I guess it's time for a bass upgrade

John24ssj

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Hi All,

It has been over a year since I have asked for your advice.
I arranged a movie night with friends to watch Ready Player One and was sitting on the left-hand side of the sofa, and had a brilliant time so did my guests. I received great feedback and my side of the sofa shook quite well. However, I did not get that "chest thump" most people are after and when re-watching the movie while sitting on the right-hand site of the sofa, I noticed that the bass was rather disappointing. (please see room layout below):
Floor Plan experience metric.png

I am certain that this is due to the opening to the dining room which sucks out the bass. Even though XTZ 12.17 edge and BK Monolith Plus are great 12" subs, I feel they are not up to par to deliver the SPL that is required for a home cinema in my living room.

To be honest I already got loads of great advice from @Gasp3621 but just wanted to get a wider opinion before I make my decision.
After MANY MANY ARGUMENTS with my wife, I (well actually she) came to a decision that I got a budget of £2250 to get 2 subs that will be the only subs I am ever going to get in the next 20 years (so I never ever bother her again with this).

For some reason I got my eye on a pair Arendal 1961 1V, while knowing that SVS PB-3000 as per @Gasp3621 advice would be the best option.

What do you guys think? (just FYI I can only get ported subs as sealed ones cause my wife ear pleasure issues) I have one last chance to get my ultimate dual subs for £2,250 what should I go for? So I am looking for fully presure my living room and deliver proper chest thump! And it does need to be dual sub because of my room modes

Thank you!!! :)
 
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You want identical subs, so how about dual svs pb3000?

Or how about dual immersive audio smsg50? Suprise your wife haha.
 
You want identical subs, so how about dual svs pb3000?

Or how about dual immersive audio smsg50? Suprise your wife haha.
I Googled and showed these to my wife and she gave right stinky looks, so I guess it is out of the question :D
 
What about dual Monolith 15" THX a bit over budget at £2800 for the pair but this sub could destroy your house. :D

 
What about dual Monolith 15" THX a bit over budget at £2800 for the pair but this sub could destroy your house. :D

Sorry £2,250 is my budget and not a penny more. Also those are way way too big and I would not be able to justify to my wife.
 
Have you thought of fitting doors between the living/dining areas?
Yes but that would ruin the look of the living room, current archway is quite nice the way it is
 
I have two PB-3000s in a 5.7x5.4m room so that’s only about 18% less than your total space and I have stacks of headroom - the things are LFE monsters.

Frankly, a pair of PB-2000 Pros would have probably got the job done SPL-wise but they lack the explosive delivery quality of the PB-3000s. They are ridiculously good subs and certainly all I will ever need in my system.

40-60Hz is a critical chest slam range and in this region the PB-3000s have a higher measured SPL output than both the larger PB-4000 and the Monoprice Monolith 15 THX which really says it all.
 
I have two PB-3000s in a 5.7x5.4m room so that’s only about 18% less than your total space and I have stacks of headroom - the things are LFE monsters.

Frankly, a pair of PB-2000 Pros would have probably got the job done SPL-wise but they lack the explosive delivery quality of the PB-3000s. They are ridiculously good subs and certainly all I will ever need in my system.

40-60Hz is a critical chest slam range and in this region the PB-3000s have a higher measured SPL output than both the larger PB-4000 and the Monoprice Monolith 15 THX which really says it all.
Thanks for your feedback. This is what I am currenly lacking from my system, that "chest slam" and I've been through a few subs now chasing after it and all of the compromising didn't do me much good.
 
John , just go for dual PB3000
 
John , just go for dual PB3000
I'm just thinking I better have more than I need instead of doing what I've been doing now and just being disappointed.
 
I'm just thinking I better have more than I need instead of doing what I've been doing now and just being disappointed.
earlier this year I had the itch for upgrade and did my research. I could not better dual PB3000 for its balance of size, performance and relatively acceptable price. It is still indeed the sweet spot of the SVS range.
It is only by changing location, playing around with REW and help with forum members i was able to keep my 12.17 edges ( again with those changes i am getting lovely bass), But I could have still made the upgrade to PB3000s and got even a notch more performance but 1. I could not really justify the extra expense for a bit more performance as the current setup with the edges is giving me more than what I need and 2. One of those positions i had to place the subs was a bit tighter for a PB3000.
But in a year and half when i redo my house and have a dedicated TV/Cinema room I would definitely get the dual PB3000 or whatever SVS replace it with. I don't think you can better PB3000 currently for that price with excellent performance both low end and mid/upper bass with reasonable size as well as good local support too from the manufacturer
 
