SVS SB 4000 Review: Is It Still Worth Buying in 2025?

SVS SB 4000 Review: SVS Sound got its start back in 1998 in Ohio, and they began with one simple goal: to make amazing subwoofers. These days, they sell all sorts of speakers and audio gear, but it was their subs that first made them famous.

Their whole idea was pretty straightforward—give people top-notch, high-end sound without the crazy high-end price tag. They kept things affordable by selling directly to customers online, cutting out the middleman, and they made sure things were high quality by building them in the USA with some really smart engineering. Even though they’re a big global company now, subwoofers are still what they’re known for.

Right now, they have five different lines of subwoofers, from the 1000 Pro series all the way up to the fancy Ultra series. The one we’re looking at, the SB-4000, is from their 4000 series, which is just one step below their very best. This particular model has a sealed cabinet design, and it has two siblings in the same series with ported designs: a standard box model and another one that’s shaped like a cool cylinder.

The 4000 Series: A Step Below the Top

Today, the company’s lineup has expanded to six distinct lines of subwoofers. These range from the popular 1000 Pro series all the way up to the flagship Ultra series and the brand new 5000 R|Evolution series. The various series share design cues and technology, with the higher-end models being larger, more powerful, and equipped with more advanced drivers.

It is easy to guess from the name that the star of our review, the SVS SB 4000, belongs to the company’s fourth series. While it was once positioned just below the top models, it now sits as a formidable high-performance option just under the new flagship lines. The SVS SB-4000 subwoofer features a sealed enclosure, though the 4000 series also includes two ported models: the PB-4000 and the unique cylindrical PC-4000.

In addition to excellent performance and luxurious settings, the 4000 series subwoofers are distinguished by another innovation: the now fashionable theme of “digitization” of everything at SVS got to the control of You can control the subwoofers via Bluetooth, gaining access to all settings. Of course, for retrogrades or special situations, manufacturers have retained the old-fashioned methods of adjustments using a keypad and remote control.

Design and Build Quality

The SVS SB-4000 subwoofer cannot be called miniature; it is brutal, but beautiful in its way: a figured metal grill, rounded corners of the cabinet, a control panel with a display located in an elegant cutout at the transition of the facade to the top panel.

The finish of the cabinet is available in two finishes: black ash with a pronounced textured pattern or black piano lacquer, but both finishes have premium quality and external gloss. Lacquer, however, will cost a little more.

The subwoofer cabinet is made of double-thickness MDF and additionally reinforced with numerous ties, preventing the occurrence of resonances. Specially designed legs made of elastomer absorb the residual vibrations of the cabinet well, at the same time protecting the subwoofer from external vibrations.

Check Out: SVS SB 3000 Micro Review:

The Amplifier and Powerful Driver

Built into the subwoofer is the Sledge STA-1200D amplifier, which is controlled by Analog Devices’ smart sound processor that enhances the subwoofer’s performance with multiple control circuits and a greatly expanded list of settings.

The advantages of the amplifier are built not only on the processor, but the circuit also uses an energy-efficient switching power supply, the so-called D-class, and a cascade assembled on discrete MOSFET transistors, characterized by a very high output current. As a result, the amplifier delivers 1.2 kW continuous and up to 4.2 kW peak power.

Integrated power correction and ground isolation circuits work in the amplifier, akin to a mains air conditioner, protecting against fluctuations in input voltage and current, and leveling noise that can come along the ground line from other electrical appliances.

The SVS SB-4000 is also state-of-the-art, with everything optimized to reproduce deep bass with minimal distortion and maximum sound pressure. The total weight of the driver, whose diameter is 343 mm, is 19.5 kg, of which 17 kg falls on the motor with two huge ferrite magnets. The voice coil with a diameter of 76 mm is wound in 8 layers with a flat aluminum cable.

The composite diffuser on a parabolic suspension has a more than impressive linear stroke – 52 mm. As a result, the driver can reproduce the bass, climbing below 20 Hz, and at the same time reach an enviable sound pressure level for a home subwoofer – 126.8 dB (when installed in the corner).

