I've heard SVS products before, both the PB and PC range and am pretty much certain you will be blown away by them.
My personal 'wish-list' sub includes the SVS PC-Ultra, so I will be more than interested to know what you think of it.
Regards
Scaff
I am blown away by it for HT. It sounds good with music, but if music is your priority you might want to look somewhere else. It could stand to be a little faster for music, but it is very accurate. It has the smoothest bass I have ever heard. When I was young I was into car stereos, and have been to many competitions for them, and one svs ultra is much more accurate and precise then any car stereo I have ever heard. It may not hit as hard as some of them, but it gets the job done pretty well with music. I haven't played with the sealed tuning for more than an hour or 2, so maybe if it was sealed and setup just right you might be able to get the thump a little tighter.
As for HT I really can't see anything else being any better. The only problem I have with it is that I can't get my windows to stop vibrating. My house is over 60 years old, and nothing I do will make it stop.
I've ran test tones down to 10 hz with it and it will literally make you sick to the stomach at those low frequencies.
What's weird with it is that lots of movies have bass so low that you can't hear it, but you can feel the bass coming through your body with this sub.
As loud as it is though it will be subtle when it is suppose to be if you get everything setup right.
The major pros for it are
1, major movie bass that will really rattle your house it makes my whole room feel like a buttkicker is hooked up to it.
2. it is the most precise sub I have ever heard.
3. It can be tuned to 20hz, 15hz, 10hz, or sealed using port plugs that come with it.
4. All the HT bass you will ever desire.
5. The best customer service I have ever talked to. They reply to emails within minutes, and will spend all day with you on the phone if you want. The people you talk to will actually know what their talking about and not just be reading off of a computer through a check list.
Cons
1. Possibly not the most musical sub out there, but it is the best sub I have ever heard with music outside of a car.
2. It is expesive, but compared to other subs at that level it's a bargain.
3. It is huge. You really can't appreciate how big it is until you see one, and it also weighs 150lb. Because of it's size and weight you can't lift it by yourself. Although it is huge though, it is nice looking.
That's pretty much my impressions of the ultra. I may be wrong about how it is with music, as I am fairly new to the HT scene, and setting up a sub requires alot of trial and error to get it just right. I don't have much free time, and you need someone to help you move it so I just set it in the corner, and let it go to work. If you sealed it, and played with your placement and settings it might just tighten the bass up for music. So don't think it's not a musical sub, there might just be a little better music sub out there.
When I hear the ultra in action, I really don't know how another sub could sound better with games and movies.
As for buying speakers without hearing them
The internet is a place of wonder. If you go to a site devoted to HT and the large majority of people like a speaker, then chances are it's a good speaker. I went to the AVS forums for help with a sub, and they couldn't have been more right. As for my speakers, the only place I went to for them was polk's forums. Which I'm sure are pretty biased to polk, but at the same time they will give you a very good idea of what they will sound like. The only speakers I'm disappointed in are my surrounds, and I bought them without anyone else's opinion or being able to hear them. They don't sound bad mind you, but for what I paid I could have gotten 3 times the speaker for the money if I would have researched it more.
So for me yes, I will buy speakers again without hearing them. Where I live though that's pretty much the only option I have.