SVS EQ-1 - my impressions

[Spearmint]

As many of you know I have a fixation for gadgets and bass.

Over the years I’ve experimented with a number of subwoofers plus add on devices, all in the search of the holly grail of great bass. Have I ever achieved it, I don’t think so, I keep looking at buying new toys.

Currently I run four Subwoofers, these being two 12” crossed over at 60Hz in a stereo configuration to extend my main speakers. The other two being 15” and crossed over at 80Hz for HT duties.



With regard the 2ch side I currently use two Velodyne SMS-1’s one for each subwoofer, and so far I’m quite happy with the results.




Before installing the SVS AS-EQ1, I was using a Behringer DCX2496 to set the individual delays, EQ, and phase control for each sub, plus using the Audyssey inbuilt into my Denon processor. And yes I was quite happy with the results, but when The AS-EQ1 got announced I started to get a bit excited; I felt this could be the answer to my 2ch setup, however on reading the manual I soon found that this unit although capable of being used with dual subwoofers, it still required some intelligence from either an AVR or something along the lines of the Behringer DCX2496.



Anyway it got the better of me and I ended up buying one.

So this evening I unpacked the unit, removed a couple of Behringer units from my rack along with a number of cables, and then set about installing the AS-EQ1 into the rack. Connecting the AS-EQ1 was a breeze, all the inputs and outputs are clearly labelled, although I did have a couple of issues which I’ll mention a bit later.

I installed the software on my laptop and decided to go for broke. Talk about a walk in the park, I reckon it took longer to install the software than to EQ the subs.

The software I feel is very intuitive, I had no problems following the instructions. Running the AVR Audyssey did take a while since I run nine speakers and four seating positions. After this was run I then needed to calibrate the levels of the subs with the speakers. For this I used the centre channel, this process was very easy for the centre as I just used the AVR’s remote to set the 75dB, the subs were also easy albeit cumbersome as I had the laptop setup at my seating position which meant I had to walk over adjust the gain and come back to check the value. This could have been made easier if I’d either moved the laptop or had a second person helping. Regardless it was a very easy and painless process. The calibrating of the subs was I felt a very quick process calibrating for the four seating positions took around 20mins maybe.



The before and after graphs are a nice touch I feel, and the results quite impressive. Much better than I’ve ever achieved previously, although I will check the results with REW and ETF5, not that I doubt what I’m being told, I just like to compare. The results are on my laptop which at this moment is not connected to the LAN; this laptop is only used for setting up audio. I will download it onto a USB drive for posting later.

Anyway I wanted to get some movies happening to check the results, so how did it perform. I’m impressed to say the least.

I only played parts of three movies as I was getting tired, but the results, are in my opinion, quite amazing from what I was experiencing previously. The HT system as a whole sounded so much better, the clarity, steering, bass, and dynamics all perceived to be way better. The whole package I feel has benefited from the calibration of the Audyssey in the AVR and the AS-EQ1 as a combination. Previously the Audyssey in the AVR impressed me but not as much as this latest calibration. If I didn’t know better I reckon I’d installed new subs, the improvement in apparent speed and attack is quite obvious from what I’m used to. I did change seats while listening and the experience was duplicated in each seat.

Today I will play some music to get a feel for that using the AVR as the pre, but from my experiences last night I feel the results should be pleasing.

Overall I think that SVS and Audyssey have come up with a good product, which is relatively easy to setup, by basically holding your hands through the entire process.

Some things I do like, others would be nice to haves, and still others I feel should be included considering the price of this unit in Australia, it’s not really chump change.

The things I like

- Looks nice
- Muted outputs on power off, very slight thump on power on (not really an issue for me)
- Easy to install
- The results are noticeable

The things I don’t like

- The price at $1399AUD it’s not a cheap add on.
- No user adjustment of the resultant graph
- The Microphone cable is too short; the almost identical mic that came with my Denon AVR has a longer cable and could easily reach each seat. The AS-EQ1 cable didn’t make all the seats while in-situ.
- The USB cable is too short I feel, luckily I hade a USB extension cable. When I set things up I prefer some creature comforts, not wanting to sit on the floor.
- The packaging while good and robust, the mic box, and disc cases were just stuck to the plastic wrapper and consequently moved which could cause some scraping of the AS-EQ1 I feel.

The nice to haves

- 12v trigger to power the unit.
- Power switch on the front.
- Pro level of software for those of us that like to tweak.

Okay here are the graphs...and you guys thought you had in room problems.

[LuckyDog]

Fantastic review Spearmint. Love the great pics also.

Looks like you've just convinced me to get one of these units, as if it improves on the bass you had previously, it should be a no brainer for plenty of us with combined 2ch and HT setups.

