SVS Ultra Evolution

[Penelinfi]

Why a higher frequency?

 

[valerianf]

Audioholics stated "The tweeter’s behavior above 3kHz is very good at all angles."
This tweeter has a high pass filter set at 1.8kHz.
For a 1" dome tweeter this is unusually low.
It may explain the frequency deep blow 3kHz.

 

[Sal1950]

I'm really disappointed I didn't get to hear these new SVS speakers at the Florida Show.
These guys look to be another head shot by SVS at the "bang for the buck" target.
I hope they are a big hit for them, they deserve it IMHO.

 

[thewas]

Quite a disappointment for me at that price and size especially in terms of directivity and multitone distortion at the tweeter low end:

Full review and measurements source: https://www.erinsaudiocorner.com/loudspeakers/svs_ultra_evolution_pinnacle/

 

[Ktacos]

I have developed a dislike for speakers with such dispersion issues, doesn't make sense to me to see in such big costly speakers. Like just use a smaller mid or waveguide the tweeter, or both. It's not hard.

 

[azzy_mazzy]

Extremely mediocre speakers.
On top of that measured performance they also look horrible.

 

[PGansz]

SVS did a great job hyping these. This was a major let down for me. In one of the videos the president was literally stating you can push these against a wall...makes no sense seeing this data.

Thanks to Erin for the information. I would like to see how the bookshelf and center channel perform.

 

[Ktacos]

Audioholics stated "The tweeter’s behavior above 3kHz is very good at all angles."
This tweeter has a high pass filter set at 1.8kHz.
For a 1" dome tweeter this is unusually low.
It may explain the frequency deep blow 3kHz.

Probably just bad filter slopes on the mid or tweeter creating a little dip in the response, the response linearity shows some strange stuff going on at the same point. Hard to say without seeing individual driver responses.

If someone gave me 5 grand to make them a pair of speakers that can play loud with low distortion, they'd be getting something much better than this, and I'm just a random guy. Why can't a speaker company put out something better? It makes me really happy to see folks like Ascend fully adopting that little thing called science and acting on it. Then I get sad when I see SVS put out a speaker that seemingly takes into account none of the more modern developments in speaker design.

 

[Sal1950]

If someone gave me 5 grand to make them a pair of speakers that can play loud with low distortion, they'd be getting something much better than this, and I'm just a random guy.

Maybe, maybe not. If your so sure you should start a business then take over the speaker building market with the output of your genius designs.
It's a very difficult market with every speaker being the result of constant compromise decisions in a final product at X price points. If you examine this speaker based on it's construction and materials it's very hard to criticize when balanced against it's competition. A few basic numbers are very revealing, 98lbs, 1" front panel, 3/4" sides, heavily braced, 4 8" cast basket woofers, 2 5.25" midrange, and a diamond coated tweeter. All quality stuff that costs some serious money to include in the build. Does some of this add together to bring what Erin said was the lowest distortion loudspeaker he has ever measured, I think it may.

Yes the Ultra has slightly missed the mark in very flat linear frequency response. It will ultimately be left to the user and his personal preferences to decide if he can live with it's sound, or maybe somewhat correct it with DRC EQ. But when all the pros and cons are taken into consideration I still don't see much on the market offering equal or more bang for the bucks.
4 or 6 of these combined with their very interesting center would offer an incredible amount of muscle for a multich music system in a quite large listening space. The Ultra center is a nice design that should avoid much of the lobing the usual MTM designs bring for those who need a low profile center. My only personal complaint would be the lack of a nice wood veneer finish but I'm sure that would raise the price considerably.

All JMHO. YMMV

 

[Ktacos]

All quality stuff that costs some serious money

If only parts costs translated to sound quality.

Maybe, maybe not. If your so sure you should start a business then take over the speaker building market with the output of your genius designs.

Idk if I would consider speakers that are more neutral and have better dispersion genius. Sure does sound a lot better than your typical mid power response dip, and that rise back up into the tweeter is quite annoying to my ears.

 

[Sal1950]

Idk if I would consider speakers that are more neutral and have better dispersion genius. Sure does sound a lot better than your typical mid power response dip, and that rise back up into the tweeter is quite annoying to my ears.

Well I'd never discount the value of a neutral FR, but it's not the only thing a speaker or headphones need to do well..
No speaker ever designed delivers a flat FR at the MLP "in the room"., and some variance is very correctable with eq, DRC, etc. But a speaker with high distortion is never correctable, to mention only one other aspect of music reproduction.
Every speaker ever built has been a compromise and balance of pros/cons.
It's simply MHO (and many others) that SVS has done a great job at that balance vs costs, YMMV

 

[Matias]

I feel it was a great missed opportunity. There was a lot of hype surrounding these speakers, they look imposing, new series to start concepts from scratch... And it felt short on measurements. Not terrible, but nothing to write home about.

For example Ascend flagship ELX towers run circles around this for similar price.

ELX TOWER PAIR

Introducing our new ELX Tower! In development for over a decade, our ELX Towers represent the current State-Of-The-Art of loudspeaker design. Every performance category has been fully optimized – from shockingly deep bass extension and punch, to incredible spaciousness and ideal tonal balance...

ascendacoustics.com

Comparison.

