Product Review
 

SVS PB13-Ultra Subwoofer

Part II

September, 2007

John E. Johnson, Jr.

 

The Sound

For the listening tests, I used a Denon DVD-5900 DVD Player, Sony BDP-S1 Blu-ray Player, Toshiba HD-A1 HD DVD Player, Lexicon MC-12B SSP, Classé CA-5200 Power Amplifier, and Final Sound Speakers. Cables were Nordost.

I placed the PB13-Ultra out several feet from the front wall. I did not use any room compensation setting or PEQ. I set the Subsonic Filter to 10 Hz, and placed two port plugs in the subwoofer. I used a 50 Hz crossover setting from the Lexicon SSP and set the crossover switch on the PB13-Ultra to Off.

In Star Wars: Episode I, the "Pod Race" is one of my favorite scenes for testing subwoofers. And, now, I have it in HD on my satellite box DVR.

Particularly, when Anakin is right behind the engines of one of his competitors, the rumble of those engines will shake the house . . . that is, if you have a good subwoofer.

Well, let's just say that the glassware on my coffee table made enough noise against the table top that I moved them onto a napkin.

 

What would a good subwoofer do if there weren't any war movies? Even though this is an old one (like me), the tanks haven't lost any of their crunch over the years, and they were a piece of cake for the PB13-Ultra.

 

Ah, yet another war film, but this is a new one, with much deeper sound effects.

The attack scene here is the best I have ever found in any movie, and it is even better in high definition.

I decided to move the glassware onto two napkins at this point.

 

Chapter 3 of this destined-to-be-classic is used by a lot of exhibitors to show off high definition projectors, surround sound, and also subwoofers.

When Mei (Ziyi Zhang) dances and thumps her robe against the circle of drums, it is really something else, even without a good sub. But, with a really great one like the PB13-Ultra, it is an experience that will leave you breathless.

I also used the PB13-Ultra when playing a number of CDs, and the 28 Hz fundamental of the lowest note on a classic grand piano was so easy for the PB13-Ultra, I am not sure I even had to turn it on for it to reproduce the sound. Gone are the days of having to talk about a speaker or subwoofer made for movies vs. music. An excellent product like the PB13-Ultra works for everything.

Go to Part III.

© Copyright 2007 Secrets of Home Theater & High Fidelity

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