I look forward to hearing your thoughts on the music front via your processor as a pre.

I do wonder how noticable the 8.5ms delay this unit adds is in a dedicated 2ch system (ie, not using a HT processor), where allowing for that electronically is not possible without adding something like a DCX or similar.

[andythiing]

Minty simply marvelous

[Spearmint]

Thanks LD & Andy

[joz]

Great review Mint
Geez I love your room and your collection of toys.

[Spearmint]

Thank you for the nice comments Joz

I'm going to redo the calibration later and see if the null at 80Hz is a phase issue.

[mondie]

Great read Minty. l love the dedicated room, looks brilliant. Seems you have moved another step closer to audio Nirvana

Cheers,
mondie

[mondie]

Minty,

l was admiring your chairs and tried to PM you (they are switched off) so please excuse this sidetrack. l would like a couple of good chairs for my new room, a 2 seater version of what you have would be perfect. Where did you buy yours and what's a rough guide on cost?

Thanks mate.

[Drizt]

Great review spearmint, good work.

[JohnA]

Minty

thanks for the review and all the pics.
Looks like the results it gives you are very good.
Will be interesting to see if rew now shows the same and if not what would you put it down to?
Software or mic, or something else?

The rrp seems fair to me if what it has achieved is a great result for each seat.


Will be keeping an eye on this one

[Spearmint]

Thank you Mondie, Drizt, and JohnA for the kind words

Mondie I've sent you the details you were inquiring about.

John I was hoping to get some more testing done this afternoon, however through one thing and another I ran out of day. I was also supposed to clean up the gardens and fix the ducted VAC, neither got looked at unfortunately.

Tomorrow I'm busy in the morning, so hopefully I can get back to some playing in the afternoon.

[mondie]

Thank you Mondie, Drizt, and JohnA for the kind words

Mondie I've sent you the details you were inquiring about.

Thanks for the PM's Minty, l will follow up on this next week. l would like a curved 3 seater, be ideal for the new room

Now back to the purpose of this thread

Cheers,
mondie

[JohnA]

Minty, the list of things to do just keeps growing and never seems to end

Mondie, i can tell you those seats are super comfy.

[JohnA]

Minty, you have been naughty

I LIKE

[LuckyDog]

Thanks for the info Spearmint. Very helpful indeed.

[JohnA]

so looking at that, i thing for someone who does not use an AVR for 2 channel its not a device you would want to use.
for HT though i see it can be usefull.

Thanks for all the info Minty
much appreciated

[Spearmint]

Just an update...well along the same vein anyway

I have to admit I've not been doing much in the way of utilising my room of late. With mounting medical bills (it's a bugger getting old) I've put much of my purchasing on the back-burner.

Anyway the Audyssey Pro turned up today, and feeling a tad better, possibly from having a new toy I decided I should get it installed and configured post haste.



The unit comes double boxed and is well packed. All that is in the box is the Audyssey Pro, a quick reference card, and a power cord. Basically next to useless by itself. I also purchased the installer kit, as you need the installers kit to get it Audyssey Pro operational.

The installer kit also comes double boxed with all the gear inside a nice carry bag. Included is the software, calibrated microphone and preamp, mic stand, and associated cables. Installing the software and connecting all the cables is fairly straight forward.

This unit is being used for my 2ch, it has eight channels which can be used or not depending on your requirements. At the moment I'm only using 4 channels 1 each for the mains and 1 each for the 2 subwoofers. I'm considering using the other channels for the centre and some of the surround channels, but that is for another day.

I quickly calibrated the speakers and subs for my listening chair plus the four HT chairs. The graphs are shown at the end of the calibration but it doesn't look as though they get saved by default. I guess I'll need to run the calibration again tomorrow and save the results so I can post them here for all to view.

There are four predefined profiles from ruler flat to quite a big roll off at the top end, there is also a midrange compensation button which can be used with each profile if desired. I played with ruler flat, and HF roll off one, then engaged midrange compensation, then without. You can then set the unit to bypass while you compare the difference with it in circuit and out plus what the different filters sound like. My current preference is with midrange compensation on and slight HF roll off, but this could change once I give the system a work out.

So far the results are great, the speakers and subs appear to be well integrated, bass guitar is nice and tight, as are drums, and still plenty of kick.

You can currently buy two Audyssey Pro units, one is unbalanced (which I purchased) at around $4,000, and the other is Balanced at around $7,000, plus the installers kit on top.

I will add more of my impressions and post some of the before and after graphs once I get sometime to sit down and have a good listen and a bit more of a play.

[Drizt]

Thanks for sharing mr mint.

