SV Subwoofers
OWNERS’
GUIDE
SVS “Cylinder Series” ™
25-31CS
20-39CS
16-46CS
Models
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Contents:
Page 1 Welcome
Page 2 About your new subwoofer
Pages 4-7 Setup, integration and calibrating
Page 8 Performance specifications
Pages 9-10 Bass demos for your home theater
Page 11 Home theater terms
Page 12 Warranty
Last update 21 February 2001
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Page 3
SV Subwoofers
About your SV Subwoofer
Very few subwoofers look anything like them, and virtually none work
like them. SV Subwoofers are decidedly different. The best part?
You could have spent thousands more, and still not come close to the
same bass performance. How do we do it?
Quality components, sane prices. You might be surprised at how
inexpensive the components in some not-so-inexpensive subwoofers are. Make
no mistake, we scour the earth for the best, most cost effective parts (when we
don’t make them ourselves), and meld them into finely tuned designs that
define high performance home theater (HT) bass. Want woofers, amps, or
even binding posts? We’ve tested and discarded plenty that didn’t meet our
tough standards. If we use it, whatever it is, it made the grade.
Get “tubular”. Typical subs require heavy internal bracing and thick
enclosure walls because they’re boxes. But cylinders can’t flex the way boxes
do. Ever wonder why high pressure tanks are always round? At SVS form
follows function, and fortunately, functional designs can lead to simple, stylish
and elegant designs too. Take one look at our subs and you’ll know this is
true.
Stable downward firing woofer. Our slender design is one plus, but we’ve
also taken great lengths to design a downward firing driver. Coupled with our
unique base-plates, which minimize driver reactive forces, you’ll find our subs
can take a tremendous amount of power and remain rock solid.
Interchangeable foam rubber or heat-treated steel spike feet allow for stable
placement on a variety of surfaces (NOTE: Spikes are not recommended for
concrete sub-floors or similarly hard materials!).
Custom low turbulence port designs. When you listen to our trend setting
ported subs you’ll hear (and feel) bass like never before, with a exceptionally
low noise and distortion. When you experience genuine SVS bass you’ll know
something special went into it.
Stylish, and understated. From the simple top grill, to the elegant base-plate
you’ll be amazed at how easy it is to lose your sub in a corner, they’re big, but
it’s one of those times size does matter. There are hundreds of brands of
“black box” subs out there. Fortunately you didn’t just unpack one of them.
Flexible power options. Our subs are painstakingly designed to perform
exceptionally well with nearly any amp. One we offer, or one you already
have. And because they are tuned low and take advantage of plenty of internal
volume, you get amazingly low extension without the need for external
equalizers or processors. This serves to put more of your amp to work making
bass. Even small amps can sound big with these efficient subs. Power up, and
get down, low.
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Page 4
Setup, calibrating and integration
What’s to know? Well, first of all, setting up an SV Subwoofer is
pretty darn easy. There are a few key things to get right though, if you
want to get the most out of your sub…
Unpacking. You’re probably eager to fire up your sub (we’re the same
way) but take time to carefully unpack your sub. Set the box and other
coverings aside, just in case you need to return the sub for any reason.
Location. They say it’s ALL about location right? It’s somewhat the
same with setting up your subwoofer too. Where to put it? Go for a
corner if you can Studies have shown that the deepest and flattest
.
bass response is typically attained when a subwoofer is placed within a
few feet of one of your home theater room’s corners. The tall upright
configuration of SV Subwoofers makes this easy. Avoid putting your
sub where it might adjoin large open areas; but whether you put the sub
in front or to the rear of your seating area makes surprisingly little
difference. True, deep, home theater bass, like that from Dolby Digital
(DD) “5.1 channel” DVDs is non-directional. You can’t tell where it is
coming from, even though you can hear, and feel it.
