RBH SVT Tower Review Part 1
The SVT tower is RBH's new flagship tower. As one of the towers mentioned in the "Towers of Power" article, the SVT tower promises excellent dynamic range, bass extension, SPL, and accuracy.
The drivers include:
1. Tweeter - One
Aurum Cantus AST25120 4.72"x1" Aluminum Diaphragm
2. Midrange - Three
RBH Dispersion-Averaging
8" Aluminum Cone
3. Woofer - Two
RBH 12" Aluminum Cone
Frequency response is 20Hz-20kHz +/- 3dB. Sensitivity is 93dB/2.83V/m. Impedance is 4 ohms. The SV-831 top cabinet is rated for 100-500 watts. SV-1212N bottom cabinet is rated for 200-500 watts power handling. If you get the SV-1212NR bottom cabinet, power handling is 500-2,400 watts.
MSRP are as follows:
SV-831 $2,520
SV-1212N $1,610
SV-1212P $2,430
SV-1212NR $2,590
SV-1212PR $5,300
SVT-831/1212N = $8,260/pair MSRP
SVT-831/1212P = $9,900/pair MSRP
SVT-831/1212NR = $10,220/pair MSRP
SVT-831/1212PR = $15,640/pair MSRP
I got the SVT-831/1212N towers in piano gloss black finish. My house’s colors are Sherwin Williams Repose Gray, Gauntlet Gray, and Extra White, and the floors are white/gray Stonepeak Statuarietto porcelain tiles, which I think matches well with the piano gloss black finish. These SVT towers replace the red Linkwitz Orion towers that I recently sold. My wife thanks me for this aesthetic change because she doesn't feel red goes very well with our new home decor.
The SVT's piano gloss black finish reminds me of another pair of piano gloss black loudspeakers I recently sold - the B&W 802 D2 towers. The dimensions also remind me of the 802 Diamond. They both have about the same 200 pounds weight, 15" width, and 22" depth. However, the RBH SVT tower is significantly taller - about 14" taller than the 802 Diamond. In the height department, the SVT is also 8" taller than another shiny piano gloss towers I recently sold - the Revel Salon2. In terms of piano gloss aesthetics, I think the SVT tower is on par with the 802 Diamond and Salon2.
The SVT tower is a "modular" tower. It consists of two separate 30-inch-100-lb cabinets that form one massive 61-inch-200-lb tower when stacked together (the speaker feet adds another inch). There is also a black metal plate that screws into the back of the speakers and joins the top and bottom cabinets for additional stability. However, even without the back metal plates and screws, I believe the speakers are already very stable on the California Shag rug and tile floor.
Each SVT tower can be configured as one passive speaker ($200-$300/pair Internal passive crossover or $500-$600/pair External passive crossover available, 1 CH of amps per tower) or as 2 separate speakers (recommended).
I highly recommend configuring each SVT tower as 2 separate speakers. It costs less money than a single-passive-tower configuration, and I truly believe it will sound a lot better since you can control the bass cabinet a lot more this way. In this configuration, you are actively bi-amping each tower, not passive. And we all know active bi-amp is always better than passive bi-amp.
When each tower is configured as 2 separate speakers (as recommended), you need to use 2 CH of amps per tower. It is recommended to use a regular amp (like the ATI AT3002) to power the top cabinet. And use a subwoofer amp (like the RBH SA-500DSP) to power the bottom subwoofer cabinet.
For my living room system, I use the Denon X3100 to power the 2 top cabinets and a single RBH SA-500DSP subwoofer amp to power the 2 bottom cabinets in series.
The SA-500DSP amp has 2 main modes. The "Sub" mode allows more manual EQ control, while the "LFE" mode assumes that the AVR is doing most of the EQ function. I let Audyssey do the automatic EQ and use Audyssey Dynamic EQ. Thus, I chose the "LFE" mode on the SA-500DSP.
My living room is 22'Wx23'Dx13'H and is open to the formal dining, foyer, breakfast, and kitchen. The SVT towers are placed 8 FT apart from each other on area rugs flanking the 65" Sony TV and built-in A/V stand, and 7 FT from the sidewalls. The room has a 10'x12' thick shag area rug. Other than the sofas, pillows, and rug, there is no acoustic room treatment. For serious listening and when the wife is not around, I would pull the speakers 24 inches from the front wall. Otherwise, the speakers sit 6 inches from the front walls.
After applying Audyssey, I casually listened to a few songs in a process of “warming up” or “breaking in” the speakers (and my psychoacoustics).
I will be listening a lot more intently to these songs next week when I have more time:
Trevor Jones- The Kiss (Last of the Mohicans)
Ennio Morricone – Yo-Yo Ma Plays Ennio Morricone album
Sarah Jarosz - Long Journey
Dave Matthews - Out of my Hands
Eagles - Hotel California
Death Cab for Cutie - I will Follow You into the Dark
Handsome Family - Far from Any Road
Lindsey Sterling - Crystallize
The Engineers - Do the Buildings and Cops Make You Smile
Adele - Don't You Remember
Beth Nielsen Chapman - Say Goodnight
Jeff Buckley - New Years Prayer
The Woods - 6 Feet Under
The Wallflowers - One Headlight
Olin and The Moon - Not in Love
Mindy Gledhill - Anchor
Eva Cassidy - Time After Time
Five for Fighting - Superman
Lifehouse - You and Me
Marie Digby - Spell
Greg Laswell - High and Low
Travis - My Eyes
Sixpence None The Richer - Don't Dream It's Over
Cat Power - Sea of Love
Right off the bat, everything sounded great with amazing details. I’ll elaborate more once I have a chance to listen more critically.