SVS Ultra Evolution

[CleanSound]

SVS is one of those companies that leaves me on the fence. They do appear to employ science, but doesn't look like they employ a lot of deep science. From there website, they have a picture of their speakers in an anechoic chamber, but they don't publish much measurements on their speakers. Third party measurements seems to be decent, but Amir didn't like them. I have a pair of SB-3000, they seemed to be decently measured and I like them, but SVS is known to be subwoofer company and since their subs are DSP controlled, it's not as hard to make them flat measuring.

On the other hand, their customers service is top notch, I want to say almost second to none.

Here are their new speakers, they seem to employ time alignment, diamond coated tweeters, no wave guide (neither does Ascend Acoustics, yet they are probably some of the best measured speakers), cabinet have faceted angles to reduce defraction. Opposing woofers to cancel force and resonance. And I really like the way they look. Granted with the rear facing port and woofers, you probably need at least 3 feet or more from the wall.

But how do they measure and how do they sound? I'm looking forward for them to hit the shelves and get reviewed.

Thoughts?

SVS Ultra Evolution introduction

SVS Ultra Evolution serie. First of the many new products SVS going to introduce in 2024. The lineup includes three tower models, two bookshelf speakers, a three-way center channel, and an ultra elevation speaker. The flagship Ultra Evolution Pinnacle boasts a 1-inch Diamond Coated...

www.avforums.com

 

[spamilton]

It looks like they are going for the hifi crowd with that Focal shape and glossy finish. I'm not expecting amazing measurements, but they will probably be okay speakers.

 

[Shazb0t]

I imagine they will measure decently. Previous products from SVS have shown they utilize measurements in their design process. I wonder what the final pricing will be. They've traditionally been a decent bang for the buck company.

 

[Haint]

I imagine they will measure decently. Previous products from SVS have shown they utilize measurements in their design process. I wonder what the final pricing will be. They've traditionally been a decent bang for the buck company.

SVS stopped being bang for buck with their Covidflation price hikes, they're full blown up market now with their most popular mainstream subs exceeding $1000. A later poster in that thread seems to be referencing a source pegging them at $3K, 4K, and 5K/pair on the tower line, so probably $1500 for the small bookshelf, $1800-$2K on the large bookshelf.

 

[617]

The big WMTMW vertical array is not a state of the art solution but it is an inexpensive way to get a lot of output and wide dispersion.

Very conventional, derivative design, probably a decent value. The use of a diamond tweeter says it all I think.

 

[Madlop26]

yep, focal shape, I wonder if there is any science behind it, but aesthetically i do not like it; anyway, my experience with SVS Ultras bookshelves; were inferior to the Revel M16 (which are cheaper), this after a prolonged AB testing to avoid bias. there was something weird about the highs in the ultras.

 

[Steve Dallas]

Granted with the rear facing port and woofers, you probably need at least 3 feet or more from the wall.

This is a myth. I'll have to find the measurements I took to prove it, but I tested front and rear ported speakers at various distances from my front wall. As long as the rear ported speaker's back surface was at least 2x port diameter from the wall, there was absolutely no difference in measured bass performance. Both speakers activated the same room modes in exactly the same way. SBIR also behaved the same. That distance was 6" in this case.

The rear drivers look like passive radiators for the woofers.

 

[sweetchaos]

Found the pricing in USD:

• Ultra Evolution Pinnacle (largest floorstander) – $5,000/pair
• Ultra Evolution Titan (middle sized floorstander) – $4,000/pair
• Ultra Evolution Tower (smallest floorstander) – $3,000/pair
• Ultra Evolution Bookshelf (largest stand-mount) – $1,299/pair
• Ultra Evolution Nano (smallest stand-mount) – $899/pair
• Ultra Evolution Elevation (height speaker) – $899/pair
• Ultra Evolution Center – $899 each

 

[Steve Dallas]

I am interested in hearing these. I have auditioned most of the SVS speakers and have always thought they sounded remarkably good for the price, but each time, I walked away thinking I would not want to spend a lot of time with them. Later, after seeing measurements, I was impressed by most of the characteristics, but did note the treble looked quite hot.

Having said that, I will take SVS over any modern B&W any day.

 

[jhaider]

Given the primitive flat waveguide the middle tower seems to have the most potential: it has smaller mids than the big tower, so unless they upped the tweeter xo for no apparent reason it should have less dispersion disruption than the big one.

The bookshelf does not appear to be much evolved: new drivers, same dispersion disruption.

 

[Matias]

Will they spin? That is the question.

 

[JustJones]

Sales pitch. I guess it's OK to post. The woofers they call forced balanced they aren't passive radiators.

 

[Anton D]

I wish them success.

The pricing doesn't seem crazy, either!

 

[valerianf]

With a driver located at the back of the tower speakers they will not be compatible with positioning close to a wall.
The Focal Kanta design is better as the BR vent is located in front.

 

[Dougey_Jones]

"The big WMTMW vertical array is not state of the art"

"Very conventional, derivative design"

Sometimes old tricks are the best tricks.. I actually give SVS points for going this route.

 

[3125b]

Very narrow vertical sweet spot, not for me.
The center could be interesting though, seems like a good price for a 3-way with presumably high output.

 

[jhaider]

Very narrow vertical sweet spot, not for me.
The center could be interesting though, seems like a good price for a 3-way with presumably high output.

Not necessarily. I wouldn’t say, for example, that the David Smith era Snell towers (very underrated speakers, IMO) had a very narrow vertical listening window. These don’t look half as sophisticated as those old speakers (which had a contoured tweeter waveguide instead of a flat one and crossover combined with driver spacing to an array theory - also cabinets with constrained layer damping in the walls) but there can be WMTMW configurations with a wide listening area.

 

[617]

Not necessarily. I wouldn’t say, for example, that the David Smith era Snell towers (very underrated speakers, IMO) had a very narrow vertical listening window. These don’t look half as sophisticated as those old speakers (which had a contoured tweeter waveguide instead of a flat one and crossover combined with driver spacing to an array theory - also cabinets with constrained layer damping in the walls) but there can be WMTMW configurations with a wide listening area.

The Snell towers used a very small midrange array. Very sophisticated design, but very different from a 5 or 7 inch midwoofer mtm around a flat dome tweeter.

Those snell speakers were very forward looking, I bet they sound great.

 

[Dougey_Jones]

Not necessarily. I wouldn’t say, for example, that the David Smith era Snell towers (very underrated speakers, IMO) had a very narrow vertical listening window. These don’t look half as sophisticated as those old speakers (which had a contoured tweeter waveguide instead of a flat one and crossover combined with driver spacing to an array theory - also cabinets with constrained layer damping in the walls) but there can be WMTMW configurations with a wide listening area.

I was in HiFi sales during that era of Snell and think very highly of them. Wish I could buy some new old stock from those days.

 

[TitaniumTroy]

Looking forward to having a listen at AXPONA 2024, thanks for the post.