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SVS MTS Family - Page 20

post #571 of 635
8/21/09 at 7:39am
I love the bass the MTS series puts out! Sounds great for electronic music. I just turn of Audyssey and use Dolby Music setting Onkyo 876
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Gear mentioned in this thread:

post #572 of 635
8/21/09 at 7:45am
The MTS-01 does indeed have more than adequate bass response/extension for most popular music sources. It only needs a sub for tracks with deep synth bass (industrial and hip-hop), and pipe organ.

If you are going to run a subwoofer full-time with music, a 40 Hz XO is a better choice than 80 Hz, as you discovered. For HT applications, 60 Hz works better and is more protective of the woofs at high volumes. The remainder of the M-series works best at 80 Hz for HT.
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post #573 of 635
8/21/09 at 8:30am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ed Mullen View Post

The MTS-01 does indeed have more than adequate bass response/extension for most popular music sources. It only needs a sub for tracks with deep synth bass (industrial and hip-hop), and pipe organ.

If you are going to run a subwoofer full-time with music, a 40 Hz XO is a better choice than 80 Hz, as you discovered. For HT applications, 60 Hz works better and is more protective of the woofs at high volumes. The remainder of the M-series works best at 80 Hz for HT.

Thanks Ed. I actually was using 60hz x-over for HT until recently, I got the urge to fiddle with my settings for whatever reason. For music, I almost always listen in direct mode...no sub. While I was playing around with 2.1 I didn't like the blend with a higher crossover. Good to know that my ears were correct with 40hz and my sub.

Oh, and I'm still totally in love with these speaker after almost a year.
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post #574 of 635
8/21/09 at 9:12am
how loud can the mts get? can they fill a large room for a party because we have parties all the time at my house, and my kef xqs arent up to task, don't know if i need an external amp or its just the sound of the speakers. i am debating between an external amp, nht classic 4, and mts. thanks. Kef xqs are good, but they are more for critical listening, too clean, too analytical.
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post #575 of 635
8/21/09 at 9:37am
The MTS can achieve deafening volumes, but you need a decent receiver or amp to power them as they dip to 4ohms. What XQ's do you have?
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post #576 of 635
8/21/09 at 11:09am
Quote:
Originally Posted by DamageMcRamage View Post

I actually use my blu ray player and the XBOX 360. I use direct on my Onkyo 805 (no sub) or stereo (with sub) depending on my mood. I only apply 5.1 logic to music when I'm in the mood, which is rarely. Using 5.1 logic in the receiver, the bass is strong from the sub.

I turned off audyssey and bumped the sub up by about 2db and that seems to have really made a big difference, even at the 80hz crossover point.

I was referring to your issue of your sub not integrating with your mains during music playback (which is why, I gather, you no longer use the sub with music).

Your player's speaker settings dictates why you detect different bass on music vs. movies...and probably why you changed your crossover for each. When you select pure direct on your Onkyo, it shuts down all it's processors (including sub settings). Your blu-ray or whatever player is now processing your audio. You'll find that most players are 10 dB low in LFE output vs. AVR's. Why this convention has been adopted, I dunno. I've asked many times, but no one ever seems to have an answer. (Maybe in this thread? )

Also keep in mind that, unlike movie tracks, and unless you're listening to a lot of processed-style music, you'll find very little bass below 40 Hz.

Try calibrating whichever player you use for music to reset the bass-out to your tastes. But that is in the player...not the receiver.

Let us know if this improves your situation for using the sub with 2-channel music.
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post #577 of 635
8/21/09 at 11:39am
Thanks for the reply, Mudslide. I'm not sure if there is anything to adjust, as I bitstream everything to my receiver.
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post #578 of 635
8/21/09 at 2:44pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DamageMcRamage View Post

Thanks for the reply, Mudslide. I'm not sure if there is anything to adjust, as I bitstream everything to my receiver.

Do you have your BD player with analog out connections to your Onkyo? (RCA connections.) Do you have also or only have HDMI/digital out from your BDP to your Onkyo?

