SVS Ultra Speakers Line - New Kids On The Block

Originally Posted by NewHTbuyer 

I auditioned the ultra towers just now at RMAF...pretty impressive. I thought at least as good as the Versus Grand just a couple of rooms down, if not better. Very nice looking also.

Originally Posted by BeeMan458 

I haven't seen any mention regarding speaker sensitivity. Has anybody seen mention of this spec?
-

Originally Posted by Snowmanick 

The towers are listed as 88 db (2.83V @ 1 M). I forgot to grab literature on the others, but IIRC, they were all a touch lower than the towers, in the 85-87 range.
I'll try to grab the fliers over the weekend if you want.

Originally Posted by Snowmanick 

SVSound had two set up in the room, set up at 90 degrees of each other. The towers were in a 2 channel set up with a Classe pre and amp (didn't catch the model numbers). They were a couple of feet into the room, giving the ports on the back plenty of room to breathe. The monitors, center, surrounds and an SB13-Ultra were set up with Rotel gear in a 5.1 configuration. The monitors were surprisingly close to the wall behind them (maybe 4"-5" from the port to the wall). The room had several SVSound staff on hand to answer questions, including Gary Yacoubian, Dan Marks (the Director of Operations) and Mark Mason, the lead speaker designer. All were friendly, fun, and knowledgeable. They also had a PB13-Ultra on display with a corner cutaway to show the massive driver and stout enclosure. I was both thrilled at how cool the cutaway was and saddened to see the proud warrior cut apart.
I got to demo both set-ups, and came away impressed. Before I give any impressions, the disclaimers: the room was too small in my opinion, and it is a show, so set up and treatments etc. will have an impact when people actually have these in their homes, any opinions I give are purely subjective, based off of audio memory (which is very fallible), and the opinions are really only relevant to me as we all have different ears, tastes, preferences, etc. Also, I am an owner of SVS gear (subs) and a fan of the company. Finally, I forgot my media at work in my rush to get out the door (D'oh!) so I was listening to other peoples tunes. With the exception of one track I know very well (Miles Davis Blue in Green), most of the tracks I heard were unfamiliar to me.
First impression, the bass. I heard the bass from the hallway before I even got to the door. This didn't really surprise me, it's SVS after all, but then I found out it was just the towers with no sub. That did surprise me a bit. The mid-range was clear, and if a little laid back (as opposed to the British tradition one finds in, say, KEF's R-series or the new LS50's), it blended very well with the highs. The upper registers actually surprised me the most, in a very good way. I found the tweeters provided plenty of air, without coming across as etch-a-sketch "hi-fi." I heard a lot of detail through the mids and tweets, and after a good solid listen to the speakers, I was very impressed with just how clean they sounded. The Ultra towers reminded me of a lot of the higher end ($$$$) speakers that I was listening to at the show.
All of the top end goodness caries over to the monitors. In a way, I actually preferred the monitors with the sub through the mid-range as it seemed better tailored to the room. With the monitors so close to the wall, I was expecting them to be a bit boomy, but it wasn't at all. I forgot to check or ask if they had any type of port bungs in them or even offered.
(As a side note, I think SVS should bring some bass traps if they come next year, the towers could overload the room at times. But that is a room issue, not the speakers as far as I could tell)
As for the 5.1 demo, SVS was using a demo disc with a few different tracks and clips on it. One was a 5.1 DTS MA recording of a classical music concert. The bass definition was very good, but I was more impressed with the sound of the bow's on the stringed instruments. Again, I found plenty of detail and impact here, with out the brightness and artificial edge that a lot of speakers impart. The recordings didn't have much that really brought attention to the center or surrounds, but that could also be that they were just blending with the mains very well. I would have liked some tracks with dialogue and/or vocals to be able to see how the monitors and center blended with the human voice when it pans across the front soundstage. Maybe I'll take a BD or DVD with me tomorrow. I did note however that the volume was deceptive. When we were demoing some of the 5.1 tracks, the system was very clean, and it appeared to be playing at a moderate volume. Then I noticed that two other people were talking, and having to talk quite loud over some of the bombastic parts, and I couldn't make out what they were saying. I was about 3-4 feet from them, so it kind of came as a shock.
The enclosures are all visually interesting. The trapezoidal shape, combined with the cut-lines along the corners, make the speakers look smaller than they really are. They are also rather unique, with so many speakers either being straight edged rectangles or the almost ubiquitous bowed sides that have become de rigueur over the last 5-10 years. I wish the enclosures came in some of the super-sexy finishes that Aperion was showing off, but the high gloss black looked nice and will probably fit in with a lot of homes. On my second visit to the room (I came back to hear the 5.1), Thomas J. Norton was in the room, and commented about the potential issues with the gloss finish and front PJ's. The screen on the towers only covers the upper half of the speaker, and the lower front face is the gloss black, which might give a reflection. He has a point, but the speakers are also available in black oak if that is a big concern. He also felt the speakers had too much "bling" (his word) with the trim rings, tweeter grill, etc. I humbly disagree, they kind of reminded me of the KEF R's and some B&W's. Though I would have preferred the trim rings to have hidden the screws as the KEF R's do (see pic's on the product lit to see what I am talking about).
One other note, the last song I listened to was some heavy metal song that another attendee brought in ( I think he said the name of the band was Lamb of God, but I could be misremembering). Not my kind of music, but it did show that while the bass on the towers is rather strong at low to pretty high volumes, when pushed it will compress. The Classe pre was showing a volume of -6.5 (but I have no idea what it was calibrated to), and the mids and highs were still going, but the bass didn't seem to be as powerful and defined. This could have been the recording, but if metal is your thing, I'd still get a sub if you want to crank the tunes.
In the end I was really impressed. I came away thinking that SVS had done something different with the voicing, on purpose, of the speakers. While they were very easy to listen to, they didn't have the same sound that a lot of $2k towers seem to emulate. They had plenty of detail, kind of like the Salk Song Towers do, a lot of energy in the upper range without being bright, and plenty of bass.
As for pic's, sorry, I don't have any. My wife lost our camera years ago, and if any of you have met me you've seen why we never replaced it