Hook-up (see fig. 1). There are a variety of ways to configure your
new sub. Usually, a simple mono, shielded 75 Ohm A/V RCA type
cable (a.) is used to take the subwoofer output of your DD/DTS
surround sound receiver and feed the low-level input of an audio
amplifier. You might only be using one channel of a stereo amp, or two
channels “bridged” to provide a more powerful “mono” bass signal
(depending on your amp rating). SV Subs present a nominal 4 Ohm
impedance).
NOTE: Stop now if you aren’t
TOTALLY familiar with your amp’s
manual! Ensure all power to your equipment
!
SV Subwoofer
is off when making these connections.
Demos in smoke and fire you DON’T need!
Audio amplifier
(stereo or mono)
(b.) Twin lead speaker cable
Fig. 1
(a.)
DD/DTS Processor/Receiver
(Subwoofer “Out”)
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Page 5
SV Subwoofers
More Setup, calibrating and integration
You can put your subwoofer amp in your current equipment stack
(make sure it gets plenty of ventilation) or run the subwoofer signal
cable to the amp in a closet, or other out of the way location. Some
exceptionally powerful amps are fan cooled and you might want such
an amp out of the way location to avoid hearing the fan. Either way,
you can then use simple 14 or 12 gauge speaker wire (b. above, plus d.
in Fig 2 below) to then connect the amp to your subwoofer (s). Some
amps sold by SVS allow one input to drive both channels of a dual sub/
amp setup. If you are running a pair of SV Subwoofers (fig. 2) with a
standard amp, or bridging a stereo amp for one sub, you might need to
use a “Y” cable adapter (c.) to split the subwoofer signal from your
receiver and feed both channels of the amp. Naturally two pairs of
speaker wires, (two wires leading from each channel of a stereo amp),
would be used to drive two subs. We do NOT recommend you “daisy
chain” subwoofers together unless you consult with SVS. Damage to
your subwoofer, amp, or both can result!
NOTE: Your manual must indicate the
amp is rated for 4 Ohm loads. After
!
calibrating your sub, check to ensure
during a typical bass program that the amp
does not become hot to the touch. Incorrect
wiring can cause thermal shut-down or worse!
(d.)
Audio amplifier
(two channel)
SV Subwoofers
(c.)
Fig. 2
DD/DTS Processor/Receiver
(Subwoofer “Out”)
“Calibration” isn’t only for tech minded folks, it’s critical to a proper
balance of your home theater sound system. Fortunately, channel bal-
ance calibration is as easy to do as it is important. The first order of
business is making sure your DD/DTS surround sound system is set up
properly. We recommend you consult your audio/video receiver (or
processor) manual to refresh on the procedures to do this. Generally,
this requires ensuring the receiver’s test tones, or a special test disk
(like Video Essentials) plays back at the same volume from each of
your system speakers. That’s Right, Center, Left, Right Rear and Left
Rear speakers, plus the subwoofer . (More on sub level in a second).
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SV Subwoofers
Page 6
Some things to check as you get ready to calibrate your system:
•
Are your speakers set correct to the correct “size”? Your re-
ceiver/processor should allow you to indicate if your speakers are
“Small” or “Large”. Selecting the size accordingly will ensure
bass goes to most appropriate speakers, and use the subwoofer
correctly too. Also, is your subwoofer turned “ON”? We don’t
mean “is your subwoofer amplifier on?” (that’ll be important
later too!) but rather, is your receiver sending a bass signal to
your sub amp? This can only happen if you say “Yes” (or “ON”)
to the “Subwoofer” setting of any typical Dolby Digital/DTS ca-
pable receiver.
•
•
Is your receiver connected to the sub amp? If you bought an amp
from SVS, use an “RCA-to-1/4” adaptor and a well-shielded
RCA cable to hook to the subwoofer output of your DD/DTS re-
ceiver to at least one channel of your subwoofer amplifier. As
mentioned earlier, you can use a stereo amp to drive a pair of SV
Subwoofers. In the latter case you’ll need to “split” the sub-
woofer signal with a “Y Cable” and run separate pairs of speaker
wires to each sub.