I'll try this in a different way, Mc. When you play your music in "Direct" or "Pure Direct", then NONE of the settings in the Onkyo are working. ONLY the settings in the BDP are processing the music signals. That's what "Direct" means. If you look in your manual or onscreen BDP menu, you'll see that your BDP has speaker settings (and settings for down-converting, etc.). You also set the size and distance (delay) of the speakers in this menu. It's these speaker settings that establish how your speakers and sub integrate and play in "Direct" mode.

My guess is that your BDP has a default subwoofer crossover setting that you don't know you're actually using...and it's set at 100 Hz. Take a look.
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post #579 of 635
8/21/09 at 6:57pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mudslide View Post

Do you have your BD player with analog out connections to your Onkyo? (RCA connections.) Do you have also or only have HDMI/digital out from your BDP to your Onkyo?

I'll try this in a different way, Mc. When you play your music in "Direct" or "Pure Direct", then NONE of the settings in the Onkyo are working. ONLY the settings in the BDP are processing the music signals. That's what "Direct" means. If you look in your manual or onscreen BDP menu, you'll see that your BDP has speaker settings (and settings for down-converting, etc.). You also set the size and distance (delay) of the speakers in this menu. It's these speaker settings that establish how your speakers and sub integrate and play in "Direct" mode.

My guess is that your BDP has a default subwoofer crossover setting that you don't know you're actually using...and it's set at 100 Hz. Take a look.

I am only using HDMI from the BD player to the receiver. The BD player does give speaker adjustments you speak of, but only for the multi-channel outs (I believe), though white noise does come out of the speakers during the BD players level calibration. White noise does not come out of the sub, however. I'm not 100% positive, but when you put a CD, DVD, or Blu Ray in the player it automatically out-puts whatever sound is encoded on the disc. On a CD, that is usually PCM 44.1, correct?

The player is a Panasonic DMP BD 30. It only can internally decode DD, but like I said, everything is bitstreamed to the receiver which does all of the decoding. According to the manual, the channel levels only need to be used if the receiver can't decode....which is kind of pointless for this BD player seeing as how it has no onboard decoding for the High Res audio formats. There is no x-over adjustment of any kind in this player (that I know of). I pop in a CD, it outputs 2.1 until I go direct of my receiver which is only a 2 channel mix.
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post #580 of 635
8/22/09 at 8:16pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by DamageMcRamage View Post

I am only using HDMI from the BD player to the receiver. The BD player does give speaker adjustments you speak of, but only for the multi-channel outs (I believe), though white noise does come out of the speakers during the BD players level calibration. White noise does not come out of the sub, however. I'm not 100% positive, but when you put a CD, DVD, or Blu Ray in the player it automatically out-puts whatever sound is encoded on the disc. On a CD, that is usually PCM 44.1, correct?

The player is a Panasonic DMP BD 30. It only can internally decode DD, but like I said, everything is bitstreamed to the receiver which does all of the decoding. According to the manual, the channel levels only need to be used if the receiver can't decode....which is kind of pointless for this BD player seeing as how it has no onboard decoding for the High Res audio formats. There is no x-over adjustment of any kind in this player (that I know of). I pop in a CD, it outputs 2.1 until I go direct of my receiver which is only a 2 channel mix.

Regarding your BD30...make sure you go into your player settings and set all your speakers to small and make certain you've told the player that you have a sub connected. (Set the distances while you're at it.) When you play the pink noise sound for level matching (it's best to use an SPL meter, but you can go by 'ear'), the sub (even if it's there) will not play during the test. You'll have to engage a bass heavy disc to try and set the subwoofer level. (This is REALLY a goofy arrangement and for the life of me, I don't know why Panasonic doesn't provide a pink noise sub test signal.) The BD30 also does not have a sub crossover setting, so your AVR will handle that.

Now, back to what I originally told you. This player will set the subwoofer output...relative to the speakers...many dB lower than your AVR will. The sub/speaker level matching is out of your control. The difference in my experience is roughly 10 dB. I don't know the 'why' of this convention, but it too qualifies in my book as pretty goofy.

