Small Box Sub: SB12-Plus Woofer: Ships Early October 2006

[Sonnie]

Small Box Sub, 12" Plus Woofer -- Ships Early October 2006.

There's some good reasons we waited to introduce our first truly small sub. Chief among them? It's really difficult to make a really worthy small sub. Few on the market are both affordable and good (and there are plenty which are both very expensive, yet still not genuine subwoofers).

When the SB12-Plus was conceived, we resolved that no small sub from SVS would be anything but the best of its kind in this size and price class. Expect this new SVS to compare favorably to other small subs out there costing 2-3 times as much.

We think you'll be glad you waited for this. Finally, a really compact sub that's good enough to be called an "SVS". The SB12-Plus, comes in five attractive and practical finishes... and more features than you can shake a stick at.

Start with just the front of this new sub. While the basic black vinyl finish uses our standard chrome steel grill retainers, all other finishes use nothing at al!. Or so it seems. Notice the clean face on our signature oak, maple, piano gloss and new rosenut finishes? Hidden under the surface of these hand-worked cabinets are small "neo" magnets that hold fast to your grill simply by placing it there. A quick "thunk" (as the magnets engage) and it's on. Simple, elegant, and the sort of unexpected feature people have come to expect from SVS. The grill itself even has soft rubber grommets affixed to ensure quiet, resonance-free operation, even at high sound pressure levels.

Dig deeper and you'll see our exclusive Ohio-built Plus 12.3 long throw woofer, and a new 425 watt amp that's the new affordable mark on the wall. With parametric EQ (PEQ), room compensation control, full crossover (defeatable), variable phase, balanced inputs, anodized finish and detachable power cord, you might well wonder if we left out anything at all.

Certainly performance wasn't left out. While any "micro" subwoofer is inherently a bit of a compromise, from the standpoint of physics... this small subwoofer is so flat, so deep and so powerful you might even question why bigger subs exist. It keeps the legendarily neutral and balanced SVS sound with flat response rare in any sub of any size, or cost.

So, if you can "afford" one of our bigger subs... from the standpoint of the larger floor space requirement ... by all means, consider something of a similar price class, such as the PB12-Plus, or even one that's less expensive like the (large) new PB12-NSD.

If you need room rattling power, the ultimate depth, AND want a small footprint too? Then our exclusive space-saving Powered Cylinder subs should be on your short list to evaluate. Few brands will be honest about this point: "size matters" ... with subwoofers. Even if perfectly designed, no truly small sub like the SB12-Plus will compete with an equally well-designed large subwoofer (particularly if it's one of our super-efficient vented subwoofers such as those mentioned just above). Physics is an unforgiving master.

But as we know, small is, well, BIG in many audio fans' homes. Many have long clamored for an SVS sub that's small enough to slip by their "significant other", or be the perfect bass source for smaller venues like bedrooms or office audio systems. And frankly, even for long-time audio nuts like us at SVS, there's something undeniably cool about a diminutive sub, like this one, filling even mid-sized rooms with low bass that's accurate, deep, and with enough guts to keep you planted to your seat.

Get a big SVS sub if you find one that fits your lifestyle. But get the SB12-Plus if big bass has got to be small to make it into your audio system, and home. Big or small, box or cylinder, now we have you covered no matter what. Small isn't the compromise it once was, now that the SB12-Plus is here.

Features:
* SVS designed/built custom Plus 12.3 woofer
* Built-in 425 watt BASH (R) amp with PEQ
* CAD design, CNC cut, hand-built enclosure
* Front-firing sealed design, recessed driver
* Compliant floor mounts, low center of gravity
* Room compensation control for optimal response
* Assembled and tested in the Ohio SVS factory
* Extra heavy-duty detachable 8 foot power cord
* Five finishes with intricately rounded corners
* Magnetic grill retainers (premium finishes only)
* Industry leading response (+/- 3dB 22hz-150Hz)
* Size: Approx. 15” deep x 14" wide x 14 " high
* Weight: 40 pounds

[F1 fan]

Looks like a little beauty with an awesome feature set.

Sonnie, you have me drooling evey time you show the pix of the SVS's.
My biggest need is a good sub, but I have already exceeded my ht budget
by purchasing a certain hts member's NHT's. It sure is great to be able to view
the announcements of upcoming models.

akitaboy

[Sonnie]

I tell ya... the minute we took it out of the box at Wayne's, I wanted just wrap my arms around it and hug it. It's a beauty! I couldn't believe how tiny it is. Nice little sub. I'll leave the review to Wayne though.

