
Here is a personal thank you from the "better half" of a PB12 Plus/2 purchaser -
Hi,
Here are some reviews from purchasers of the PB12 Plus and the PB12 Plus/2 which have been posted on the DBA Forum - Please click here to read the reviews
Hi my name is Jenny! You sold a SVS to Dave - I'm his wife : )
Just wanted to tell you I am extremely impressed with the performance so far of our SVS subwoofer. Previously we had a Richter Evokator working it's ass off for our low level sound fix... and that unit used to impress me alot, but now that I've heard the SVS, I realise just how much that poor Evokator was straining.
What has impressed me most so far, apart from the fact the chair I was sitting in felt like it is being lifted 3 inches off the ground during particular sequences in "War of the Worlds".... is that while the Evokator used to make every darn thing in the room vibrate, we have had no such problems with the SVS (admittedly we did have to fill in one gap around a window frame, but that is all).
Also with the Evokator, you could always distinctly tell from where the bass was coming from, while with the SVS, it is just THERE without the point of reference which makes the viewing experience 100 times better because it is like it puts you IN the action.
While I'm no audio expert, I can honestly say that there is a significant difference in the quality of the sound and most certainly in the control, I have never experienced something that is SO controlled.
We just re-watched "Star Trek Nemesis" a couple of nights ago, and as we have a 5 year old daughter in the house, we can't really watch anything very loud, but even with the vol at a moderate level, we heard bass in that movie that we didn't even notice in previous viewings of the movie with the other subby attached!
These units are worth four times their price. I find it amusing actually, to think that 8 or 9 years ago, we paid the same price for the Evokator as what we have just paid for the SVS.
Thanks for bringin' 'em into the country!
Cheers Jen
Cheers Gav
There was only one problem! I really wanted to audition one of PB line of subs on offer and see for myself what all the hype was about, but there are no distributors of SVS products in Sydney, so I had to rely on blind faith, to a degree, but all of the good reports I’d read and the fact SVS is well known for their customer service and that this SUB was the best bang for your bucks, weighed heavily in favour of going for the PB13. However I wasn’t about to rely on hearsay so I did the next best thing, I went to my local HI FI shop and auditioned a top of the line Velodyne, which gave me an idea of what a quality sub should sound like. ( Again after reading comparison tests by other discussion groups the PB13 won out especially for watching movies, but it was close ).So after that little test, I had to agree with the sales person when he said a top end sub will enhance your system by as much as 70+%. Now, bear in mind anybody that does their homework will find out that the big V is well over twice the cost of the PB13, so at the end of the day the PB13 purchase was a no brainer !
When I finally got it home: Yeah its BIG alright, buts it’s a fine bit of furniture and really does look impressive sitting in our small HT room. Ok lets get on with it. Once I unpacked it, I quickly spent some time tuning and calibrating it, using sound meter and free software I’d got earlier.( Straight away I could see an incredible difference between my old sub and this one comparing the audio graphs on the laptop ) .I chucked in a movie, then a music disc I was familiar with so I could compare it with my old sub. Wowwww ! My wife and I nearly fell off the lounge !!I spent the next 2 weeks, giving it a real road test.. So what is this beast like and how can one describe it in just one simple word ? You can’t, really, an analogy perhaps, yes:- It’s so powerful, it can deliver sound with such brute force it would rival watching live an 8 thousand horse power top fuel dragster ( note: if you’ve ever witnessed one of these cars you’ll know what I mean ). And yet the difference being, the sound is so cleannnnnn !!, with very very low distortion which is well controlled. Make no mistake, one feels part of anything you watch or listen to. ( So far for movies I’ve found setting the sub in 15hz mode the best in my room (Other settings are sealed, 10hz,15hz and 20hz ) and turning the gain to no more than a 1/3 and the receiver volume anywhere from ½ to just under 2/3 max worked the best in my room. I wasn’t game or even wanted or needed to go any higher.. and when I did turn the AVR’s volume up to 2/3 volume some of the action scenes in the movies were so dynamic the whole room just shook with the lounge resonating through your body ! I even went outside the house to see the windows rattle and the dog scamper to the far side of the yard… bloody amazing !! My adult children said pictures in the upstairs lounge room were vibrating on the wall !!
Now onto music, I found setting the sub to 20hz and gain to ¼ is plenty which seems to match and enhance the main speakers and surround at that setting, but I’m also mindful of the content you listen to, you need to experiment with the different settings available to you to get the best sound, giving the user plenty of flexibility, especially if you have a Blu-ray player which supports some of the latest audio formats such as uncompressed sound, TrueHD, Dolby’s latest offerings etc. I prefer to watch live music and when I put in a couple of my favourites and pumped it up I really thought I was at centre stage in front of the band.
Conclussion The PB13-Ultra is very flexible with the various configurations you are allowed to change and I must say at this point the bass from the PB13 will enhance your current setup like you couldn’t imagine. Man, it really does bring the music and action movies into your living room. Don’t believe me ? Several visits from the neighbours ( I’m lucky I have good neighbours eh ! ) and some family and friends over past two weekends.. All went away with their jaws dragging on the ground, with my niece asking me could she buy some tickets to the next show. Lol !
My parting comment on the
performance of the PB13:- If Napoleon Bonaparte had a
pair of these in his arsenal at the battle of
DVD Master and Commander. Cannon Scenes, will leave you breathless ! War of the Worlds... Pods out of ground and lightning scene had us ducking for cover. Tried this in 10 Hz mode just for fun and it sucked the air out of the room! U571 Depth Charge explosions.. We were in the Sub with the crew ! Transformers Ironhide flips .. had us bouncing around on the lounge.