Here's what I do...and this may make it a bit easier to understand what I've been saying. I run the speaker setup in my BDP and set size (small), distance, and subwoofer (present). But I, like you, have no way to set the subwoofer level in the BDP. It turns out that when you run frequency sweeps with a frequency response test disc, you will have a major SPL falloff below your sub crossover setting. (In my case it's 10 dB!) Since this speaker-sub level output is fixed in the BDP, it requires adjustment in the AVR. So...I run my AVR's equivalent of your Onk's Audyssey, and artificially set all speaker levels down enough, relative the subwoofer, that I can switch the subwoofer level easily up 10 dB to adjust for the BDP signal. My (and yours, I think) AVR has a limit of a 10 dB spread for manual speaker level settings. When I play music, I raise the AVR's subwoofer level by 10 dB (max setting adjustment). When I play movies, I set the sub at it's minimum. This way, with a simple on-the-fly setting change, I have a nearly flat frequency response (to 20 Hz) for both 2-channel stereo and 7-channel surround HT.

This is easily confused. We have the industry's lack of standardization to thank, IMHO. One day someone will provide an answer to the issue...but few even recognize the problem. You have heard first-hand the problem. And as many others, me included, blamed the speakers or sub or AVR or whatever...when the problem lies strictly with the player settings.
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post #581 of 635
8/23/09 at 7:37am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mudslide View Post

Regarding your BD30...make sure you go into your player settings and set all your speakers to small and make certain you've told the player that you have a sub connected. (Set the distances while you're at it.) When you play the pink noise sound for level matching (it's best to use an SPL meter, but you can go by 'ear'), the sub (even if it's there) will not play during the test. You'll have to engage a bass heavy disc to try and set the subwoofer level. (This is REALLY a goofy arrangement and for the life of me, I don't know why Panasonic doesn't provide a pink noise sub test signal.) The BD30 also does not have a sub crossover setting, so your AVR will handle that.

Now, back to what I originally told you. This player will set the subwoofer output...relative to the speakers...many dB lower than your AVR will. The sub/speaker level matching is out of your control. The difference in my experience is roughly 10 dB. I don't know the 'why' of this convention, but it too qualifies in my book as pretty goofy.

Here's what I do...and this may make it a bit easier to understand what I've been saying. I run the speaker setup in my BDP and set size (small), distance, and subwoofer (present). But I, like you, have no way to set the subwoofer level in the BDP. It turns out that when you run frequency sweeps with a frequency response test disc, you will have a major SPL falloff below your sub crossover setting. (In my case it's 10 dB!) Since this speaker-sub level output is fixed in the BDP, it requires adjustment in the AVR. So...I run my AVR's equivalent of your Onk's Audyssey, and artificially set all speaker levels down enough, relative the subwoofer, that I can switch the subwoofer level easily up 10 dB to adjust for the BDP signal. My (and yours, I think) AVR has a limit of a 10 dB spread for manual speaker level settings. When I play music, I raise the AVR's subwoofer level by 10 dB (max setting adjustment). When I play movies, I set the sub at it's minimum. This way, with a simple on-the-fly setting change, I have a nearly flat frequency response (to 20 Hz) for both 2-channel stereo and 7-channel surround HT.

This is easily confused. We have the industry's lack of standardization to thank, IMHO. One day someone will provide an answer to the issue...but few even recognize the problem. You have heard first-hand the problem. And as many others, me included, blamed the speakers or sub or AVR or whatever...when the problem lies strictly with the player settings.

Mudslide, I do appreciate your help, and I do understand what you are saying, but I don't think you're getting what I'm saying. The simplistic adjustments in this Panasonic are for the Multi Channel outs only, and then ONLY for Dolby Digital. A down converted stereo mixed (CD's) would be automatically output to my receiver with no decoding, thus avoiding any of the BDP's speaker settings anyway. I'm running HDMI. I CAN'T adjust the levels for calibration as changing the values does nothing. There is even no distance setting, only a primitive millisecond adjustment for distance. Like I said, everything is bit-streamed, and decoded by the receiver.

