The guys at SVS did their homework, and it shows. Don't mind saying the SVS SB1000 Pro is an engineering gem for $599. Replaced my older BIC PL-200 II with the SVS SB1000 Pro, the opening scene in Prometheus is simply amazing, not just audibly but physically chest thumping as well. Never got that with the BIC. Also, listening to my LP collection, the SVS is absolutely superb musically.
Nice assessment mate. I tested both these for a 2nd living room and came up with the same conclusion. By brand & looks i wanted to go with REL, by sound i had to go with SVS.
I cannot possibly imagine that the SVS could be faster than the REL, as I have one and it's the fastest performer I've ever heard! The scene with the alien approaching the police car at the gas station in 'Super 8' is the best scene for testing sub speed for me and there is just no delay, with the REL going from quiet to super loud instantly!
A lot of what people perceive to be the performance (good or bad) of their equipment is actually their acoustics. Also, these two are not equal in specifications/size/design.
Rel is faster than most and integrates better especially for music. Not using dsp and using drivers that are rigid and lighter requiring less amplification helps them be in phase and integrate better with main speakers
@@20puskinas1992 Not true. They do have a ton of output to overpower the room. Depends on the gain seething on the sub, room size and the kind of movies/music that had those frequencies making the sub go down that deep.
@@GavinMarkable ofc its true, but you audiofools fail to admit it. Try both subs in a open space and svs wont be slow and rel would be pathetic for the price.
I bought the SVS SB 2000 and think it is great for music. You are right the room size makes all the difference. I just bought a thick rubber pad from Rockville Audio just for subs that helped.
Addendum: I reviewed these subs using an SMSL integrated amp. Shortly after filming my integrated amp died. I replaced the amp with a Sony home theater receiver with bass management functionality. The SB1000 worked just as well with a receiver handling bass management as it did with an integrated amp. I tested it both with and without SCAC (Sony’s auto-EQ setup / Audyssey imitator) and it performed well both with and without SCAC. It’s possible that SCAC could have solved the mid-bass bloat with the REL. But I had already sent it back. And besides: REL’s engineering philosophy shuns DSP (they argue the processing time slows down transient response) so using DSP correction with a REL seems a bit philosophically incongruent. My hunch is that the main problem REL ran into is designing a 10 inch sealed unit explicitly marketed for home theater use. If you know anything about speaker design, you’d expect a 10 inch sealed unit to have trouble reaching the lowest octaves (especially without DSP) demanded by home theater. Of course, the REL could have simply been a poor fit for my room. For the sake of fairness - and because I wanted the best sub! - I did try multiple positions and tried both subs in those positions.
@@rayking507 Do I look like the kind of reviewer worth paying off for a review? I have like 20 subscribers. Man, it’d be awesome to create a channel with only 20 subscribers and get paid-off for reviews. That’d be the life.... The conspiracy must go DEEP if it hit me :p
@@rayking507 Sounds like you might be bias to REL and unwilling to accept someone else having a differing opinion. You kinda sound like you work for REL....
In case anyone’s wondering - I’ll be reviewing the new SB1000 Pro. SVS is letting me replace the SB1000 under the 45 day return policy. As of the date of writing this, anyone who bought a SB1000 directly from SVS due to this review should be able to do the same. EDIT: I posted my SB1000 Pro review here! ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-N4_HR4O2K-0.html
@@retroforce6919 I’m looking to order dual sb1000 or pb1000 pros soon. I am debating sealed vs ported still haha I am huge on music and a drummer so having a punchy bass drum gets me. I sure do love those chest slamming hits in movies from time to time though... I think with my smaller room size dual sealed will be plenty and provide both a great music and movie experience.
Great work @CelebrityHouse! I can totally understand why the SB1000 would have been a better fit in your listening env. To be fair though, Rel subs need ALOT of time to be tweaked, placed, and room corrected for it to shine. My personal gripe with the Rels is that thier amps feel underpowered and this is my experience having listened to an svs sb3000 and the rel predator 1508 in room comparison both room corrected via minidsp. The svs had more depth and punch over the rel, but the rel had more refinement to its output. In the end i ended up with keeping the SVS with its app giving me more flexibility with ease of control over the sub, vs having to take a lot of time to measure and correct the time alignment, freq resp to a flatter curve needed with the Pred. My 2 cents worth.
