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SVS 20-39PC v. the Sunfire Signature®
Customer Comparison Review: 20-39PC v. the Sunfire Signature
SVS customers tend to be pretty loyal customers. There's just something about having a piece of gear that is so good, so unique and so darn affordable that you can't help but want to spread the word, or in some cases embarrass some of the pricey competition. Adam Kmiec is that sort of guy. At first he did what you might expect, did his own testing at home, just to be sure he made the right choice. Once he picked his jaw up off the floor, he did something you might not expect. Adam actually took his sub down to a local home theater equipment dealer, (the same one that told him he'd "regret not getting the Sunfire Signature ™") and wagered the store's staff would pick the SVS as the better of the two subwoofers, and at less than half the price. When the dust settled Adam won his bet and got the CD changer he wanted; plus the shop even wanted to hold on to the SVS a while and demo it some more. Make no mistake. The Sunfire Signature ™ is an excellent subwoofer. If size of a sub is your primary consideration we can recommend it heartily, and often do to customers that want "invisible" subwoofers.
If performance and perhaps price too are primary considerations however, well you might just want to read thru Adam's story. We don't write these folks, we just post them.
SVS 20-39 REVIEW
Part 1: For audio testing I used CDs played via my Sony changer and DVDs played via my JVC ® 723GD. The test CDs were: Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon, Eagles Hell Freezes Over, DMX It's Dark and Hell is Hot, and Titanic Soundtrack DTS. Movies used: Haunting DTS, Jackal DTS, Tomorow Never Dies (Silver Version), Titan AE, Armageddon Criterion, and Aliens. I opted not to use U571 because I felt that while it had a nice amount of low bass I found the other 5 channels lacking I wanted to see how the sub worked with the material as a whole.
Well the first thing that I have to say is they do a hell of a job packaging it. Double boxed with more bubble wrap then I know what to do with. The second thing that comes to mind is MY GOD IT'S BIG. I mean I thought my large mains were decent size speakers but the 20-39 dwarfed them, I was in AWE.
Well first thing I tested was music. The mains did a great job with Dark Side of the Moon and the 20-39 was a great match to it. As you know good quality mains can just sing and handle the mids and highs wonderfully, the 20-39 was the perfect match. The SVS didn't skip a beat with Eagles Hell Freezes over nor did it struggle with the wave after wave after wave of crescendos on Titan.
The SVS didn't skip a beat with Eagles Hell Freezes over nor did it struggle with the wave after wave after wave of crescendos on Titanic. Where it did have problems was with DMX. The SVS sounded like a "ghetto blaster" yes the bass was tight and it was on the money but it was so loud and boomy that I just felt like it reminded me of being in the inner city and seeing people with SUVs pumping rap music. Well in terms of bass reproduction with music I have to say it met and exceeded my expectations.
Moving to movies, it didn't struggle at all with any of the material, and I swear in the Jackal I thought for sure that I had been shot when Bruce Willis blows off the guys hand. It was that amazing. AS for the haunting well you can only imagine, yes I did the coming mother scene and I was more than impressed. I have to say that it blended perfectly.
Part 2: To continue testing the SVS I called the store manager over at my local home theater equipment dealer. He's a really nice guy and he told me I'd regret not getting the Sunfire ® . Well we have a bet going, I'm bringing the SVS with me to do a double blind test with 5 employees there, if they pick the SVS I get a Sony ® Mega Changer for half of list (about 125.00), if I lose I still win sort, I have to buy the M333ES mega changer. They get more "kudos" for selling ES. Either way I get a changer, my bet is on the SVS.
This morning at 6:3am I brought the SVS in to the store manager (Jim) there who set up both subs in one of the demo rooms. Another employee would be doing the sub switching and Mark and 4 other employees would be doing the voting. Me, I was there to keep track of the results and to switch CDs and DVDs.
EQUIPMENT USED FOR THE TEST: SVS 20-39, Sunfire Signature ™, Denon ® AVR-3801 - Two of them (one was connected to the SVS, the other to the Sunfire ® ), Speakers used were from the high end reference line of a major OEM, a DVD Panasonic RP91, CD Player Krell ® something or other (it's the $3,000 single disc one).
CONNECTIONS and SETTINGS: DVD was connected via coaxial and the CD player connected via optical. Speakers set to small, for CD we used both direct and stereo mode, and for DVD we used the DTS track if available of the DD one if not. The system was calibrated this morning using Avia and the 75db (-12 on the Denons) was used for DVD while a 65DB setting was used for CD.