As a matter of fact, I can even set the player's speaker setting to 2 channel stereo and STILL output DD, Dolby True HD, etc when playing a movie because the receiver is decoding it. Why the pink noise comes out over HDMI is beyond me. You are right about the subwoofer setting being completely goofy, however.
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post #582 of 635
8/23/09 at 8:45am
Quote:
Originally Posted by DamageMcRamage View Post

Mudslide, I do appreciate your help, and I do understand what you are saying, but I don't think you're getting what I'm saying. The simplistic adjustments in this Panasonic are for the Multi Channel outs only, and then ONLY for Dolby Digital. A down converted stereo mixed (CD's) would be automatically output to my receiver with no decoding, thus avoiding any of the BDP's speaker settings anyway. I'm running HDMI. I CAN'T adjust the levels for calibration as changing the values does nothing. There is even no distance setting, only a primitive millisecond adjustment for distance. Like I said, everything is bit-streamed, and decoded by the receiver.

As a matter of fact, I can even set the player's speaker setting to 2 channel stereo and STILL output DD, Dolby True HD, etc when playing a movie because the receiver is decoding it. Why the pink noise comes out over HDMI is beyond me. You are right about the subwoofer setting being completely goofy, however.

Hi, Mc. I looked at your Onkyo's online manual and it says about Direct mode. Note the highlighted sentence.

Direct
In this mode, audio from the input source is output
directly with minimal processing, providing high-fidelity
reproduction. All of the source’s audio channels are
output as they are.

I understand what you've been saying. I realize that you're not using the analog or down-mixed settings. But your Onk is still not changing the output levels of your subwoofer and speakers relative to each other as sent by the Panasonic.

Lastly (and I'll retire from this ), I was suggesting not changing anything in your BD30 settings...but suggesting that you (change) set your Onk's speaker level values to enable you to change the sub settings on the fly and within the parameters of your adjustment limits. Why? Because the signal being sent from the BD30 has a different gain on the sub than you have set in the Onk. Why does this happen? Because you cannot set the subwoofer's level on the BD30 as you do when you set up your Onk for 5.1 audio. The Onk is playing from the BD30's settings, not its own. Why does it do this on music? Because you use the "Direct" mode rather than one of your Onk's processor modes. The Onk does NOT decode anything in this mode, even with bitstream via HDMI.

As I said, it's pretty confusing to most. But if you're happy with your solution...forget this chat ever happened, lol.
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post #583 of 635
8/23/09 at 9:04am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Mudslide View Post

Hi, Mc. I looked at your Onkyo's online manual and it says about Direct mode. Note the highlighted sentence.

Direct
In this mode, audio from the input source is output
directly with minimal processing, providing high-fidelity
reproduction. All of the source's audio channels are
output as they are.

I understand what you've been saying. I realize that you're not using the analog or down-mixed settings. But your Onk is still not changing the output levels of your subwoofer and speakers relative to each other as sent by the Panasonic.

Lastly (and I'll retire from this ), I was suggesting not changing anything in your BD30 settings...but suggesting that you (change) set your Onk's speaker level values to enable you to change the sub settings on the fly and within the parameters of your adjustment limits. Why? Because the signal being sent from the BD30 has a different gain on the sub than you have set in the Onk. Why does this happen? Because you cannot set the subwoofer's level on the BD30 as you do when you set up your Onk for 5.1 audio. The Onk is playing from the BD30's settings, not its own. Why does it do this on music? Because you use the "Direct" mode rather than one of your Onk's processor modes. The Onk does NOT decode anything in this mode, even with bitstream via HDMI.

As I said, it's pretty confusing to most. But if you're happy with your solution...forget this chat ever happened, lol.

Hi Mudslide, yes it is pretty confusing. I understand Direct mode is "as is" with no processing in the receiver. I mainly used direct mode because my sub is NOT output in this mode. The reason I used direct in the first place is because it was difficult to blend the crossover with the MTS and the sub in stereo mode in which the sub is output. I found the bass more than satisfying in Direct mode (without sub). My original question was concerning stereo mode (sub on) and proper sub x-over blend. Direct mode is output from BD player with 2 channel output only, Stereo mode is output from BD player with receiver controlled x-over. There are no real levels to set in 2 channel direct, in the BD player or the Onkyo. I was only concerned about x-over settings for 2.1 stereo.
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post #584 of 635
8/23/09 at 11:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by DamageMcRamage View Post

