Hi all,
A few days back, I purchased the SVS PB 2000 from htsore.in. There was no demo unit at htstore, and I bough this sub based on purely the unanimously positive reviews this sub has all over the net! This was risky - buying an expensive sub without an audition, but I still went ahead. I had a Mordaunt-Short 309i for 8 years, and I was happy with that sub.
My setup:
AVR: Denon 1910
Fronts: Tannoy Mercury F4
Rear: Tannoy Mercury F1
No center
Pioneer BDP 320 player
Day1:
The PB 2000 arrived, I hooked it up, placed it along the fronts, spun my favorite track on the CD, hoping to have some impressive bass. Result? Disappointing!
The sub was simply underwhelming! The output at 11'O clock should give some reasonable bass given that it has a 500 W RMS amp, but the volume was low, and the bass weak. I did the following (in fact this has been my setting for years):
1. On the AVR, set the fronts to "Small" even though they are floor standers. The rear too are "Small"
2. Set the LFE crossover to the recommend 80 Hz.
3. Cranked up sub channel sensitivity on the AVR to + 2.5 db
4. Left the speaker crossover at the default 80 Hz
Played the same track again (from Sade's "Lovers Rock - a bass heavy album, but with very clean recording). The result was a marginal improvement while still being discouraging.
Moved the sub to a corner, with the distance from the walls being twice the 3-inch port diameter on the sub (as SVS recommends). And set the volume to close to 1'O clock.
The loudness improved, but with a lot of boom. I could NOT hear any of the glowing adjectives that the sub has received on the net : loud, deep, rumbling, kick-in-the-chest, tight (perhaps it is too tight).
Day 2:
Called htstore.in, and mentioned my problem. They suggested to use "LFE+Main" setting on the AVR in bass management - I reluctantly agreed since this is not something sub experts on the net recommend. I did try "LFE+Main", the output was now loud, but I was not sure whether it was due to the SUB alone or the fronts too were delivering louder output - and the bass still remained boomy.
At 1'o clock, my previous MS309i at 175 W RMS was as loud as the SVS. Perhaps it is just not about RMS.
Day 3:
Set the LFE crossover at 120 Hz after lot of reading on the net.
Moved the sub away from the corner (about a feet), but close to the other wall by 6 inches.
Reduced the channel sensitivity of fronts, rear, and sub to 0 db (they were all at +2.5 db)
Increased my listening volume, and moved my seating position farther from the sub by 1.5 feet.
I could hear some improvement now, but the on the whole the SVS has been underwhelming and disappointing. (I have not tried the subwoofer crawl yet.)
Am I missing something fundamental? Has any SVS PB 2000 owner faced this? Did it improve after any intervention? Is this a bad unit I have got? The bass now is tight alright, but the room-filling, strong, deep bass that you can feel is really missing - something many SVS PB 2000 owners seem to find it. (I also see that there are some posts on SVS been too low on output on the net). I am not necessarily looking for bass that rattles the windows and annoys the neighbors, but I would appreciate any input, direction on this regard from fellow FMs.
Many thanks in advance for your time,
Nagaraj
A few days back, I purchased the SVS PB 2000 from htsore.in. There was no demo unit at htstore, and I bough this sub based on purely the unanimously positive reviews this sub has all over the net! This was risky - buying an expensive sub without an audition, but I still went ahead. I had a Mordaunt-Short 309i for 8 years, and I was happy with that sub.
My setup:
AVR: Denon 1910
Fronts: Tannoy Mercury F4
Rear: Tannoy Mercury F1
No center
Pioneer BDP 320 player
Day1:
The PB 2000 arrived, I hooked it up, placed it along the fronts, spun my favorite track on the CD, hoping to have some impressive bass. Result? Disappointing!
The sub was simply underwhelming! The output at 11'O clock should give some reasonable bass given that it has a 500 W RMS amp, but the volume was low, and the bass weak. I did the following (in fact this has been my setting for years):
1. On the AVR, set the fronts to "Small" even though they are floor standers. The rear too are "Small"
2. Set the LFE crossover to the recommend 80 Hz.
3. Cranked up sub channel sensitivity on the AVR to + 2.5 db
4. Left the speaker crossover at the default 80 Hz
Played the same track again (from Sade's "Lovers Rock - a bass heavy album, but with very clean recording). The result was a marginal improvement while still being discouraging.
Moved the sub to a corner, with the distance from the walls being twice the 3-inch port diameter on the sub (as SVS recommends). And set the volume to close to 1'O clock.
The loudness improved, but with a lot of boom. I could NOT hear any of the glowing adjectives that the sub has received on the net : loud, deep, rumbling, kick-in-the-chest, tight (perhaps it is too tight).
Day 2:
Called htstore.in, and mentioned my problem. They suggested to use "LFE+Main" setting on the AVR in bass management - I reluctantly agreed since this is not something sub experts on the net recommend. I did try "LFE+Main", the output was now loud, but I was not sure whether it was due to the SUB alone or the fronts too were delivering louder output - and the bass still remained boomy.
At 1'o clock, my previous MS309i at 175 W RMS was as loud as the SVS. Perhaps it is just not about RMS.
Day 3:
Set the LFE crossover at 120 Hz after lot of reading on the net.
Moved the sub away from the corner (about a feet), but close to the other wall by 6 inches.
Reduced the channel sensitivity of fronts, rear, and sub to 0 db (they were all at +2.5 db)
Increased my listening volume, and moved my seating position farther from the sub by 1.5 feet.
I could hear some improvement now, but the on the whole the SVS has been underwhelming and disappointing. (I have not tried the subwoofer crawl yet.)
Am I missing something fundamental? Has any SVS PB 2000 owner faced this? Did it improve after any intervention? Is this a bad unit I have got? The bass now is tight alright, but the room-filling, strong, deep bass that you can feel is really missing - something many SVS PB 2000 owners seem to find it. (I also see that there are some posts on SVS been too low on output on the net). I am not necessarily looking for bass that rattles the windows and annoys the neighbors, but I would appreciate any input, direction on this regard from fellow FMs.
Many thanks in advance for your time,
Nagaraj
Last edited:
