firefighter

I was listening to music the other day and decided to see how much volume I could handle, I got to about -18 and got the willies, started feeling like something is going to break, the sound was so strong and hard it almost didn't feel right, nothing sounded strained just very strong. Looking at the specs. for my system, the reciever ( 75 watts per ch.) can't give what the speakers can handle and I don't know at what percent or db the wattage becomes unclean and or unhealthy for the speakers. The sub was doing its thing hitting clean and hard with no problem keeping up. I know there is a bottoming out issue but how do you know when you are almost there. I am very protective of my gear but every now and then I want to impress myself with just how good it is, nothing wrong with that is it? So how can I set up my system so I can vigorously exercise it without abuse, also should I have the gain at full on the sub and adjust it accordingly on the reciever. Thanks, Jack.

I will get U-571, I have been working my sub a little everyday to get it to 100% then I will add the Y connector and have at it. I know some say the Y connector doesn't make a difference but the last sub had about 20 hours on it when I added the Y and I could hear better and stronger lows, for me a very noticable difference. I have about 7 hours on this one so a little more play time and I'll be ready. Thanks for the movie recommendation. Jack.

Carl, The sub is great with plenty of power, enough to shake everything in the room and some. If anyone else is home downstairs I have to tame it down as it can easily be heard in the street. This is the kind of sub you feel, in Finding Nemo when the mines explode or when the sub slides off an underwater shelf, it's great. I find myself surfing the dvd's for demo scenes and playing them over and over, can't get enough.

There was 141 people that read my thread, AT odds what to make of the problem with the pb1-isd. I would like every one to read that thread as it shows how SVS handled my problem. If my experience had been a bad one I would have made sure everyone knew about it, so in all fairness I want to make sure everyone knows what good job they did. Kudos to SVS. Jack.

I recieved my replacement pb1-isd and it worked perfectly the second I made the connection. I again would like to thank Tom and Erik from SVS for comming through with customer service and sending out a new sub. There was no down time as I was told what day the sub would arrive, I packed mine by 10:00 am, UPS arrived at 2:15 pm, I was up and running at 2:30 pm. As far as prefering to do business with an actual store, it would be nice to first hand compare products, however after having this experience even with a faulty product I believe SVS is the better route. I didn't find anything even close to this sub in the stores, you would probably have to pay twice the money for a comparable sub including shipping which was $45.00, also the sub was delivered to my house no huffing it back to the store to make an exchange as it has some weight to it and there was no persuading them that the sub was faulty when it was working at the time of the exchange. So in short would I recommend SVS? absolutely, outstanding product, quality and performance. Their customer service and return policy was experienced first hand and it was better than brick and morter. Thanks from a very satisified SVS customer, Jack.

Tom, You and Erik have no idea how much better I feel after reading your posts, it's like a huge weight has been lifted from my shoulders, I am so glad you made an effort to find me. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU! I will be at the fire station tomorrow but will take the phone number with me, hopefully I will have a slow day and have the time to make the call before your work day ends, if not I will call Tuesday morning, I can't thank you enough. THANKS!!!!!!! Jack.

As some of you may have read on an earlier thread (need help pb1-isd has very little sound) my sub didn't work at all when I first hooked it up and very slowly it started to work, it has been about a week and a half now and the sub is very strong, it seems everytime I turn the system on and play demo scenes it impresses me more and more, just when I think, that's how it is supposed to sound, the next time I turn it on it's better. Now it has me thinking, is this sub finally at its peak performance level or is it going to get better. The big lingering question is should a sub behave this way or should it have played this way the first second the connection is made and should I be worried about the quality of this particular amp, will it fail prematurely? I have heard of breakin time where the sub gets better, in my mind that means 80 or 90% to 100% not 0 to 100%. I know the first thing some will say is contact SVS. I have tried about 6 times useing their techsupport link on their web site with no response and when I call their different numbers the only person I get is Erik in sales and he says they only deal with email for tech support as it takes too long to troubleshoot by phone. I may be haveing trouble with my computer, so per SVS practice, that leaves me unable to get help. Don't get me wrong I am very satisfied with the pb1-isd and would highly recommend it but given the problems that I had with the sub in the beginning I would feel better about the reliability if I had another pb1-isd. Sooner or later a bad one is going to get shipped, I think I have it. Not disatisified at all just think this one is faulty. SVS really needs to rethink their practice of not troubleshooting by phone especially if email is unsuccesful as in my case. If it wasn't for this forum I would realy feel without help, so thanks to all for your support, I will always be a member here, so in short. What would do? Thanks Jack.

I just bought the pb1-isd and the surround is probably foam, the reason I say probably is, you can't inspect it because of the firing plate. I did reach under and feel the texture and it is so dense it could pass for rubber. I wouldn't worry about the surround failing.

Colterphoto1, I have it connected to the rca sub out and it seems to have plenty of power, I never had any problems with the boston sub on the rca sub out, I don't think it's the reciever as the svs didn't play at all the first time I connected it and only got to this performance level after about 4 days. Slowly it has gained power as time went on, it seems to be an issue with the amp, I could be wrong, I'm new to all of this, the only thing I have going is some common sense, not much HT knowledge, thats why I'm here, to learn. Thanks, jack.

---------------- On 9/12/2004 10:31:39 AM Fish wrote: Just so anyone that reads this in the future knows,SVS really cares and will help anyway they can.This is a company that stands behind their products 100%,they set the standard for customer care. ---------------- Fish, Thats is what I am counting on, after all that is why I went with SVS. I trust the advice of this forum as we share a common bond with our klipsch speakers and I believe that alone will compel us to look out for each others best interest. As for the performance of the sub, it finally seems to be performing more to my expectations, I still don't know if it is performing properly because it took 4 days to get to this level, I feel it should have played the first time I hooked it up like it is playing now, the fact that no sound at all came out when I made the original connection, ( which is how it is connected now, rca sub out ), leaves this particular amp in question. If it is man made it is subject to failure, I am very understanding of this and that bears no weight to the quality of the sub, the problem I have now is getting some one on one with SVS. Once we get this email issue resolved I'm sure we will be able to make some progress. It's nice to see Tom V. visiting this site and keeping his finger on the pulse, the fact that he replied to my concerns shows he cares about service after the sale, it's also good to know an owner of the company, not just anyone is aware of the problem and is concerned enough to get involved. I will be here waiting to hear from Tom when they get the address fixed, even if they can't get it fixed in a timely maner, Tom doesn't seem to be the type to just leave ya hangin. Looking forward to being a happy SVS customer. Jack.

Formica, THAT DID IT!!!!! I tried the right audio rca out, not the sub out and I couldn't get above 2 without waking up the whole house. I knew this sub had nuts. Now I have to figure out where the problem is. Why would I have so much more power on the audio out than the sub out? I know the sub out is controlled by the reciever volume but I shouldn't have to adjust the sub gain all the way up just to get some decent noise. When I had the audio out hooked up and the sub gain on 2 it out performed the sub out with full gain. Could there be a sub signal strength issue with the sub out? Please help I'm almost there. Jack.

Tom, I tried the tech support link on your website, when I clicked on it, it seemed to connect correctly, didn't do anything wierd. I spoke with Erik on the phone and he told me to email him and he would forward it for me, I did this at 11:45 pm. I wont be able to respond to any emails tomorrow as I will be at the fire station for 24 hours, but if you could give some help whether it be on the sub or something that I may be doing wrong, I will get on it Sunday morning when I get home. Thanks, Jack.

The Ear I thought the same thing and ran another rca, I also tried the right and left independently, and the speaker input connections. I can't imagine my expectations being that far off. The only sub I've ever owned is that little Boston and I can put 2 of them in pb1-isd.

I have called svs and the only person I get is Erik in sales, I have also tried their email address for tech support and have not gotten a reply, I tried that address twice before when looking for a sub recomendation and got no answer. I did get the recomendation from Erik but can't find a human for problems. This sub seems to be extremly well built and I am sure a correctly performing one is impressive, I just hate to get turned off on a company because of something other than product performance.

The Ear, thanks for the reply, I have the gain all the way up just to get it so I can hear it, I tried 1/4 gain as recomended in the owners manual and you can't hear the sub. I also tried all phase and crossover variations, no difference in volume. Unfortunatly I don't have the boston as I sold it to get the money to upgrade. Could there be anything wrong with the reciever, it seems to be sending a signal as the sub will play just no authority. When I disconnected the boston 2 weeks ago I left the other end connected to the reciever, that wouldn't have caused a problem would it?

Just bought the pb1-isd unpacked it and plugged it into the same cable that I had the boston pv600 connected to and had no sound at all, checked all cable and power connections they were good, rechecked all my reciever settings they were all the same as before. After about 20 min. of messing with things there was a small amount of sound comming from the sub, I then brought it downstairs and hooked it to another surround reciever and had the same results. I took it back upstairs and connected it to my main system and let it play for about 2 hours with no change. Listening to finding nemo when Darla taps on the aquarium I get more of a low rumble instead of a hard pound as I did with the boston. I am sure the svs is in a whole different class than the boston and could out pound it like no tomorrow but it's not happening, it's only been about 2 weeks without a sub but I didn't change anything on the reciever so I should have been able to make a single sub cable connection, power it up, and start playing. I was told by Eric from svs that tech support is handled through email not over the phone, I'm not too happy about getting support through email, I would much rather talk to someone and work it out. If anyone can think of something that I may have overlooked or have suggestions, I sure could use the help. Thanks Jack.

PSG, Thanks for the reply to all the questions, There is one other sub that I am looking at, the SVS PB1-ISD, it is very similar to the HSU-STF3. Sooner or later I'm going to have to make a descision and quit analyzing it.

Jerry, Thanks for the advice, my room is small 18 x 15 so needing a more powerful sub didn't seem to be a concern, actually my LaScalas are too big for the room but I just couldn't pass on them. I didn't know svs offered that service, it will be interesting to see what they recommend. Thanks again, Jack.

I've been doing a lot of reading on subs in this price range and I came across this review by Ed Mullen on the homehteatre forum that seemed unbias. (http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htforum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=190398) I have heard much about the SVS cylinder subs but not the boxes. I brought this thread here because I have the Lascalas and need the best sub for them, I've been told here that speed is an issue. If I remember right Trey said that he didn't feel that the SVS was the best speaker for the LaScala, if I'm not mistaken he was testing the cylinder subs and based his opinion on that, are the boxes faster. The Ears told PSG that he wouldn't go wrong with the hsu-stf3 and I trust his opinion. This review shows the SVS just nudging the HSU but doesn't mention anything that I remember about speed, is the HSU faster? Keep in mind there is much that I don't know but am trying to learn. If I misquoted any one here please forgive me as I mean no disrespect, my head is clogged from all the reading and if it seems like I am analyzing it to death, I am. This next sub should be the last and I want to know I did all I could to make the best decision. Any and all opinions are needed. Thanks, Jack.

psg, I was reading on another forum and comments were made that the vtf-3 had a huge amount of port noise, did you find any with the stf-3, did you resolve the issue with the scratches, does it have any chest slamming qualities, and last but not least does the sub seem fast enough for the LaScalas? Sorry for all the questions but I'm looking hard at the same sub. Jack.

Thanks for the replies, could you use the drivers that were put into the academy with the heresy crossover, or do they still make them? I know I have to do a lot research before I start just curious about the drivers would like to stay Klipsch.

psg, let me know when you get your sub, I'm interested if it will keep up with the LaScalas speed and volume. The small Boston that I currently have can barely be heard when I turn up the volume. A friend is buying the Boston on the 24th of August so that will leave me without one. Who are you ordering yours from and how much is going to cost with shipping? I have never heard of hsu before reading your post, I may also go with this instead of the cht 15. Thanks, Jack.

I currently have a Heresy sitting on top of my rptv and like the way it sounds with the LaScalas. I want to make a low profile center from raw birch to match the fronts, I'm guessing about 10" high to accomidate the tweeeter and mid and that should allow for two 8" speakers, lenght is not really an issue. Any recomendations on what 8's to get and would there be any problems with the crossover going to two speakers instead of one, also should the area for the 8's have a port, and are there any specific inside deminisions for the 8's. Any help with these questions and any I may have overlooked will be very helpfull as I have a lot to learn. Thanks, Jack.

psg I was also considering the cht15 with my lascalas as it has very good reviews, it is supposed to have a servo sensing unit, which the older units didn't have, that detects movement and increases speed to make it recover faster, if I understand it correctly. I guess the question is does that make it fast enough? I am in a position that I can only spend about $500 so if the perfect subs are in the $1500 + range, then thats not an option. There is a claimed authorized on line dealer (One Call.com)with the cht15 for $479.00? less shipping, that is the cheapest that I have found. I will be interested if you get this sub, how it performs, any idea when you will decide? Jack.

Thanks for the advice, I think I'll go for the Radio Shack phono amp. I do like my albums alot but I need to hit the lottery before I can travel Richinlr's path.