Product Previews

SVS SB-3000 Subwoofer Preview

Having been impressed recently by a little but mighty subwoofer from the SVS’ 1000 Pro series product line, the SB-1000 Pro, I became more curious than ever about the company’s other subwoofer products.

Secrets Sponsor

Hence, I requested SVS for another subwoofer model to review. To determine the right subwoofers for my application, SVS asked me about the room size where the subwoofer would be used in, and my preference on either ported or sealed subwoofer enclosure. Based on my answers, SVS suggested a pair of SB-3000 subwoofers for the review, which I gladly complied with.

Secrets Sponsor

The SB-3000 is part of the 3000 series subwoofers, which lie in the middle of the pack of the SVS’ product hierarchy. The SB-3000 utilizes a sealed-enclosure design and has a 13-inch forward-facing high-excursion driver powered by 800 Watts RMS Class D amplifier. The review samples have a glossy black finish, which carries an MSRP of $1099 each. The black ash finish is also available at a slightly cheaper price of $999 each. The SB-3000 subwoofer is quite compact for a 13-incher, but impressively its specifications indicate the capability to produce low bass extension down to 18 Hz. Hence, this compact subwoofer should have what it takes to compete with larger subwoofers out there. The subwoofer also features smartphone app wireless Bluetooth controls, which allow users to manage easily the onboard DSP and other settings. My upcoming review will look into the SB-3000 features in more detail and discuss specifically the performance of the SB-3000 pair in stereo music and home-theater applications.

SVS SB-3000 subwoofer – front side view with grille on

SVS SB-3000 subwoofer – rear view

Dual SVS SB-3000 subwoofers

Yongki Go, Ph.D.

Yongki considers himself as an aerospace engineer by day and an audio/home-theater enthusiast by night/weekend. He earned his doctoral degree in aerospace engineering from MIT in 1999 and has pursued a career in academia before changing path to join the aerospace industry. He has been writing for SECRETS since its early years, but was on hiatus during the few years when he was living overseas. He has been actively writing for SECRETS again not long after his return to the US in 2012. Although his field of expertise is in aerospace control systems as exemplified by more than 80 technical articles in various aerospace-related journals and conferences, his passion has always been in hi-fi audio reproduction. It is this continued passion for audio that has kept him as a long-time member of the SECRETS team.