[MrPorterhouse]

Very nice. I look forward to Wayne's review.

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Here's a teaser: It performs amazingly well in my 10,000 cu. ft. room. They sent us the piano black finish.

Regards,
Wayne

[Sonnie]

I'm still thinkin' 10,000 cubic feet is conservative... you should measure that out and see for sure. I'm thinkin' 20,000+... that is a huge room and lot's of openings to other areas.

[russ.will]

Can you hurry up with the review!

The UK is dribbling over this thing, where it's size will suit the average European room, in a way that the bigger boxes can't. Not so much the output, as the sheer size being the problem.

Russell

[Malice]

Wayne A. Pflughaupt wrote:

Here's a teaser: It performs amazingly well in my 10,000 cu. ft. room. They sent us the piano black finish.

Regards,
Wayne

10,000 cu ft? Geez, I have a large lounge compared to the avergae UK home. It measures 21' x 17' x 8' 4", or 2,974 cu feet. Yours is nearly 3 times that volume!!! Have you got very high ceilings or are you pressurising the whole of your house!!!

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Sonnie wrote:

I'm still thinkin' 10,000 cubic feet is conservative... you should measure that out and see for sure. I'm thinkin' 20,000+... that is a huge room and lot's of openings to other areas.

I finally measured it yesterday. It’s 10,000 and some change, all “other areas” included.

Malice wrote:

10,000 cu ft? Geez, I have a large lounge compared to the avergae UK home. It measures 21' x 17' x 8' 4", or 2,974 cu feet. Yours is nearly 3 times that volume!!! Have you got very high ceilings or are you pressurising the whole of your house!!!

Um, yes. High ceilings, and open to pretty much everything except the bedrooms and utility room.

Regards,
Wayne

[Randybes]

So does anyone know when pre-orders start?

[russ.will]

Pre orders? They're already taking orders.

Russell

[Ron Stimpson]

I guess they are all technically pre-orders right now. There are a few photo samples (working) circulating world wide, but production won't start till first week of Oct. We're not known for missing ship dates once established though. The first new PB12-NSD subs shipped today.

This little monster is going to really stun people though. There's an oak unit about to go thru an appraisal at our UK location (Kent Home Cinema), a black unit is about to show up Down Under, a rosenut is kicking *** in Scandinavia, and the Piano Gloss Black (the sentimental favorite) has wound its way from Ohio, to Colorado, to Texas, back to Colorado, then Arizona and maybe we'll be shipping main production. If you aren't convinced these subs are tough and articulate peformers, at least you know they can survive lots of shipping trips ;^)

Ron
SVS

[russ.will]

They've only got ONE!?!? I will be demoing the one AV Sales have on the 16th as they are having an open day for AVF members. I posted that I'd run a car down to Kent and it took about half an hour to fill it - This wee beasty is certainly causing some interest.

My personal interest lies in the PB-12/Plus2, but I'm intrigued by the possibility of two SB-12s as an alternative with greater room tuning possiblities. My room is 1620 cu ft, any thoughts?

Russell

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

My room is 1620 cu ft, any thoughts?

I’ll take this one, since I was fortunately enough to be the “Texas” Ron mentioned.

1650 cu. ft. – what, you wanna make the walls fall down? Not to rob SVS of any potential sales, but one SB12 in that room is MORE than enough!!!

Regards,
Wayne

[russ.will]

Wayne A. Pflughaupt wrote:

1650 cu. ft. – what, you wanna make the walls fall down?

Err? Well yes, actually.

Seriously, this is what I mean by the smaller size of European rooms. 18x11.5ft, 8ft (ish) ceiling. This is a decent size lounge in a 4 bedroom detached house that markets for about £330,000 ($600,000 US). By the time you get into the London suburbs, you can double that for a three bedroom semi. When you're in an island that would fit inside Texas 3 times over, has 60 million people AND 70% of them live in 30% of the area, land values are eye wateringly high. We dream of pairs of Ultra2s, but if we had them there would be nowhere to sit!

Now in this room, I've already shoe horned a BK Monolith (see Ilkkas test) which is s bit bigger than an SVS PB-10. It would probably vanish into the average US listening room, but picture it in a room my size. This room is our main living space, so positioning options are limited and some weight has to be given to WAF. It's therefore, behind the listening position.

