Subwoofers — SVS Sound PB-5000 R|Evolution

The PB-5000 R|Evolution is the ported model of the 5000 R|Evolution subwoofer series from SVS, which brings technology from the brand's 17-Ultra R|Evolution models down to a lower price. It uses a triple-ported cabinet and a front firing 15 inch driver, and is sold in Premium Black Ash at USD 2,599.99 or Piano Gloss Black at USD 2,699.99, and the warranty runs five years.

Key specs that matter

The dual mono STA-2000D Class D amplifier is rated at 2,000 W continuous, with more than 5,000 W peak. Three tuning modes change the in-room behaviour - 15 to 180 Hz within 3 dB with all ports open, 13 to 180 Hz with two ports open, and 16 to 270 Hz with all ports sealed. The cabinet is 595 mm high, 520 mm wide and 727 mm deep with the grille or 701 mm deep without it, and weighs 69.8 kg.

Engineering and use context

The driver weighs 21 kg, of which 17.46 kg is the motor, and offers 46.32 mm Xmax and 77.44 mm Xmech. Its 3 inch voice coil uses six-layer bifilar flat edge-wound aluminium wire split into dual windings, and each half of the amplifier drives one winding. The cone is glass fiber composite, the motor combines a two-piece Y30 ferrite magnet with a copper shorting sleeve, and a cast aluminium basket, dual Nomex spiders and an NBR surround complete the assembly. Eight 60 A 200 V MOSFETs form the output stages. The switch mode power supply has two-stage active power factor correction for 100 to 240 V mains, pre-regulating to 390 V DC to hold a 160 V rail from a standard 15 A household circuit, and an onboard line conditioner filters incoming power. Air drawn through vents under the plate cools internal heat sinks, so no external fins are needed. An Analog Devices processor clocked at 295 MHz, using 56-bit double precision filters, runs thermal, voltage and current supervision of the amplifier, and its converters reach a 120 dB signal to noise figure. The front baffle is 2 inches of MDF, three 3.5 inch ports sit in a braced cabinet, and three foam plugs are supplied for the tuning modes.

Pairing

Line inputs are RCA at 10 kohm and XLR at 14 kohm, both accepting up to 4 Vrms, which lets a home cinema receiver, a surround processor or a two-channel preamplifier drive it from its LFE or sub out. The SVS smartphone app, connected over Bluetooth, sets level, crossover frequency, phase and polarity, holds six parametric filters and three presets, and selects the port mode, and the rear OLED screen shows the same settings. Power for an optional SoundPath wireless receiver comes from a USB socket, and there are a 3 to 12 V trigger input and a 3.5 mm IR input, with 0.5 W standby consumption.

Alternatives

The SVS SB-5000 R|Evolution pairs the same driver and amplifier with a sealed cabinet and a 17 Hz extension figure.