Hi Mudslide, yes it is pretty confusing. I understand Direct mode is "as is" with no processing in the receiver. I mainly used direct mode because my sub is NOT output in this mode. The reason I used direct in the first place is because it was difficult to blend the crossover with the MTS and the sub in stereo mode in which the sub is output. I found the bass more than satisfying in Direct mode (without sub). My original question was concerning stereo mode (sub on) and proper sub x-over blend. Direct mode is output from BD player with 2 channel output only, Stereo mode is output from BD player with receiver controlled x-over. There are no real levels to set in 2 channel direct, in the BD player or the Onkyo. I was only concerned about x-over settings for 2.1 stereo.

Got it.
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post #585 of 635
10/12/09 at 8:28am
Has anyone had a chance to directly compare the SVS MBS bookshelves to say Ascend Sierra 1's, Swan D2's, Totem Model 1s, Dali Mentors, RBH MC6Cs, or other comparably well reviewed bookshelves?

Also, I can't tell from the pics on the site, but are the glossy black ones not in fact all gloss black? It looks like only the edges are gloss black, but could be the pictures.

Wish SVS would put up some true hidef pics (similar to how AV123 does their lineup which looks gorgeous!).

Thanks!
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post #586 of 635
10/12/09 at 8:45am
I believe the side panels are gloss and the rounded tops are matte.
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post #587 of 635
11/13/09 at 1:25pm
Anyone run there mts in the sealed mode? I just got a second ultra to pair them with and was wondering about crossovers and sealed vs. ported. I am trying to get more upper bass out of my set up. I have a large room (6000 cubic feet). Suggestions?
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post #588 of 635
12/4/09 at 7:21am
I haven't compared these but my "prediction" is that unless SVS does not implement the drivers correctly (which is highly unlikely), it should sound favorably to the speakers you listed.

I switched from buying commercial speakers to diy speakers b/c high end are too expensive. My first diy speaker costs me $300 and I feel it was significantly better than the Axiom M60 which I had enjoyed a lot for years.

When you diy, you know what's most important to a speaker's performance. The first one is always the drivers. Sometimes a brilliant design can achieve great things with average drivers but imagine great design with great driver combinations. Think of someone is trying to be a NBA basketball player. If this person is five feet tall (Driver quality), he "might not" have a chance no matter how good the coach (design, crossover) is.

As people have mentioned before, in the sub $2000 speaker price range, you would normally see $30-50 level drivers. The Seas tweeter in Sierra is a great one at $40-50 price range. The tweeter in Swan is even cheaper. However, they are all good speakers.

But Scan Speak 6600? I was surprised on how SVS could put a $200 tweeter in a less than $1000 package. If every OEM will do the same thing, I can find very less reason to do diy except for fun. The 6600 has incredibly low distortion levels (both linear and non-linear, check here: http://www.zaphaudio.com/tweetermishmash/ You can also find tweeters used in Sierra and Swan) This is the tweeter I'd like to use someday in my diys.

The reason I haven't used SS 6600, which is relevant in this evaluation, is that in a 2-way design, the midwoofer is more important than the tweeter. So if I have a fixed budget, I'd allocate more money to the midwoofer. For me to use 6600, I'd have to get a $200 midwoofer (i.e., Scan Speak Revelator) or a midwoofer has the same low linear and non-linear distortion levels as the Revelator first.

To summarize, if the SVS has the Scan Speak Revelator woofer in it with a cheapter tweeter, say Vifa X25T ($40 used in Onix Reference 1), and with the same price they are asking, I'll buy that in a heart beat and probably won't diy any speakers for a very long time.

For their current offering, a top-of-the-line tweeter and a $60 woofer (a great one btw), I am very interested. I did not buy it simply b/c I know where my sound preference is. But for you, if you're not diying, I'd buy the Tower or bookshelves without any hesitation.

Quote:
Originally Posted by pbc View Post

Has anyone had a chance to directly compare the SVS MBS bookshelves to say Ascend Sierra 1's, Swan D2's, Totem Model 1s, Dali Mentors, RBH MC6Cs, or other comparably well reviewed bookshelves?

