SVS SB1000 or PB1000 ?

[Pecker]

Room is almost exactly 5m x 3m.

Use will be for films rather than music in a 7.1 system - possibly upgrading to 7.2.

Sub 1 will probably be placed in the centre of the rear wall, against the wall (or a couple of inches off).

Sub 2 if/when it arrives will be placed facing it in the centre of the front wall.

Or vice versa.

There are bedrooms directly below the cinema room, so something which negates sound travelling down to them is a factor - though I appreciate there's a limited amount that can be done.

Which should I get?

Cheers.

Steve W

 

[mattkhan]

do you mean "SB1000 or PB1000"? you wrote SB or SB

 

[Pecker]

Yes, sorry.

Will change thread title when I get home - not sure if I can do that from my phone.

Steve W

 

[Pecker]

Bump.

 

[mattkhan]

they are really quite different sizes, can you fit 2 PBs into the room?

My comments are based on specs alone so you probably want to go listen to them somewhere.... The PB goes much deeper than the SB so you'd probably need 2 of the SBs to match one of the PBs for clean output & extension. However 2 SBs might yield a better in room response (I would use REW room sim to look into this) & might be expected to sound tighter than the PB & may be more discrete in the room (2 small boxes vs 1 big one).

It depends what you're after really with respect to listening levels & typical content you listen to/watch.

 

[Pecker]

Many thanks.

Okay, how about two PBs in that room?

In a way size isn't an issue (stop giggling or leave the thread). The room is dedicated home cinema - pics below.

The front sub would go in front of the screen, and would sit about an inch below the bottom of it (covered in black velvet, so no reflections). There'd then be a big gap in the room for 3.5m to the seats, so it won't be 'too big'.

The REL Storm sub and white bench you can see on the right are now gone.

The rear - see this pic, then note comments:

Okay, the tall CD tower on the right has been removed. There are 6 bookcases on the back wall which have been moved 3 as far left as they'll go and 3 as far right, leaving a gap in the middle of the centre wall for the rear sub, which is big enough for either model.

Seating is c.1.5m from the back wall.

Thoughts?

Steve W

 

[mattkhan]

You certainly won't lack for output with 2 of them in the room

It boils down to 2 vs 1 (better quality) sub in the end though. £900 or so is a bit of a deadzone for subs though so I'm not sure whether what available there is markedly better or not. Do you have a fixed budget constraint?

2 subs (1 centre rear wall, 1 front wall) can be expected to give you a response like this which looks good, the 2nd sub fills in a variety of dips through the range albeit they are quite narrow dips so might not be that audible.

1 sub at the front looks like this

I assumed the ceiling height is 2.5m btw.

 

[Pecker]

Yes, well 2.4.

Budget is £400-£500 in the first instance. As much again maybe in a short while, but possibly not. Hence buying one sub now and another later if funds permit, whilst allowing for the fact that this might not happen.

From that, it looks like adding second sub might be an upgrade, but not much of one.

Just read this review/comparison:

SVS PB1000 and SB1000 Subwoofer Review - Home Theater Forum and Systems - HomeTheaterShack.com

Now that, for me, appears to favour the PB1000 if you're mainly watching films. Any reason the advantages of the PB mentioned there might be negated in my room?

Again, many thanks, you're being a big help.

Steve W

 

[mattkhan]

For film use I would go with the pb as well. It will definitely give you noticeably greater weight when necessary.

 

[Pecker]

Many, many thanks.

Two more thing, Matt.

First - how does it look with one sub at the back, rather than the front?

Second - I recognise your avatar, but can't place it. What is it (I'll slap my forehead when you tell me).

Steve W

 

[mattkhan]

2 look better than 1 but I don't think it's a dramatic difference. Personally I think 1 PB1000 will have enough output for that sized room so the headroom advantages of 2 might not be enormous. You could then consider the PB2000 (or similar) if you wanted to go with 1 sub and spend more but then that course of action never ends My inclination would be to get 1 and then see how it goes. I used to have an SVS PB12 Ultra btw, great fun for films.

My avatar is Peter Withe wheeling away after scoring in the 82 Euro Cup final. Such joy for an innocent 7 yr old, not so much since then

 

[Pecker]

For a second I thought it was the centenary cup final in '72.

Muchos grasias, etc.