earlier this year I had the itch for upgrade and did my research. I could not better dual PB3000 for its balance of size, performance and relatively acceptable price. It is still indeed the sweet spot of the SVS range.
It is only by changing location, playing around with REW and help with forum members i was able to keep my 12.17 edges ( again with those changes i am getting lovely bass), But I could have still made the upgrade to PB3000s and got even a notch more performance but 1. I could not really justify the extra expense for a bit more performance as the current setup with the edges is giving me more than what I need and 2. One of those positions i had to place the subs was a bit tighter for a PB3000.
But in a year and half when i redo my house and have a dedicated TV/Cinema room I would definitely get the dual PB3000 or whatever SVS replace it with. I don't think you can better PB3000 currently for that price with excellent performance both low end and mid/upper bass with reasonable size as well as good local support too from the manufacturer
Yes I did see your post and was happy to see you were able to get your system optimised :)
I've gone through many many combinations and even at best one found that I just wasn't getting the bass I was after. My monolith + and XTZ 12.17edge are brilliant subs but it just feels that for my living room they not up to the challenge.
I remember when I was trying to justify spending £400 on the XXLS400 :D (which is still my currently favourite sub, I mean for music it was amazing) But as mentioned before due to wife's issues I can't have a sealed sub. And now I'm willing to spend £2K, oh how things have changed. However, this time I'm going for an overkill and hopefully it will the last sub purchase I will be making in a while!!!
 
Yes I did see your post and was happy to see you were able to get your system optimised :)
I've gone through many many combinations and even at best one found that I just wasn't getting the bass I was after. My monolith + and XTZ 12.17edge are brilliant subs but it just feels that for my living room they not up to the challenge.
I remember when I was trying to justify spending £400 on the XXLS400 :D (which is still my currently favourite sub, I mean for music it was amazing) But as mentioned before due to wife's issues I can't have a sealed sub. And now I'm willing to spend £2K, oh how things have changed. However, this time I'm going for an overkill and hopefully it will the last sub purchase I will be making in a while!!!
Yes I too was following your thread on dual sub journey from your Q acoustic su b to BK400 to mono and then mono with xtz with interest.
At least by going for PB300 duals you will know that you have left no stone unturned. and if you are not getting good enough bass with that setup then you need some serious changes to your room or setup.
I too remember the time when I was thinking spending £200 for a single sub was over the top haha
 
Yes I too was following your thread on dual sub journey from your Q acoustic su b to BK400 to mono and then mono with xtz with interest.
At least by going for PB300 duals you will know that you have left no stone unturned. and if you are not getting good enough bass with that setup then you need some serious changes to your room or setup.
I too remember the time when I was thinking spending £200 for a single sub was over the top haha

Oh how things change when you're addicted to bass.

Should have seen my wife's face when I was trying to explain that dual pb-3000s at £2.2K are a great value for money 😅😅😅😅😅
 
Frankly, a pair of PB-2000 Pros would have probably got the job done SPL-wise but they lack the explosive delivery quality of the PB-3000s.
That’s a word that I’ve seen bandered about recently ‘explosive’

It sums things up pretty well for me and it’s a word that I wish I’d thought of a while ago when making a description of how a Sub can sound.
 
Pb3000s really are one of the best subs in the SVS line.
 
Are tactile transducers an option?

before having a knee jerk reaction to them, if it’s possible so get them installed properly, then seriously give them some thought.

Ive spent thousands on my subwoofers, but the best performance increase I got was adding a platform and quake 10b, integrated with a minidsp.

If you can fit your seats to a platform without looking obvious (you can’t see or even tell with mine), then this will definitely give you the best result and won’t matter about your room layout.
 
Are tactile transducers an option?

before having a knee jerk reaction to them, if it’s possible so get them installed properly, then seriously give them some thought.

Ive spent thousands on my subwoofers, but the best performance increase I got was adding a platform and quake 10b, integrated with a minidsp.

If you can fit your seats to a platform without looking obvious (you can’t see or even tell with mine), then this will definitely give you the best result and won’t matter about your room layout.
I'm currently getting quite a bit feedback through the sofa already and I don't think wife will want something like this but I'll check with her
 
I'm currently getting quite a bit feedback through the sofa already and I don't think wife will want something like this but I'll check with her
You don’t need too much, but you’ll get it completely even between the seating positions, which is what you’re currently missing.
 

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