Also, I can't tell from the pics on the site, but are the glossy black ones not in fact all gloss black? It looks like only the edges are gloss black, but could be the pictures.

Wish SVS would put up some true hidef pics (similar to how AV123 does their lineup which looks gorgeous!).

Thanks!
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post #589 of 635
12/26/09 at 12:03pm
Does anybody know how long the sale on the MTS speakers will last? I have been itching to buy these but my wife is currently unemployed and it doesn't seem like the best investment until she secures a new job. But it is getting really hard for me to ignore this great sale.

Thanks
Troy
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post #590 of 635
12/26/09 at 3:59pm
I would like to know that myself, ProKarter.

I purchased a b-stock MCS-01 in rosenut earlier this year, and it is hands down the best speaker I have ever owned. I need to complete the package with the MBS-01s
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post #591 of 635
12/31/09 at 4:57pm
ProKarter, why not drop an e-mail to SVS. I bet they will reply to you on that.

I am using the complete MTS-01 system driven by Emo XPA-5. Really impressive albeit the front (MTS-01) being a bit power hungry due to its impedance and sensitivity. If you have the power, it does perform very well. I found myself listening to music more nowadays.
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post #592 of 635
1/1/10 at 6:44pm
maxht- I did just that and they replied saying the prices will hold until mid-January but then may change after that. In the end there was no real end date. I plan on buying a pair of MBS-01 and the MCS-01 once i get my tax return but i may have too pull the trigger early just in case...oh darn!
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post #593 of 635
1/2/10 at 8:08pm
I need help selecting the right AVR for my soon to be purchased SVS MTS-01 5.0 full size speaker system. I will likely go with either the PC12-plus or the PB13-ultra depending on finances (trying to keep to $3000 for speakers & sub - which is tough to do).

My concern is selecting a AVR that has sufficient power to drive the speakers while staying under the $1300 price point. I do like the features of the network AVRs and will be running Ipod/NES/PS1/PS3/Blu-ray/SACD. From my research on this forum, I narrowed things to the following:

Yamaha RX-V2065 - $900 New Egg Sale
Onkyo TX-NR1007 - $1200 new Egg Sale
Yamaha RX-V3900 - $1300 New Egg Sale
Denon AVR-3310CI - $1000 Best Buy Sale

I have not considered the option of a seperate processor and amp because I dont know much about it (I could probably learn yes) and would prefer to keep it simple so the rest of the family can run things.

Please tell me which you prefer and why. Thanks.
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post #594 of 635
1/3/10 at 10:39am
Quote:
Originally Posted by cloudmine View Post

I need help selecting the right AVR for my soon to be purchased SVS MTS-01 5.0 full size speaker system. I will likely go with either the PC12-plus or the PB13-ultra depending on finances (trying to keep to $3000 for speakers & sub - which is tough to do).

My concern is selecting a AVR that has sufficient power to drive the speakers while staying under the $1300 price point. I do like the features of the “network” AVRs and will be running Ipod/NES/PS1/PS3/Blu-ray/SACD. From my research on this forum, I narrowed things to the following:

Yamaha RX-V2065 - $900 New Egg Sale
Onkyo TX-NR1007 - $1200 new Egg Sale
Yamaha RX-V3900 - $1300 New Egg Sale
Denon AVR-3310CI - $1000 Best Buy Sale

I have not considered the option of a seperate processor and amp because I dont know much about it (I could probably learn yes) and would prefer to keep it simple so the rest of the family can run things.

Please tell me which you prefer and why. Thanks.

I bought the 5.1 MTS Series (PB13 Ultra), a Onkyo SR876, and a Emotiva XPA-3. It seems to be the general consensus that the AMP's found inside almost all receivers are not capable of driving 4-6 OHM speakers very well.

So I bought the Emotiva XPA-3 to drive the 3 Front MTS Speakers and I use the Onkyo SR876 AMP to drive the two rear MTS Speakers. I used the pre-out RCA ports on the back of the receiver to send the audio data to the amp--then the 3 front MTS speakers connect to the AMP via 12-gauge speaker wire.