TEST CRITERIA: With 5 people voting a majority vote for either sub “A” (Sunfire (R) ) or Sub “B” (SVS) would indicate a win for that sub. None of the 5 knew which sub was witch and neither did eye. All of the 5 had to keep their eyes closed though, I didn't want them peaking at the Sunfire ® to see if it moved.
Everyone was pretty much just blown away at the size of the 20-39, it is damn large, and they felt that it was an unfair test because of it. However when I told them the amp specs they felt more comfortable.
TEST RESULTS PART I: CD Audio
Darkside Of The Moon: Winner by 3 to 2 vote the SVS. Comments were that Sub B (SVS) simply was too overwhelming and that Sub A lacked consistency and did not blend well. One comment about the Sunfire ® was that it seemed to be out of phase because it was simply not blending correctly.
Titanic DTS: Winner by a 4 to 1 vote the SVS. People agreed with my own thoughts that the multiple cymbal crashes and other deep passages made the SVS the perfect sub. The Sunfire ® while producing great bass was not able to keep up with the constant continual demands the soundtrack asked for.
Eagles Hell Freezes Over: By a 3 to 2 vote the Sunfire ® won, again people felt the SVS was just too damn overwhelming (guess they never knew what real bass was). The Sunfire ® they felt blended well.
It's Dark and Hell is Hot: As with most rap albums there is a great deal of consistent bass though not necessarily deep. I personally thought that things would end up as a push because based on their previous comments I figured they would again feel that the SVS was too overwhelming. Well I was wrong the SVS won buy a 5 to 0 vote. The felt that the SVS was reproducing exactly what it was supposed to whilst the Sunfire ® lacked punch.
TEST RESULTS PART II: DVD
Jackal DTS: Two scenes were used the one with Bruce Willis is testing the gun and shoots off the guys arm. And the scene where Bruce unloads the bullets at the first lady. The SVS won hands down 5 to 0. It was amusing watching these guys jump when serious bass kicked in. Remember they were blindfolded or had their eyes closed so it was pretty cool.
Haunting DTS: Coming mother scene was used. Hmmm...guess who won? You got it the SVS. The ability to go low and bee loud simply won the guys over. The vote was 4 to 1.
Titan AE: Ice Crystal scene. Well you guessed it the SVS won by a 5 to 0 margin. Again the complaint was the Sunfire ® couldn't keep up with continuous bass with wave after wave of low LFE.
Tomorrow Never Dies: Missile firing scene in the beginning and the explosions in the first 2 1/2 scenes. Well the SVS won this one but it was close, there was a 3 to 2 vote. Both camps felt their choice gave things the extra "umpf". The SVS comments were the felt the explosions.
Armageddon Criterion: End scene when the asteroid blows up. The SVS won again by a 3 to 2 vote. Again comments were along the lines of they felt the bass.
TESTING SUMMARY RECAP: For CD audio the SVS won 3 to 1 and for DVD Audio the SVS won 5 to 0. Comments about the SVS were it produced bass you could feel and was amazing at producing the repetitive wave after wave of LFE. The negatives were that it seemed to be too powerful and overwhelming. As for the Sunfire ® the general feeling was it lacked punch and the ability to produce clean bass in a wave after wave scenario.
So after the tests were done I had them open their eyes and showed them their winner. I know many of you are wondering, what did Mark choose. Well out of the 9 tests he chose the SVS 7 times and the Sunfire ® twice. The two times he picked the Sunfire ® were for Armageddon and for Dark Side of the Moon. The thing was these guys didn't know how much the SVS was. So after some chit chat, I said to Mark and the guys, "Hey how much do you think the SVS costs?" I got answers ranging from 1200 to 2000. When I told them 750.00 SHIPPED, they were amazed, wish I had a picture of what they looked like. Since I had to run to work, I told Mark he could keep the SVS at the store till I picked it up this afternoon. He's going to be "demo’ing" it out for people today. I think they'll be impressed.
MY THOUGHTS: One thing I really like about the SVS is the fact that it offers an auto power on function. My old Infinity ® HPS 250 had to be manually powered on which was a pain in the ass. In terms of features, build quality, and performance all I can say is for the 750.00 less the 300 I sold my sub for this has got be the best sub I have ever heard. In terms of bang for the buck I don't think I have ever spent 750.00 as well as I just did. I can only imagine what the 16-46 sounds like. Actually I'm scared to know. Would I do it again, hell I am in a few weeks, I'm going to order another one!!!!
Adam
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