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The astounding new AS-EQ1 SubEQ goes on sale!

163K views 985 replies 107 participants last post by  yosh7 
#1 ·
SVS AS-EQ1 SubEQ: World's most advanced bass room correction technology, made affordable.



MSRP $799 (Limited time pre-order price: $699

Note: Shipping starts April/May 2009

Special pre-order price, limited production. Early Spring availability.


Like it or not, most rooms corrupt even the best subwoofers, ours included. Sometimes a bit, sometimes so badly that music and movie bass is hopelessly muddled, unbalanced, and well, wrong. If you spent money on a quality SVS subwoofer, we already know you are in search of deep and natural sounding bass that sounds just right instead. So while we've arguably made the best subs in the world for years now, we couldn't fix your room.

Till now that is. If you follow movie and music technology news, you might know this "box", the AS-EQ1 SubEQ, has been in development for over two years. SVS, working in partnership with Audyssey Labs, the most respected name in audio room-correction technology, has finally begun production. And so at long last they are available at a special pre-order price, for Spring delivery. Be one of the first with the power to get the most out of any sub (or subs), in any room.

What do you get? Everything you need, in one slick looking, stand-alone box which neatly integrates into nearly any theater or music system. Fire up the graphical user interface (GUI) and operating software on your Window's laptop, and you'll experience virtually perfect bass in minutes. And we mean that, no matter how challenging your room or your subwoofer placement might be. In fact, we guarantee it. Acoustical nightmares are cleaned up fast as you can move the included microphone through your room. It's actually fun to use. Imagine.


Download our exclusive 2009 CES "cut sheet" on this amazing device here!

Of course this is a flagship product, so inside are absolute state of the art components and proprietary Audyssey bass correction logic that actually listens to your sub. The AS-EQ1 pulses your subwoofer with carefully calibrated tests sweeps and tones, and does this in up to 32 positions (standing, seated, you name it). When you are done, you don't have a sweet "spot" in your room, you have a "sweet room". Flat, even and "tight". This is simply the best possible bass you can get in every seat. And it's even smart enough to adjust for two subs, independently. Once they are put in phase by the box, it calculates the ideal flat frequency response for your sub, which most any music and movie audio professional will recommend.





AS-EQ1 SubEQ I/O on rear.
Twin independent sub outputs.
RCA monitor out for optimal sub/mains level matching.






Magnetic faceplate removed.
Mic and GUI controls up front where you need them, hidden when you don't!


Some AV receivers have decent capability to correct for room anomalies, but nothing, not even the previously most powerful professional solutions at Audyssey Labs, have more power to make your bass right. Since the GUI runs on your laptop, there's no need to even turn on your projector or TV. After a few minutes, guided step by step on screen, you are done. Replace the beautifully sculpted (and magnetically retained) aluminum faceplate, and it's time to rock an roll. One note: While we work in the audio business, even we hate reading manuals but you'll probably not even open ours, it's that intuitive to set up and use. Of course our famous lifetime technical support is available 7 days a week, thru SVS or one of our exclusive resellers outside the USA.

The SubEQ results are just jaw-dropping. The worse your room is, the better this box works to make it right. It corrects for acoustical room anomalies not with the brute-force manipulation of crude IIR filters found in conventional PEQs, but instead with the finesse and sophistication of FIR-based filters which don’t cause phase/time-domain anomalies and distortions which corrupt your sound. So even if you picked horrible locations for your sub (or subs) the AS-EQ1’s highly sophisticated and Audyssey-optimized deep bass correction algorithms quickly pull into focus the flat, deep and naturally coherent bass you won't ever get with lesser technologies.

So even if you picked horrible locations for your sub (or subs) the AS-EQ1 measures for the effects in both time and frequency domains.



With the highly sophisticated and Audyssey-optimized deep bass correction algorithms, it quickly pulls into focus the flat, deep and naturally coherent bass you won't ever get with lesser solutions.