Originally Posted by Scottyp3 

interesting...... They picked a very competitive price category for towers

Originally Posted by Snowmanick 

^^^
I agree to an extent. Anytime a mfg. starts copyrighting and trademarking terms, it can be a bit cheesy.
On the plus side, the speakers sound great, look great, and are at a very good price point. I can put up with a bit of cheese as a tradeoff here.
I forgot to mention a couple of other items about these that the designer told me. The ones at RMAF are basically the only sets in existence right now and they are still working on a last tweak or two appearance wise. The metal trim rings are apparently going to be a bit darker in production, and I think he mentioned the mesh grill over the tweeter is going to be the same shade (or at least not black as it is on these).
Also, I was told they aren't going to be offering a preorder price, but will be offering a shipping promotion. If the speaker is purchased and the owner is unsatisfied, SVS will pick up the return shipping. It shows some confidence here as the towers are something like 65 pounds each unpacked.

Originally Posted by savora 

I am also curious to see if an extra sub is really needed for home theater use. I would be great to reduce the footprint.

Originally Posted by savora 

I am also curious to see if an extra sub is really needed for home theater use. I would be great to reduce the footprint.

I cannot imagine, if you are into home theater useage, not having a dedicated subwoofer. These speakers sound very promising and should be solid for two channel audio without a sub.

I am a big fan of SVS. Their products and service are top notch and they walk the walk when it comes to warranties and customer service.

I loved my SCS-01 speakers so much that I gave them to my brother-in-law when it was time to upgrade as I could not stand to sell them.

Originally Posted by Craig Peer 

I agree, SVS subs are top notch ( I've owned 2 - a box sub, and currently have a cylinder sub ) and these new speakers look very promising. If I were in the market for new speakers they would be at the top of my list

Originally Posted by NewHTbuyer 

I auditioned the ultra towers just now at RMAF...pretty impressive. I thought at least as good as the Versus Grand just a couple of rooms down, if not better. Very nice looking also.

Originally Posted by NewHTbuyer 

I went back today and listened to the towers again. I agree with alot of the impression stated above. I felt the high end was excellent, clear and not harsh. The bass on the two tracks I played was also powerful. I brought in two very different demos, Metallica, Nothing else Matters, and the second movement from Beethoven's 9th. On the rock song, the early acoustic guitars sounded great, and the speaker really has good dynamics when the song heats up. The male voice sounded prety good too. On the symphony, the presence of the speaker as the music builds was powerful, obviously not the same as some of the bigger, more expensive towers at the show, but quite good. I agree that the soundstage was not as impressive as some others, but I found that all the setups in the smaller rooms suffered from this, because the speakers are pretty close together and you are sitting close. For example, the Salk room was a suite, so the speakers were maybe 10-12 feet apart as opposed to maybe 6-7 feet apart.

Originally Posted by darthray 

Like I said, I love SVS subs
And now they finaly came with a line of speakers looking worty to replace my DIY that I spend 100s of hours to built.
The reviews look very promising and the speakers look great.
I just think they don't need the cheezey description of the UltraSonic.
I will more than likely end-up with a full 7.2 system since I have already got 2 PB13Ultra and Love them.
Ray

Originally Posted by 6SpeedTA95 

I agree they were on par or perhaps a bit more detailed than the grands.
I think at the price point the speaker did well relative to others at the show. HOWEVER, I did feel the high end at moderate and high volumes lacked the distinction I had heard on other speakers, granted none of them at this price point, but at least for me within reach. I came in wanted to audition these, the verus grands and several others. I ultimately came away pushing up my budget because I felt the benefits of some of the other speakers outweighed their increase in price. Specifically the PSB T2's and the Salk Supercharged Song Towers. But at 3500 dollars they SHOULD be better.
I things got a bit muddy on the highs for me and vocals lacked the distinction that was so clear from the mfg's I just mentioned.
However, if you're playing in the 2,000/pair area (where I was) these are no doubt quite good and I would not hesitate to recommend them to someone on a budget. But at this price point you'd serve yourself well to listen to as many brands and models as you can. Competition is stiff and there are some nuanced differences between them. For example, I don't think you go wrong with these or the grands or the Salk Songtowers. All would provide the buyer years of fantastic listening pleasure.
I LOVE SVS subs. I own one and everyone who comes over and wants a demo is blown away, then I tell them I've never had the sub turned up above 40% and their mind is boggled.