I've lived quite happily with an Epik Vanquish, a terrific 12" sealed subwoofer that was perfect for music but just adequate for home theater surround sound. Coupled to my ML Motion 12s, along with an Onkyo AVR and then a Denon AVR-3313ci, the system sounded great, except when viewing a movie like "War of the Worlds" or "Inception." On those kinds of movies the low frequencies were, frankly, lacking. I wanted more and so,back in November of 2017, I purchased the SVS PB12-NSD, hoping a ported box would give me that extra deep rumble I thought I craved.

I spent nearly a month with that ported box, adjusting, refining and listening endlessly, hoping it would give me the best of both the music and movie worlds. Sadly it did not. At the end of that month I was absolutely convinced that I fall into the "Sealed sub for music - Ported sub for movies." While the very low requencies were there in movies (although not particularly to my liking) with music (Jazz and Classical and Symphonic) the bass was there in spades but, to me, not very accurate, in fact it was annoying. And so I reluctantly called SVS, explained my problem and they setup a return.

I then ordered the SB12-NSD from Amazon and, after a couple weeks of setup am completely happy with it. In fact, since the Vanquish and the SVS have nearly the same specs, I've now blended them together and have the bass I've been craving. Placed in thirds along the front wall they are fantastic, on music solid and unobtrusive and on movies the room now trembles appropriately. Another benefit is that, combined, they seemed to have nearly eliminated nulls at the left and right seats (I, of course, always sit in the center money seat so that's less important to me than, say, my wife.)

The bottom line of all this is to say; If you're like me and believe that a sealed subwoofer is essental for music playback you won't go wrong with the SVS SB12-NSD. And a pair should give you everything you'll ever need in the way of gut-thumping bass frequencies.

This is not going to be one of those extensive, highly detailed and technical reviews. There are plenty of those posted. Mine is more "seat of the pants". I have been plugging along with a lower tier name brand sub woofer for some time. I knew it was far from optimal but when I included a new home theater with my family room remodel four years ago there was an architectural offset that fit the exiting sub perfectly so I just kicked the can down the road. Recently I upgraded everything except the seven channel speakers and decided the time was right for a step up in subs. I did my homework and came to rest on SVS. I could have gone with a much bigger box in the front of the room but the rear where my existing single sub was wired offered limited space. I had decided based upon recommendations to go with MATCHING dual subs. The SVS PB12-NSD would have been my first choice but the box would have been just a little too large to fit in that nook where the existing sub was wired. The dimensions of the SB12 was ideal. With some reservations, even after reading the reviews I ordered the pair. All the reviews I read raved about the units music handling capability so I was concerned that this sealed box unit might be sorely lacking for movies. My experience with music was great. I set up a few stations on Pandora and let it rip. Outstanding. When I fired up a Blu Ray my concerns disappeared. I have never personally experienced better sound, especially in the bass. I have no doubt there are much better setups out there but for me it was a home run. Your mileage may vary but I would venture to say that anyone coming from a lesser system will be overwhelmed.

What a beast. I am upgrading from a cheap Polk subwoofer the psw10. That Polk is bad, very boomy, horrible. I was hesitant to drop $400 on a subwoofer, but I had just built a gaming room and decided to invest. I am so glad I did. What a beast this sub is. Compact, yet powerful. Clean, tight bass. Watching action movies is a totally different experience now. I can feel the bass pounding on my chest at times. Highly recommended .

I am truly amazed by the value you get with this sub. I have this set up in a small 11'x10'x8' media room (a place to escape my wife's reality TV shows, LOL) with the L/C/R, TV, AVR and BD centered against the long wall with the sub in the left corner next to the FL tower and the base response is just amazing, very low and accurate and having a small room helps with getting the most of this sub.

The first thing I tested this with was the first Transformers movie on BD, the opening scene with the chopper really impressed me with how detailed the helicopter blades were and I could feel small thumps in my chest with each blade rotation, that brought a little grin to my face. Then a little further along in the film when the first Decepticon transformed and started blowing up the base, my little grin turned into a huge smile and I felt like a little kid on Christmas listening to the accuracy of the explosions and the sonic booms. I knew then it was the best $399 I've ever spent and was floored that something this good was this low in price.

My only regret was that I didn't buy 2 at the time because these all sold out on the SVS site about 3 days after I bought mine but I rectified that last week and picked up a second SB12-NSD from Amazon while these are still around for $399. I just now have to figure out the best placement in my media room to get all I can out of the dual setup. After I hooked up the 2nd sub and ran room correction on my Onkyo TX-RZ720 I noticed that my bass went from tight and accurate to more loud and boomy so I blame that on improper placement and it's time to do a sub crawl on where to best place the 2nd SB12-NSD as front stage to the inside of my tower speakers doesn't seem to be the best choice from what my ears are hearing but again, I don't blame the sub, I blame where I put it :)

All I can say is, if you can still find these at this price and you're looking to use it in a smaller room, don't think about it, just hit the buy button because you won't regret it!

Subwoofers should be bought to fill a specific role. You have to buy the right subwoofer to fit that role.

Now I bought 2 of these to turn my Magnepan MMG's into pseudo martin logan towers. This subwoofer is a sealed design, which the magnepan's prefer, and also is the same exact width as the magnepan mmg, allowing me to put the magnepans on top the subs, looking as if it was one speaker.

These speakers add the low end that the Magnepan's lack, and do a good job of keeping up. My living room is not a big space, so 2 of these fill the room nicely. I would not suggest these for a larger room, you are going to want to go with something ported or with more power. This is one of the smallest subwoofers you can get with a 12 inch driver, so if you live in a smaller space or need to hide it, this is a great option.

I also used this for some cheap Dayton audio b652 air's to see what kind of 2.1 sound we could get and this combination worked great as well.

The hookups are nice and the controls work well. This subwoofer uses DSP for an even/flat frequency response. It also has high pass outputs to make your mains not have any bass and let the subwoofer handle all of it. This usually provides a better sound out of your main speakers, granted you set a good crossover point and position your speakers and subwoofers well.

I think this sub is better for music than movies. For movies, i would get a ported design, as the low end will fill the room more. Sealed designs can fill a room as well, they just need more power to do so.