Podcast #1006: SVS 3000 Micro Subwoofer Review

This week we take a look at two articles comparing Apple services to Google and Amazon. Which service is right for you? It will be a shocker how they decide! We also spent some time with the smallest thing in subwoofers this week. The SVS 3000 Micro. This small subwoofer packs a big punch. We also read your emails and take a look at the week’s news.

Apple HomeKit vs Google Assistant

If you are trying to decide between Google Home or Apple Home for your smart home system, we’ve researched and compared the two platforms to help you decide which is the best smart home system for your home. Full article here...

Apple Music vs. Amazon Music: Which music service wins?

Both Apple Music and Amazon Music have made some big changes. Apple Music has launched both lossless music streaming and spatial audio support, while Amazon has taken the lossless capabilities of its Amazon Music HD tier and added the high-fidelity feature to Amazon Music Unlimited at no extra charge. Full article here...

SVS 3000 Micro Subwoofer Review

We all know that sound is a huge part of our home theater experience and the subwoofer is a huge part of the sound. What if we told you the subwoofer is actually a Micro part? See what we did there?? SVS has designed and built a subwoofer that is small enough to fit into any space but packs a huge punch! We are talking about the 3000 Micro which is available today for $799.

Specifications:

• Dimensions (including grilles): 10.9” (278mm) H X 11.7” (297mm) W X 10.7” (271mm) D
• Weight: 22.5lbs (10.2kg)
• Dual opposing 8-inch active drivers designed acoustically and electrically in parallel
• 800-watt RMS, 2,500-watt peak Sledge STA-800D amplifier with fully discrete MOSFET output
• Frequency Response 23Hz to 240Hz +/-3dB

When we first saw this subwoofer we thought it would be perfect for use with a computer. Most desktop speakers do not provide enough bass and considering the size of the 3000 Micro we thought it would be a perfect marriage. And it was! The Mico produces a clean, tight bass that makes listening to music on the computer almost as fun as listening on a dedicated music setup. Being less than a foot cubed it can easily fit on, next to, or under any desk. 

The rear panel has all the controls you need to tune the subwoofer to your liking including presets so you can easily change the output to match what you are doing. But even better than that, SVS has an app that connects to the 3000 Micro via bluetooth to make configuring and changing the settings simple and easy. This allowed us to really explore and dial in the subwoofer to our liking. All subwoofers going forward need this kind of control!

The fit and finish on all SVS products is amazing and the 3000 Micro is no exception. It comes in two colors, Piano Gloss black and Piano Gloss white. Dare we say there is not one athstetics committee member that can complain about the diminutive subwoofer being displayed proudly in any room of the house. 

Performance

We take a practical approach to measuring subwoofer performance. Can it rattle the walls? Do our spouses yell at us to turn down the bass? Do we feel the bass in our chest? The answer to all three is a resounding yes!! For a test of the pure bass capabilities we used the track Woofer Test by Bad Ass Sound System (BASS). If you try playing this on your phone or normal desktop speakers you get a bunch of dead air because your speakers can not reproduce frequencies that go that low. 

The 3000 Micro had no issues whatsoever with this track! You could clearly hear the sweep of frequencies until it went so low that you could only feel it.  And you knew it was working because it was rattling the walls. At one point Ara’s wife came into the office from the adjoining room asking what the hell was going on. Fortunately she just laughed and said, “Oh a new toy, have fun but I’m trying to work so try not to break anything!” So nice having a wife who understands!!

After the raw sound tests we listened to music on full range speakers that Ara built. We set the amplifier to send everything below 100Hz to the subwoofer.  We listened to our standards, Tin Pan Alley by Stevie Ray Vaughn and California Roll by Snoop Dog. Really it's only the first ten seconds of California Roll. Both were tight and clean. It was hard to believe a small subwoofer like this could produce sound so big. The 3000 Micro exceeded our expectations not only for a subwoofer this size but of subwoofers in general. 

Who is the 3000 Micro for?

Everyone! Seriously, you can justify buying this subwoofer If you own an apartment and want to add bass to your home theater without taking up a lot of space.  If you live in a house but can’t find a good spot for a subwoofer because they are too big, this is a great solution. Not only because it's small, but because it performs like subwoofers twice it's size. You’ve heard the term “punches above its weight class”? That fully applies here. 

If you spend a lot of time working on your computer but want to listen to music you can now focus on small desktop speakers that handle the mid and high frequencies and let the 3000 Micro do the heavy lifting at the low end.  And don’t forget gamers, especially if you game on a PC.

Conclusion

At $799 the SVS 3000 Micro is not the cheapest subwoofer on the market. In fact SVS sells the SB 1000 Pro in a similar finish for $100 less. It too will rattle walls with a low end frequency of 20Hz but it's a few inches bigger. In actuality the SB-1000 in the Black Ash finish may be the best value in a subwoofer costing only $499. But if you want similar performance in a compact package that looks stunning, we recommend spending the additional $200 to buy the 3000 Micro. No compromises required!