This box might not be for dyed-in-the-wool "tweakers" who might want different frequency response curves (even if less accurate). While a conventional PEQ will invariably result in a less accurate frequency response, can cause noticeable artifacts, can't correct for more than one listening position, and can’t handle dual subs, it’s still better than nothing. So if you like spending nights and weekends wrestling with spreadsheets, SPL meters, difficult-to-learn measurement software, and endlessly tweaking your manual PEQ - well maybe the AS-EQ1 isn’t for you. For the rest of us who would rather be watching movies and listening to music with a minimum investment of time and learning curve, the AS-EQ1 is simply the most powerful, fastest, and easiest way to get stunning bass.

It's also not a box you need if you are blessed with perfect room response already. Nearly no rooms are, but it happens. If you measure adequately flat bass, you might leave well enough alone. And of course, we don't recommend people buy an $800 bass-correction solution to use with mediocre subs either. If you have a sub that's not powerful enough or deep enough for your needs, it makes sense to upgrade there first naturally.

But this still affordable box is the best way to optimize any sub, even big "do it yourself" (DIY) subwoofers, virtually eliminating room factors that distort sound. Entry level customers with limited audio budgets might decide instead to just get a good current AV receiver offering less-robust correction systems to economize. No AVR-based room correction system has the sheer refinement and processing horsepower, nor can it cope with dual subs nearly as well. Leave the AS-EQ1 as an upgrade on par with any consideration you put towards dual subs, or investing in any world-class sub from SVS such as our PB13-Ultra and PC13-Ultra, or top subs from elsewhere.




Above is but one quick 7 position correction done with two different model SVS subs plopped in an old home, with just basic setup. One in a corner one not, put where the subs looked right and fit into the available space. You can see the "before" results on the left of the chart. Not the worst frequency response you might have seen, but certainly nothing you want to show your mother. Much less your audio enthusiast friends.. Twin subs working this wacky just are not going to sound focused, tight and well, right. PEQ experts can fix some of this, but with twin subs, well, forget about any sanity that weekend. Getting dual subs to "play nice" isn't twice as hard as optimizing one sub, sometimes, it's four times harder. No longer though. More results pages of real rooms we've visited around the world with early Beta versions of the AS-EQ1 will be posted here soon.

These results then? Call it a 10 min "down an dirty" run through, as you might do just putting your system into a room for the first time. Yet, the AS-EQ1 is so powerful, you can measure up to 32 positions in any room, for either one or two subs. Take seated measurements where friends and family gather, and even some from common standing areas in your listening room. Measure wherever you care to create your sweet spot in the room. But because the AS-EQ1 is measuring multiple locations, it's not making a sweet "spot" but a "sweet room". So goodbye to the uneven bass from seat to seat. Things bass fans once accepted as "the limitations of bass in a typical home". Accept this no longer.

And this SubEQ "talks" to your AVR too; allowing your receiver to runs its room correction, but leaving the far more complicated and processor intensive subwoofer correction to the AS-EQ1. These are nulls and peaks which defy "room treatments" such as bass traps, and would give even the most ardent user of old-fashioned PEQ devices fits. The heavy-duty DSP power isn't needed by everyone then, but it IS the fix many rooms need. The refinement over such un-corrected rooms is startling. Both audible and visual recorded results of "before" and "after" are typically quite obvious. How different those two curves actually sound might not be so intuitive, but hearing it work makes believers out of virtually everyone without one of those perfect rooms (which again is nearly everyone).




AS-EQ1 SubEQ top to bottom: front plate on, front plate off, rear shot
Even long-standing SVS staff have a new appreciation for how good our subs really are after we worked with this new technology, and it's only after using it we agreed it's a "must have" we decided to build it. And it had to be easy to work. We admit it, at SVS we don't like spending time fiddling with room response with yesterday's tools. Actually watching movies and listening to music is what we like.