Is your Radio Shack ® sound pressure level
(SPL) meter ready? This tool is absolutely
critical to proper home theater audio calibra-
tion. It’s akin to a tire pressure gauge for your
car. Set the meter to “Slow” and “C-
weighting” (and the dial to 70). The manual
which comes with the SPL meter is excellent,
and we recommend you read it entirely. Have-
n’t got the meter yet? Well, head on down to your neighborhood
Radio Shack ® and snag one. We prefer the analog instead of
the digital display model. Ask for part number 33-2050. At
about $35 it’s a bargain.
Don’t “just do it”. Do it right. Now play your receiver's internal test
tones so you have something to measure with your SPL meter. Or bet-
ter yet, a calibration disk, like the Video Essentials DVD (go to Chap-
ter 3-1). A test disk’s calibration tones ensure your entire signal path,
from the DVD player to your speakers, is set correctly.
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Page 7
SV Subwoofers
Setup, calibrating and integration (cont.)
Getting ready to start now: A few more checks. Make sure your
receiver/processor master volume is set at “00 dB” or some other
easy to remember reference level. Finally, ensure your subwoofer
amp’s volume control (if it has one) is set full up, to start. It’s a
good idea to check the separate subwoofer level control of your sur-
round receiver before you begin the test tones too. Keep it to no
higher than “-5 dB” initially (that’s one fourth up on a typical re-
ceiver channel limits of –10 dB to +10 dB) . Your LFE “trim”, if
you have one, should be set to 0dB to start too. As the tones start,
alternating from speaker to speaker (watching your sound meter
now) set each speaker’s volume to about 75 dB, using the receiver’s
channel controls (leaving master volume the same). We recommend
you turn down the receiver’s subwoofer level, before you lower your
amp’s volume control to keep input distortion to a minimum.
When it comes to setting the level of the subwoofer channel, you
might find that a higher level is preferable. Tastes vary, and so do
movie soundtracks, but your SV Subwoofer is capable of tremendous
levels of low distortion, low frequency bass. Take advantage of this,
especially if you like action movies with lots of “.1” channel low fre-
quency effects (LFE). Keep in mind too that the human ear is rela-
tively insensitive to low frequencies. This, coupled with the fact
most folks don’t watch movies at Dolby Digital reference level
(loud!), means tweaking the bass up a few dBs usually yields a better
movie sound experience. If you hear your woofer “bottom” (a loud
clacking noise!) be sure to back off until this stops on that scene.
If you watch movies at relatively moderate levels (say -15 to –8
dB from reference level) try a +4 to +6dB setting on the LFE or “.1”
channel. This means that the VE test tone will waiver about 81dB
for the subwoofer portion of the calibration run. You’ll briefly need
to rotate the sound meter level dial to the 80dB setting to get a good
reading on the subwoofer. Don’t forget that most modern surround
sound receivers allow completely different subwoofer level settings,
depending on the listening mode you are in. With “DVD” as your
“source” use the above calibration routine. You may well find that
“CD” (music) calls for a lower bass setting for the best balance in
your home theater (try setting this by ear with music you are familiar
with). The above is a guide, experiment! Avoid bottoming your sub
repeatedly on your most bassy movies and it’ll sound great for years.
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SV Subwoofers
Page 8
Location and measurement: You should take the above measure-
ments from your typical preferred seat for watching movies (center
cushion, right?). Strong bass levels can vary tremendously simply by
moving a few feet. Such is the nature of long wave-length, low bass
sound. Don’t hesitate to experiment with different locations and differ-
ent level settings of your subwoofer.
Performance Specifications. OK, time to take the gloves off.
