As you may infer from my Setup notes, the question isn’t, “What does the PC-13 Ultra sound like?” The question is, “What do you want it to sound like?”
Much as I loved the EQ and other tweaking capabilities in the SB-13 Ultra, the PC-13 Ultra’s three tuning options make it even more versatile. Want a fatter, more powerful sound? Choose all ports open. Want maximum punch? Choose sealed. The combination of the three sound character options with the advanced DSP capabilities and the PC-13 Ultra’s sheer muscle gives you the ability to get pretty much any subwoofer sound you could want. (Except sucky subwoofer sound — I couldn’t get the PC-13 Ultra to do that.)
I got my first taste of the PC-13 Ultra’s capabilities on the night I first hooked it up. I had no intention of evaluating the subwoofer; I merely wanted to watch the miniseries The Kennedys on Netflix. I was surprised, though, to hear ominous, ultra-deep bass tones entering the sound mix during the series’ most intense moments. With a soundbar or even most smaller subs, you’d barely hear these, but through the PC-13 Ultra, they shook my listening chair. It was like a dog whistle in reverse — it sounded like the sound mixers put those tones in there just for people with really good subwoofers to hear.
A more challenging test was The Grey, a movie with but one redeeming moment: an airplane crash shot from the perspective of the passengers, who know only that something’s wrong and they’re probably going to die. The sound effects are intense, with all the low-frequency power you’d imagine the passengers of a doomed plane might experience. By the time of the crash, the movie’s wretched script had already made it impossible for me to suspend my disbelief; I’d begun playing Angry Birds during the tedious flashback scenes. But with the PC-13 in the system, the plane crash grabbed every bit of my attention — and absolutely terrified me.
The PC-13 Ultra worked just as perfectly with music, delivering everything I’d want in a subwoofer. On Rammstein’s Live Aus Berlin DVD, it delivered the band’s awesome industrial groove with incred- ible impact, and with all the bass notes sounding unusually even thanks to the pair of parametric EQs. On the Saint-Säens Organ Symphony, from the Boston Audio Society’s Test CD-1, it played the deepest 16-Hz notes of the pipe organ effortlessly. I even cranked the system way up during the Organ Symphony just to see if I could get the sub to distort, but heard no distortion even at levels I couldn’t stand to listen to for more than a few seconds.
Mr. Butterworth,
It's interesting you only were able to get the -3db point to go down by 1hz between the two vented modes. Based off of some other measurements I have seen on the box model, changing the tune is more significant than that. Did you make sure to change the filter in the menu to the 15hz mode? (Page 25 of the manual). If the HPF was still set at 20hz, I can see how changing the porting would have little effect.
Good Morning, Mr. Brent Butterworth. I would like to thank you for another fine review. I have been waiting for a while to see what you thought about this fine subwoofer and once again your reviews have made it more difficult for me to choose. It's amazing that this sub was able to play a 16hz organ piece tha ist very well know effortlessly. Thank you and i look forward to more great reviews of subwoofers i still want. But so far Hsu Research is still in the lead. Well, at least until i read another fine review by you. Ha,ha,ha. Thank you.
Good Morning once again, Mr. Brent Butterworth. After looking at some of my notes that i use for comparring subwoofers i like the results of the SVSound PC-13 Ultra. Even though some of my choices were Hsu Research UTF-15H, Rythmik Audio FV-15hp, Power Sound Audio XV30, and the Epik "EMPIRE" sub. I do like the design of the sub and it's price. The Hsu Research is still in the lead, but SVS is right behind it. Thank you once again,sir.
@SnowmaNick: I always deactivate all the filters on any audio product I'm measuring, unless I'm measuring the effects of the filters. That said, no one is above making a measurement error. Unfortunately, this review was written four months ago to meet the long lead time of the print edition, and the product has long since been returned, so I have no way to check the settings.
Sorry, forgot for a moment I was reading this on my friend Al's laptop. The above response is from me, not him.
Hi Brent,
I always enjoy reading your reviews. I had a question about the parametric EQ on the SVS. What would be the simplest--but still accurate- way to determine what frequencies to boost or cut? I'm a Mac user if that makes a difference.
Thanks,
Dan
Oooops, sorry Brent. I jumped the gun and asked my question before I saw page two. TrueRTA and Room EQ Wizard are both PC based I believe. So for a Mac guy like me, anything else you'd recommend to measure the sub's response?
Thanks,
Dan
Hi, Dan. Room EQ Wizard works on Macs, too.
After reading your last on-line magazine i notice that the SVSPC-13 Ultra sub made the list of your editors choice awards for 2012. And having seen this sub up close i have now made up my mind on which subs i want for my HomeTheater. SVS PC-13 is on top of my list. 2 please.....
I'm going to keep using the Hsu; like the PC-13 Ultra, it blows away almost all the other subs on the market, so either is suitable for me as a reference.
The Hsu has some practical advantages for me that don't apply if you're going to "set it and forget it" in a normal home theater. It's a little easier to use because it's all standard knobs and switches; no alphanumeric display or menu like in the PC-13 Ultra, so less chance that I might accidentally set something wrong. It's also easier to lift because of the triangular ports near the bottom. And Hsu is only about an hour's drive away for me, so if something goes wrong I can get it fixed immediately.
Good Afternoon, Mr. Brent Butterworth. I would like to thank you for responding to my comments and your very good reviews of subwoofers. Is it possible you'll be reviewing the Rythmik Audio subwoofers sometime in the future? Audioholics has given one sub by Rythmik Audio, the FV-15Hp subwoofer the EXTREME AWARD!!! Thank you,sir and have a great day....
Hi again, mocha. No promises, but it IS possible!
Audioholics does CEA-2010 measurements, which IMHO separates the men from the boys when it comes to subwoofers AND reviewers. Any decent sub can sound great to a reviewer, depending of course on taste, positioning, room acoustics, test material, etc. But you can't fool the microphone.