Video Review: SVS Ultra Series Speakers

[MrSandsman]

I also have Ultra towers and SB13 Ultra (1) plus an ultra center. I am with you on the fact that every time I listen I get a big smile... I returned the prime 5.1 set up, the Prime center and the Ultra bookshelves/

thanks
Mr S.

 

[Pogre]

I have the Ultra bookshelf speakers with a pair of Hsu VTF-3 MK5's. I'm with Marshall. If money were no object, of course I'd take the towers. They look nice and who wouldn't want more drivers? I'm a little more budget conscious though and went with Ultra bookshelf speakers instead of the Prime towers (~$1000 budget).

Obviously I don't have the towers for reference, but I don't feel like I'm missing anything. These bookshelf speakers can handle 80hz and up just fine and I'm hitting the spl I like (more than enough if I want to continue hearing). The Hsu's take over everything below 80hz quite nicely. I feel like I could close my eyes and hear towers. That's basically what I have, in separates. They have no trouble filling my large-ish room.

They can handle some power and sound amazing even at high volume. This setup is by far the best I've had, and it's good enough that I think I even kicked the upgrade bug (for speakers, I'm not delusional ). Bottom line, I love my Ultras.

 

[MrSandsman]

I got the towers because of 3 things:
1- I needed to place them higher than usual and
2- spending money in high-end stands seemed a waste of time. Making my own stands would take too much time and without a shop, they will still look handmade and crappy.
3- I had the funds.

nothing wrong with the Ultra Books.

Mr S

 

[Pogre]

I got the towers because of 3 things:
1- I needed to place them higher than usual and
2- spending money in high-end stands seemed a waste of time. Making my own stands would take too much time and without a shop, they will still look handmade and crappy.
3- I had the funds.

nothing wrong with the Ultra Books.

Mr S

I'm with you on the towers. I already had some cheap stands (and a $1000 budget) that I modified for about 20 bucks.

I just replaced the flimsy columns with some 4x6 lumber and stained 'em black. They're surprisingly heavy and sturdy.

 

[Glanimal786]

QUESTION PEOPLE.......need some help folks

SVS ULTRA vs Bower Wilkins 600 series

Im from the caribbean...I have opportunity to demo the bower wilkins here but not the Ultras..

The SVS i wanna go with is
ULTRAS bookshelf and centre
PRIME bookshelf for surroumd
Normal 5.1 ...already have an jl audio e112 sub

Or

BW HTM61 S2 centre...the 6.5 inch one
BW 685 S2 LR fronts....6.5 inch
BW 686 S2 for the surround


Pricewise...the combination comes up to about the same for both where I live

90% HT movies 10% music..

Which should I choose...im sure some of you heard both already..I need to make a decision

 

[adatrao]

Hi.
I have SVS ultra towers. My budget was also like your's at first. I was exactly in the same boat - listened to B&Ws and primes but not the ultras as there was no demo piece. The SVS dealer inputs and reviews on audioholics/6moons gave me the faith to pull the trigger.

Before buying these ultras I have demoed multiple times all the full lineup of Bower and wilkins - in particular the 68X series - 683/684/685/686/HTMs and the CM series.
I was about to buy the B&W buy finally decided to buy the SVS ultra system.

The reason being the sound - B&W was too flat for my taste or laid back. Somehow i was feeling that i was missing something. I cant explain what i was feeling as MISSING but there was no kick factor for me in the B&W 68X series. The demo included the series 1 and 2 as well in the best setup scenario in the dealers shop where they had a room dedicated for each model, but the results were not great for me. Finally/probably i understood the difference about British speakers vs. American speakers.

The ultras are far better compared to the 68X series IMO. I know that you are aiming for bookshelf's but in case you like the SVS Bookshelf's- you still have 1 year to upgrade to towers. check this upgrade part with your local SVS dealer please.
IMHO If you pit the 683 vs ultras, ultras will surely win both for music as well as movies.