Steve W

 

[Member 116841]

The PBs are pretty big subs Steve - do you have room for them? Based on your Desert Island Films, I'd debate wether you really need to extra bit the PBs will give you - I think you'd be more than happy with a couple of SBs. The SBs will also sound a little more natural than the ported PBs. I'd highly recommend using two subs if you can.

You'll never be able to stop the bass getting through to downstairs, but take a look at the Auralex sub platforms as they seem to work pretty well.

 

[Pecker]

When you say 'fit', do you mean physically? In which case, yes. Whichever sub I get, from those discussed, it'll fit just fine.

Totally agreed on my top 10 (great thinking, by the way), but on the other hand, looking at my top 10, I could probably easily make do with no sub at all.

But it's when I really DO need a sub that I'm asking about.

Steve W

 

[Member 116841]

Personally, I'd still go with the SBs. They're not lacking, and you won't get the issues that come with ported subs.

 

[Pecker]

You could then consider the PB2000 (or similar) if you wanted to go with 1 sub and spend more but then that course of action never ends

I think you'd be more than happy with a couple of SBs. The SBs will also sound a little more natural than the ported PBs. I'd highly recommend using two subs if you can.

I really should stop posting these questions - it inevitably ends up costing me money.

So, I've read more comments, and this is what I understand - please correct me if I'm wrong.

- The SB would be better for me room as its a small-ish room and a sealed sub would be more controlled.
- The PB would give me more 'thump' as it goes lower
- Therefore I should buy....an SB2000.

Have I got that right? Would the sealed 2000 have the control of the sealed 1000 and the thump of the ported 1000 ?

I could maybe just stretch to the extra for the 2000. It'd put buying a second unit a lot further off, but it might be it never comes to that anyway.

BTW, any problems with putting the sub centre-back rather than centre-front?

Once again, many thanks.

Steve W

 

[Member 116841]

So, I've read more comments, and this is what I understand - please correct me if I'm wrong.

- The SB would be better for me room as its a small-ish room and a sealed sub would be more controlled.
- The PB would give me more 'thump' as it goes lower
- Therefore I should buy....an SB2000.

Have I got that right? Would the sealed 2000 have the control of the sealed 1000 and the thump of the ported 1000 ?

The extra depth of the PB2000 will give you more rumble than thump. Thump comes from higher up the range. With the extra power of the SB2000 and the improved driver, you'll find it will have better depth than the SB1000. The PB is a little more 'fun' I suppose, but the SB is more accurate.

BTW, any problems with putting the sub centre-back rather than centre-front?

There isn't, but I wouldn't set the crossover point too high - 60-70Hz should be fine if it is going behind you.

 

[mattkhan]

@Pecker I think you need to go and listen to them as I would have thought they will sound quite different & only you can decide which you prefer.

 

[Pecker]

Gents, many thanks, both for your help and patience.

I know it's best to demo, but sadly I'm not able to find a local SVS dealer where I could do this.

In a way I'm not too worried. I'm not a subwoofer expert (as you can tell), and the SVSs all appear to be bloody marvellous, so I'm sure I'd be happy even with the 'worst' option.

I'm also not a complete bass head. As has been noted, I'm not one of these fans who just like to watch mad action films, so I'm not going to be upset if the new sub doesn't spill my beer with the vibrations, but nonetheless I'd obviously still like it to be as good as possible.

My current sub is a very old REL Storm Mk 1, and I'll be happy as long as I get something at least as good as that, to be honest.

The stats and specs seem to show the SB1000 not going as low as the PB1000, but that the SB2000 does, thus appearing to negate the biggest drawback of the sealed unit. I'm sure the PB2000 would go lower still, but I could see that becoming a very expensive spiral.

If I can't scrape funds together I'll go for the SB100, but presuming I can manage it (which I should be able to), I'll get the SB2000.

Thanks again for all your help, and patience. It's very much appreciated.

Steve W

 

[Member 116841]

I've not read this yet, but it cropped up on Facebook earlier...

Sealed vs Ported Subwoofers: Which Is Right For You? | Audioholics

 

[Dean]

I went from the PB1000 to SB1000 in a similar sized room. The PB1000 just looked too imposing for me but no doubt is a great sub. The SB1000 fills it fine and I preferred the natural roll off the sealed box gave with movies and in 2.1 for music.

 

[jacob staunton]

Go for a nice punchy compact sb1000.