That’s what people say about REL and SVS generally. But what’s weird is that I thought the REL sounded more “powerful” but the SVS was much more refined. I know that’s the opposite of the stereotype (pardon the pun) of SVS being fun and REL being refined. I’d love to test Ti series REL but I doubt they’d ever send me (or sell me with return policy) another subwoofer.
Wow , I've literally being struggling to decide which one of these subs to purchase! Ordered this morning then found your great assement video . Looks like I made the right decision. $770 here in uk (£640) but everything is expensive here !
At the time I reviewed them the price of the HT1003 and SB1000 were nearly identical ($500) and both were designed/marketed for similar roles. The HT1205 was, at the time, noticeably more expensive, not to mention requiring slightly more floorspace than the HT1003/SB1000 . The REL HT subs weren't on clearance sale like they are right now as the 2nd gen hadn't come out yet (I have not heard any of the newer 2nd gen REL HT subs). At the new clearance sale price I would have gone for the 1205, but alas the pricing was not like that at the time. I will say I think the HT1003 is a great deal at the new clearance sale price ($350) especially given that inflation has caused the price of most everything else to go up in the meantime.
If follow the advice of a single stranger on the internet when it comes to audio produts then you are going to get burnt. He comes across as relatively inexperienced with subwoofers (or didn't mention any past experience), he has never posted an audio review prior to this and he later posted in the comments that he was using some chinese integrated amp from a company I haven't heard of before, that died soon after he returned the Rel. Any proper home theatre receiver should have room calibration built in (so you plug in an external mic to it and it takes measurements and builds a profile of your room, or at least allows you to adjust it manually), so you don't need subwoofer dsp creating lag. A lot of 2 channel music integrated units are also starting to come with room correction and sub integration as well (such as Lyngdorf). He didn't mention experimenting with subwoofer placement either. I have never tried this sub, but just saying some opinions need to be taken with a grain of salt.
I found out for me, the Svs was the clear winner for Home Theater and for Home theater, I would go with a ported Svs design. With music Rel was easier to integrate and disappeared more. I found the Svs as having a bass hump that wouldn’t disappear as much. I’m using a highend monoblock system and the Rel brings no attention to itself, but I’m not using an Ht or home theater Rel, I’m using the R series that’s specific for music and I’m using the high level inputs.
I tested them in a large living room. These subs are not advertised for that purpose, but I bought them because I do plan on moving to a smaller place at some point. Regardless, they were both able to fill the room when set to a higher volume level. Albeit, not with the deepest bass octaves or “room shaking” bass to impress your friends. The REL was actually more “room shaking” due to the greater mid bass I talked about. But the SVS definitely goes deeper. The speakers were Micca OoO which I plan on doing a review of at some point. It may seem weird to couple $100 speakers with a $500 subwoofer, but that’s just how good the Miccas are (see ZeOS’s review). The Miccas can fill a large room if you give em enough clean “juice” - which is important because they are inefficient speakers. And for near field operation - or as a sound bar replacement - I don’t think a sub is necessary....they really do extend down to 60 hz in room.
@@fascinatedbyeverything I am considering the SB1000 for a relatively small room, but I wonder if the SB2000 Pro would be a safer choice. Unfortunately where I live it would not be convenient to order both and then return the one I don't like.
@@thcyprus I have never heard the SB2000 Pro. I would be very happy with SB1000 in a small room. You also might want to look at the RSL Speedwoofer, which is a ported model but relatively small for a ported sub
That was very reasonable take on the differences. It is refreshing to see rationale approach without the mumbo jumbo you've maybe heard somewhere but dont even understand yourself (because it mumbojumbo). I dont know why anyone would intentionally want to resonate the floor so rels approach does not make any sense to me. That would only distort the sound..
Hi I have just bought the REL just before I saw your review. Having researched both subs before. I am told you have to pair it with decent speakers and I dont think you are based on that $100 price range. When I get it next week I''ll let you know how it sounds. My speakers are the Pioneers S-81k.
I wonder if you reached out to REL customer support for any assistance with the mid bass issue you had? Just wondering as further testaments to the quality of their support?
