I have had a number of SVS subs in the past... I started with the Ultra16, their flagship sub at the time, it died within a few hours of use on the day it arrived. The amp went. It was replaced with another one, it died within a week, the speaker coil fried. My impressions of it while they were working was that it lacked detail, it was not musical at all, very boomy.
I later got two or three different cylinder subs from them, the basic one up to their top line Ultra versions. 3 of the 4 subs I used (over a few months time) died; one set on fire internally and filled the room with acrid smoke of burnt electronics. That was enough of that, I got my money refunded (they do have very good customer service) and I moved on to Axiom Audio subs and I got one Bryston Model T sub. Granted the Bryston is expensive, way more than the top line SVS, it was around $5500; but holy moly what a difference in build quality and performance. The Axiom subs are super nice too, in fact they build Bryston speakers. All of the newer subs from these guys are bulletproof and extremely musical, smooth, articulate and detailed. It's real bass. Plus all of the drivers and amps are built in Canada, no Chinese import stuff here and it shows.
That is my experience in the sub world.
I later got two or three different cylinder subs from them, the basic one up to their top line Ultra versions. 3 of the 4 subs I used (over a few months time) died; one set on fire internally and filled the room with acrid smoke of burnt electronics. That was enough of that, I got my money refunded (they do have very good customer service) and I moved on to Axiom Audio subs and I got one Bryston Model T sub. Granted the Bryston is expensive, way more than the top line SVS, it was around $5500; but holy moly what a difference in build quality and performance. The Axiom subs are super nice too, in fact they build Bryston speakers. All of the newer subs from these guys are bulletproof and extremely musical, smooth, articulate and detailed. It's real bass. Plus all of the drivers and amps are built in Canada, no Chinese import stuff here and it shows.
That is my experience in the sub world.