SVS Prime Loudspeaker Series and PC-2000 Subwoofer Preview

A

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Audioholics Robot
Staff member
After some hints dropped on their Facebook page, SVS unveiled their new Prime series loudspeakers and PC-2000 subwoofer at Rocky Mountain Audio Fest this year. The new Prime speakers are aesthetically similar to the costlier Ultras, and benefit from trickle down technology. The kicker is the price: the new line runs from $270/pair to $1,200/pair, or roughly half the cost of the Ultras. The PC-2000 is not quite as exciting an announcement, being the cylinder version of the PB-2000, and featuring identical performance to its boxy brother.



Read the SVS Prime Loudspeaker Series and PC-2000 Subwoofer Preview

Do you think this is a game changer in affordable ID speakers?
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
What's wrong with the water heaters? I always enjoyed mine :) Good to see SVS is adding something in a lower cost bracket than the Ultras. I'm guessing both lines will probably end up at Magnolia also?
 
zieglj01

zieglj01

Audioholic Spartan
What's wrong with the water heaters? I always enjoyed mine :) Good to see SVS is adding something in a lower cost bracket than the Ultras. I'm guessing both lines will probably end up at Magnolia also?
Yes, there is some style to a hot water heater - and this sub can work for some rooms with tight spaces.

Also agree - good to see a more budget friendly offering from SVS.
 
Steve81

Steve81

Audioholics Five-0
What's wrong with the water heaters? I always enjoyed mine :)
Nothing necessarily wrong with it, though the aesthetic is definitely something people should be prepared for if they're going to order one.
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
People often asked me "Why do you have a water heater in your living room?" :D
 
slipperybidness

slipperybidness

Audioholic Warlord
People often asked me "Why do you have a water heater in your living room?" :D
Personally, I kind of like the tube design. It's different, and only a hardcore A/V person is likely to realize what it is.

My biggest concern: Does it look like a large cat scratcher post to anyone else? I could see my cats having a field day with one of those.

As far as the "Prime" Speakers, it's kind of like they are biting on the "Primus" speaker line. I think they should have chosen something a little different. But, somehow I seem to be more excited about these than the Ultra line. I bet these would make fine HT speakers (where the Ultras may be better for 2 Ch).
 
j_garcia

j_garcia

Audioholic Jedi
When I had that sub we had 3 cats and all of them stayed far away from my sub :)

Yeah, I'm curious to see some feedback on them, specs and hopefully hear them sometime soon.
 
J

JonnyFive23517

Audioholic
The Prime tower is listed as a 3.5 way? So are they doing something similar to the Ultra tower? Or is this truly a 3 way design and that's a typo?
 
R

Ricardojoa

Audioholic
From the specs, it looks to be a 3.5 way, 2.1khz,350hz and 165hz crossover points.
 
G

GIEGAR

Full Audioholic
From the review:

Unfortunately, SVS hasn’t released all of the specifications of the new lineup (frequency response, sensitivity, impedance, crossover points, etc.), which limits how much analysis we can perform.
SVS has all the specifications up on their site now: SVS - Prime Speakers.


The Prime tower is listed as a 3.5 way? So are they doing something similar to the Ultra tower? Or is this truly a 3 way design and that's a typo?
Yep, they're saying 3.5 way everywhere on the site. Plus:

SVS took the 3.5-way crossover concept a step further – each woofer has a dedicated and completely separate internal compartment with its own custom port tuning frequency. The result is bass you need to hear in person to fully appreciate.
(SVS Prime Tower)
 
ousooner2

ousooner2

Full Audioholic
Wow they're pretty short. I'd expect a slightly larger tower from them. Fairly light for their size too. Anxious to hear reviews though. I know a few people have claimed the Ultra Towers sounded like the EMP e55, but with a hair more treble and obviously a lot more lower end. Upper midbass and up seemed to be the same though. My one complaint about the e55's are that the treble is a little too recessed. Slightly more recessed than neutral in my opinion. The midrange is neutral though
 
zhimbo

zhimbo

Audioholic General
My biggest concern: Does it look like a large cat scratcher post to anyone else? I could see my cats having a field day with one of those.
I have two cats, and two PC-12 NSD subs. At least one cat has sort of tried them out, but the material is actually not at all appropriate - too dense and smooth for the claws to dig into. I gave mild discouragement and a real scratching post in the back of the room, and both cats completely ignore the subs.

I did *a lot* of web searches trying to find if people have had cat problems, and while you find lots of people warning about them, I found not a single case of someone actually having their cat do any damage to their SVS cylinder sub.
 
