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Greg Staten Reviews A 16-46CS
Greg Staten, Nashua, NH - Review of the 16-46CS Subwoofer
In order to me to put this review in perspective, I’d like to go back a little over three years. At the time, back in my home theater I had a single Velodyne F1500R subwoofer. I was pretty happy with the bass coming out of the Velodyne. Then I traveled to Los Angeles and attended the Editors Guild screening of L.A. Confidential at the Directors Guild. (The sound system in the DGA theaters (we were in the larger screening room) is considered among the best in Los Angeles.) About half way into the movie (just past the one hour mark) the character Ed (Guy Pearce) fires a shotgun into a nearly closed elevator. When the blast went off, I felt the sound wave hit me. I turned Patti, a good friend sitting next to me, and whispered, “I’ve gotta get a second sub.”
When I returned from L.A., I purchased a second Velodyne F1500R and put on the scene. To be honest, the sound was improved, but it punch me in the gut as it did in the DGA theater. Oh well, I figured, I do have lots of bass energy. For the next few years I enjoyed my two Velodynes but still had a nagging feeling that the bass wasn’t what it should be.
Then, earlier this year, I started hearing about the SVS subwoofer. People who's opinion I know and trust raved about the sound. Then I had an opportunity to get one myself. I received one of the 16-46CS passive subs and a Fidek 300 watt per channel amplifier.
Packaging
The sub and amp arrived in separate boxes, with the sub reminding one of my friends of a small coffin (yes, it really is that big). Opening the sub box revealed a second box inside and lots of foam peanut packing between the two boxes. After extracting the inner box and opening it up I found the sub wrapped in a cylinder of corrugated cardboard and sheet foam. I must say that I was impressed with the level of packing! After unwrapping the sub and removing it from the plastic bag, I was left with a very impressive cylindrical black monolith that was surprisingly light, especially when compared to the Velodynes. It was also absolutely gorgeous, the cylinder covered with very nice black velour.
I set it up in the front left corner of my room, next to one of the two Velodynes. Then, I unpacked the amp, and connected it to the mono sub out on my processor (leaving the two Velodynes hooked up to the stereo sub outs). The amp itself was impressively heavy and definitely had a pro gear look and feel to it. As soon as everything was hooked up, it was time to move on to the next phase.
Calibration and Testing
I connected my audio meter to a tripod and set it directly in front of the primary listening position and put the Avia DVD in my player. I turned the Velodyne subs on and checked their level calibration. Then I put them in standby and switched on the Fidek amp. I immediately noticed the fan noise. Though thankfully not loud enough to register on the sound meter, it was certainly noticeable. It reminded me of the noise a small space heater makes—loud enough that you hear it during dialog scenes but not noticeable during action sequences. I certainly plan to isolate the amp from the viewing room when I build my next home theater next year.
I calibrated the sub level and was impressed with the flat response of the SVS sub on the frequency sweeps. Though the Velodynes are generally flat, the SVS sub was much flatter at very low frequencies. Doing some quick A/B comparisons confirmed my initial reaction. I then turned the volume back up to reference level to check for any driver strain.
Then I heard something a bit unsettling. At about 30 Hz I heard a crackling. I played the sweep again and listened closely. Something was definitely wrong but it didn’t sound like a driver problem. I looped the sweep and went over to the sub to investigate. Resting my hand on the top of the sub immediately pointed to the problem. The sub was dancing on its spikes! I have my two Velodynes and my mains spiked and automatically attached the spikes when I set up the SVS sub. Thankfully removing the spikes eliminated the crackle and I resumed testing.
I’m not going to spend a lot of time discussing the differences between the SVS and the Velodynes on various test signals on test DVDs and CDs, but suffice to say that the SVS impressed. (Let’s be honest—outside of calibration how much time to we really spend listening to test signals?)
Listening Tests
My first selection was the scene from L.A. Confidential (chapter 18, by the way). I first played the scene a couple of times with the Velodynes and then switched over to the SVS. My first reaction was WOW! For the first time since that DGA screening, I felt the sound wave. I was already impressed. I put on several other bass heavy DVDs and confirmed that without a doubt the one SVS put out much more impressive bass than the two Velodynes combined! (And the two Velodynes were nearly four times as expensive as the one SVS sub.) The SVS is so impressive that tactile transducers (such as the Clark or Aura shakers) are completely unnecessary. This is one sub you can feel!
Enough shaking. Now it was time to see how the sub performed on music. I went over to my CD collection and pulled out a couple of my jazz CDs that featured small combos with an upright bass. I played a cut on the Velodynes and then the same cut again on the SVS. Without question the SVS sub blended in where the Velodynes stuck out by comparison. During an upright bass feature in particular the transitions between the Velodynes and the mains were clearly delineated. With the SVS sub I could detect no such delineation. If I had to come up with a word to describe the musical performance of the SVS sub it would be smooth. I switched over to some John Coltrane, closed my eyes and lost myself in the music.
Perhaps the most impressive thing about the SVS sub’s performance on both heavy bass scenes and combo jazz was that one volume setting worked for both. With the Velodynes I had to bring them both down for music and then back up again for movies. There wasn’t a single gain setting for both and I just figured that was the way it was.
From the first day on the Velodynes have sat idle. I haven’t moved them because they’re so damned heavy, but the SVS 16-46 is the only sub for me. Anyone want to buy two used Velodyne F-1500Rs?
SVS 16-46 Subwoofer Summary
Plusses: Very musical and smooth sub with the ability to take on the toughest soundtrack explosions with ease.
Minuses: The Fidek amp’s fan is quite loud and should be isolated from the viewing room, if possible.
Overall: The SVS 16-46 is one of the finest subs I have ever heard, performing far better than subs several times as expensive.
System notes: Processor: Yamaha 3090, Main Speakers: Definitive Technology BP-20, Center Speaker: Definitive Technology C/L/R 1000, Rear Speakers: Definitive Technology BP-X, DVD Player: Sony 7000.
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