The flip side to this problem is that it's not too hard to buy a sub that will pressurise the room quite nicely, deliver -3dB at 18Hz and 108dB peaks at the listening position. After much tuning, it integrates really well with the mains for music (which surprised me), but LFE effects can still seem to hit you from behind. Also, due to the smaller room dimensions, the main room modes are comparatively high, which means that any room tuning is very much localised to the listening position. Remember this is the main living room, so butt ugly bass tuning devices are a non starter.

With two smaller subs, I open up the options a bit. That the output will be ample, is a given. But I could position one in the current position and the other sort of diagonally opposite near the front of the room. I feel this would give a better in-room response for starters and a more even pressurisation during LFE effects. The SB-12 looses out in extension to the large box subs, but with two I feel some of this can be got back. Throw in the 12.3 Plus driver and I'm looking at some staggering bass quality with apparently limitless headroom in a far more discrete form factor.

Any further thoughts?

Russell

[Wayne A. Pflughaupt]

Hmm, for some reason I don’t seem to be getting e-mail notification on this thread – sorry to leave you hanging.

I have two possible solutions for you, Russell.

First, come to Texas!

If you can’t do that, I think the SB12 is what you’re looking for. It got down to 23 Hz in my 9200 cu. ft. room; I’m confident it will hit 20 Hz or lower in a smaller room. My larger bedroom is 2600 cu. ft., and the SB12 hit an amazing 105 dB in it (all doors closed). This from a sub that is less than 1/3 the physical size of the one you’re using now. It’s barely more than a foot cubed – you might even be able to move it to the front of the room.

I suggest trying a single SB12 to start. You might find it’s all you need, assuming you aren’t using anything near the full potential of the BK you have now. If you are, then yes you might need two. Still, given the size of your room, I’d try a single one first.

Regarding using two of them, when you separate two (or more) subs you can run into equalization problems. I took some readings of various placement schemes a number of years ago in a 16 x 14 ft. room, and found I get the best readings with both subs in the same corner. Next best was separating them in corners on the same wall – i.e, the two front corners (there was a loss of SPL vs. both in the same corner). Beyond that, doing odd-ball arrangements like opposed diagonal corners, one cornered with the other half-way on the opposite wall – response went down the tubes, so bad it was beyond equalizing.

Of course, no two rooms are alike, but before you spring for the expense of a second sub, I’d strongly advise taking some measurements ahead of time to make sure you aren’t merely buying a disaster. Perhaps you could borrow a pair of matching subs, or buy a pair from a store and return them later for a refund, to do your testing.

We dream of pairs of Ultra2s, but if we had them there would be nowhere to sit!

The nice thing about small rooms is you don’t need huge subs to get great performance. Typically a single reasonably competent one will do!

Regards,
Wayne

[russ.will]

Wayne A. Pflughaupt wrote:

First, come to Texas!

Nice idea, but currently I'd spend half of my time visiting in Imigration. The 'Special relationship' doesn't seem to cut us Brits any slack.

Top advice though. I'll be demoing all of the SVS subs on an open day at the UK importer this Saturday so I'll see what I'm really dealing with before I make any rash decisions.

If you look at Ilkka'a results the you'll see the Monolith is quite a bit of kit for it's price. In the UK it only equates to about $50 more than a PB-10NSD which it certainly equals and some consider, it edges. Given Tod V's statement that from 25Hz and up the SB-12 is the match of the PB-10 in terms of output (absolute quality may be another issue), I wonder if I'd be gaining much with only one SB-12. Remember, the reason I'm considering two, is to increase output, maintain extension, gain quality if I can, and achieve a more maritally harmonious sub arrangement that keeps me happy.

Knowing that my subs current location was a result of unacceptable WAF, I probed her about if she minded the original MJ sub (barely half an inch smaller than the SB-12 in all dimensions) in the original position. It turns out that wasn't a problem. This was about 1/3 of the way up my left hand wall. The mirror image position on the opposite wall is also available.

This where the Monolith originally lived and whilst it did nothing concerning the main room peak, the rest of the FR was ALOT smoother with no really major dips. In the brief time I had the BFD, the original position only really used three filters, plus a couple because I could. The current position required nine, although curriously the SMS-1 only needs seven. The one time I tried it in the mirror position, the FR was pretty much the same. No surprise, I sit pretty central and the two positions are geometrically the same.

With the recent wife admissions, I'm still wondering about two, but will heed your wise words.

Many Thanks

Russell

[russ.will]

Wayne,

Can't stop now, but just though I'd say I've heard it, it's very good, I don't need two and I'll post further thoughts here or in the SVS forum when time is on my side.

Cheers

Russell