The 2 rear speakers usually do not play as much audio as the 3 fronts. So powering them with the Onkyo AMP doesnt seem like that big of a deal. Also, the Onkyo SR876 has a very beefy amp compared to most receivers so I'm not to worried about the Onkyo's ability to drive 2 rear speakers on it's AMP.

One issue I had with the onkyo + emotiva setup was I had to turn the AMP on separately. The AMP doesnt have a remote control, so I had to physically walk over to it and hit the power-on button. This is more of an issue with the Onkyo receiver because it does not have a 12v trigger for the main zone. Only like zone 2/3. Doesn't make sense to me.

So I bought this from emotiva: http://emotiva.com/et3.shtm to resolve the issue. I pluged the ET-3 into the back of the Onkyo via the power plug. Now I dont have to get up off the couch every time I want to turn on or off the audio-system. Thank god this product exists LOL. Note: seems like most receivers I looked at did have a 12v trigger for the main zone. So this product is probably not necessary for those receivers--unless you want to trigger multiple equipment.

I would have bought the XPA-5 and driven all 5 MTS speakers from the Emotiva AMP but it was out of stock with I was purchasing my equipment. It would be nice to decouple my speakers from my receiver--and not worry at all about the quality of AMP inside any future receiver I get might have. Ideally I want a good preamp-processor (pre-pro) + amp--so I'm not buying an AMP inside the receiver that I am not using - also it makes the receiver heavy! Unfortunately I haven't found a decently priced pre-pro.
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post #595 of 635
1/3/10 at 12:24pm
How do the MTS's compare to similarly priced models from Paradigm/B&W/MA etc that use "lesser" tweeters? Does the SVS have authoritative advantages? Or the design/technology from these premium makers somehow make up for the tweeter and it comes down to personal preference?
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post #596 of 635
1/4/10 at 8:42am
Quote:
Originally Posted by toptalent View Post

How do the MTS's compare to similarly priced models from Paradigm/B&W/MA etc that use "lesser" tweeters? Does the SVS have authoritative advantages? Or the design/technology from these premium makers somehow make up for the tweeter and it comes down to personal preference?

It really is going to come down to personal preference. A while back I went and auditioned the Paradigm Studio 100's because of the urge to upgrade my Infinity system. They are a great sounding speaker, but the difference in sound in relation to cost over my then current system was not large enough to justify the purchase.

A few months went by and saw the news of SVS swapping out x-overs in their MTS line....which was free of charge for owners. Well, I kind of respected that and being that I was semi-interested in the speakers before...I went for it.

To be honest, I was expecting to send them back in disappointment. I was prepared to continue my search for an upgrade by hitting the audio stores again. Everything changed after I hooked them up. My wife and I were shocked at how nice they sounded. I knew listening to the first song I put on that I was keeping them.

Long story short; if your interested, give them a shot. You lose nothing other than return shipping costs. I've had them over a year now and I'm still happy as hell with them.

On a side note, I have an Onkyo 805 receiver and have absolutely no problems powering these speakers. I think any good mid-high level receiver from a reputable company (Denon, Yamaha, Onkyo, etc.) will do just fine if your room isn't really large or you need night club volumes.
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post #597 of 635
1/6/10 at 11:51am
Has anyone heard any news about the M-series from CES? There were rumors that some information and/or glimpses of the new MSS-01 (a surround speaker in the line) could be expected then.
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post #598 of 635
1/6/10 at 1:24pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by cloudmine View Post

I need help selecting the right AVR for my soon to be purchased SVS MTS-01 5.0 full size speaker system. I will likely go with either the PC12-plus or the PB13-ultra depending on finances (trying to keep to $3000 for speakers & sub - which is tough to do).

My concern is selecting a AVR that has sufficient power to drive the speakers while staying under the $1300 price point. I do like the features of the “network” AVRs and will be running Ipod/NES/PS1/PS3/Blu-ray/SACD. From my research on this forum, I narrowed things to the following:

Yamaha RX-V2065 - $900 New Egg Sale
Onkyo TX-NR1007 - $1200 new Egg Sale
Yamaha RX-V3900 - $1300 New Egg Sale
Denon AVR-3310CI - $1000 Best Buy Sale

I have not considered the option of a seperate processor and amp because I dont know much about it (I could probably learn yes) and would prefer to keep it simple so the rest of the family can run things.