Shipping should start first in Asia (most components are configured at a very high end firm in Taipei, final assembly and testing will be done in our Ohio factory however). MSRP of this radical new device is $799. But given a lengthy pre-order, and to help resist recession pressures, we're going to kick start things at $699. We're not sure how long our first run will last. Order soon to reserve yours now at this special price. Our widely acclaimed Customer Service department backs all users with questions and an on-line support page at SVS will make software updates as easy as opening the page here.

Audio lovers, perfect bass is finally possible, easy, and downright fun to achieve. Your AV receiver investment is solidified since the AS-EQ1 is compatible with any sort you have. Your bass needs are covered no matter what your current or future room look like. Switch one on, run setup, and you won't ever switch it off. Harness the power and refinement of your system, and take the room out of the equation, finally.

Features

  • Driven by an advanced Digital Signal Processor (DSP) using sophisticated Audyssey customized
    room-correction algorithms
  • Utilizes Adaptive Low Frequency Correction Technology (ALFC) from Audyssey Lab the most advanced bass calibration method available to consumers today
  • Performs in both frequency and time domain, for superior artifact-free bass adapted for your room
  • Dual subwoofer processing for better blending and integration with main channels
  • FIR filters to avoid time/phase distortion inherent with IIR filters for superior bass clarity
  • Corrects bass for an incredible 32 positions in horizontal and vertical space to cover any listening area
  • Heavy-duty steel chassis with SVS's magnetically-retained CNC'd aluminum face-plate
  • Twin sub in, twin out, with multiple configuration modes. Mains level calibration signal output jack.
  • Easy-to-use laptop PC graphical user interface (GUI) and CD operating software and users' guide
  • Dedicated Audyssey microphone and AV receiver external calibration pass thru cables included
  • High quality, isolated 12V. power supply, and USB cable included
  • On-line SVS tech support page for easy software updates, upgrades and news
  • Power and unit status LEDs
  • Front-panel easy access for calibration microphone and USB connection
  • Final test and assembly in SVS's Ohio headquarters
  • Limited production, world-wide distribution only by exclusive SVS resellers
 
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#961 ·
Hi again ! Once again - I turn this way. I've got onkyo 5007 avr + the as-eq1. Got 2 mics - acm1h (5007) and acm1 (as-eq1). According to what I've read elsewhere the acm1h is best for the Onkyo but could I use the acm1h for the as-eq1 also ?

1. Do I need to use the as-eq1 + the avr setup - i.e. both now that the onkyo also got the same audyssey. (maybe the as-eq1 fixes most of the peaks and nulls and then the Onkyo takes the rest ?)
2. If both are needed - then can I use same acm1h for both the as-eq1 and the Onkyo or should I use the acm1 for the as-eq1 and then the acm1h for Onkyo - 2 different mics ?

As I see it - it looks like when I use the acm1h for as-eq1 it boosts the bass in the 20-30 hz region in the before picture than when using acm1. The after picture looks pretty much the same.

In short - what do you guys use - same mic for both or the supplied one for each ?
 
#964 ·
Did also contact svs support (Ed Mullen) and here is his answer (copy/paste from mail):
"[Ed Mullen] You can use the ACM1h for the AS-EQ1. All of the ACM mics have similar deep frequency response and only really differ on the top-end. The ACM1h is the standard mic shipping with the AS-EQ1. I do recall some of the early mics were not labeled as "h" variants, but Audyssey assured us they were all indeed the "h" variant."

So according to this everyone should have an "H" model eventhough not labled so on the box so no need to use 2 different mics for this operation then :cool:
 
#968 ·
The 5008 with XT32 also includes SubEQ which according to Audysey does the same job as the AS-EQ1. Your same question was asked on the Audyssey website and that was there response to it.
 
#967 ·
Adding the AS-EQ1 frees up more eq for the other speakers. That is what I have done and love it. Have fun. Dennis
 
#970 ·
I didn't know that the new Audyssey had that. No need for the EQ-1.
 
#971 ·
the 5008 has xt32 so no need for the As-eq1
 
#973 ·
The as-eq1 allows you 32 sample postions while xt32 allows 8 positions unless you upgrade to the pro version.
 