Setup, Control, and App Integration

The patch panel located on the back of the subwoofer carries line inputs and outputs, as well as a trigger input. Both unbalanced (RCA) and balanced (XLR) signal connectors are available. One of the RCA inputs is labeled LFE, leading the signal to bypass the built-in low-pass filters.

There are no rotary knobs or switches on the back; all adjustments are left to the front control panel, remote control, or wireless Bluetooth app, and the SVS SB-4000 setup methods are listed here in ascending order of convenience. The fastest and most intuitive method is the SVS App, which runs on any device running on iOS or Android operating systems.

The Power of the SVS DSP App

The settings of the SVS SB-4000, or rather their abundance, deserve special mention. Volume from -60 to 0 dB is adjustable with a duty cycle of 1 dB. In the low-pass characteristics, you can choose not only the cutoff frequency (from 30 to 200 Hz in 1 Hz steps), but also the slope (6, 12, 18, or 24 dB / octave). The phase is adjustable with an accuracy of 1 degree, and the polarity is switched.

A parametric equalizer allows you to correct room resonances for several independent frequencies, also by setting a positive or negative response amplitude and quality factor.

RGC (Room Gain Compensation) function turns on the high-pass filter, cutting off the very bottom of the bass range. This feature can come in handy if the room is too small and the bottom bass becomes too much in it, giving neither control nor intelligibility. In this case, the user can select the cutoff frequency (25, 31, or 40 Hz) and the slope of the roll-off (6 or 12 dB/octave).

In addition to the above, the SVS SB-4000 has two preinstalled Music/Movie playback programs and memory for user settings. Such detailed adjustments will allow you to match the “voice” of the subwoofer with almost any acoustics and set up a good bass in any room.

Sound Performance Analysis

Listening to the SVS SB-4000 subwoofer took place on the territory of Simple Distribution in a 5.1 home theater system with OSD monitor line acoustics, where S85 models were used on all front channels, and S84s were on the rear channels. We wrote about this audio system in a recent review, but then more attention was paid to acoustics, and now our main subject of interest is an active subwoofer.

Whether you’re watching a blockbuster movie or listening to your favorite music, the SB-4000 brings out the full range of frequencies with stunning clarity and depth.

Bass

The SVS SB-4000 has a deep, smooth, and superbly fast bass, although, of course, the smoothness of the subwoofer sound in this case is purely a matter of tuning. And, in principle, thanks to the mentioned flexibility of adjustments, the owner can get from the SVS SB-4000 the bass sound balance that suits him.

But if we do not talk about balance, we need to talk about speed; it is she who allows the subwoofer to work out the low-frequency sound relief so thoroughly. Moreover, this exact bass “timing” is preserved throughout the entire operating range from infra-lows and further to frequencies where other speakers of the audio system take over.

Therefore, the bass of the SB-4000 merges so smoothly and imperceptibly with the voices of the monitors – a very positive quality of the DC, which we have already emphasized in the corresponding test review of OSD acoustics. The subwoofer and monitors end up with the same sonic mentality – crisp detail and precise attack.

However, in addition to the intelligibility of low-frequency sound, the SB-4000 creates a very natural bass picture, always choosing the right tone and articulation. Like a skilled trainer, the subwoofer commands the lower frequencies to be what they should be, and they unquestioningly obey. This combination of a solid bass foundation and a legible low-frequency pattern is unwittingly captivating, no matter what the audio system is playing at the moment, the soundtrack of a movie or a music track.

Movies vs. Music Performance

We tested the subwoofer with a selection of materials from the DTS Demo v22 (2018) disc, and here is our verdict: music is the SB-4000 ‘s strong point in general; it is simply gorgeous and is impossible to find fault with its clean bass and filigree control.

But the movie “Sub” is very good. In the battle episodes of the movie “Sea Battle,” the bass was epic, powerfully practicing shots and strikes. Equally impressive were the fragments of road racing in The Fast and the Furious, replete with all sorts of collisions and the juicy roar of engines.