We said we were tough home theater customers, and we meant it. Our
response charts reflect honest, no-BS performance. Not every sub
Measured at 2 meters, ground plane
LtBlue =
25-31CS
Red =
20-39CS
Purple =
16-46CS
Fig. 3 CS Model Performance measured quasi-anechoic
maker can say that. Some use equalization to get artificially low re-
sponse (which can be ok, but often reduces available amp power and
bass SPL to a fraction of what you’d think). Other times you’ll see
“response curves” charted at a ridiculously low volume (that is, great
“flat” performance, but only at a volume too low to hear). There are all
sorts of tricks to make subwoofer’s performance “look good”. We
don’t use any of them, and thought you might appreciate that. At SVS,
we guarantee not only you’ll be surprised and amazed (with bass you
never experienced before), but also that your sub performs at least as
well as advertised, no smoke or mirrors allowed. While equalization
can be used with our subs, the response curves shown reflect perform-
ance you can achieve with virtually any good quality amp.
Model
16-46CS
20-39CS
25-31CS
16-100 Hz +/- 3 dB 20-100 Hz +/- 3 dB 25-100 Hz +/- 3 dB
Extension
Coming soon!
Coming soon!
Coming soon!
Max SPL
350 watts (Cont.) 350 watts (Cont.) 350 watts (Cont.)
600 watts (Peak) 600 watts (Peak) 600 watts (Peak)
Power
Handling
Fig. 4 SVS Cylinder Series comparison matrix
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Page 9
SV Subwoofers
Bassy demo scenes to die for.
So now what?? You’ve got one of the best HT bass sub-systems on the
planet, you’re calibrated and balanced. Want to see what she’ll do?
Sure you do! Since finding those scenes can be a bit trying we’ve com-
piled a list of our favorites below. After all, calibration with test tones is
important, but it’s the movies (and music) this sub is itching to show off.
Chapter stops for DVDs are shown, with movie time in hours: minutes:
seconds. What are you waiting for? Just hit PLAY!
•
“The Iron Giant” Great family animation with SERIOUS bass,
including strong peaks below 25 Hz. Jump to:
1. “Chase thru the forest” Scene 8 (20:00 into the movie)
2. “Robot Landing” (Train Impact) Scene 10 (25:40)
3. “Green Boom” Scene 27 (1:11:40)
•
•
“Antz” Another good family movie, though not perhaps for small
children. Extremely loud bass above 30 Hz.
“Terror from Above”, Scene 17 (51:48)
“The Matrix” Modern, violent, science fiction classic with plenty
of shoot-’em-up bass blasts. Here’s some subtle and not so subtle.
1. “Where we are grown”, Scene 12 (42:55)
2. “Landing in fight”, Scene 15 (50:51)
3. “Chopper shootout”, Scene 31 (1:47:15)
•
•
“Das Boot” Arguably one of the best war pictures of all time with
bass approaching 20 Hz. Very loud, very intense.
1. “Depth charges”, Scene 21 (59:30)
2. “Storm surfing”, Scene 25 (1:15:15)
3. “Hitting bottom”, Scene 17 (53:15, Side “B”)
“Apollo 13” Moving story, with some surprisingly subtle, but re-
vealing, bass where it counts.
1. “Lift off”, Scene 13 (35:15)
2. “Coming home”, Scene 53 (2:05:43)
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Page 10
More Bassy demo scenes.
•
“Titanic” You love it...or you hate it. Regardless of which side
of the ship you sit, this flick does some serious rumbling for
you:
1. “We can’t leave him” Scene 22 (2:21:50)
2. “Ship Splitting” (2:41:30)
3. “Last Gasp” (2:42:05)
•
•
“Blade” Not one for the kiddies, but loaded with deep bass.
1. “Footstep”, Scene 4 (7:15)
2. “Door blown” Scene 20 (50:05)
“Aliens” Not just another modern sci-fi horror classic, this one
rocks from intro to final scene.
1. “Ship drop”, Scene 9 (41:20)
2. “Awakenings”, Scene 15 (1:12:52)
•
"Apocalypse Now" Making This Vietnam war movie, Francis
Ford Copolla nearly went crazy...imagine what it'll do to your
subwoofer!