Sheep

Sheep

Audioholic Warlord
Pretty sure someone has the center channel pricing wrong. It's per "pair" pricing is less then the bookshelf, which is stupid on all counts. Probably should say each, no?

SheepStar
 
macddmac

macddmac

Audioholic General
Center is about 350.00.. Upgraded finish is another 80.
listened to them yesterday at RMAF. Great value IMO.
Cheers, Mac
 
GranteedEV

GranteedEV

Audioholic Ninja
What's wrong with the water heaters?
Agreed. One thing people should note is that because the acoustic source becomes equidistant to boundaries when corner loaded, the cylinder has some room mode advantages compared to a box
 
S

scott911

Full Audioholic
A pair of those new bookshelves would be the perfect audioholics forum participant prize. What do you say SVS? :D
 
mike c

mike c

Audioholic Warlord
Agreed. One thing people should note is that because the acoustic source becomes equidistant to boundaries when corner loaded, the cylinder has some room mode advantages compared to a box
could you break this down in layman's terms? it flew over my head, and i'm curious about the cylinder/down firing effect you are talking about.

-0-

while the new cylinder certainly looks a lot nicer than the old version, i was kinda hoping they would do away with the cloth altogether.
 
M

Muzykant

Audioholic
I received a pair of Prime Towers a few days ago. Still breaking them in.

Initial impressions were mixed. First thing I noticed was the huge amount of details these bring out, definitely more than my Def Tech Studio Monitors. This is a good thing for me because I sometimes learn music from recordings, and these don't hide anything. But while detail was incredible, the sound was not well balanced. They had a lot of bass (more than I expected) and the highs were incredibly loud bordering on uncomfortable, but the mids were just too quiet. It made the voices sound thin and flat.

Well, I was able to break them in for about 15 hours so far, and it was enough to transform them. Now trebles sound smoother and less piercing, but more importantly, recordings now have pleasant midrange. Vocals sound naturally warm without being exaggerated. Just perfect. The balance between the drivers became very smooth, without noticeably favoring any particular range. I know this shift in sound is not my imagination or ears being accustomed to the new sound. I was breaking these in playing mono tracks out of phase with speakers facing each other in close proximity in the other room. I hardly heard anything this entire time.

By the way, my 18 years old Pioneer stereo receiver with 100 watts per channel makes these rock hard, beyond comfort zone. My Emotiva 200 watts per channel amp takes them to the next level. There is definitely no lack of sensitivity.
 
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D

Diesel57

Full Audioholic
I received a pair of Prime Towers a few days ago. Still breaking them in.

Initial impressions were mixed. First thing I noticed was the huge amount of details these bring out, definitely more than my Def Tech Studio Monitors. This is a good thing for me because I sometimes learn music from recordings, and these don't hide anything. But while detail was incredible, the sound was not well balanced. They had a lot of bass (more than I expected) and the highs were incredibly loud bordering on uncomfortable, but the mids were just too quiet. It made the voices sound thin and flat.

Well, I was able to break them in for about 15 hours so far, and it was enough to transform them. Now trebles sound smoother and less piercing, but more importantly, recordings now have pleasant midrange. Vocals sound naturally warm without being exaggerated. Just perfect. The balance between the drivers became very smooth, without noticeably favoring any particular range. I know this shift in sound is not my imagination or ears being accustomed to the new sound. I was breaking these in playing mono tracks out of phase with speakers facing each other in close proximity in the other room. I hardly heard anything this entire time.

By the way, my 18 years old Pioneer stereo receiver with 100 watts per channel makes these rock hard, beyond comfort zone. My Emotiva 200 watts per channel amp takes them to the next level. There is definitely no lack of sensitivity.
Hi Muzykant, hey would like to hear your review on the svs prime, I have denon 1912 and thinking about getting apair of the svs primes for a 3.1 setup and in the reviews they stated that they don't really need a sub with them. I listen to a variety of music jazz being my first choice and never any classic, let me know your take on those...Thanks!!!
 
M

Muzykant

Audioholic
Hi Muzykant, hey would like to hear your review on the svs prime, I have denon 1912 and thinking about getting apair of the svs primes for a 3.1 setup and in the reviews they stated that they don't really need a sub with them. I listen to a variety of music jazz being my first choice and never any classic, let me know your take on those...Thanks!!!
Hello, I need some more time with them. I would like to wait until I receive my Emotiva UMC-200/XPA-5 combo this Friday. My ancient Pioneer receiver they are connected to right now has not been sounding its best lately.

These towers will have enough bass for jazz recordings, but for rock and electronica you will want a sub. They sound full down to about 35Hz in my room, but below that start to roll off.
 
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