[ozmillsy]

This unit is being used for my 2ch, it has eight channels which can be used or not depending on your requirements. At the moment I'm only using 4 channels 1 each for the mains and 1 each for the 2 subwoofers. I'm considering using the other channels for the centre and some of the surround channels, but that is for another day.

Hi Mint, can I clarify this. When you say it's used for your 2ch, are you running only 2 inputs into the device - your L and R channels.

Or do you have 2 sub outs from the Denon running into the SVS EQ, aswell as the 2 front L/R channels. And this device effectively is EQ'ing all 4 channels independantly?

[Spearmint]

Thanks Mr HP and RD, I'm glad you enjoyed the read of my small journey

Hi Mint, can I clarify this. When you say it's used for your 2ch, are you running only 2 inputs into the device - your L and R channels.

Or do you have 2 sub outs from the Denon running into the SVS EQ, aswell as the 2 front L/R channels. And this device effectively is EQ'ing all 4 channels independantly?

Hi OZ, there are two toys in play within my system both being Audyssey based.

The SVS unit is being used for HT with the two HT subs and is EQ'ing them to basically four locations within the room.

The Audyssey unit is being used for 2ch which obviously will also include HT since the mains are used for both. I currently use a 2ch pre for 2ch duties; the Denon Pre is used for HT.

The Audyssey unit has eight channels of independent EQ which if all are used in the same zone from what little I understand, each is also compared to each other for levels, delays, and EQ.

When you first set the unit up you designate each channel being a speaker and location or a subwoofer, i.e. left front, right front, etc. The freq range is obviously tailored for different type of speaker's which I believe more processing horsepower being utilised to the subwoofer channels. If so desired you can EQ eight subwoofers to 32 seats/locations within a room.

If you designate speakers in different zones (these can also be in different rooms in a multizone configuration), these are then EQ'd independently and combined within their zone.

So in a nutshell the Audyssey unit is EQ'ing my main speakers and their associated subwoofers i.e. four speakers which require four I/O's of the unit. I still have four other I/O's which I can use for other speakers in the room should I wish to do so.

I hope you can understand that gibberish...

[ozmillsy]

The Audyssey unit is being used for 2ch which obviously will also include HT since the mains are used for both. I currently use a 2ch pre for 2ch duties; the Denon Pre is used for HT.
[snip]
So in a nutshell the Audyssey unit is EQ'ing my main speakers and their associated subwoofers i.e. four speakers which require four I/O's of the unit. I still have four other I/O's which I can use for other speakers in the room should I wish to do so.

I hope you can understand that gibberish...

I think so? You are using your 2ch (moon) pre feeding this new Audyssey unit, I think you have 2 sets of full range outputs on the preamp going to the new Audyssey EQ unit. And you are telling the Audyssey which outputs are intended for the subs, and which ones are intended for your speakers. Is that right?

I assume you can tweak things like setting the Xover points for each of the 4 channels?

[joz]

Hi Mint,thanks for your impressions of the new toys.

Also I hope your doing well,I didn't realise that it maybe anything serious with the health.I hope not.
Best wishes.

[JohnA]

Thanks for posting your findings Minty. Nice new toy by the way

Looking forward to reading further impressions on the unit as i am sure you will continue to fiddle for a while longer.

Hope nothing too serious health wise either mate

[Spearmint]

Thanks Joz, John& Drizt.

Joz and John thanks for the concerns, hopefully it'll get sorted sooner than later.

Anyway I ran the tests again this morning so I can post some results. The measurements taken are at the 2ch listening chair, and each of the four HT chairs. In theory the sound should be great at every location, although I'm yet to get into some serious listening.

Left Channel Main Before & After



Left Sub Before & After



Right Channel Main Before & After



Right Sub Before & After



The mains are shown with a flat response, as I've mentioned there are presets of which I use one with a roll off at the top end. There is also an editor included.



This shows the profile I currently prefer which is down around 1.5dB at 10k. The editor allows you to tailor the response to suit with the freq and +/-dB readout in the bottom left corner.

[Spearmint]

Okay just another bit of feedback.

I've just sat down to listen to some music, and even though it sounds good the imaging is all over the shop I'm guessing because I EQ'd for multiple positions this must have some bearing on the imaging, remembering these units are designed for HT where in most cases there is a centre channel to lock in the imaging. I've just bypassed the Audyssey unit and going straight into the power amp with the subs still being EQ'd by the unit. The imaging is back to spot on and the subs still sound good!

Either I just EQ to one position for the 2ch side of things or I relegate this unit to HT duties and also for my 2ch subs. One of the advantages of the Pro unit is you can separate the inputs and outputs into multiple zones. Anyway before I get too carried away I'll re-measure at the one location and reassess the situation.

Some days I don't know why I bother with mucking around