Music video Fleetwood Mac ( The Dance ) without doubt the best music video ever... This is a real bass tester and highlights what the PB13 is capable of !! dynamite ! Friends demanded I play the disc again. Eagles ( Hell Freezes Over ).. The clarity is simply the best. Bass guitar and kick drums puts you centre stage. My system AVR Sherwood 7.1 surround, Speakers mains Krix Front towers and centre. SurroundsHope you have as much fun as I have building or adding to your current system. One very happy customer. P.S If you are thinking of going to 7.1 .. Do it, you won’t regret it.
Dave B..
Customers first impressions of his newly delivered PB13-Ultra in Rosenut finish.
Hi Pete,
Just received the subwoofer. This is absolutely amazing. Never could have
imagined it being this big! The bigger the better in my book. Finish is gob
smacking. Craftsman ship is extremely high. I took 2 hours off work to be
home for delivery had it set up quickly for quick demo of U571. The pictures
on my walls were oscillating, on the canon scene where they take out the
radio tower just knocked me off my feet and sucked all the air out of the
room. And I thought my paradigm studio 100's had good bass. This thing is
damn amazing, I love it!
Cheers,
David
Hi Peter,
Happy New Year and I hope you're having a good holiday.
I just want to thank you for all you've done to get the gear to me
promptly. I've been playing with them since I got them and all I can
say is they're bloody awesome. The SBS Speakers and pb10 together perform
flawlessly and have exceeded my expectation easily.
Regards
(name withheld)
Hello Peter,
Its now 14 months since I purchased the PB10-ISD, and I would
like to convey to you and SVS, how very pleased I am with the sub, whenever
friends or relatives play a DVD movie and its not one I am interested in, I
still can
hear the soundtrack and the sub operating where ever in the house I happen
to be,
and the PB10-ISD still continues to amaze me with its effortless low
frequency performance,
many a time I have been on the internet when somebody
decided to watch a movie, subconsciously I am waiting for the sub to bottom
out,
but it never does! its just this fantastic ease with which it goes all the
way down
to, how could I best describe it, say the bottom of a very deep well, and
it sounds as though
it could go even deeper, and it all sounds so natural, and without any
stress at all, the more I
think how little I paid for it, the more I think that its been the best buy
I have ever done in regard
to any purchase I have made over the years let alone home theatre equipment,
Regards Bryan
Here is a thank you from a very satisfied PB10-ISD customer.
Peter,
Just a quick thank you for the outstanding service, I did a very quick
boot up of the sub tonight, before I do the total calibration at the
weekend,
wow, the difference from my two small yst-sw80 Yamahas is incredible,
its hard to describe, but the initial impression, a totally pure clean
detailed
low frequency that my Yamahas could never reach, in fact I now know what
they mean when they talk about a sub booming and being inarticulate,
here is me, for all these last 9 years sitting back thinking I was listening
to home theatre bass!, as it turns out I was not at all, I have a DVD which
I used tonight chapter 11 "the forgotten" I have now heard a little of
whatthe
real bass sounds like, you already know all of what I am telling you Peter,
its just that the difference is so amazing, I cannot get over it,
anyway, thanks again, if one of my cloth eared brothers does eventually
get to my place with some of his dvd's, I am sure you are going to have
another future customer, I will not have to say anything,
Regards Bryan
After Calibrating his PB10-ISD here is what Bryan had to say further -
Hello again Peter,
Thought I would update you on the PB10-ISD,
completed calibration using AVIA dvd at 83db for speakers front and rear,
the sub is running 3db higher, with the gain only half way on the sub
itself,
the phase set at the halfway mark as well, I have started watching a few
dvd movies I have seen a few times again, and I must say the sub continues
to impress me with its neutrality, you are not really aware of it
operatinguntil it suddenly kicks in, and its the sudden power and depth it
releases that continues to surprise, unlike the Yamaha's which were always
making
their presence felt even when the bass was not really there, the PB10-ISD
is
operating as mentioned with the gain half way, I cannot bring myself to test
it at full power without worrying about things falling off the mantel over
the
gas heater as well as pictures falling off shelves around the room, its
that impressive, I did watch again the movie "THE FORGOTTEN" and I must
tell you that chapter fifteen has bass that causes the woofer cone to move
in and out
at an amazing rate, I have never seen a speaker cone move like that before,
the
air being pumped out of the vent was incredible, and this was at moderate
listening
levels not Dolby reference level, what frequency range this soundtrack is
putting
out I would like to know...................let me say in summation, anyone
who does their
research and does it seriously, cannot even consider any other brand but SVS
at the
price your selling them at, they have to be the bargain of all bargains, not
just because of the price, but because of the performance, nothing I have
heard comes near the PB-10-ISD, even selling here in Australia for $3000
as before if you want to use any of what I have written Peter feel free to
do so one other point to mention, the AVIA dvd, apart from the sound
calibration,
I also did the picture calibration as well, I thought I had adjusted the
68cm
Sanyo with the Panasonic tube, but no I had not, the contrast level was out,
the brightness level was also out, following the AVIA on screen
instructions
both contrast and brightness are now spot on, and what an improvement,
the color adjustment is NTSC, I really needed a PAL adjustment, but you
cannot have everything, both the sound meter and the AVIA are must
haves after my experience using them, also both at bargain prices too,
Regards bryan