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| image credit: SVSSOUND |
svs subwoofer
The United States is rightfully considered a trendsetter in the field of home cinemas and equipment for their equipment. And it is American companies that often offer the most interesting solutions and products in this area. The firm SVS Sound from Ohio, famous for its subwoofers, is undoubtedly one of them. Starting at the end of the last century with a very small volume of products distributed via the Internet, today it has grown into a major designer and manufacturer of acoustic systems with a worldwide distribution network.
SVS SB 3000
In the 3000 series active subwoofer, SVS has concentrated its most advanced technologies and solutions, both in terms of driver design and amplification, as well as in the field of fine-tuning the sound of bass modules. The series offers two variants of active subwoofers - bass-reflex (model PB-3000) and closed (SB-3000) acoustic design. Moreover, the first option will cost 60 thousand more, despite the fact that it is much more difficult to achieve deep bass in a closed acoustic design. Both models are available in black ash veneer vinyl, while the SVS SB-3000 subwoofer is also available in piano black lacquer.
The manufacturer declares the lower limit of the subwoofer's operating range at around 18 Hz at a level of -3 dB, which looks absolutely fantastic for a case of this size, coupled with a closed acoustic design.
The heart of the subwoofer is a new original speaker with an unusual 13-inch aluminum cone, which was developed by SVS Sound engineers specifically for the 3000 series. flat wire, and a lightweight but durable aluminum diffuser with a dust cap made of composite material - all this characterizes a thorough approach of the developers, in which there are no trifles. The driver is long-stroke, the diffuser is mounted on a powerful flexible parabolic suspension, which allows piston movement and, as a result, minimization of distortion even at high sound pressure levels. The diffuser's love of energetic movement is indirectly hinted at by a rigid, curved metal grill that provides the necessary living space for the driver. However, the protective grille is removable, and without it, in our opinion, the subwoofer looks better.
Such an extraordinary driver needs an equally impressive amplification, which is entrusted here to the proprietary Sledge STA-800D2 module, the output stages of which are made on field-effect transistors and work in class D. The amplifier is distinguished by the ability to deliver high current to the load, which allows very precise control of the dynamic head. Its nominal (RMS) power reaches an impressive 800 watts, and at the peak, the module is capable of providing up to 2.5 kilowatts. At the same time, the manufacturer declares the lower limit of the subwoofer's operating range at around 18 Hz at a level of -3 dB, which looks absolutely fantastic for a case of this size, coupled with a closed acoustic design.
But that's not all. The SVS 3000 Series subwoofers feature a microprocessor-based sound calibration unit based on Analog Devices' powerful 56-bit 50MHz DSP, controlled wirelessly via Bluetooth from your smartphone. That is, all the usual adjustments of level, cutoff frequency, phase, and the like, which are usually performed by the handles on the back wall of the subwoofer case, can now be made on the gadget screen without getting up from the couch. In addition to convenience, this feature allows, if desired, to adjust the settings directly during the viewing process. But using such tools only to adjust a couple of parameters would, of course, be wasteful.
The application for smartphones running Android and iOS implements much more extensive functionality. In addition to the ready-made Movie, Music and Custom presets, you can activate a three-band parametric equalizer in which you can set the quality factor and correction depth for each selected frequency. The result will be immediately displayed on the smartphone screen and ... heard in operation. Among other things, the special Room Gain Compensation functionality allows you to effectively deal with standing waves in the room by activating a notch filter with a variable slope at a certain frequency. Thus, you can "cut" the desired section of the frequency response, getting rid of the unpleasant effect caused by standing waves.
The patch panel is rather austere - there is a low-level stereo input on RCA connectors, one of which can receive an LFE signal, as well as a stereo low-level output for organizing a chain of subwoofers if necessary. The absence of high-level switching clearly hints at the subwoofer's cinema orientation. Separately, it is worth mentioning the possibility of connecting an optional proprietary wireless module SVS Soundpath Wireless Audio Adapter, for which a USB port is provided on the rear wall. Getting rid of the cable to the subwoofer in the home theater is a very tempting prospect, given that the subwoofer can be installed in the most unexpected places.
The SVS SB-3000 subwoofer was tested in a 5.1 home theater system with a Pioneer UDP-LX500 4K player, an Emotiva MC-700 AV processor, an Emotiva XPA-5 Gen 3 five-channel power amplifier, and OSD Black Signature Series surround speakers.
The special functionality of Room Gain Compensation allows you to effectively deal with standing waves in the room by activating a notch filter with a variable slope at a certain frequency. Thus, you can "cut" the desired section of the frequency response, getting rid of the unpleasant effect caused by standing waves.
The surprise that arose immediately after the start of listening to the system with the SVS SB-3000 subwoofer did not leave throughout the test. It was caused by a clear discrepancy between the size of the compact cube and the quantity, and most importantly, the quality of the bass that it reproduced. The subwoofer was able to demonstrate all the advantages of the chosen closed acoustic design - elastic, very collected and fast-firing bass, which allows you to very realistically work out the most dynamic scenes of modern blockbusters.
At the same time, the ability of the device to reproduce really low tones is surprising, which is usually a problem for subwoofers in a closed design. The elasticity and speed of the bass gave the heavy gunfights in Battleship the necessary solidity and realism, and the reference ship attack scene for testing subwoofers in Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World made you literally bend down in your chair. The heavy tread of a soldier in an exosuit in the scene of the arrival of recruits to the planet Pandora from the famous Avatar makes the floor tremble without losing its clarity. Separately, we note the very well-coordinated, almost seamless operation of the SVS SB-3000 with rather modest volume OSD Black Signature Series wall monitors, the sound of which was given the necessary solidity by the subwoofer. Brilliant performance.
SVS FEATURES
Type - active subwoofer | Name - SVS SB-3000 | price, rub. – 139,990 (Black Ash finish) / 154,990 (Piano Black finish) | Frequency response, Hz - 18 - 270 (+/- 3 dB) | Emitter, cm - 33.0 | Acoustic design - closed enclosure | Amplifier power, W - 800 RMS (up to 2500 at peak) | Audio inputs - RCA (2) | Audio outputs - RCA (2) | Optional - DSP, Bluetooth control via smartphone app, USB wireless adapter (optional) | Dimensions, cm - 38.5 x 39.7 x 45.1 | Weight, kg - 24.7 | TTX source -SVS SUBWOOFER
Conclusion:
The SVS SB-3000 subwoofer is capable of accompanying movie viewing with thunderous, but at the same time very high-speed bass of the highest standard, and its modest size does not fit in with such an impressive sound. And a very convenient computer wireless setup and control system is just a cherry on a luxurious cake.
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