@@victorvalenzuela6949 it's an outlet special, I believe they're moving them out to make room for the sb1000 pro. It sounds very nice for a 400 dollar sub www.svsound.com/products/sb-1000-black-ash-outlet-1?wiz_medium=cpc&wiz_source=google&wiz_campaign=760424595&gclid=Cj0KCQjwsqmEBhDiARIsANV8H3YzEMsyYCHiIgr5iC3EjEHJ2uKmIyHaAp9MLeoWEZNgo3Z1QhQSyCkaAo4lEALw_wcB
Hello, Any advice, i can get this REL HT1003 for $1000 AUD or a REL TX5i for $900AUD. I only listen to music. For value for money should i go for the HT1003 ? Being a bigger driver and good reviews for sound? This is for a single sub setup. Thanks
That REL model wants to be in a small to Mid Sized room. That state that clearly on their site. My room 143 square feet. and there is no mid base hump at all. This comes to show that any SVS subwoofer would suck in my room.
They’re both $499 and marketed for similar use. It’s not SVS’s fault that REL decided to go with a 10’’ and not a 12’’ at $499. And similarly, it wouldn’t be REL’s fault that SVS did not make similar engineering choices to REL. Like I mentioned that REL did better at the “knock test” and that the cabinet felt better internally braced (and based on photos i’ve seen of the innards of these subwoofers, that’s the case). It’s not REL’s fault that SVS didn’t internally brace the driver more. Both teams had similar money and space constraints. Both teams had to make trade offs to meet those constraints. I think the trade offs that SVS made ultimately yielded a much better result to my ears and in my listening environment. Also, the consumer ultimately determines what is a fair comparison. I am not just the reviewer in this case but also the consumer (I planned on keeping one), and I doubt I’m the only consumer comparing these two. And based on search analytics - I’m not.
@CelerityHouse I think I'm a normal person who cares a lot about having the full experience of a home theater. With that said, would the sb2000 be adequate or the pb1000? Or do you recommend something else all together?
@@Joshsmoove Never heard either of those subs. But my hunch is you’d prefer a ported model like the PB1000. You could buy both and return the one you like the least - I’d email SVS first about that but they’ll almost certainly say yes to you.
@@Joshsmoove If you want the "full experience of a home theater", you definitely want to go with a ported sub. Additionally you want to try to go dual at some point in the future. I doubted the dual sub advice for years but once I got my second PB-2000, I understood. It's not about the booms and blasts, one sub in the right spot handles that, but dual subs encase the room in background sounds that really give you the full home theater experience. I've spent about 2 decades playing with my home theater system and my end game system is dual PB-2000 subs (14 x 20 room). I don't feel like I am missing anything.
Only if you could able to connect thru hi-level connectors or both LFE as well incase if you connect to AVR. the performance is just out of this world.
Keep in mind, for the most part REL only make woofers not sub woofers. You have to spend about 3K to get a subwoofer from them... think S/812. Good fair review though.
RELs individual speaker stats speak for themselves. Most don't go into 'sub' territory. But they will do bookshelf speakers nicely for a bit more umph. Most floorstanders need at least an S/812.
@@mesonto "Most don't go into 'sub' territory?" Sub bass is 60hz - 20hz. If you are talking about the non-HT subs then the S/510 goes down to 20hz which is the limit of human hearing. Even the T9x goes down to 27hz and would get loud enough in a normal sized room with a lot of floorstanders, without distorting. Even if the floorstanders go fairly low it still takes a load off them so they can then focus on the higher frequencies.
@@Tim._.. Yep, thanks so much for the stats, sigh... but as you reiterated you have to jump up to the next models "S series" to get into this territory... and that is a huge jump in cost $2500 US dollars... You just acknowledged my point...
@@mesonto 30hz - 60hz is far more important sub bass than 20hz to 30hz when you are talking about music, plus there is subwoofer room gain in the 20-30hz region. If you want a sub that can go that low for cinema use for loud explosions, vibrations, rumbles and such well they make the HT1205 for $699 that rolls off at 22hz. For music it is more important to worry about the texture, speed and detail of the bass and the mid and upper bass, as excellent bass is more important than very low bass. The S series is suppose to do both.
