Product Review: SVS SB-3000 Subwoofer

SVS sent me their new SB-3000 to check out. I swapped it out for an older Boston Acoustics subwoofer in my personal media room for the ultimate test. How would it perform during the Game of Thrones series finale?

Unboxing the SVS SB-3000 Subwoofer

Subwoofers are heavy and the SB-3000 is no exception. I had no issue hefting the 15-inch square cube out of its cardboard box and onto my family room floor. Its glossy piano black finish fended off scratches cocooned in a drawstring fabric bag. I’ve seen other manufacturers include a pair of white gloves to help the final positioning process go smudge free, but no such luck with SVS. No matter, I managed to get the SB-3000 wrangled into place without throwing out my back. Mission accomplished!

Connecting & Calibrating

I grabbed the included Quick Start Guide and followed along. I connected my existing subwoofer cable to the LFE input, plugged in the power and flicked the power switch on.

One key difference I noticed between the SB-3000 and many older subwoofers is the lack of knobs and switches. SVS is subtly nudging customers to the app, where fuller features await.

I downloaded the SVS Mobile App from the app store and was impressed by its immediate ability to recognize the SB-3000 through Bluetooth. I found myself thinking ahead here picturing some sort of nightmare Wifi connection scenario. I love that SVS chose Bluetooth here. There’s no need to control or access the subwoofer from another room or outside the home, negating the need for Wi-Fi connectivity.

The app is extremely easy to use with tutorials galore. I left the setup alone based on the instructions and left the volume set to -10db. I re-ran the audio correction software for the room and proceeded to start playing some content. There are advanced settings in the app to make the geekiest of audiophiles happy.

Madness by Muse: Amazing low end with the SB-3000 taking over a ton of mid-range responsibilities. Products like this are the reason those who know the difference preach the importance of a great subwoofer in any media room setup. The change between the previous subwoofer (500 watts RMS vs the SB-3000’s 800 watts) and the SB-3000 was night and day. I kept listening to music until my wife yelled at me to turn it down. My claims of “this is for work” only get me so far on the home front.

Game Of Thrones series finale: The SB-3000 made all of the dragon and battle scenes extremely realistic and I frequently experienced the bass moving through me while reverberating the framing members of my home. The SB-3000 made me feel like the first time I saw true HD content after watching 4:3 my whole life. Just as Tidal music streaming is a rejection of compressed audio, SVS brings the rejection of “good enough” to the family room for an incredibly reasonable price. The SB-3000 retails for an extremely affordable $1,099.

Conclusion

Run, do not walk, to your nearest keyboard or device and order one of these babies. I wanted to email SVS in the middle of the initial testing to tell them how much I loved it. It’s that good. I can’t believe it produces the amount of low end it does in a 15-inch square cabinet.

Long live SVS and their amazing subwoofers!