 

[thewas]

few basic numbers are very revealing, 98lbs, 1" front panel, 3/4" sides, heavily braced, 4 8" cast basket woofers, 2 5.25" midrange, and a diamond coated tweeter. All quality stuff that costs some serious money to include in the build.

The criticism is that a better engineering with better tuning/crossover, more matching mid, tweeter and or waveguide wouldn't really have driven up the price. Just using large/heavy/expensive components doesn't guarantee anything.

Does some of this add together to bring what Erin said was the lowest distortion loudspeaker he has ever measured, I think it may.

The impressively low distortion in the bass doesn't help much if the loudspeaker is distortion and SPL compromised at the most audible upper mid range as shown in his multitone and compression measurements.

 

[Sal1950]

The critic is that a better engineering with better tuning/crossover, more matching mid, tweeter and or waveguide wouldn't really have driven up the price. Just using large/heay/expensive components doesn't guarantee anything.

Answer me this, why do you think it wasn't done your way?
Do you believe your a better/smarter engineer than the guys at SVS?
What are the design problems that are so easy to correct without throwing other things out of balance?
It's just soooo easy to throw stones.
No it's not a perfect product, none are.
But James Larson (someone who's opinion I respect) and Gene over at Audioholics also believe "on balance" it's a well executed product giving it 4 1/2 stars for both performance and value.

SVS Ultra Evolution Pinnacle Floorstanding Loudspeaker Review

Our full review of the flagship of SVS's hotly anticipated new loudspeaker series is here; read our full review of the SVS Ultra Evolution Pinnacle loudspeaker to see if it lives up to the hype!

www.audioholics.com

You won't purchase it, and I'm not in the market for new speakers, but for readers here that are, they could do much worse for $2500. You might find a few flatter speakers but your going to trade off distortion, bass response, and more.
Speakers are a personal choice but with SVS 45 day, free return shipping policy I would highly recommend trying them out.
YMMV

 

[thewas]

Answer me this, why do you think it wasn't done your way?
Do you believe your a better/smarter engineer than the guys at SVS?

Not that it matters but my hobby/fun DIY constructions avoid such obvious directivity mismatches, if I had a loudspeaker company I wouldn't bring out such a compromised design at that price, especially since it could have been improved easily without higher cost.
But as said that doesn't matter, someone doesn't need to be an engineer in that field to criticise something, as for example you criticising vinyl reproduction while not having engineered your own better audio source.

You won't purchase it, and I'm not in the market for new speakers, but for readers here that are, they could do much worse for $2500. You might find a few flatter speakers but your going to trade off distortion, bass response, and more.

That's your own personal assessment which of course you are entitled to but also please entitle others who don't see it the same way theirs.

 

[Oddball]

The Ultra center is a nice design that should avoid much of the lobing the usual MTM designs bring for those who need a low profile center. My only personal complaint would be the lack of a nice wood veneer finish but I'm sure that would raise the price considerably.

All JMHO. YMMV

I have not heard the big towers, but based on what was discussed and reviews it seems that these are solid speakers. And agree that few things in life are perfect. There will for sure be takers and haters, as for all. I have gone through the upgrades for now so not really interested personally.

But with respect to the centre speaker, that one is just too small to keep up with the big towers. At 12kg and about half a meter long it is about half of what it should have been. That box will never be able to produce sound nearly as big as the big towers. It might sound and measure great, but it will fall flat on its back with dynamics just like a 180 pound guy would be fighting a 250 pound gorilla. It is not unprecedented that centre channels are undersized even by big brands. Arendal comes to mind with their 1723 centre. In fact it is much more difficult to find brands producing big bad centres to match their big bad towers. Perlisten or Revel do make the centres to match their big towers but they are quite expensive speakers. Due to the small centre, I would not seriously consider these for the flat panel HTs. 3 of these up front and behind AT screen might actually be fun.

 

[Vacceo]

On those prices, I think something like a KEF R (to go for an easy example, there are lots more!) of equivalent size would perform quite better.

 

[Sal1950]

But with respect to the centre speaker, that one is just too small to keep up with the big towers.

Oh I fully agree there, I was quite surprised when I looked an they didn't have something larger for the Ultra center channel line? The tweeter/midrange arrangement is fine buttttttttttttttttttttt.
My JBL HDI 4500 is more like it should be but then I have to deal with the side by side MTM arrangement, nothings perfect.
Good thing I don't worry about anything beyond the MLP seat. LOL
Centers are just a PITA compromise for most all of us except in rare cases.

 

[Sal1950]

On those prices, I think something like a KEF R (to go for an easy example, there are lots more!) of equivalent size would perform quite better.

KEF R11 comes close but at $3250 each and only 4 x 6" bass drivers compared to 8" drivers, there's a compromise there just
to start. Also a quick review of the stats, it only weights 80 lb vs the SVS 100 lb. A 20% reduction which could very well be reflected in cabinet talk.

 

[Vacceo]

KEF R11 comes close but at $3250 each and only 4 x 6" bass drivers compared to 8" drivers, there's a compromise there just
to start. Also a quick review of the stats, it only weights 80 lb vs the SVS 100 lb. A 20% reduction which could very well be reflected in cabinet talk.

Perhaps I´d rather ask what you´d take home on those price ranges. I guess it´s not going to be the SVS...