Please tell me which you prefer and why. Thanks.

Quote:
Originally Posted by jurio View Post

I bought the 5.1 MTS Series (PB13 Ultra), a Onkyo SR876, and a Emotiva XPA-3. It seems to be the general consensus that the AMP's found inside almost all receivers are not capable of driving 4-6 OHM speakers very well.

So I bought the Emotiva XPA-3 to drive the 3 Front MTS Speakers and I use the Onkyo SR876 AMP to drive the two rear MTS Speakers. I used the pre-out RCA ports on the back of the receiver to send the audio data to the amp--then the 3 front MTS speakers connect to the AMP via 12-gauge speaker wire.

The 2 rear speakers usually do not play as much audio as the 3 fronts. So powering them with the Onkyo AMP doesnt seem like that big of a deal. Also, the Onkyo SR876 has a very beefy amp compared to most receivers so I'm not to worried about the Onkyo's ability to drive 2 rear speakers on it's AMP.

One issue I had with the onkyo + emotiva setup was I had to turn the AMP on separately. The AMP doesnt have a remote control, so I had to physically walk over to it and hit the power-on button. This is more of an issue with the Onkyo receiver because it does not have a 12v trigger for the main zone. Only like zone 2/3. Doesn't make sense to me.

So I bought this from emotiva: http://emotiva.com/et3.shtm to resolve the issue. I pluged the ET-3 into the back of the Onkyo via the power plug. Now I dont have to get up off the couch every time I want to turn on or off the audio-system. Thank god this product exists LOL. Note: seems like most receivers I looked at did have a 12v trigger for the main zone. So this product is probably not necessary for those receivers--unless you want to trigger multiple equipment.

I would have bought the XPA-5 and driven all 5 MTS speakers from the Emotiva AMP but it was out of stock with I was purchasing my equipment. It would be nice to decouple my speakers from my receiver--and not worry at all about the quality of AMP inside any future receiver I get might have. Ideally I want a good preamp-processor (pre-pro) + amp--so I'm not buying an AMP inside the receiver that I am not using - also it makes the receiver heavy! Unfortunately I haven't found a decently priced pre-pro.

I was going to write the samething, but he said it well, so I concur. You can get something like that Onkyo HT-RC180 and get an XPA-3 from Emotiva for your fronts. That should come in around $1300. You'll get a quality receiver with just about all the connectivity options and network capability you'll need plus an excellent amp to drive your front 3 speakers. It should be fine to let the receiver deal with the 2 surround speakers.
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post #599 of 635
2/4/10 at 11:00am
Hello,

I just pulled the trigger on a pair of MTS-01 towers and a matching MCS-01 in piano gloss black.

Thanks for all the info that people have posted on these speakers, it definitely helped me in the decision making process, especially all the photos.

Given the size of the center channel (and the Emotiva XPA-3), I was hoping to hear suggestions on AV furniture. I'm looking for something similar to the Sanus Java lowboy, which allows you to mount the TV above the center without using a wall mount. The only problem is that the amp will not fit inside! Alternatively, if there is a modern stand that will accommodate both the height of the center and the depth of the amp, I'd be happy with the TV sitting on top.

Thanks,
Evan

----

Update: I've decided to go with the Salamander Designs Synergy Twin 10 with a Twin Riser on 11" legs. I should have pictures in a week or two if anyone is interested...
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post #600 of 635
2/11/10 at 10:54am
I'm looking at ordering a PB13-Ultra with a pair of MTS-01 towers. I was wondering if anybody has had a chance to compare the MTS-01's to Aperion Intimus 6T's? I like the ability to adjust the tweeters on the MTS-01's and the tuning options with the port plugs.

I would be using these speakers for both music and HT.

I am definitely sold on the PB13-Ultra, but haven't been able to find any direct comparisons of the towers. I love the value of internet direct speakers, but the lack of being able to audition them makes the decision harder.

I've been lurking on this site for years and finally bite the bullet and registered today. The information on this site is priceless.
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