Quote:
Originally Posted by
Batman61405
would LOVE to hear your opinion of the PSAs against the SVS speakers. looking at comparing the 2 myself when the time comes for me to get new speakers.
Woot! Glad someone's interested!
I'm typing this from my phone btw so I'll abridge my response (and sorry if there's any weird autocorrect errors), but in short, if you have the space and money, I'd go with the PSA's any day. They're more natural and smoother sounding, the imaging is fantastic, they're easier to drive, and in my opinion look the best. Also the finish installs confidence in its durability.
I'd rate my personal preference, sonically, as PSA > Prime > Ultra in that order. The prime I'd say offer the best value (the PSA is great value in my opinion for what it is as well, it's just for the price of 2 psa bookshelves you could get a prime bookshelf surrounds package... That's outstanding!).
Comparing the prime to the ultra, as I mentioned before, the ultra is smoother, no sibilance to me, bassier, and perhaps has a tiny bit larger soundstage. They both are very good at imaging.
To my ears, the overall tonal balance of the PSA is closer to the prime: neutral. I'd consider the ultras slightly on the warmer side of speakers, but only slightly. The PSA to me sound very neutral with exceptional imaging (most notably horizontally), a very detailed tweeter which is never sibilant, and the bass was very tight and punchy. Basically it is everything I want improved on the prime and then a bit more.
I have a tiny studio ~250-300 sq ft, and all the speakers can be driven to deafening levels to me (I usually listen around 70db) by my s710w. At higher volumes the primes sound harsh at times and the ultras sound a bit too bassy/muddy (only slight and I'm really nit picking here). The psa essentially sound perfect to my preferences as they don't lose composure at higher volumes and don't sound fatiguing (I'm particularly treble sensitive).
With that said, I really don't think you could go wrong with any of them. I listened to them all on my s710w on Direct mode sitting about 3 ft away playing predominantly various music at 75dbs.
I'd say if you wanted a speaker for everything, the psa should be a top contender. If you were only considering for home theater, the primes are fantastic (still quite good with music), and if you wanted a 2.0 just for music, or couldn't afford a sub just yet, the ultras would probably be best. With that said the primes and ultras are going back to svs and I'm keeping my psa in a 3.2 setup until they make some smaller bookshelves for surrounds.
Final thought, as tempting as the piano black finish is on svs speakers, don't do it. The finish is easily scratched. I took great care of the ultras not to scratch them (set them on microfibre cloth, dusted them often using a clean microfibre) and ultimately I failed. I rock climb as a hobby and so I have a lot of callouses on my hands and while repositioning the speakers I scratched the ultra surface

the PSA are so large for my space I've already accidentally hit them against the TV 3 times while moving them and I've yet to even make a faint mark. The finish on the psa is pretty damn tough. Reminds me of a rhino liner but nicer.
Hope this helps. If you have any specific questions feel free to ask away.
Cheers