Subwoofer Reviews

As with most sealed subwoofers, the SB-2000 Pro is fairly compact; at 15 inches cubed, the cabinet isn't much larger than the 12-inch driver it houses. A premium black ash vinyl finish is standard, though my review sample came in piano gloss black (a $100 extra option). While the older SB-2000 came with a perforated metal grill, SVS has switched to black fabric stretched over a plastic frame for the new Pro version, which gives it a more domestically acceptable, if perhaps less high-tech look.

Setup
As I do with most subs, I installed the SB-2000 Pro in my room's front left corner aimed toward the listening position. I tried running the Audyssey MultEQ XT32 room correction program on a Denon AVR-X8500H receiver at first to see where it set things, but ultimately ended up bypassing the receiver's controls and made adjustments manually using a combination of sweep tests with a calibrated SPL meter. Lastly, I tuned adjustments by ear using familiar music and movies. I paired the SB-2000 Pro with two very different speaker types. First up was my PSB Synchrony One towers, and since these are nearly full-range, I used the sub primarily to deliver the deep bass and LFE channel with surround material. I also used it with the new Magneplanar LRS, an excellent audiophile panel speaker with fairly limited bass extension and output.

Music Performance
Some songs on Billie Eilish's astonishing debut album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? have deliberately distorted bass, while others like the closing song "Goodbye" have clean bass that provides a solid foundation for Eilish's whisper-like singing voice. This track in particular let me hear just how deep the SB-2000 Pro could go, with each low note coming across as clear and perfectly defined. (With so much bass information on this recording, it left me wondering just how much of this people actually hear when they listen on the typical cheap earbuds.)

One of my favorite songs for checking speaker-subwoofer blend is the title track from The Awakening by The Reddings. This instrumental duet features Otis Redding's son Dexter slapping out an ultra-funky groove on his bass while making fast runs up and down the neck. The bass in the mix also pans back and forth between the left and right speakers, which will highlight any bass directionality problems in a system. The SB-2000 Pro's woofer never once sounded sluggish paired with the lightning-quick ribbon panels of the LRS speakers, and once I tuned in the optimum settings using a 60 Hz crossover, the small Magneplanars ended up sounding like big, full-range speakers with tight, slamming bass.

Another effect you'll get with a good subwoofer is a sense of the volume of air in the space where a recording was made. A good example of this is the track "Abandoned and Pursued" from the E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial movie soundtrack. The orchestral score is classic John Williams, with sweeping strings and piercing woodwinds to enhance the drama, but there's also a huge-sounding bass drum to provide a foundational accent. Listened to with the SB-2000 Pro, the sheer air-moving quality of the bass drum thwacks expanded the size of the soundstage in a dramatic way that sonically transported me to the Hollywood scoring stage where the soundtrack was recorded.

Movie Performance
The excellent animated feature Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse has lots hard-hitting action. In one sequence, for example, Miles returns to the abandoned subway station and witnesses Spider-Man and the Green Goblin fighting. The SB-2000 Pro took this scene in stride, rendering the impacts and synthesized ultra-low frequency pulses without once sounding stressed or becoming anemic at high-volume peaks.

Inception is a movie with plenty of scenes where the sound mixer went nuts with the LFE information, both the wall-shaking low rumbles and harder-hitting impacts. The SB-2000 Pro could go impressively deep in my modest-size, 2,100 cubic foot theater while not overloading the room or sounding boomy. I tried cranking the sound up as far as possible, but with all of my neighbors in my apartment building at home due to the COVID-19 lockdown, I didn't want to be too antisocial! While I never maxed out the limits of the SB-2000 Pro during my listening, there were times when I could see that its 12-inch driver was pumping really hard. Of course, if you have a much bigger room, there's always the company's 3000, 4000, and 16-Ultra Series models.

Conclusion
When I selected the sealed SB-2000 Pro model over the company's ported PB-2000 Pro for evaluation, I figured I was going for the audiophile option at its price level. But it turns out that the SB-2000 Pro is just as proficient at pumping out huge explosions in action movies as it is blending into a two-channel audiophile setup. Better still, the SB-2000 Pro is affordable enough that I would consider buying two a worthwhile option if you want to get more even bass distribution in your room. The SB-2000 Pro might lack the automated setup options found on some of its rivals, but all the essential controls are provided to get this impressive, highly recommended subwoofer sounding its best in your room.