'thin'. Perhaps I was used to flappy harmonics in my old paper cone sub? It used to rattle by belly!

The other thing is that until I got the Pio amp I never had an spl meter nor auto setup, so my previous setups probably had levels all over the place. And this is probably the first time I've watched LOTR using this amp. So it maybe that I had the sub level far too high before.

Now, here's the strange bit that I can't put my finger on- my 5.0 speakers seem to sound a lot better than before! There seems to be more seperation and 'speed' than before. I dont understand this.

A couple of hours ago I tried the Darla 'tank tap', with my amp set to -20db. This is what I would normally consider to be moderate volume for daytime viewing. All I can say is WOW- it sounded to me like I was inside a shipping container and somebody was whacking it from outside with a baseball bat! I don't remember hearing that kind of sound before with my old sub.

Before I decided to upgrade my sub, I suspected that the loud 'booming' I previously had was because my Gale was producing harmonics all over the place and wasn't reproducing the actual bass sound. I think the little SVS, in the brief time I've had to listen, shows this. I just think it will take a little while to get used to the lack of 'boom', if you know what I mean.

So far,

Cheers,

Damo

[russ.will]

Adjusting to a lack of distortion, takes time in itself. As you've discovered, when you don't think a lot is happening, all of a sudden WHAM!

Nice, isn't it?

With time with this particular sub, you'll experiment with the settings and realise what you were missing and by the same token, what you were experiencing, you should have been missing.

If you know what I mean.

Either way, it's a truly great compact sub.

Dont hesitate to post your findings, or questions, either way.

Russell

[damo_in_sale]

Originally Posted by russ.will

Adjusting to a lack of distortion, takes time in itself. As you've discovered, when you don't think a lot is happening, all of a sudden WHAM!

Nice, isn't it?

With time with this particular sub, you'll experiment with the settings and realise what you were missing and by the same token, what you were experiencing, you should have been missing.

If you know what I mean.

Either way, it's a truly great compact sub.

Dont hesitate to post your findings, or questions, either way.

Russell

Cheers mate.

Are you familiar with the Sauron explosion moment? If so then how is this 'supposed' to sound? With my previous sub this was probably the deepest bass I've experienced; like a frequency sweep which towards the end had my belly resonating. It now sounds 'thin'. Do you think that this was because my previous sub was producing a load of artificial harmonics which aren't supposed to be there?

Cheers,

Damo

PS the Darlia scene was supreme

[russ.will]

IIRC, the bass frequencies that provide gut reactions are at about 120-140Hz. This might explain everything you need to know about how cinemas punch so had, yet seem to deliver no deep bass.

There might even be a thread to this effect somewhere.

FWIW, Im into material that startles me with it's realism and as I've never seen a Sauron explode, you're probably better placed than I to comment.

I jest. It's a while since I've run any of the LOTR movies, much as I love them. I tend to head for the barrel roll scene in Flight Of The Pheonix, the cannons in Master And Commander and recently, the tanks in Children of Men, for my bass jollies.

As to how anything is supposed to sound? Then a good a yardstick as anything, is to achieve a balance where male voice (Sean Bean for instance) sounds deep, but non resonant, but when the ring drop arrives, the room moves. It's a personal taste thing at the end of the day and only you know how you like it to sound.

Russell

[chrisgeary]

I'm glad it has a found a good home, I knew you'd be pleased with it.

The gain knob noise might be common to all SVS subs, at least it was to all three I have owned so far.

Chris

[joffy1780]

Both SB12s that I've had,have had noisy gain knobs.

[Hungry Horace]

Congratulations on your new sub. I myself bought a SB12 a couple of days ago, and as you can tell from my signature, I already have a PB12-Plus.

The SB12 has really surprised me as a sub for movies. This is my third SVS sub, and the first thing all of them have had to endure is the obnoxious little Darla tapping away at the watertank. The SB12 is not my first small sub, and based on the performance from the five other that I have owned earlier, my expectations were not high. But as you say yourself, the SB12 manages to do the Darla scene almost full justice even when compared to its bigger brother.

I have tried pushing it to its limits, and it reaches them with very little drama, so if you want to you can safely add another db or two. Also try experimenting with placement it can work wonders. Still want more? Buy another SB12 and double the performance. You will then have what best can be described as subwoofer heaven or hell, depending on what side of the wall you are

The SB12 is in my ears an amazing sub, far better then any of the other small subs I have owned earlier, and some of them were even dual setups!

[bob1]

Originally Posted by joffy1780

Both SB12s that I've had,have had noisy gain knobs.

Could you clarify what you mean by noisy,mine doesn't make any noises.

[Druboo]

Originally Posted by damo_in_sale

Now, here's the strange bit that I can't put my finger on- my 5.0 speakers seem to sound a lot better than before! There seems to be more seperation and 'speed' than before.

Told ya

[joffy1780]

Originally Posted by bob1

Could you clarify what you mean by noisy,mine doesn't make any noises.

If I adjust the gain,it makes a slight 'scraping' noise.Just tried it now and it is very minor,and only if you twist the knob a little wildly.

[damo_in_sale]

Originally Posted by Druboo

Told ya

Why's that then mate, what's the explanation?

[Druboo]

A reminder

SVS 5.0 + SB12 Plus, versus my current Gales: How much of an improvement?

Surprising the difference having a decent sub can make .... taking the workload for sub and low bass off of your amp and speakers.

I've even got my 'coffins' of front-standers set to small

[bob1]

Originally Posted by joffy1780

If I adjust the gain,it makes a slight 'scraping' noise.Just tried it now and it is very minor,and only if you twist the knob a little wildly.

Ok ,i know the type of noise you mean,never had it on a svs but did get that on a Velo.

[damo_in_sale]

Went to the pub on Saturday night and Emma started babbling about some explosion in The Matador which she recorded on Sky. It was a mates birthday so I had quite a few beers and totally forgot about the conversation. The next day I was nursing my head when she innocently put the Matador on, nice quiet scene, bloke sat on a park bench, and me slouched in the sofa nursing my rather sore head. Then, all of a sudden, BANG!!! as the car blew up. Jesus, for a moment I thought the IRA had come back to Manchester.

I now have DRC set to Medium

[AudiophileUk]

I went and picked up an SB12+ direct from the AV-Sales offices a couple of days ago...

Spent some time setting it up with the SPL. I was hoping it would sound better than my REL Q200E i had before... first impressions was it was alot bigger than i thought!! I know its a small sub comparitively, but i was thinking it would be a cubic foot as the REL I expect its all the better off for the bigger volume so im not complaining.

Saving every penny to justify it i brought the vinyl finish - but i tell you what it looks pretty damn smart IMHO and im not disapointed at all. Certinaly nicer than the old Grittex finish.

Sound wise where it matters i think it sounds superb. I was obviosuly hopeing for an improvement but it is more than i expected. It integrates very well, much better than my REL. I havnt had a chance to really try it out - but so far im impressed (the darla scene was also well handled).