Subwoofers — SVS Sound SB-5000 R|Evolution

The SB-5000 R|Evolution is a sealed 15-inch powered subwoofer from the American brand SVS, and it belongs to the 5000 R|Evolution series within the SVS sealed line that also includes the SB-1000 Pro, SB-2000 Pro, SB-3000 R|Evolution and SB17-Ultra R|Evolution. It is offered in Premium Black Ash or Piano Gloss Black and the manufacturer warranty on this model runs five years.

Key specs that matter

The 15-inch front-firing woofer has a vented composite cone sub-structure with a glass-fiber laminated dustcap, an injection-molded parabolic NBR rubber surround and dual 3-inch voice coils using six-layer bifilar flat-edge aluminium wire. Its two-piece Y30 ferrite motor weighs 17.4 kg on its own, and the complete woofer 21 kg. Linear excursion is 46.32 mm with a mechanical limit of 77.44 mm. Two STA-2000D amplifier channels in dual-mono form deliver 2,000 W RMS and more than 5,000 W peak, with eight 60 A, 200 V MOSFETs in the output stages. SVS quotes 17 Hz to 280 Hz within 3 dB. The cabinet is 46.5 cm high, 45.3 cm wide and 46.8 cm deep without the grille or 49.5 cm with it, and the subwoofer weighs 46.3 kg unboxed.

Engineering and use context

The woofer rides on a powder-coated cast aluminium basket shaped by finite element analysis, with dual Nomex-composite spiders to keep long strokes stable. The enclosure is double-thick MDF with internal bracing and has no exterior heatsink - an FEA-optimised convection path cools the amplifier instead. A switch-mode supply accepts 100 V to 240 V, pre-regulates to 390 V DC and uses two-stage active power factor correction plus an onboard AC line conditioner, and standby draw is 0.5 W. Signal processing runs on a 295 MHz Analog Devices chip with 56-bit double-precision filtering and converters rated at 120 dB signal-to-noise. Control happens through an app for iOS, Android and Amazon Fire or on a rear OLED screen with a flip function for upside-down viewing, and the menus offer six parametric EQ bands, a variable low-pass filter, phase, polarity and three memory presets.

Pairing

Unbalanced RCA inputs have a 10 kohm impedance and balanced XLR inputs 14 kohm, both accepting up to 4 V RMS, so the sub can take the LFE feed of a receiver or processor or the output of a stereo preamplifier. A 3.5 mm trigger input accepts 3 V to 12 V AC or DC, a 3.5 mm IR input connects to control systems, and a USB socket supplies power to the SoundPath Wireless Audio Adapter sold separately. Nickel-plated spring terminals are also fitted, and screw-in iso-elastomer feet are supplied.

Alternatives

The SVS SB-3000 R|Evolution is another sealed subwoofer from the same R|Evolution generation.