Hope this helps.

 

[adatrao]

forgot to add 1 more important point on B&W vs SVS :
Because i was aiming these B&W speakers I spent good amount of time during demo in front of B&W 68X series speakers (doing 1 review per week for a model n comparing between the models) something like 2 hours demo for movies and different music. Finally there used to be fatigue at the end of review process which I did not like.

Whereas I play the SVS ultras the whole day (like 10 plus hours per day - multiple movies combined with music in between), still there is no fatigue. this is one big difference between this 2 companies/models. I dont know if anyone else have the same experience on fatigue part.

 

[adatrao]

Also GIanimal786 - you have an answer in post 10 (page 1) of this thread by Shek5150 that can help you on the same question.
Refer to post 25 as well (for fatigue input) by our expert Marshall.

 

[Glanimal786]

Thanks for all the advice peeps..ADATRAO u really knock the head on the nail for me when u compared the 683 to the ultras..thaz btw bw towers to bookshelves..nice...gonna demo the bower wilkims in a couple of day..im still leaning towards the ultra via reviews and how they look as well compared to the bw 600 series...dont have space for the towers...so is all bookshelves...using the prime bookshelf for surround..for svs and s86 s2 for the bw...either route I go

 

[Glanimal786]

On another note...Ive read some reviews on the JBL studio 230 and 235c ..full LCR and many ppl compare them to the ultras...whats your views on this..these cost less than half of what the bowers amd svs ultras cost

 

[Glanimal786]

And last call..

Kef q600c centre
Kef q300 fronts
Kef q100 rears

Too many options..im going crazy

All is around the same price range overall

And all i can demo is the bowers

 

[Pogre]

QUESTION PEOPLE.......need some help folks

SVS ULTRA vs Bower Wilkins 600 series

Im from the caribbean...I have opportunity to demo the bower wilkins here but not the Ultras..

The SVS i wanna go with is
ULTRAS bookshelf and centre
PRIME bookshelf for surroumd
Normal 5.1 ...already have an jl audio e112 sub

Or

BW HTM61 S2 centre...the 6.5 inch one
BW 685 S2 LR fronts....6.5 inch
BW 686 S2 for the surround


Pricewise...the combination comes up to about the same for both where I live

90% HT movies 10% music..

Which should I choose...im sure some of you heard both already..I need to make a decision

I'm in love with my SVS Utra speakers. I went with a bookshelf for my center instead of the actual center channel. It's a better timbre match, I have the room for it and saved me a few $.

I don't have much experience listening to the B&W speakers you're looking at, but I can say that B&W's upper range high dollar speakers have blown me away, but their entry-mid level speakers not so much. I prefer my Ultras over what I've heard (with the exception of the 802 D3's I got to listen to. They really were amazing, but very costly).

 

[Pogre]

I have the Ultra bookshelf speakers with a pair of Hsu VTF-3 MK5's. I'm with Marshall. If money were no object, of course I'd take the towers. They look nice and who wouldn't want more drivers? I'm a little more budget conscious though and went with Ultra bookshelf speakers instead of the Prime towers (~$1000 budget).

Obviously I don't have the towers for reference, but I don't feel like I'm missing anything. These bookshelf speakers can handle 80hz and up just fine and I'm hitting the spl I like (more than enough if I want to continue hearing). The Hsu's take over everything below 80hz quite nicely. I feel like I could close my eyes and hear towers. That's basically what I have, in separates. They have no trouble filling my large-ish room.

They can handle some power and sound amazing even at high volume. This setup is by far the best I've had, and it's good enough that I think I even kicked the upgrade bug (for speakers, I'm not delusional ). Bottom line, I love my Ultras.

I forgot about this post!

Well past Pogre, future Pogre ended up getting towers!

 

[Glanimal786]

POGRE..thanks for your opinion man

 

[Glanimal786]

Ended with full ultra fronts..surrounds to come soon