Only sometimes, at the most climactic moments, it seems that the lower bass of the SVS Subwoofer SB-4000 could be a little more grandiose, producing a kind of rumbling “B-U-U-U-M” that resonates with trepidation throughout the body. Probably, the “closed” breed of the subwoofer played its role here, which makes him a convinced neat man who does not want to embellish the bass for the sake of greater showiness. It is known that a well-designed bass reflex can provide more aggressive lower bass, and those who like this more “theatrical” reproduction should take a closer look at the brother of the tested device, the SVS PB-4000 subwoofer.

Measurement Data

Measurements were taken with parametric EQ disabled and room compensation disabled. The SVS SB-4000 subwoofer showed a uniform frequency response, and the sensitivity began to decline only at frequencies below 30 Hz, which is rather unusual for closed-type acoustic systems. With the maximum bandwidth of the low-pass filter (with a cutoff of 200 Hz), we got a frequency range of 23 – 192 Hz (± 3 dB).

Conclusion

The SVS SB-4000 subwoofer is equipped and made to the highest standard: a 1200 W MOSFET switching amplifier, a powerful 343 mm speaker weighing almost 20 kilos, a massive closed-type cabinet, a high-quality finish, a built-in sound processor with a huge number of settings, and a Bluetooth wireless control option. The subwoofer reproduces extremely convincing bass: deep and clear, energetic in movies, and natural in music.

Looking at the capabilities and design of the SVS SB-4000, its price no longer seems expensive. Well, maybe, for complete happiness, someone will lack high-level inputs and outputs for the faster pairing of a subwoofer with acoustics in triphones (in a system without a sound processor). On the other hand, flexible sound adjustments SVS SB-4000 will still allow you to customize it for almost any room and acoustics.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Tight, controlled bass, flexible setup with remote and app, PEQ to tailor the sound to your room
• Clean, tight bass for every type of content, Build quality, Power consumption, Looks great (piano gloss FTW)

Cons

• Very heavy; you will need a friend to help move it

Official Site: svsound

SVS SB 4000 Specifications

General

• Model: SB-4000 (Sealed Box)
• Enclosure Type: Sealed
• Finish Options: Piano Gloss Black, Piano Gloss White
• Grille: Black acoustically transparent, non-removable mesh grille (magnetic attachment)
• Dimensions (H x W x D) with Grille:
  • Height: 20.9″ (531 mm)
  • Width: 19.4″ (493 mm)
  • Depth: 22.1″ (562 mm)
• Weight: 147 lbs (66.7 kg)

Driver

• Size: 13.5″ (34.3 cm)
• Type: High-excursion, front-firing
• Cone Material: Composite fiberglass
• Voice Coil: 3.5″ edge-wound, copper-wound on an aluminum former
• Motor Structure: Dual ferrite magnets (total weight: 21.3 kg / 47 lbs)
• Suspension: Dual spiders with extended throw, high-roll foam surround

Amplifier

• Type: Sledge STA-2000D
• Topology: Fully discrete, Class D
• Peak Power: 4,200 Watts
• Continuous Power (RMS): 2,000 Watts
• Current Delivery: 60 Amps peak

Controls & Connectivity

• Inputs:
  • Stereo Line-level/LFE RCA inputs
  • Stereo XLR balanced inputs
• Outputs:
  • Stereo Line-level RCA outputs
  • Stereo XLR balanced outputs (for daisy-chaining)
• User Interface:
  • Front Panel: Intelligent Feature Control (IFC) with digital display, control dial, and preset button.
  • Remote Control: Included for full control from your seat.
  • App Control: Full control via the SVS Subwoofer App for iOS and Android (adjustments, room gain, parametric EQ, presets, system settings).

Frequency Response

• Standard: 19-310 Hz (±3 dB)
• With DSP Tuning: As low as 16 Hz (using custom presets in the app)