#975 ·
Hi there ! Trying to investigate a problem I've got. First - where is the AS-EQ1 mic calibraton file stored - inside the AS-EQ or in the software ? On receivers the cal. file is stored inside the receiver.

Get different results depending on what mic I use - eventhough it should be the same. ACM1 came with the AS-EQ and ACM1H with receiver. From what I've read - ACM1 is just misprint and it's a ACM1H. Some say use same mic for both and others say don't mix.

Also bought a ACM1HB - just for testing for both AS-EQ1 and receiver (Onkyo 5007). I've used ACM1H (receiver mic) for both and also ACM1 + ACM1H and not 100 % happy.

Think I'll try the old method - with auto-assist and trim levels. Back when I had my Yamaha the bass was more brutal when it was AS-EQ that had the final Word in the subwoofer.

/Thomas
 
#976 ·
I will see if I can get Doug to help us on this one. I do know that in some cases there is a calibration file for "each" mic. All UMIK-1's, UMM-6's, ECM-8000's are NOT the same... each mic in each model line has it's own specific cal file. I don't know that every setup mic included with various receivers are the exact same, and they may each have a specific cal file loaded into the receiver they are paired with. Perhaps they use the same cal file for all the mics, although I have not known of a run of mic capsules that have all been identical, particularly the lesser expensive ones.
 
#978 ·
Hmm - might have an idea - what is wrong here. My room has now gotten wooden floor - before that carpet. I used to use the room comp setting on large (by mistake) - found out when sub and all gear was out of room to get the wooden floor. I have a tremendous nul at 60 hz - and I think thats the problem. AS-EQ does it's best to fix that. But still have a null after it's done. Then over to Onkyo multeq xt - it also tries to fix the rest - and we end up in a hopeless situation. Unable to fix the sofa and sub placement but it looks like when using the room comp filter to large / medium - it takes down my huge peak at 23-25 hz - but it also reduces the nul at 60 hz ? Bouncing bass waves in the room that cancles something ? I don't know - but will try to use the room comp and see where it brings me. Could also use the old method - then onkyo will not also try to fix.

But thx a lot !
/Thomas
 
#979 ·
Nulls are a direct result of less than ideal placement of the sub in the room. In many cases the only solution to eliminating the null is moving the subwoofer. If the sub can't be moved, there is likely no amount of equalization to cure it. Even when you do try boosting the null, you put more stress on the subwoofer and on the amp driving it. You can try changing the orientation... firing it against a wall, etc, which can also change the response. Phase can also have an affect.
 
#983 ·
Hi !
Just curious regarding "the phase can have an effect" - maybe I misunderstand here - but can you reduce a null by turning the phase knob ? It states in manual that it should be a 0 position - and also - doesn't Audyssey just correct the distance to subwoofer differently. Please clarify this - thx.:help:

Regards
Thomas
 
#980 ·
That and seat position. The best way to deal with a null other than moving the sub (and sometimes in addition) is not sitting where the null is present.
 
#982 ·
Hi Again !
Didn't change anything else than the room comp filter to large - and now - ruler flat from 120 Hz and down and sounds great again with music. Haven't tried movies yet - but when music sounds great - movies should too.

Did use acm1h for both the AS-EQ and Onkyo. Looked at both graphs - RoomComp filter off vs Large - and off has a little more below 20 hz than large (uses the pb 13 ultra in 20 hz mode) - but then again - not ruler flat at 60 Hz !!

Again thx for helping out here !
/Thomas
 
#984 ·
Yes... phase and distance can have an affect on the response. I have two subs... I can delay one of the with the distance setting of either sub and see the response change with REW. I an also adjust the phase and see the response change. Phase, distance and delay are related (you would want to start another thread to get into that discussion - or simply research it on web).

You would have to confirm with Audyssey as to the distance adjustment of the subwoofer, I am not sure of the method they use for this. I do know that it is not always the physical measurement.
 
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