1. "Chopper ride" Scene 2 (0:19:47)
2. "ARC LIGHT" Scene 4 (0:26:02)
3. "Grenade launch" Scene 12 (1:27:58)
“Contact” SETI with a (bass) twist or two along the way.
1. “Bombing”, Scene 28 (1:36:30)
•
•
2. “Space truckin”, Scene 33 (1:55:56)
“Dark City” One of Roger Ebert’s favorites, think he likes bass
too?
1. “Let the tuning commence”, Scene 8 (34:30)
2. “City makeover”, Scene 15 (1:27:45)
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Page 11
A Glossary of Home Theater Terms
Frankly, don’t feel guilty if you want to skip over the below. But if
you are curious about just what some of the terms and abbreviations
stand for, read on:
dB - Short for “deci-Bell” a unit of sound, 3dB takes twice the
acoustic power to attain!
DD - Dolby Digital, the most popular form of digital surround sound,
usually found on DVD soundtracks. Actually a compression algo-
rithm that can provide 1 to 6 channels of movie audio .
DPL - Dolby Pro Logic. The last generation of non-discreet channel
surround sound. Derived from 2 “matrixed” channels.
DTS - Digital Theater System similar to DD, but with less compres-
sion. Many feel it sounds better than DD, but you be the judge.
DVD - Amazing little video disk, DVD, doesn’t “mean” anything!
HT - Home Theater. What you make of it. But a home (theater)
without a subwoofer, isn’t quite up to our definition!
Hz - Short for Hertz, the German scientist who came up with a
scheme of measuring the frequency of sound waves. 15-30 Hz is very
low bass and very rare in anything but movie soundtracks. 60 Hz is
generally considered mid-bass above which most large full range
speakers can easily produce. The real fun (and real) bass, is in the
middle of that range, call it 20-40 Hz.
LD - Laserdisc, grandfather to the DVD. Still capable of great pic-
ture and sound. Increasingly going the way of the 33 1/3 LP.
LFE - Low Frequency Effects are the “.1” channel in 5.1 sound
tracks. If you have a sub selected in your system any LFE signal goes
to the subwoofer. The sub may get bass from other channels as well
however, depending on the “size” of speakers in your set-up.
RMS - A common and accurate way to rate the power of an amplifier.
Literally “Root Means Squared”. Typically measured in “watts”.
SPL - Sound Pressure Level, a fancy way of saying “Volume”. Usu-
ally measured in dBs.
Sub - Short for subwoofer
“5.1” - Reference to 5 full range channels and one bass only channel.
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Warranty:
45 day money back guaranty. If you are not completely satis-
fied with the performance of your subwoofer, return it to us for
a full refund of the purchase price. Just a few minor stipula-
tions should you choose to do this:
•
•
Subwoofer must be returned in original shipping box.
E-mail for return of merchandise number (RMA) and dis-
play this on the outside of the box.
•
•
Subwoofer must be insured during shipping,
Shipping costs not refundable.
The “small print”: 3 year warranty against defects in materials
and workmanship for subwoofers, 1 year for electronics. Sub
must be returned to SVS shipping pre-paid. SVS will repair or
replace any item at its discretion and return to the customer as
soon as possible. Naturally, this warranty does not cover any
product subjected to misuse or accidental damage. Repairs or
parts required to misuse are subject to additional charges.
Except as provided above, SV Subwoofers makes no other war-
ranties express or implied. Some states do not permit limitation
or exclusion of implied warranties, so exclusions may not apply
to the purchaser.
The bottom line: We’re proud of these subwoofers and want
you to be as happy owning one, as we are selling one (or more)
to you. E-mail us if you have any warranty question.
SV Subwoofers
SV Subwoofers LLC
P.O. Box 8423
Reston, VA 20195
Fax: 330-793-8183
Email: [email protected]
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