I've since demo'd an SVS PB-2000. The PB-2000 is about half the cost of an F25 if you include shipping, is ported rather than sealed, and has a single 12" driver with a large port rather than dual 15" drivers.

Obviously these subs are in a different class so it would be unfair to compare output, but I can kind of compare them based on their sound characteristics at similar volume levels.
Note that the following comparison sucks:

  1. Different rooms (his is larger and closed, mine is smaller but open to the entire house)
  2. They are paired with different main speakers (he has Aperion Audio Verus Grands)
  3. Different pre-amp (UMC-200) and amp for those speakers (XPA-5)


My impressions:

  • The SVS PB-2000 is an absolutely incredible subwoofer for the cost and driver size.
  • Playing the same songs sounded quite different -- much more different than I expected.
  • The SVS was more talkative, e.g. it seemed to rumble more often (at a wider frequency range) than the Rythmik. It seemed busy more often than not, whereas the Rythmik seems more "on and off".
  • The bass sounded flappier, looser, thumpier, and more intentional. My first two words should not be read with a negative connotation. The SVS did not at all sound obviously worse, just very different. (Note: We both use an 80Hz crossover for everything).
  • Specifically Timestretch by Bassnectar sounded flabby. I suggested it as a bass test song. On my subs, it physically rumbles the gut when bass is turned up. It isn't meant to be on the Focal audiophile reference CDs, just to test subwoofers in a more musical fashion than with frequency sweeps.
    My friend commented, "Where's the bass?" with the intention of lambasting the song, not the sub. This was reasonable because the sub had just been very impressive with most other test tracks, particularly, You are so Fucked by Infected Mushroom. Whatever frequencies were requested by Timestretch did not come across well in the SVS.


While I've researched audio in various ways for ages, I haven't actually auditioned much equipment. Based on research and numerous charts, I expected that quality subs playing the same song (within each subs freq range) would differ almost exclusively in output and in ways that one can compensate for with a simple mixer.

Many songs played on both systems sounded more akin to different remixes. It was a little surreal, especially since so many of my previous audio comparisons involved me being totally unable to tell between what were apparently "obvious" differences.

I would really like to bring an F25 to the other house (as it is a better test environment than my own) to directly compare the subs, but the F25 isn't exactly portable.